Yoshiyuki was born in Tokyo as the third child of writer Eisuke Yoshiyuki and his wife Aguri, a prominent beautician. She graduated from the department of Japanese literature at Waseda University in 1961.[1]
Her first poetry collection titled Aoi Heya (青い部屋, lit. "Blue room") was published in 1963. Her 1967 poetry collection Yume no naka de (夢の中で, lit. "In a dream") won her the Tamura Toshiko Prize.[1][4] In 1973, she published her short story Kioku no naka ni (記憶のなかに, lit. "In my recollections") about her father, who had died when she was only one year old.[1] A collection of short stories titled Otoko girai (男嫌い, lit. "Hate of men") followed in 1975.[1]
Her children's story Mahōtsukai no kushan neko (まほうつかいのくしゃんねこ, lit. "Sneezing cat, a magician", 1971) won her the Noma Children's Literature Newcomer Award.[5][6] Other prize-winning works include Chiisana Kifujin (小さな貴婦人, The Little Lady, 1981)[7] and Kiiroi neko (黄色い猫, lit. "Yellow cat", 1988).[8] Many of her stories have cats as characters or describe relationships between cats and humans, or draw upon childhood memories. Another recurring theme is the way people's cruel behaviour affects the lives of others.[1]
Her older brother Junnosuke was also a novelist, and her older sister Kazuko is an actress.
Selected works
1963: Aoi Heya (poetry collection)
1967: Yume no naka de (poetry collection)
1971: Mahōtsukai no kushan neko
1972: Kumo no iru sora
1973: Kioku no naka ni
1973: Senaka no neko
1975: Otoko girai (short story collection)
1981: The Little Lady (short story collection)
1981: Ido no hoshi (short story collection)
1982: Meiro no futago
1983: Tooka no tsubomi
1983: Haioku no hime-gimi
1987: Hana kagami
1988: Kiiroi neko (short story collection)
Translations
Only few of Yoshiyuki's writings have been translated into English, these include her poems Carrying[10] and Sacrificial Victim,[11] and the short story The Little Lady.[12] Her short story Ido no hoshi (井戸の星, lit. "Stars in the well") was translated into German as Im Brunnen die Sterne.[13]
Awards
1967: Tamura Toshiko Prize for Yume no naka de
1970: 9th Noma Children's Literature Newcomer Award for Mahōtsukai no kushan neko
1981: 85th Akutagawa Prize for The Little Lady
1989: 28th Women's Literature Prize for Kiiroi neko
^Yoshiyuki, Rie (1977). "Sacrificial Victim". The Burning heart : Women Poets of Japan. Translated by Rexroth, Kenneth; Atsumi, Ikuko. New York: Seabury Press.
^Yoshiyuki, Rie; Harcourt, Geraldine (transl.) (1982). "The Little Lady". Japanese Literature Today (7). Tokyo: Japan P.E.N. Club.
^Yoshiyuki, Rie (1989). "Im Brunnen die Sterne". Erkundungen. 19 japanische Erzähler. Translated by Stalph, Jürgen. Berlin: Volk und Welt.
