Aya Kōda

Aya Kōda (幸田文, September 1, 1904 - October 31, 1990) was a Japanese essayist and novelist. She was the second daughter of Meiji era novelist Koda Rohan. Her daughter Aoki Tama and granddaughter Nao Aoki were also writers.

Kōda was born in Tokyo. At the age of five, she lost her mother, and later her younger sister and brother. She studied at the Tokyo Women's School Joshigakuin. She married at age 24, but divorced after 10 years and returned with her daughter, Tama, to live with her father. During World War II, she helped secure her father's job as described in Aoki Tama's Koishikawa no ie (小石川の家, The house in Koishikawa). Her first works, written when she was 43, were memoirs of life with her father; they include Chichi (父, My Father) and Konna koto (こんなこと, Such an affair). Seen as the writings of a dutiful daughter, they achieved critical success.

Her subsequent short stories, novels and essays, explored women's lives, family, and traditional culture. They include the 1955 novel Nagareru (Flowing), which was made into a popular movie, as well as essays such as Kakera (Fragments) and Mono Iwanu Issho no Tomo (A Friend for Life), and short stories including Hina (Dolls for a Special Day) and Kunsho (The Medal). She received the Yomiuri Prize for Kuroi suso.

Selected English translations

 * The Writings of Kōda Aya, a Japanese Literary Daughter, Alan M. Tansman (trans.), Yale University Press, 1993.
 * Mirror: The Fiction and Essays of Koda Aya, Ann Sherif (trans.), University of Hawaii Press, 1999. ISBN 0824818997.

Selected works

 * Kuroi Suso (黒い裾, Black skirt)
 * Nagareru (流れる, Flowing)
 * Tatakai (闘, Fight)
 * Otōto (おとうと, My little brother)
 * Misokkasu (みそつかす, Outsiders)
 * Shuen (终焉, The Last Hours)
 * Soso no ki (葬送の記, Funeral records)