Although the term “Japanese literature” usually denotes Japanese writers writing in Japanese, the modern period has seen the rise of non-Japanese writers who write in Japanese and publish in Japan. Notable authors include Korean-Japanese (zainichi) authors who focus on economic and family hardships growing up in Korean neighborhoods in Osaka. In 1970, Lee Hoesung (1935–; Japanese: Ri Kaisei) won an Akutagawa Ryunosuke Prize for Kinuta o utsu onna (The Woman Who Scours Cloth, 1970). In 1988, Lee Yangji (1955–92; Japanese: I Yanji) won the same prize for her novel Yuhi (1988, tr. Yuu-Hee, 1991) about the difficulty in adapting to her ancestral Korean heritage. Yu Miri (1968–) won the Noma Prize for her novel Furu hausu (Full House, 1996) followed by the Akutagawa Prize for Kazoku shinema (Family Cinema, 1997). Hyeon Wol (1965–; Japanese: Gen Getsu) won the Akutagawa Prize for Kage no sumika (Where the Shadows Reside, 1999).
Other non-Japanese writers include Chinese-born Yang Yi (1964–; Japanese: Yan Ii), who moved to Japan at age 22 and won the Akutagawa Prize in 2008 for Toki ga nijimu asa (A Morning When Time Blurs, 2008), and Ian Hideo Levy (1950–; Japanese: Ribi Hideo), the first American-born translator turned writer to win the Noma Prize for his novel Seijoki no kikoenai heya (The Room Where the Star-Spangled Banner Cannot Be Heard, 1992). Poet Arthur Binard (1967–; Japanese: Asa Binado) was the first native English speaker to win the Nakahara Chuya Prize for his collection of poems Tsuriagete wa (Catch and Release, 2001).
See also COLONIAL LITERATURE; HEARN, LAFCADIO.
Historical dictionary of modern Japanese literature and theater. J. Scott Miller. 2009.