Yoshiko Shibaki

Yoshiko Shibaki (芝木好子) (May 7, 1914 August 25, 1991) was a Japanese novelist. She became the second woman to win the Akutagawa Prize in 1941. 
Early life and education.
Shibaki was born in Tokyo on May 7, 1914. Her family was wealthy, and moved to Asakusa when Shibaki was a child. She grew up trained in traditional Japanese arts like tea ceremony, writing poetry, and painting. Her parents also took her to see kabuki plays. She began writing after her father's death in 1932 as a way of dealing with her grief. Her mother died soon afterward in 1935. She married economist in 1941.
Career.
Shibaki began contributing to literary magazines in 1933. Fumiko Hayashi began mentoring her in 1936. She won the Akutagawa Prize in 1941 for her short story "Seika no ichi" (青果の市). She was the second woman to win the award. In 1943 the government sent Shibaki to Manchuria to write about Japanese settlements there. She wrote two books about this trip, and continued writing throughout World War II, though she didn't publish. After the war, she published the stories she wrote during the war in quick succession. In 1956, Shibaki visited Southeast Asia with Ayako Sono, Tsuyako Miyake, and Shigeko Yuki.
She became a member of the Japan Art Academy in 1980, and won their award for the literary arts in 1981. Her novel "Sumidagawa boshoku" (隅田川暮色) won the Shincho Literary Prize and the Nihon Literature prize.
Shibaki died of breast cancer on August 25, 1991.
Style.
While Shibaki wrote frequently about childhood and nostalgic topics during her early career, during the 1950s she began writing about prostitutes. She was inspired by media coverage of activists like Taiko Hirabayashi and Ichiko Kamichika, who were working to pass the Prostitution Prevention Law. After her trip to Southeast Asia, she became writing longer stories and became closer to her protagonists. Her stories usually includes two people, one older and one younger, and focuses on the way they interact.