Ayako Miura
Encyclopedia
was a Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 novelist. She published over eighty works of both fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...

 and non-fiction
Non-fiction
Non-fiction is the form of any narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and descriptions are understood to be fact...

. Many of her works are considered best-sellers, and a number have been remade as feature-length films.

Her debut novel
Debut novel
A debut novel is the first novel an author publishes. Debut novels are the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to publish in the future...

, Hyōten (氷点, "Freezing Point"), was published in 1964, and won the Asahi Shimbun
Asahi Shimbun
The is the second most circulated out of the five national newspapers in Japan. Its circulation, which was 7.96 million for its morning edition and 3.1 million for its evening edition as of June 2010, was second behind that of Yomiuri Shimbun...

's Ten Million Yen Award that same year.

Profile

Miura Ayako (née Hotta Ayako) was born in the town of Asahikawa, on Hokkaidō
Hokkaido
, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...

, the northernmost of Japan's main islands. She remained there for the rest of her life, even after becoming a best-selling writer, in spite of pressure to move to Tokyo, the center of Japan's publishing world. Asahikawa and Hokkaidō are frequently the settings of her novels, and this is part of what characterizes her writing. The influence of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

 is also a major element in her works. Japanese scholars have compared her writing to that of Natsume Sōseki
Natsume Soseki
, born ', is widely considered to be the foremost Japanese novelist of the Meiji period . He is best known for his novels Kokoro, Botchan, I Am a Cat and his unfinished work Light and Darkness. He was also a scholar of British literature and composer of haiku, Chinese-style poetry, and fairy tales...

 and Dazai Osamu, authors whose works had left a deep impression on her in her youth (Miura 1982). Her family was large and not very well-off financially, but they always managed to be clothed and fed. Ayako was a voracious reader as a child, borrowing Japanese classics and translated Western classics wherever she could find them. She became an elementary school teacher when she was seventeen. This was during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, and she faithfully carried out the educational policies of the wartime government without the smallest of doubts.

Ayako left the teaching profession upon Japan's defeat in WWII, when she became convinced that her own confusion regarding right, wrong, truth and deception disqualified her to teach children anything of value. Soon afterwards, she contracted tuberculosis, then caries
Caries
Caries is a progressive destruction of any kind of bone structure, including the skull, ribs and other bones, or the teeth. Caries can be caused by osteomyelitis, which is a microorganism disease. A disease that involves caries is mastoiditis, an inflammation of the mastoid process, in which the...

 of the spine, which confined her to bed for thirteen years, seven of them in a body cast that restricted all movement. She became a confirmed Nihilist
Nihilism
Nihilism is the philosophical doctrine suggesting the negation of one or more putatively meaningful aspects of life. Most commonly, nihilism is presented in the form of existential nihilism which argues that life is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value...

 until she was converted to the (Protestant) Christian faith. She was baptised in 1952 and, soon thereafter, married Miura Mitsuyo. This marriage was to have a profound influence on her success as a novelist and essayist. Her life before her writing career began is described in the first volume of her autobiography Michi Ariki (1970), which was published in English translation under the title of The Wind is Howling (InterVarsity Press, 1977).

The themes she explores in her novels are primarily Biblical themes: human depravity and egoism on the one hand, and sacrifice and forgiveness of sin on the other. She is often compared and contrasted with the Japanese Catholic novelist Endo Shusaku, who lived around the same time.

English translations

Miura novels that have been translated into English include the following:
  • Hyōten (Asahi Shinbunsha, 1965). Translated into English as Freezing Point (Dawn Press 1986).
  • Shiokari Tōge (Shinchôsha, 1968). Translated into English as Shiokari Pass (OMF Press,1974).
  • Yuki no Arubamu (Shôgakkan, 1986). Translated into English as A Heart of Winter (OMF Press, 1991).
  • Kairei (Asahi Shinbunsha, 1981). Translated into English as Hidden Ranges (Dawn Press, 1993).
  • Hosokawa Garasha Fujin (Shufunotomosha, 1975). Translated into English as Lady Gracia (IBC Publishing, 2004).
  • Michi Ariki (Shufunotomosha, 1969). Translated into English as The Wind is Howling (Intervarsity Press, 1977)

External links

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