Taeko Kono Japanese writer Date of Birth: 30.04.1926 Country: Japan

Biography of Taeko Kono

Taeko Kono is a Japanese writer who is considered one of the pillars of modern Japanese literature. She began her literary journey in the 1950s in a literary magazine called "Literator" by Fumio Niva. She caught attention with her story "Hunting Children" in 1961.

Her major works include "The Crab" (1963, Akutagawa Prize), "The Last Time" (1966, Literary Award for Best Women's Work), "Unexpected Voice" (1968, Yomiuri Prize), "One-Year Pastoral" (1980, Tanizaki Prize), "A Strange Story of the Search for a Mummy" (1991, Noma Prize), "A Story of the Consequences of Love" (1999, Ito Prize and Mainichi Prize), "Joint Ownership" (2002, Kawabata Prize). She has also written literary criticism works such as "The Desire for Assertion in Tanizaki's Works" (1976), "How to Read Tanizaki?" (1999), "Twelve Chapters on the Secrets of Prose" (2002), and others.

Since 1984, she has been a member of the Japan Academy of Arts. She was awarded the State Order for her contribution to culture in 2002. Along with Minako Oba, she was the first woman to be part of the Akutagawa Prize jury (participating until 2007). Kono's works, which have been the subject of numerous studies, have had a decisive influence on her. In her writings, which are written in a concise realistic language and at the same time thematically revolve around openly provocative topics such as masochism and sexual perversions, she subjects societal stereotypes and the foundations of human psychology to deep and multifaceted critical analysis.