(15 May 1922 – 9 November 2021; born formerly known as was a Japanese Buddhist nun, writer, and activist. Setouchi wrote a best-selling translation of The Tale of Genji and over 400 fictional biographical and historical novels.

1950 she divorced her husband and serialized her first novel in a magazine. which became a best-seller. From 1987 to 2005, she was the chief priestess at the Tendaiji temple in Iwate Prefecture. Setouchi was a pacifist and became an activist, including by participating in protests of the Persian Gulf War in 1991 and the 2003 invasion of Iraq She considered Prince Genji to be a plot device for the stories of the women of the court and used a contemporary version of Japanese for her translation.

She received the Japanese Order of Culture in 2006.

Works

  • Joshidaisei Chui Airin ("Qu Ailing, the Female College Student") (1957)
  • Natsu no owari ("The End of Summer") (1962), translated by Janine Beichman
  • Kashin ("Center of a Flower") (1963)
  • Miren ("Lingering Affections") (1963)
  • Kiji ("Pheasant") (1963) translated by Robert Huey in
  • Hana ni toe ("Ask the Flowers") (1992)
  • Beauty in Disarray (1993), translated by Sanford Goldstein and Kazuji Ninomiya
  • The Tale of Genji (1998)
  • Basho ("Places") (2001)

Honours and awards

  • 1957 Shinchosha Coterie Magazine Award for Joshidaisei Chui Airin
  • 1963 Women's Literature Prize (Joryu Bungaku Sho) for Natsu no Owari
  • 2001 Noma Prize in literature for Basho
  • 2006 Order of Culture of Japan
  • 2006 International Nonino Prize

Notes

References

  • J'Lit | Authors : Jakucho Setouchi | Books from Japan