, known by her pen name , was a Japanese writer during the Meiji era. She was Japan's first professional woman writer of modern literature, specializing in short stories and poetry, and was also an extensive diarist. Her portrait was used on the 5000 yen banknote in Japan.

Biography

Early life

Higuchi was born in Tokyo on 2 May 1872 as the fourth child and second daughter of Noriyoshi Higuchi, a samurai, and Ayame "Taki" Furuya. Official documentation states her name as Natsuko Higuchi, though she would often refer to herself as . but her father had managed to procure samurai status in 1867. Despite only enjoying the position for a short time before the samurai caste was abolished with the Meiji Restoration, growing up in a samurai household was a formative experience for her.

In 1886, she began studying waka poetry at the Haginoya, a private school run by Utako Nakajima. into modern Japanese, like Hiromi Itō's translation of Nigorie or Fumiko Enchi's translation of Takekurabe.

Legacy

Higuchi's portrait adorns the Japanese 5000 yen banknote as of fall 2004, becoming the third woman to appear on a Japanese banknote, after Empress Jingū in 1881 and Murasaki Shikibu in 2000.

Her stories Ōtsugomori, Nigorie, Jūsan'ya and Takekurabe have been repeatedly adapted for film and television, notably An Inlet of Muddy Water (1953, dir. Tadashi Imai) and Takekurabe (1955, dir. Heinosuke Gosho).

A film based on Higuchi's life, Higuchi Ichiyō, was released in 1939, starring Isuzu Yamada and directed by Kyotaro Namiki. Higuchi was also the protagonist of a theatre play by Hisashi Inoue, Zutsuu katakori Higuchi Ichiyō, which was first performed in 1984.

A character from the Japanese anime and manga Bungo Stray Dogs was based on and named after Higuchi.

References

;Bibliography

Further reading

  • "Ōtsugomori: The Last Day of the Year" (story) [pdf online<nowiki></nowiki>]