Reading Notes W10: Ichiyo, Part B

Higuchi Ichiyo, “Separate Ways” (905-913)

Higuchi Ichiyo:

·         First major Japanese woman writer in six centuries

·         She was poverty-stricken and barely educated

·         Her writing career lasted only four years

·         Her real name is Higuchi Natsu

·         Ichiyo means single leaf

·         She was suffering from an advanced stage of tuberculosis

·         She accomplished coming into the modern age with her writing almost all on her own.

Time:

·         1868: a new Japanese emperor took the name of Meiji, which means enlightened rule.

·         By 1912, the government fell in favor of a constitutional monarchy.

·         Japan invested in industry.

·         Writers at this time looked to Europe for ideas. They wrote stories covering the subtle feelings of normal middle class people and covered contemporary social world.

Work:

·         “Drawing on the materials of her lived experience-her own marginal social status, her struggles with money, and her squalid surroundings-she began to paint a rich picture of the alleyways and brothels in Tokyo’s poorest neighborhoods” (906). Emphasis on “pleasure quarter”.

·         Adolescent characters may have been metaphors for the new Japan, puberty (?), and pain/disappointment of growing up.

“Separate Ways”:

·         Captures world of Tokyo’s struggling poor.

·         Shows a woman stuck in between independence/poverty and sexual dependence/luxury.

·         Focuses on modern urban poor.

·         “The dialogue itself is full of feeling-colloquial, spirited, disapproving, even aggressive” (907).

·         First look at poor life: “If only I could sew you a nice kimono, it would be a happy day. I’d gladly do it. But look at me. I don’t have enough money to dress myself properly. I’m sewing to support myself” (908). She has a dream but can’t fulfill it at the moment because of how poor she is. She can’t afford to make things as gifts.

·         Sadness: “Don’t you have some proof of your identity? A charm with your name on it, for instance? There must be something you have, some clue to your family’s whereabouts” (909). She has no idea who her family is (abandonment?), therefore, she doesn’t know her identity.