Nakazato Tsuneko

Nakazato Tsuneko ( Japanese 中 里 恒 子 , real name: Nakazato Tsune ; born December 23, 1909 in Fujisawa Prefecture Kanagawa , † April 5, 1987 in Zushi ) was a Japanese writer.

Live and act

Nakazato was born in Fujisawa, where she also attended Yokohama Futaba Girls' School. She married in 1928 and worked as a writer in addition to being a housewife. In 1939 Nakazato was the first woman to be awarded the renowned Akutagawa Prize for her first work, Noriaibasha ( 乗 合 馬車 , German stagecoach). This story, like other works that followed, deal with the topic of intercultural marriages .

The birth of her daughter and the divorce from her husband followed. Her daughter married an American, which she used as material for the works Mariannu monogatari ( ま り あ ん ぬ 物語 , 1946) and Kusari ("Chain", 1959).

For Utamakura ( 歌 枕 , 1973), in which she deals with aging, she received the Yomiuri literature prize in the same year . A year later she was awarded the Onshi Prize of the Japanese Academy of Arts, of which she became a member in 1983. In 1979 she received the women's literature award for Tagasodesō ( 誰 袖 草 ) .

Nakazato lived in Zushi, Kanagawa Prefecture , from 1932 , where she died of colon cancer in 1987. Her grave is in the Engaku-ji Temple in Kamakura .

Works (selection)

• 1939 Noriaibasha ( 乗 合 馬車 )
• 1941 Ikiru tochi ( 生 き る 土地 )
• 1942 Tokonatsu ( 常 夏 )
• 1947 Natsu no tori ( 春 の 鳥 )
• 1950 Junketsu ni tsuite ( 純潔 に つ い て )
• 1956 Yoru no hashi ( 夜 の 橋 )
• 1959 Tenshi no kisetsu ( 天使 の 季節 )
• 1972 Ko no yo ( 此 の 世 )
• 1977 Shigure no ki ( 時 雨 の 記 )
• 1977 Daiyamondo no hari ( ダ イ ヤ モ ン ド の 針 )
• 1978 Utsutsu-gawa ( う つ つ 川 )
• 1978 Tagasodesō ( 誰 袖 草 )
• 1979 Hyakuman ( 百万 )
• 1979 Waga konjaku monogatari ( わ が 今昔 も の が た り )

Film adaptations

• 1998 Diary of early winter shower (based on the novel: 時 雨 の 記 , Shigure no ki by Nakazato)

Web links

• Nakazato Tsuneko in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 中 里 恒 子 . In: デ ジ タ ル 大 辞 泉 at kotobank.jp. Shogakukan, accessed January 13, 2011 (Japanese). 
2. ↑ 中 里 恒 子 . (No longer available online.) Asahi.net, formerly in the original ; Retrieved January 13, 2011 (Japanese).  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Nakazato is the family name, Tsuneko the first name.