The time was around noon. I listened to the radio being tuned to NHK 2. A woman talked about Higuchi Ichiyou. She was a famous female writer in Meiji era. At that time few female writer was there.
In this november 1st, Bank of Japan started to change bills against copying. And the new surface of 5000yen bill has a portrait of Higuchi Ichiyou. She left some great works for us. Who on earth is she? I had knew a little about her but it made me interested in her and I searched information about Ichiyou.
*HIGUCHI Ichiyou(1872-1896)*
In May 2nd, 1872, Higuchi Ichiyou was borned as a daughter of a public servant in Tokyo. She was named Natsu. And peple say when she was 7 years old, she finished to read a long series "Hakkenden" written by Kyokutei Bakin who was a famous writer in Edo era. Its 7 years ago she entered Haginoya that Nakajima Utako taught how to make Tanka.
When she was 15, her older brother died of consumption and his father Noriyoshi died too. And their death made her the head of Higuchi family. She had a shop which selled fancy goods with her mother and younger sister but being stimulated by her schoolmate Tanabe Kaho who got much money writing a novel she tried to write novels. Then Ichiyou spent 10yen a month to housekeep but Kaho got 30yen writing only one novel.
After she decided to make a living writing novels, she studied how to write the novel under Nakarai Tohsui who belonged to Asahi Shimbun, a newspaper company, as a writer. She was hard to try writing but it was a difficult way to make much money. And its poverty made her and her family move to downtown. In 1894, her works "Ohtsugomori"(on New Year's Eve), "Take Kurabe", "Nigorie" and "Jyu-san Ya" were praised by Mori Ohgai, Kohda Rohan and Saito Ryokuu, famous writers. her life as a writer had just 14 months and she also died of consumption at November 23rd, 1896.
Here is an episode. her real name was Natsu and her name as a writer Ichiyo means a leaf. And Ichiyo was called after a legend connected with Bodhi-dharma, who was a great Zen bonze. Bodhi-dharma was born in South India and he went to China as a Zen missionary. And one day He Bodhi-dharma went down to the Yangzi by a reed leaf in place of ship beacause he had no money. And in Japanese, "Ashi" means reed and also means money(same spelling in alphabet, but they have different accents). Ichiyo said that Bodhi-dharma and I had no "Ashi". It means we had no money in each lives. And it also means because of no "Ashi" dharama went down to the Yangzy by an "Ashi" It's a very clever joke of Ichiyo, isn't it ?
*refferences*
http://www.taitocity.net/taito/ichiyo/penname.html
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%A8%8B%E5%8F%A3%E4%B8%80%E8%91%89
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