Fun Facts Friday: Ichiyō Higuchi

Ichiyō Higuchi (2 May, 1872 – 23 November, 1896) was a Japanese author during the Meiji period (1868 – 1912).

1. Her real name was Natsu Higuchi.
2. Even though she died at the age of 24, her stories had a large impact on Japanese literature.
3. Her father was a law-rank samurai (a rank which he bought and lost), a municipal worker and lost the family’s money on a failed business.
4. At the ager of 14, the author started to study classical poetry at the Haginoya, the best poetic classical conservatory.
5. Her diary was hundreds of pages long.
6. Higuchi helped the family by doing needlework, washing and more. When her classmate, Kaho Tanabe, wrote a novel, she decided to help her family financially by being a novelist.
7. Later on Higuchi, her mother and sister moved to a poor neighborhood and opened a stationary store.
8. The experience of living in a poor neighborhood, next to the prostitutes’ district, supplied ample material for Higuchi’s stories.
9. Her stories were about suffering and sensitive, as well as acceptance of low-life persons as protagonists.
10. The author died of tuberculosis.

Zohar – Man of la Book

--- Please like and follow ManOfLaBook.com ---