{"id":690,"date":"2026-07-12T17:28:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T08:28:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/socialakiba.com\/?page_id=690"},"modified":"2026-07-13T09:38:55","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T00:38:55","slug":"higuchi-ichiyo","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/socialakiba.com\/?page_id=690","title":{"rendered":"Higuchi Ichiyo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 1893, at the age of 22, Ichiyo Higuchi moved into a tenement house in Shitaya Ryusenji-cho and opened a candy store to make a living. Once, there was a temple called Ryusenji located just west of the Yoshiwara pleasure quarter, but it was relocated, and another temple named Daionji was built in its place during the Meiji period. This entire area between Yoshiwara and Daionji was known at the time as “Daionji-mae” (In Front of Daionji), as referenced in her novella Takekurabe (Growing Up): “Though the name ‘In Front of Daionji’ smells of Buddhism\u2026” Today, this area is located close to Minowa Station on the Hibiya Line and has transformed into an upscale residential district and a neighborhood of high-rise buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As she began “mingling with the dust of the world,” Ichiyo started keeping a diary titled Amidst the Dust (Chiri no Naka). Her entry stating, “This house sits on the single straight road leading from Shitaya to Yoshiwara,” likely refers to Chayamachi-dori Street, which ran east from Mishima Shrine in Shitaya, passed right in front of her shop, and met Ageya-cho on the northern edge of Yoshiwara. She described the bustling atmosphere: “From evening, the roaring sound of rickshaws and the flashes of crisscrossing lamplights are beyond description. The rickshaws heading there do not cease until one in the morning, and those returning begin to rumble as early as three in the morning.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also noted, “Since the house is a tenement, rickshaw pullers seem to live just on the other side of a single wall.” And added, “How often must a household without men be looked down upon, causing so much resentment.” Having lost her father, Ichiyo was left to live with just her mother and younger sister\u2014three women alone. With rough rickshaw pullers living on both sides, separated only by a thin wall, she must have felt incredibly vulnerable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her descriptions painted a harsh picture of her surroundings: “It is a place with exceedingly many mosquitoes; huge ones called bush-mosquitoes begin to buzz from dusk, to a terrifying degree.” She also wrote, “The well provides good water, but it is deep,” and lamented, “Vanishing without a trace, I am mingling in this strange dust.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking at Ichiyo Higuchi\u2019s diaries and poems from this period, one is suddenly surprised to find verses that could easily be mistaken for Edo kyoka (satirical poems):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like a crab that can only crawl sideways through the world, my heart desires to dwell in pure water. (Crab)
\u4e16\u306e\u4e2d\u3092 \u6a2a\u306b\u306e\u307f\u9019\u3075 \u87f9\u306a\u304c\u3089 \u5fc3\u306f\u6e05\u304d \u6c34\u306b\u3053\u305d\u68f2\u3081 \uff08\u87f9\uff09

Even if I were to become a bear with a crescent-moon mark, I would never want to learn the black-hearted ways of the people of this world. (Bear)
\u6708\u306e\u8f2a\u306e \u718a\u3068\u306a\u308b\u3068\u3082 \u4e16\u306e\u4eba\u306e \u8179\u9ed2\u304d\u306b\u306f \u7fd2\u306f\u3056\u3089\u306a\u3080 \uff08\u718a\uff09

The plum blossoms blooming by the sacred fence of the mighty gods\u2014even their fragrance, alas, has mingled with this world of dust. (Plum Blossoms by a Shrine)
\u3061\u306f\u3084\u3076\u308b \u795e\u306e\u658e\u57a3\u306b \u54b2\u304f\u6885\u3082 \u9999\u306f\u5875\u306e\u4e16\u306b \u6df7\u3058\u308a\u3051\u308b\u304b\u306a \uff08\u793e\u982d\u6885)<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
It is startling to see such poems appear so unexpectedly. One wonders if the shrine with the blooming plum blossoms and the sacred fence was Mishima Shrine (Mishima-sama), which appears in Takekurabe; Senzoku Shrine (Senzoku Inari Shrine, where a bust of Ichiyo now stands); or perhaps Otori Shrine (Ootori-jinja \/ Otori Shrine).<\/p>\n\n\n\n