Amy Yamada
Amy Yamada | |
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Born | Yamada Futaba ( February 2, 1959 Tokyo, Japan |
Pen name | Yamada Eimi ( |
Occupation | Novelist, short-story writer, essayist |
Notable works |
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Amy Yamada (
Biography
[edit]Yamada Amy (born Yamada Futaba
According to her interview with the Japanese magazine Bungei, during middle school she was moved by African-American soul music and began to read any novels she could find written by black people, or featuring black people. She held a job in the Roppongi district of Tokyo, an area rich with foreigners. In high school, she was a member of the Arts, Mountaineering, and Literature Club. Her favorite authors were Boris Vian and Francoise Sagan.
After graduating from high school in 1977, she entered Meiji University's Literature Department, but dropped out before graduating. Yamada had a short stint writing and drawing manga under her real name (Yamada Futaba). Her manga debuted in Manga Erogenica and she was featured as a dōjin (fanfic) and female erotic manga artist. While working part-time, she published Sugar Bar (Shugā Bā 1981), Miss Doll (Misu Dōru 1986), and Yokosuka Freaky (Yokosuka Furīkī 1986).
She began writing novels in 1980. Though her works garnered some attention, even receiving praise from Japanese literary critic Jun Etō (
In Yamada's second collection of works, Jesse's Spine, Yamada depicts the experiences of a woman who is learning to adjust to life with her lover's child from another relationship. The writing style of this work has been compared to William Saroyan's novel, Papa You're Crazy.[citation needed] Through her depiction of the child's perspective on the world, she was nominated yet again for the Akutagawa Prize (and subsequently again for The Piano Player's Fingers), though she did not receive it.
In 1996, Trash was published in English translation by Kodansha International (translator: Sonya L. Johnson). In May 2006, three of Yamada's novellas (Bedtime Eyes 「ベッドタイム・アイズ」, The Piano Player's Fingers 「
Legacy
[edit]In her short novels Classroom for the Abandoned Dead, Afterschool Music, and I Can't Study, Yamada tackles the topics of childhood life, bullying, and school life. In an interview with Bungei Shunjū upon winning the Akutagawa Prize, Risa Wataya and Hitomi Kanehara named Yamada's Afterschool Music as one of their major influences, explaining that her works were one of the greatest depictions of modern Japan.[citation needed]
Prizes
[edit]- 1985 Bungei Prize---Bedtime Eyes (Beddotaimu Aizu, ベッドタイムアイズ)
- 1987 Naoki Prize---Soul Music Lovers Only (Sōru Myūjikku Rabāzu Onrī, ソウル・ミュージック・ラバーズ・オンリー)
- 1989 Hirabayashi Taiko Bungaku Prize---Classroom for the Abandoned Dead (Fūsō no Kyōshitsu,
風葬 の教室 ) - 1991 Jyoryū Bungaku Prize---Trash (Torasshu, トラッシュ)
- 1996 Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature---Animal Logic (Animaru Rojikku, アニマル・ロジック)
- 2000 Yomiuri Prize---A2Z
- 2005 Tanizaki Prize---Wonderful Flavor (Fūmizekka,
風味 絶佳 ) - 2012 Noma Bungei Prize---Gentleman (Jentoruman, ジェントルマン)
- 2016 Kawabata Yasunari Bungei Prize---Perishable Teru Teru Bozu (Seishin Teru Teru Bōzu,
生鮮 てるてる坊主 )
Works in English
[edit]Title | Year | Translator | Publisher |
---|---|---|---|
"Kneel Down and Lick My Feet" in Monkey Brain Sushi: New Tastes In Japanese Fiction | 1991 | Terry Gallagher | Kodansha International |
Trash | 1994 | Sonya Johnson | Kodansha International |
"Fiesta" in Inside and Other Short Fiction | 2006 | Cathy Lane (Compiler) | Kodansha International |
Bedtime Eyes | 2006 | Yumi Gunji/Marc Jardine | St. Martin's Press |
Major works
[edit]- ベッドタイムアイズ (Beddotaimu Aizu) Bedtime Eyes (1985)
- ジェシーの
背骨 (Jeshī no Sebone) Jesse's Spine (1986) - ソウル・ミュージック・ラバーズ・オンリー (Sōru Myūjikku Rabāzu Onrī) Soul Music Lovers Only (1987)
風葬 の教室 (Fūsō no Kyōshitsu) Classroom for the Abandoned Dead (1988)放課後 の音符 (Hōkago no Kii Nooto) Afterschool Music (1989)- トラッシュ (Torasshu) Trash (1991)
僕 は勉強 ができない (Boku wa Benkyō ga Dekinai) I Can't Study (1993)- 120%COOOL (120% COOOL) 120%COOOL (1994)
- アニマル・ロジック (Animaru Rojikku) Animal Logic (1996)
- 4U (1997)
- MAGNET (1999)
- A2Z (2003)
- PAY DAY!!! (2003)
Adapted to film and television
[edit]Title | in Japanese | Year | Production | Director |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bedtime Eyes | ベッドタイムアイズ | 1987 | Herald Film (ヘラルド |
Kumashiro Tatsumi ( |
Soul Music Lovers Only | ソウル・ミュージック・ラバーズ・オンリー | 1988 | Promotive Eye21 (プロモ―ティヴEye21) | Ohara Kōyū ( |
I Cant Study! | ぼくは |
1996 | Toho | Yamamoto Yasuhiko ( |
Sugar and Spice | シュガー&スパイス |
2006 | Toho | Nakae Isamu ( |
Evening Meal (includes Wonderful Flavor) | 2013 | NHK series Anime Time for Adult Women ( |
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Kenji's Love | 2016 | TV Drama |
References
[edit]- ^ Kelsky, Karen (1996). "Flirting with the Foreign: Interracial sex in Japan's "International Age"". In Wilson, Rob (ed.). Global Local: cultural production and the transnational imaginary. North Carolina, United States: Duke University Press. pp. 173–192. ISBN 0822317125.
- ^ Marling, William H. (2006). How "American" Is Globalization?. Maryland, United States: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 98. ISBN 0-8018-8353-9.
- ^ Kelsky, Karen (1996-05-27), "Flirting with the Foreign", Global/Local, Duke University Press, pp. 173–192, doi:10.1215/9780822381990-008, ISBN 9780822381990
- ^ Russell, John (2012-06-01), "Race and Reflexivity", Rereading Cultural Anthropology, Duke University Press, pp. 296–318, doi:10.1215/9780822397861-017, ISBN 9780822397861
- ^ Jewel, Mark. "The Japanese Literature Home Page". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-08-09.
External links
[edit]- Amy Yamada at J'Lit Books from Japan (in English)
- J-pop.com review of Trash at the Wayback Machine (archived February 17, 2001)