Ayako Ishigaki
| Ayako Ishigaki | |
|---|---|
 Ayako and Eitaro Ishigaki in 1927 | |
| Native name | 石垣 綾子 |
| Born |
1903 Tokyo |
| Died | 1996 |
| Spouse(s) | Eitaro Ishigaki (married 1931–1958) |
Ayako Ishigaki (石垣 綾子 Ishigaki Ayako, 1903 – 1996) was an issei journalist. Ayako was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1903. Her mother died when she very young. Her father, a university professor, brought her up. During the 1920s, she became active in politics.[1]
She moved to the United States in 1926, where she became friends with writers Pearl S. Buck, Helen Kuo, and Agnes Smedley and artist Yasuo Kuniyoshi. She married painter Eitaro Ishigaki in 1931 after he had divorced his previous wife.[2] She was active in the New York left, and joined the John Reed Club. She wrote for Japanese-language newspapers and decried the Japanese invasion of Manchuria.[3]
In 1942, following the United States' entrance into World War II, she joined the Office of War Information as a translator and writer. After the war, Ayako and Eitaro were targeted by the U.S government for their radical political views, including their friendship with Agnes Smedley. Her husband was deported from America in 1951. She joined him back in Japan, where she became renowned as a critic and interpreter of America, and for her feminist writings. When her husband died in 1958, she also dedicated her effort to building a museum of his artwork.[4]
Bibliography
- Restless Wave: My Life in Two Worlds, a Memoir, published under the pen name Haru Matsui, 1940.
See also
References
- ↑ Encyclopedia of Asian-American Literature By Seiwoong Oh 128-129
- ↑ "Ayako Ishigaki : Voices From the Gaps : University of Minnesota". Voices.cla.umn.edu. 2012-12-03. Retrieved 2014-02-12.
- ↑ The Cultural Front: The Labouring of American Culture in the Twentieth Century By Michael Denning page 145
- ↑ Encyclopedia of Asian-American Literature By Seiwoong Oh Page 128-129