Yuko Matsumoto Homepage

Profile

Author and Translator
A director of Japan P.E.N. and a member of 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 the 11th Subaru Literary Award for my first book, " For An Over Eating Girl, The Dawn Never Comes"("Kyosyokusyo No Akenai Yoake", 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.

In 2010 received the 29th Nitta Jiro Literary Award for the biocritical novel "Fireflies in Love; Tomie Yamazaki and Osamu Dazai"("Koi no Hotaru or Yamazaki Tomie and Dazai Osamu", published by Kobunsha, 2009).

Interests

Japanese Literature,
19th-20th Century English, Scottish, German and American Literature
Traveling to the settings of world classics
Feminism, Women's Studies
Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne Series; My essay,"My Montgomery Story" written in 2021
Kimono, Japanese traditional dyeing and hand-weaving
Japanese history; the closing days of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the Meiji Restoration in the late 19th century

Bibliography

1 Novels
2 Book Reviews
3 Essays
4 Translations
5 Poem
6 Book of Speeches

Some works have been translated and published in Italy, Korea, and China.
If you can read Japanese, you can place an order with Amazon.co.jp from overseas for my books.

The latest book is "Rilla of Ingleside", written by L. M. Montgomery, translated by Yuko Matsumoto, published by Bungeishunju in December 2023.
It is the first complete Japanese translation with 585 annotations, two maps, ten photos, and the time line of World War One mentioned in this novel.

"Foglie multicolori dal Sol Levante"
（Multicolored Leaves from the Land of Rising Sun）
translated by Massimo Soumare, C.S. Libri, Torino, Italy, 2010　

A collection of contemporary Japanese stories.
This book includes "Il letto di fiori"("Flower Bed") by Yuko Matsumoto.

1 Novels:

	"For Over Eating Girl Dawn Never Comes" (Kyosyokusyo no Akenai Yoake) 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.
This book was translated into Cantonese and published in Taiwan.	"Androgynous Love" (Syokubutsusei Renai) 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.
This book is one of the collections in The Widener Memorial Library at Harvard.	"Fake Marilyn Monroe" (Itsuwari no 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" (Utsukusii Kumo no Kuni) 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" (Hana no Nedoko) 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(translated and published in Italy). 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" (Tumibukai Hime no Otogi Banasi) 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" (Hikari to Inori no Mebiusu) 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" (Sei Henreki) 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" (Hiki shio) Gentosha, 2004 A collection of 9 stories as follows; "The House of Red Clover Tree"(translated and published in Italy) "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, " (Umi to Kawa no Coybumi) 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."
This book is one of the collection of The Widener Memorial Library at Harvard.	"Fireflies in Love or Tomie Yamazaki and Osamu Dazai" (Coy no Hotaru, Yamazaki Tomie to Dazai Osamu) Kobunsha, 2009, "Nitta Jiro Literary Award"in 2010 A biographical novel. Tomie Yamazaki is a woman who committed a double suicide in a river with a world famous author, Osamu Dazai in 1948. Before she had been written that she was a bar girl, a silly mistress and she killed Dazai by strangling or poisoning him. However I interviewed people who know Tomie during her lifetime. And I found out that she was a daughter of the principal who established the first beauty school in Japan and she was well educated and a professional hair dresser and she owned her salon in Ginza. Furthermore she dressed traditional attire from the tenth century on aristocrats who visited the Imperial Palace. I wrote her real life story, a tragedy of WW2, a relationship and love with Dazai, her contribution to Dazai's works, eg. "Human Lost"(Ningen Shikkaku), and the mystery and the fact of their death.
	"Even Talking with God, Our Dreams Broke", published by kobunsha, January 2013 "Burning Island or Okisodo"(Shima Moyu or Okisodo), published as a paperbacks by kobunsyabunko, 2016.　 A Japanese historical novel about The Oki Island Commune in 1868, during the Meiji Restoration period when the dominion of the shogunate and samurai warriors collapsed, and the Emperor re-claimed his political power through the civil war in the late 19th century. Before and during the resolution, the Oki island in the Japan Sea was threatened by Western nation ships, and the landowners and three thousand farmers rebelled and purged all samurai warriors from the island, and created the first civil government in the world. It was three years earlier than the Paris Commune established in 1871. The Oki Island Commune maintained their administration for 80 days, however it was attacked by the samurai warriors using modern guns and cannons. This operation was allowed by the new Emperor goverment, who disliked the self government by citizens, The Oki Island Commune was overthrown just like the Paris Commune. This historical novel describes the dreams and hopes of the young landowners who governed their island, the death of their friends in the attack, and their revenge against the samurais and the new government. This book has been featured in the book reviews of 40 newspapers and 5 magazines.
This book is one of the collection of The Widener Memorial Library at Harvard.	"Misuzu and Gasuke" published by Shinchosha, 2017 A biographical novel of a Japanese female poet, Kaneko Misuzu (1903-1930) and her brother Gasuke Kamiyama(1905-1999), an editor of Bungeishyunju by Kan Kichuchi and a playwright of Roppa Hurukawa's comedy theatrical company. This novel was written based on Gasuke's journal from 1921 to 1999, which was found in 2014 in Kouchi Prefecture. The paperback, published in 2020

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 about 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 Prince Edward Island * Daily life of the Island in the last 19th century; transportation, 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 foot steps the birth place and the places before her marriage; P.E.I., Her college days; Halifax in Nova Scotia, Her married life; Leaskdale and Norval in Ontario Her last house; Toronto in Ontario
	"Shakespeare's Plays, English, Scottish And American Poetry Quoted In Anne 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 Female 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
	"The Journey to Anne of Green Gables or Hidden love and Mystery" NHK Publishing, 2008
This book was translated and published in Korea.	"Travels in Literature : A Journey through my favorite stories" text and photos by Yuko Matsumoto, published by Shinchosha, 2008 Index 1 Anne of Green Gables 　by L.M. Montgomery......Canada 2 Daddy-Long-Legs 　by Jean Webster......................America 3 Rascal 　by Sterling North....................America 4 The Adventure of Tom Sawyer 　by Mark Twain...America 5 Gone With the Wind 　by Margaret Mitchell..........America 6 Little Women 　by L.M. Alcott..................America 7 Home Town 　by Lu Xun...............China 8 The Moon and Sixpence 　by William Somerset Maugham...Tahiti 9 Die Leiden des Jungen Werthers 　by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe....Germany 10 Heidi 　by Johanna Spyri..............Switzerland 11 Unterm Rad 　by Herman Hesse.............Germany 12 Als Ich ein Kleiner Junge war 　by Erick Kastner...Germany 13 The Diary of Anne Frank 　by Anne Frank............Germany, and Holland 14 Sound of Music 　by Maria von Trapp...................Austria 15 The Merchant of Venice 　by William Shakespeare......England, and Italy 16　Auld Lang Syne 　by Robert Burns...................Scotland
	"To Prince Edward Island and the world of Anne of Green Gables." by JTB Publising, March 2013 　An essay book about a journey to PEI and Montgomery's works. The table of contents is as follows; 1. The Settings of Anne of Green Gables in Cavendish (Green Gables, Brook, Haunted Woods, Lovers' Lane, Shore Road) Places related to L.M.Montgomery (Site of L.M.Montgomery's Cavendish Home, The Post Office, The Cemetery) The Life of Montgomery (Chronology) 2. The Places of Anne and Montgomery (New London, Park Corner, Long River, North Rustico, Dalvay, New Glasgow, French River, Charlottetown, Lower Bedeque, Summerside, Bideford) 3. The Four Seasons on PEI Flowers, Blossoms, and Plants with Excerpts from AGG 4. Enjoy the Island (Dining and Dishes, Accommodations, Souvenirs) 5. Introduction and Reflections on the entire Anne Series From AGG to The Blythes are Quoted With a particular emphasis on the epigraphs in each book, which had not been translated into Japanese before. 6. Let's go to PEI! Travel Information
	"Anne of Green Gables to enyoy in English" published by The Japan Times, in July 2014
This book was translated and published in Korea.	"Anne's Words to Encourage, Inspire, and Confort You" published by Syuhutoseikatsusha, in September 2014
	"Kanako Misuzu and the Kingdom of Her Poems" Published by Bungeishunju,in March 2023

4 Translations:

Hardcover Paperback	1）"Annotated Anne of Green Gables", Shueisha, 1993 -- by Lucy Maud Montgomery, Canadian author, first published in 1908 in the U.S. The first unabridged Japanese translation. And the world's first "Anne of Green Gables" with annotations. (Four years later, in 1997, "Annotated Anne of Green Gables" was published by Oxford University Press, New York) 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. I also wrote explanations about the presbyterian church, the ethnic background of characters, foods, plants, clothes, and Canadian life in the 19th century. See more about these quotes at The Montgomery Digital Library "The Revised Annotated Anne of Green Gables" Bungeishunju, 2019 with 357 annotations and 11 photos by Matsumoto.
	"Bells Journey", Kawadeshobo-shinsha, 1994 --by Marilynn Reynolds ; Canadian children's author, 1993,
Hardcover Paperback	2）"Annotated Anne of Avonlea" Shueisha, 2001 The first unabridged Japanese translation. -- 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 quotes by researching literary digital libraries on the Internet and consulting many quotation dictionaries. "The Revised Annotated Anne of Avonlea" Bungeishunju, 2019 with 256 annotations and 9 photos by Matsumoto.
	"Why We Love Cats" Take-Shobo, 2002 Photos and essays by Kim Levin first published in 2001 in the U.S.
Paperback	3） "Annotated Anne of the Island" Shueisha, 2008 The first unabridged Japanese translation. I have found one hundred sixteen quotations from English, American literary works, and wrote annotations about them. "The Revised Annotated Anne of the Island" Bungeishunju, 2019 with 328 annotations and 14 photos by Matsumoto.
Paperback	4）"Annotated Anne of Windy Wilows" Bungeishunju, 2020 with 380 annotations and 12 photos by Matsumoto.
Paperback	5）"Annotated Anne's House of Dreams" Bugeishunju, 2020 with 397 annotations and 12 photos by Matsumoto.
Paper back	6）"Annotated Anne of Ingleside" Bungeishunju, September 2021, with 530 annotations and 11 photos by Matsumoto.
	7）"Annotated Rainbow Valled" Bungeishunju, 2022, with 500 annotations.
	8）"Annotated Rilla of Ingleside" Bungeishunju, 2023, with 585 annotations, two maps, ten photos, and the time line of WW1 mentioned in this works.

5 Poem:

"Memory of Vanilla"Hakusensha 1994

6 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"

"Our Japanese Constitution Article 9"
Shueisha, 2006

A collection of interviews about article 9.

1)
Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.

２)
In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.

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