Fumiko Kometani
Fumiko Kometani was born 1930 in Osaka, Japan is a Japanese author and artist (painter) and a longtime resident of the United States. Kometani moved to the US in 1960 when she was working as an abstract painter, spending time at the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire where she met her husband, Josh Greenfeld (they later moved to California). She changed her focus to writing when her developmentally disabled son Noah became too hard to handle when he was around the art supplies in her studio.
Fumiko Kometani
- Born
- 1930 · Osaka.
- Nationality
- Japan
- Occupation
- novelist · writer · painter
- Education
- Osaka Prefecture University
- Honours
- Akutagawa Prize · Women's Literature Prize · Shinchō award for young writers
- Languages
- Japanese
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Fumiko Kometani was born 1930 in Osaka, Japan is a Japanese author and artist (painter) and a longtime resident of the United States. Kometani moved to the US in 1960 when she was working as an abstract painter, spending time at the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire where she met her husband, Josh Greenfeld (they later moved to California). She changed her focus to writing when her developmentally disabled son Noah became too hard to handle when he was around the art supplies in her studio.
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Fumiko Kometani (born 1930) is a Japanese novelist, painter and writer. The novelist was born in Osaka. Fumiko Kometani studied at Osaka Prefecture University.
Languages used include Japanese. The novelist received Akutagawa Prize, Shinchō award for young writers and Women's Literature Prize.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
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wikidata · Q462172 · wikipedia · Fumiko Kometani
In this article
Identity
Identity
Fumiko Kometani is recorded with the occupation novelist. Recorded as having received Akutagawa Prize, Women's Literature Prize and Shinchō award for young writers.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1930
Fumiko Kometani was born on 1 January 1930.
Primary material
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reference work
- “Fumiko Kometani”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q462172: Fumiko Kometani
General reference · Wikidata
Awards
Her older son, Karl Taro Greenfeld, is also a writer. Kometani is also noted for her expressed displeasure of what she terms the fascist mentality of the World War II Japanese Army. She regularly participates in anti-war and anti-nuclear protests. Her first book, Passover, received the distinguished Akutagawa Prize. It was subsequently described in The New York Times as "anti-Semitic" and an example of Japan's "widespread anti-Semitism", although Kometani's husband is Jewish, and the novel was an adaption of a visit to his parents' house. A judge for the Akutagawa Prize claimed that the Times had misinterpreted the sardonic and self-ridiculing tone of the novel. In January 2025 Kometani's home was destroyed in the Palisades Fire.
• Bungakkai shinjinshoo (1985) • Shinchoo shinjinshoo (1985) • Akutagawashoo (1985) (One of the most prestigious literary awards in Japan) • Murasaki Shikibu Prize (1998)
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Foumiko Kometani: Un-handicapped Art. Asia Pacific Arts, UCLA. June 25, 2004.
- 2.Mulhern, Chieko Irie. Japanese women writers: a bio-critical sourcebook. Greenwood Press. 190–199. 1994. 0-313-25486-9.
- 3.Hopkins, Ellen. Her Story : L.A. Writer Foumiko Kometani's Novella 'Passover' Created a Sensation in Japan, Winning an Unprecedented String of Literary Prizes. In This Country, It Created a Sensation of a Different Kind. 'Passover,' Critics Charged, Was a Work of Anti-Semitism. The Los Angeles Times. June 12, 1988.
- 4.Taro Greenfield, Karl. Mourning Our Dream Home in the Pacific Palisades. Wall Street Journal. January 10, 2025.
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Citations
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General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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