My Early Life

A hated brown jacket, a threatening schoolmate, a lantern carved from a watermelon: in Yosano Akiko’s recollections, small childhood experiences carry lasting emotional weight. Growing up in the merchant town of Sakai, she encounters affection and neglect, beauty and embarrassment, the excitement of summer festivals, and the terror of a neighborhood fire.

Nine memoir installments follow her through school, the family shop, mushroom gathering, and the streets and waterways of her hometown. Four portraits of girls she knew extend the picture, tracing friendship, social differences, thwarted expectations, and the distance that can grow between once-close companions. Akiko tells of her own lies and jealousies as candidly as she describes the cruelty of others.

A major Japanese poet and essayist, Akiko brings a keen eye for fabric, color, gesture, and the inner life to these memories, first published in 1915. This complete English translation preserves all supplied episodes and portraits, with notes on historical customs, names, and the author’s acknowledged uncertainties. AI-assisted translation.