One of my oversights in the original A to Z in Women’s Literature Series was not including any Asian writers. I have intentionally sought Asian Women Writers since the end of April and with this seeking, I have been especially fascinated by today’s subject, Yuriko Miyamoto.
Her varied background includes being born to a privileged family in Tokyo, traveling the world, a fascination with the Soviet Union, imprisonment and being a single, independent woman in the 1930’s. At TrueKnowledge.com they label her in this way: Yuriko Miyamoto (jp: Miyamoto Yuriko, February 13, 1899 – January 21, 1951), the Japanese novelist, person, writer, artist, author, novelist, communist, prisoner, feminist, victim, aquarius person.
It intrigued me to read some biographies which spoke primarily of her work with the Communist Party and/or her failed marriage and her successful marriage. Other biographies focused primarily on the Proletarian Literary Movement in Japan. There is even a film about her friendship – which may have been solely romantic or may have been romantic and sexual – with good friend and fellow woman writer and noted Russian Translator, Yoshiko Yuasa.
She published her first book at the age of seventeen. A Flock of the Poor was seen as genius and started her literary career on a heightened trajectory. She dropped out of the Japanese Women’s College after one year. Her mother felt her writing and behavior were “unladylike” so her father took her to the United States, where she met and married Akira Shigeru. This marriage between the two intellectuals was doomed. When it ended, Miyamoto began living with Yoshiko Yuasa. The two moved to the Soviet Union for three years from 1927 to 1930. It was Yoshiko who encouraged Yuriko to write autobiographical fiction.
When the women returned to Japan, it was to the leadership of the Proletarian and Communist Movement in Japan. They returned to Japan nine years before the Second Russian-Chinese war in 1939 which some historians believe put Japan onto the map toward bombing Pearl Harbor.
What did Yuriko think about this war, I wonder?
The most important information one may glean from this wide variety of perspectives is this: Yuriko Miyamato documented and wrote of her experiences as a woman in a difficult time in Japanese History. If she had not written her novels and memoirs, this very important aspect of Japanese life would not be known. Her association with the Literary Proletarian movement makes her writing even more significant.
Until I sought out Asian Women Writers, I didn’t know about this movement in Japan. I am also intrigued to watch a film based on the relationship of Yoshiko and Yuriko.
Without their words, the world’s understanding of this era and these people would be very different.
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