Yuko Matsumoto Homepage

Profile

Author
The Executive director of The Japan P.E.N. Club
A Member of The Japan Professional Writers' Association

Born in Shimane, Japan and graduated from National Tsukuba University's Faculty of Social Science and Majored in international politics.

Appeared regularly on TV Asahi's "News Station"from 1985-1988. Received a Subaru Literary Award for my first book, " For Over Eating Girl the Dawn Never Comes"(published by Shueisha, 1988), which was in the top 10 best seller list during the first half year of 1988 in Japan. Then I became a professional writer.

Interests

Japanese Literature,
19-20 century English, Scottish, German and American Literature
Feminism, Women's Studies
European, American Children Literature
Internet, On-line Library, Information Society
Lucy Maude Montgomery, Anne Series
Translating
Kimono, Japanese traditional dyeing and hand weaving
Natural Environment, Western and Eastern Civilization

	"For Over Eating Girl Dawn Never Comes" Shueisha 1988, "Subaru Literary Award" --The main character is a female college student with anorexia and bulimia; examines psychological complications between a mother and daughter, and explores the socio-political meaning of beauty.
	"Androgynous Love" Shueisha 1988, translated into Cantonese and published in Taiwan. --This is a story of sexual crime and abuse against a girl, who has grown up in a society surrounded by sexism, pornography and rape. The protagonist dreams of a world free of gender constraints.
	"Fake Marilyn Monroe" Shueisha 1989, nominated "Noma Literary Award for New Writer" --It is a novel arising from a feminist critique of biographies of Marilyn Monroe. The protagonist is a female Japanese photographer. She takes a lot of photographs of "Marilyn Monroe impersonator" who she is living with in the U.S.
	"Land of Beautiful Clouds" Shogakkan 1993, It was nominated for "The Yuzo Yamamoto Memorial; Robo-no-ishi Literary Award" and the text became required reading for a high school students' essay contest in Miyagi --The heroine is 10 years old, just at the beginning of adolescence. She is living in the countryside, surrounded by rice fields and beautiful clouds. A summer awakening. A story comparing her life with her grandmother's.
	"Flower Bed" Shueisha Pub 1996 --This is a collection of short stories,Flower Bed -- Genuine love between a high school boy and a divorced woman in her thirties. Break Water -- The subtle relationship between two women who wonder whether it's friendship, sisterhood or lesbian love .... A Youthful Man -- A selfish but attractive older painter and a young girl whose parents are divorced.
	"Fairy Tale Stories of Sinful Princesses" This book includes parody stories based on a feminist critique of The Brothers Grimm and H.C. Anderson. Kadokawa-shoten 1996 Sleeping Beauty -- An allegory of sex education in which girls are told they must not masturbate, and must not develop their own sexual desire. A girl has to wait and sleep until her prince enters her castle. Snow White -- A story in which a necrophiliac prince meets an apparently dead princess in a coffin. She is interested only in food. Cinderella -- The best woman has the smallest feet. A tall woman with big feet cannot get married to a nice man. The Little Mermaid -- A story of political fighting between different systemed nations. An undersea nation where the little mermaid is living believes in the maternal line, some goddesses, and pacifism. The other nation where the prince is living has the paternal line, Christianity, and a military regime. Blue Beard -- Women's curiosity is evil and leads us to catastrophe. The wives of Blue Beard opened the forbidden door and got into a dangerous situation . This reminds Blue Beard of other women like Eve eating an apple because of a snake's deception, Pandora in Greek Myth who opened the forbidden box and released evil on to the world and Psyche in Roman Myth who saw her husband's face, which was prohibited. Eve and Pandora are the first women in Christian and Greek Myth, indicating that all women are frail and silly. But men's curiosity gave us development and culture. On the one hand, Blue Beard is woman-hating and on the the other dependent on woman. He wants to be saved by woman's foolishness and nature. It also includes parodies of Little Red Riding Hood, and The Little Match Girl.
	"The Mobius Belt of Light and Praying" Chikuma-shobo,1999 In The Mobius Belt of Light and Praying The protagonist is a novelist in her 30's. She is a really materialistic person.She has a very busy writing and promotion schedule that exhausts her mentally and physically. This has a serious effect on her health and her marriage to an American businessman. After her younger brother's sudden death, she converts to a spiritually fulfilling lifestyle. She moves from Tokyo to a rural area near Osaka , and becomes interested in organic farming, Buddhism, Japanese traditional culture, yoga, past-life experience, and environmental activism. She meets a farmer, works with him and they fall in love with each other. But he is killed in the Kobe earthquake ... At the same time, she notices she is pregnant .... The themes of this novel are rebirth, a harmony between the traditional and modern, and Eastern and Western philosophy.
	"Sexual Pilgrimage" Gentosha, 2001 This has 5 novellas on various sexualities from a gender study perspective. 1)Sexual Pilgrimage ---]a girl's sexual growth, secondary sex characteristic and the awakening of women's sexual appetites. In Japan, many men's' sexual coming of age and sexual history stories have been written but women's versions are rarely published. That's why I wrote it. 2)Blossoming of a Transvestite--- an office worker with a wife and a daughter becomes interested in wearing women's clothes. However he hesitates to go out in a skirt and shoes with heels, and thinks over what manhood is, and what womanhood is. At last he goes out in girl's costume on his day off. Then he falls love with a middle aged married man. They begin a secret love affair but..... It also includes the following novellas. 3)First Love, 4)A Fruit of Date 5)A Gate to a New World
	"Receding Tide" Gentosha, 2004 A collection of 9 stories as follows; "The House of Red Clover Tree" "Going Home" "Till The Bath is Full" "Swallow" "The Critical year of A Man" "Flowers and Honey Bees" "A Cherry Tree After Its Blossoms" "To A Village Among The Hills" "Receding Tide"
	"River to Ocean, Love Letters, " Kadokawa Shoten, Dec, 2005 Love story spanning 17 years of an actress's life, from the age of 18 to 35. From my postscript: "I think that to write a long novel is to describe a world that can't be summarized. But if I have to explain, "River to Ocean, Love Letters" is the story of a flow from the time of youth to matured adulthood; in which a little brook grows into a wide and deep river, and at the same time loses its clear pureness, and at last reaches the ocean, from which it can never return. Love letters are sweet and bitter memories from a youth when you were easily moved by love and hope, disappointment and desire. I hope they will be delivered to you."
	"What I Longed for" Shinchosha, 2006 The Protagonist, Ryoichro Oda, is a translator of American detective stories. He was born in occupied Japan after World War Two. His father was an young officer of the U.S. Navy and his mother was a Japanese teacher. This is a story of one mix-blooded man with two countries' backgrounds, and of his diverse love history.

2 Book Reviews

	"The Reading Hour" Kodansha, 1991.
	"My Book Shelves" Kodansha, 1993

3 Essays:

	"The Art of A Parting" Kadokawa-shoten 1990, translated into Korean and Published in Korea. --Thoughts and analysis on the mental state of people parting; a fond farewell, divorce, breakup, how to say good-bye to your lover, the wrench of sorrow at parting, considerations about Japanese popular songs on parting.
	"Before becoming writer" Shueisha, 1991 -- Essays about feminism.
	"The Days of Wine and Roses" Kadokawa-shoten, 1993
	"The Art of Sexuality" Kadokawa-shoten 1995 --Some thoughts on various sexualities, Heterosexuality, Gay & Lesbian Issues, Feminist critique of pornography, AIDS education, Abortion and Birth Control as basic human rights, Sex education and awareness. Future developments in Erotic expression.
	"Internet Interview Report" Just System 1996 --I interviewed eight people about the impact and influence of the digital age on Japanese society, business, education and lifestyle. Professors of Computer Science and Social Science on the Internet, Science Fiction writers, an Internet Provider executive , a Programmer and the President of Internet Digital Translation Company.
	"Literary Journey to Great Britain" Gentosha 1997 --Travel essays about visiting British authors' homes and their stories' settings; "Peter Rabbit" by Beatrix Potter, "Winnie the Pooh" by A. A. Milne, "The Twelfth Night" by William Shakespeare, "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by R. L. Stevenson, "Evil Under the Sun" "Ten Little Niggers or And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie, "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte, "A Christmas Carol" by A. C. Dickens, "A Sherlock Holmes Series" by C. Doyle, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by L. Carroll, "Daffodil" by William Wordsworth, "Peter Pan" by J. Barrie, "Swallow and Amazons" by Arthur Ransom, "Tom's Midnight Garden" by Philippa Pearce, " King Arthur " by Alfred Tennyson, etc.
	"Literary Journey to America" Gentosha 1997 -- Travel essays about visiting authors' homes and their stories settings; US-"Anne of Green Gables" by L. M. Montgomery, "Little Women" by L. M. Alcott, "Walden or Life in the Woods" by Henry D..Thoreau, "Little House on the Prairie" Series by L. I. Wilder. Denmark-"Hamlet" by W. Shakespeare, "Little Mermaid" by H. C. Anderson, Vietnam-"L'amant" by Marguerite Duras.
	"Seasons of Vacation" Shinchosha 1997 -- Essays of traveling in Japan and foreign countries.
	"The Story of Translating 'Anne of Green Gables' " Shueisha 1998 --An examination of research using new technologies; to find the original sources of many quotations in "Anne of Green Gables" using the internet (digital) Libraries, English and American literatures of CD-ROMs, the King James Version Bible on the CD-ROM.
	"How to Use Computer & Networks in Writing and Translating" Chikumashobo,1998
	"Something Unknown On Anne And Montgomery; The Background of The Stories and The Author" Shueisha Publishing, 2000 Chapter 1 : The Setting of "Anne of Green Gables" * Canadian Society in Anne's Days * The history of The Prince Edward Island * Daily life of the Island in the last 19th century; Locomotion, Governmental policy, Industry, The relationship between English, French and Aboriginal peoples, Interest in Asia, Family and Religious life Chapter 2 : All plants, flowers and woods in "Anne of Green Gables" the studies compare the plants' description in　English literature in the 19th century and the Shakespeare's Plays. Chapter 3 : Life History of L. M. Montgomery from her Journals and letters to her Scottish pen friends Chapter 4 : My travels in Canada to follow Montgomery's life the birth place and the places before her marriage; The P.E.I., Her college days; Halifax in Nova Scotia, Her marriage life in her husband's manse house; Leaskdale and Noval in Ontario *Her last house; Toronto in Ontario
	"The Shakespeare Plays, English, Scottish And American Poetry Quoted In Any Of Green Gables; To Resolving the Meanings of Each Quotation" Shueisha Publishing, 2001 To explain each poem or play, and poet below. To interpret Montgomery's intention of each quotes in AGG. Chapter 1 : Shakespeare's Plays "Romeo and Juliet" "Hamlet" "Julius Caesar" "Macbeth" "As You Like It" "Measure For Measure" "All's Well That Ends Well" Chapter 2 : The meanings of 'Avonlea' and each Character's name Chapter 3 : Arthurian Cycle of Romances and Tennyson's Poem "Idylls of the King" Chapter 4 : English Literature by English Male Poets and Novelists "Evelyn Hope" by Browning , "Christmas Carol" by Dickens, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Carroll, " Child Harold's Pilgrimage" by Byron, "Fairy Queen" by Percy, "An Essay on Critic" by Pope, "The Brook" by Tennyson, "Ode: Intimations of Immortality" by Wordsworth "The Palace of Art" by Tennyson, "Pippa's Pass" by Browning Chapter 5 : Poems by English, American Women poets "Curfew Must Not Ring To-Night by Thorpe, "The Siege Of Valencia" by Hemmans, " Night-Scene In Genoa" by Hemmans, "Bingen On The Rhine" by Norton, "Aurora Leigh" by E. B. Browning, "Woman on The Battle Field" by Hemmans Chapter 6 : The Scottish Literature; Montgomery's old country Poems "Four Seasons" by Thomson, " Hohenlinden" by Campbell, "Downfall of Poland" by Campbell, "Edinburgh After Flodden" by Aytoun, "The Lady of The Lake" by Scott, "Marmion" by Scott, "Mary, Queen of Scots" by H. G. Bell, "The Maiden's Vow" by Macgregor, "Rob Roy" by Scott Chapter 7 : The American Literature "The Vision of Sir Launfal" by Lowell , "Cobbler Keezar's Vision" by Whittier, "The Morning Visit" by Holmes, "The Maidenhood" by Longfellow, "The Reapers and the Flowers" by Longfellow, "Snow Bound" by Whittier
	"Good Phrases in Anne of Green Gables" Discover 21, 2001 A collection of phrases from my translation "Anne of Green Gables" I've added a short comment to each phrase.
	"Good Phrases in Anne of Avonlea" Discover 21, 2002 A collection of useful phrases from my translation of "Anne of Avonlea" I've added a short comment to each phrase. Every page is beautifully illustrated by Itsuko Azuma.
	"Sweets in World Juvenile Literature" WAVE Publisher, 2003 A collection of receipts for sweets found in 17 children's stories from Europe and North America. It includes recipes and essays on each countries' food culture and settings.
	"Nevertheless I Resist the War" Heibonsha, 2004 A collection of antiwar essays by 45 writers. Edited by The Japan P.E.N. Club, the Japan Center of International P.E.N. Club. Yuko Matsumoto wrote "a critic of Antiwar Novels by Three Female Writers; 'A-Un"by Kuniko Mukouda, 'Mom, I'm Tired' by Seiko Tanabe, 'A Boat of Stars" by Yuka Murayama"
	"A Japanese Literary History by Female Novel Writers"in 10 volumes Shogakkan, May 2004 From "Koziki"(the oldest Japanese history and myth book, written in the 8th century) to modern novels. Yuko Matsumoto wrote two essays as below. 1)Comparative thoughts about ugly men and ugly women written in "Koziki" and "The Tale of Genji " 2)A commentary on a woman who doesn't obey social gender roles from the criticism of "The Princess Who Loved Insects" written in the 11th century.
	"Literary Journey to Europe" Gentosha, 2005 -- Travel essays about visiting authors' homes and the settings of their stories; 1) Italy Rome: 　"Roman Holiday"written by Dalton Trumbo Verona: 　"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare 2)Belgium Antwerp, Hoboken: 　"A Dog Of Flanders" by Ouida 3)Spain Sevilla: 　"Carmen" by Prosper Merimee Valencia: 　"El Cid " by Unknown 4)Germany Husum: 　"Immensee" by Theodor Storm Berlin: 　"Emil and the detectives" by Erich Kastner 　"Punkchen and Anton" by Erich Kastner Warnemunde: 　" Emil and three twins" by Kastner

4 Translations:

	"Annotated Anne of Green Gables", Shueisha, 1993 -- by Lucy Maude Montgomery, Canadian author, first published in 1908 in the U.S. This is the first Japanese translation of "Anne" with notations. At the end of this book I 've added explanations of quotes from William Shakespeare, Robert Browning, Rose H. Thorpe, Felicia Dorothea Hemmans, John G. Whittier, Henry W. Longfellow, Alfred Tennyson, James R. Lowell, Sir Walter Scott, James Thomson, Thomas Campbell, William E. Aytoun, Lidya Sigourney, Henry G. Bell, Caroline N. Oliphant, etc. See more about these quotes at The Montgomery Digital Library
	"Bells Journey", Kawadeshobo-shinsha 1994 --by Marilynn Reynolds ; Canadian children's author.1993,
	"Annotated Anne of Avonlea" Shueisha, 2001 -- by Lucy Maude Montgomery, Canadian author, first published in 1909 in the U.S. This translation also has explanations and interpretations of quotes from many English and American poems. I've found out quotes by researching literary digital libraries on the Internet and consulting a lot of quotation dictionaries.
	"Why We Love Cats" Take-Shobo, 2002 Photos and essays by Kim Levin first published in 2001 in the U.S.

5 Poem:

"Memory of Vanilla"Hakusensha 1994

6 Cowritten materials:

	"Queer Studies '96" Nanatsumori-shokan 1996 Sexuality issues; Gay and Lesbian, trans-sexual, trans-gender, transvestite, gay movement in Japan.
	"Handsome Women" Village Center 1998 This is a science fiction story titled " First Love" In a future society with no dress differences between men and women, a young boy falls in love with a beautiful classmate. But he doesn't know his/her sex, because to prevent sex discrimination, his elementary school doesn't check students' sex.
	"Poverty in Marriage" Gentosha ,2003 This is a collection of short stories by 8 female writers. A description not of a golden fantasy but of the reality of married life, of poor relationships between wives and husbands, and solitude in the family. "My Secret Older Girlfriend" by Yuko Matsumoto is included.
	"Encounter" Kadokawa Haruki Jimusho, 2005 An anthology of love stories by 8 female authors. Yuko Matsumoto's story, "A Cherry Tree After Its Blossoms" was included.

7 Book of Speeches:

"Crude Stone in Your Pocket" Shueisha 1997, for High School Students

This is a collection of speeches by authors.

-- The title of my speech is "Eastern Thoughts on Nature"

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