Akiko Yosano

Akiko Yosano

Akiko Yosano (1878-1942) is undoubtedly the most widely read and admired poet by her Japanese compatriots, from the beginning of the 20th century to date. Born in Osaka into a wealthy family, Akiko received the training of a young damsel: caring for men, cooking and bedroom arts. But she also received the inheritance that her father dreamed of for her first-born, which she would have preferred male: mastery of writing and control of the family inheritance. Akiko held the formidable weight of that double training (similar to that of the greatest writers of antiquity, such as Sei Shonagon or Murasaki Shikibu, who lived equally subject to her father's desire). She ran the family business (a famous pastry shop in the city), raised eleven children, protected a talented and cowardly husband. And she had time to write a few of the verses that the Japanese continue to read to propel themselves on the path of desire and love. Akiko Yosano was a true marvel of firmness and femininity.