Yangji Lee
Encyclopedia
Yangji Lee was a second-generation Zainichi Korean
Japan
ese novelist born in Nishikatsura, Yamanashi, Japan
. When she was in grade school, her parents acquired Japanese citizenship, and her nationality became Japanese at that time.
In 1982, while studying at Seoul National University
, Lee published her work Nabi Taryong in the literary magazine Gunzou, and her career as a writer began. In 1988, her work Yuhi won the 100th Akutagawa Prize
, making her the second Zainichi Korean to receive the prize (the first being Lee Hoesung
). While writing the novel Ishi no Koe, she contracted acute myocarditis
and soon died.
Zainichi Korean
Koreans in Japan are the ethnic Korean residents of Japan. They currently constitute the second largest ethnic minority group in Japan. The majority of Koreans in Japan are Zainichi Koreans, also often known as Zainichi for short, who are the permanent ethnic Korean residents of Japan...
Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese novelist born in Nishikatsura, Yamanashi, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. When she was in grade school, her parents acquired Japanese citizenship, and her nationality became Japanese at that time.
In 1982, while studying at Seoul National University
Seoul National University
Seoul National University , colloquially known in Korean as Seoul-dae , is a national research university in Seoul, Korea, ranked 24th in the world in publications in an analysis of data from the Science Citation Index, 7th in Asia and 42nd in the world by the 2011 QS World University Rankings...
, Lee published her work Nabi Taryong in the literary magazine Gunzou, and her career as a writer began. In 1988, her work Yuhi won the 100th Akutagawa Prize
Akutagawa Prize
The is a Japanese literary award presented semi-annually. It was established in 1935 by Kan Kikuchi, then-editor of Bungeishunjū magazine, in memory of author Ryūnosuke Akutagawa...
, making her the second Zainichi Korean to receive the prize (the first being Lee Hoesung
Lee Hoesung
Lee Hoesung is a Zainichi Korean novelist in Japan. In 1972, he became the first ethnic Korean to win the Akutagawa Prize. Other representative works of his include Mihatenu Yume and Hyakunenno tabibitotachi .-Biography:Lee was born in 1935 to Korean immigrant parents in Maoka, Karafuto Prefecture...
). While writing the novel Ishi no Koe, she contracted acute myocarditis
Myocarditis
Myocarditis is inflammation of heart muscle . It resembles a heart attack but coronary arteries are not blocked.Myocarditis is most often due to infection by common viruses, such as parvovirus B19, less commonly non-viral pathogens such as Borrelia burgdorferi or Trypanosoma cruzi, or as a...
and soon died.