Background
Kawakami Kikuko was born in Shizuoka Prefecture.
川上 喜久子
Kawakami Kikuko was born in Shizuoka Prefecture.
She graduated from Heijo Higher Girls" School and from the vocational course at Yamawaki Higher Girls’ School.
Her maiden name was Shinoda Kikuko. In 1927, the Osaka Asahi Shimbun awarded her a prize for her novel, Aru Minikui Biganjutsu-shi ("An Ugly Beautician"), which it then ran as a serialized novel in the newspaper. She continued to live in Kamakura until her death in 1985.
Some of her poems were accepted by the literary journal Myōjō.
In 1936, Hayashi and Kawabata encouraged Kawakami to publish Fuyubi no Kage ("Shadow of a Winter"s Day"), Saigetsu ("Time and Tide"), and Metsubo no Mon ("Gate of Ruin") in Bungakukai, a major monthly literary magazine. Following this recognition, Kawakami wrote a number of novels in quick succession, including Hikari Honokanari ("Faint Light"), Biko ("Dim Light"), and Hanazono no Shosoku, published in Bungakukai.
Her style was objective and unemotional, and she depicted the ever-increasing oppression under Japan"s growing militarism. After World World War II, Kawakami withdrew from literary activity, but in her later years published Kagero no Banka ("Elegy on Mirage").