Week 10 Reading Notes B : Higuchi Ichiyō

Higuchi Ichiyō 1872-1896

(905-913)

“The first major Japanese woman writer in six entries, the poverty stricken, barely educated Higuchi Ichiyō seemed to emerge out of nowhere. “(905)

In her work she portrayed The differentiation of class simply and easily understood by common people. She did not use a luxurious style of writing in her language. But rather she created brief stories that were vibrant, luxurious, yet simple.

She was not educated as well as man was. Women in her time we’re not considered academic. It was expected for a woman to marry a man and that man and his family would take care of her.

As far as class she was not particularly well off. However, her father “... was determined to leave his hasn’t reached behind, and he managed to become a bureaucrat in Tokyo.” (905)

When her father died after failing in business, she took care of her mother and sister and Tokyo’s red light district where she was a laundress and seamstress. Her family was very poor and destitute.

And her story Separate Ways, she beautifully portrayed the heartache of a disabled young man who is made fun of for his dwarf size. He was sixteen and his name was Kichizō. He wants a circus performer before he was brought in as an umbrella appearance. He has no hope for his future, or so it seems. He seems to be very comfortable in the station he is in where he oils umbrellas day in and day out. However we see that he does want more. He wants to be with Okyō. A seamstress who comes into town.

Kichizō says to Okyō “ I’d sure be glad if someone like you would come and tell me she was my sister. I’d hug her so tight… After that, I wouldn’t care if I died. “ (909). His pain of loss and depression is so moving. He does not know his parents and says “ I have this funny dream. The few people who’ve been the least bit kind to me all of a sudden turn out to be my mother and father and my brother and sister. And then I think, I want to live a little longer. “ (909). He is always grasping for some life line to cling to. Something to make his life less lonely. He’s quite sensitive and subs for the loss of the people he cares for (910).

Finally when Okyō reveals that she plans on moving to a new home to become a mistress and that she is tired of working so hard to support herself, Kichizō can't stand it. He lashes out verbally and says “‘ All things come to him who waits,’ they say, but I wait and wait, and all like it is more unhappiness. “(913)