Rie Yoshiyuki

• Name — Rie Yoshiyuki • Native Name — 吉行理恵 • Birth Name — Rieko Yoshiyuki • Born — 8 July 1939 • Birthplace — Tokyo, Japan • Died — 4 May 2006 • Place of death — Tokyo, Japan • Occupation — Writer • Language — Japanese • Education — Waseda University • Notable Works — * Yume no naka de • Mahōtsukai no Kushan Neko • Chiisana Kifujin • Kiiroi Neko • Relatives — * Eisuke Yoshiyuki • Junnosuke Yoshiyuki • Kazuko Yoshiyuki • Awards — * Noma Children's Literature Newcomer Award • Women's Literature Prize • Akutagawa Prize

Yoshiyuki was born in Tokyo as the third child of writer Eisuke Yoshiyuki and his wife Aguri, a prominent beautician. She graduated from the department of Japanese literature at Waseda University in 1961. Her first poetry collection titled lit. "Blue room" was published in 1963. Her 1967 poetry collection Yume no naka de won her the Tamura Toshiko Prize. In 1973, she published her short story lit. "In my recollections" about her father, who had died when she was only one year old. A collection of short stories titled lit. "Hate of men" followed in 1975. Her children's story lit. "Sneezing cat, a magician", 1971 won her the Noma Children's Literature Newcomer Award. Other prize-winning works include The Little Lady, 1981 and lit. "Yellow cat", 1988. Many of her stories have cats as characters or describe relationships between cats and humans, or draw upon childhood memories. Another recurring theme is the way people's cruel behaviour affects the lives of others. Yoshiyuki died in Tokyo on 4 May 2006 of thyroid cancer. Her older brother Junnosuke was also a novelist, and her older sister Kazuko is an actress.

• 1963: Aoi Heya (poetry collection) • 1967: Yume no naka de (poetry collection) • 1971: Mahōtsukai no kushan neko • 1972: Kumo no iru sora • 1973: Kioku no naka ni • 1973: Senaka no neko • 1975: Otoko girai (short story collection) • 1981: The Little Lady (short story collection) • 1981: Ido no hoshi (short story collection) • 1982: Meiro no futago • 1983: Tooka no tsubomi • 1983: Haioku no hime-gimi • 1987: Hana kagami • 1988: Kiiroi neko (short story collection)

Only few of Yoshiyuki's writings have been translated into English, these include her poems Carrying and Sacrificial Victim, and the short story The Little Lady. Her short story lit. "Stars in the well" was translated into German as Im Brunnen die Sterne.