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Shizuko Tōdō

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Shizuko Tōdō (藤堂志津子, born March 14, 1949) is a Japanese novelist and essayist. She is best known for writing the novel Ureteyuku Natsu (熟れてゆく夏), which won the 1988 Naoki Prize.

Biography

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Tōdō was born Masae Kumagai on September 14, 1949 in Hokkaido, Japan.[1] She grew up in ill health, so she spent a lot of time reading and writing as a child. She especially enjoyed writing poetry. Her first collection of poems was published while she was attending Fuji Women's Junior College. After graduation she went on to work at a life insurance company, then an advertising agency.[2]

Tōdo published several works under her birth name from 1978 onwards.[3] Her first novel she released under her penname was called Madonna no Gotoku [ja]. It was published in 1987. It won the Hokkaido Shinbun Prize and was shortlisted for the Naoki Prize.[2] It was later adapted into a film in 1990. Tōdo left the advertising agency soon after the publication of Madonna no Gotoku.[1]

During the same year, she won the Naoki Prize for her work Ureteyuku Natsu (熟れてゆく夏).[2] Her publisher initially printed 8,000 copies of the book, but after the announcement of the award they decided to print 50,000 more.[4] Tōdō went on to win many other awards as well. In 2001 she won the Shimase Renai Bungaku Award [ja] for her book Songu obu Sandē (ソング・オブ・サンデー)(Song of Sunday). In 2003 she won the Shibata Renzaburō Award [ja] for her novel Aki no Neko (秋の猫).[3]

Tōdō's works are largely romances featuring women who don't believe that the men that they are with will be faithful. Writer Sachiko Schierbeck also points out that there is a hint of lesbianism in Tōdō's stories, which is unusual for Japanese fiction.[2]

Selected works

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  • Madonna no Gotoku (マドンナのごとく), 1988
  • Ureteyuku Natsu (熟れてゆく夏), 1988
  • Songu obu Sandē (ソング・オブ・サンデー), 2001
  • Aki no Neko (秋の猫), 2003

References

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  1. ^ a b 日本人名大辞典+Plus,デジタル大辞泉, デジタル版. "藤堂志津子とは". コトバンク (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-11-06.
  2. ^ a b c d Schierbeck, Sachiko Shibata (1994). Japanese women novelists in the 20th century : 104 biographies, 1900-1993. Marlene R. Edelstein. [Copenhagen]: Museum Tusculanum Press. ISBN 87-7289-268-4. OCLC 32348453.
  3. ^ a b "藤堂志津子(とうどう しづこ)-直木賞受賞作家|直木賞のすべて". prizesworld.com. Retrieved 2022-11-06.
  4. ^ Look Japan. Look Japan, Limited. 1989. p. 33.