Reading Notes W 10: HIGUCHI ICHIYŌSEPARATE WAYS, Part B

The first major Japanese woman writer in six centuries, the poverty-stricken, barely educated Higuchi Ichiyō seemed to emerge out of nowhere. she developed a realism all her own, focusing on the lives of poor and insignificant city dwellers. Higuchi Natsu was born at a time when Japanese women were not expected to receive much in the way of education, but she read as widely as she could, immersing herself in classical literature. One of her most famous stories was separate ways. “Separate Ways” by Higuchi Ichiyo, is a tale of abandonment. Kichizo a rather misshapen and small 16 year old boy is the main character. Kichizo works as an apprentice in an umbrella factory and he has no family. He was adopted by the factory’s former owner a massive woman named Omatsu. She however has been dead for two years and Kichizo’s birth parents have been dead for so long he can barely remember them. Okyo is a seamstress and is similar to Kichizo in the facts that she does not have an immediate family. She becomes friends with Kichizo because she moved into a home near the umbrella factory. They meet because the owner of the umbrella factory is her landlord, so she decided to help mend the factory boys cloths. One day Okyo says she has to movie away to live a better life even as a mistress. He tells her that she is like everyone else who abandons him