Hisako Matsubara (松原 久子, Matsubara Hisako, May 21, 1935 in Kyoto) is a *anese novelist who has published works in German, English and *anese.

Born the daughter of a prominent Shinto priest, Matsubara grew up in the serene setting of the Kenkun Shrine in the northern part of Kyoto. She graduated from high school in Kyoto, then attended Tokyo's International Christian University, where she studied comparative religion and literature. After receiving a BA, she moved to the United States to study theater arts at Pennsylvania State University, from which she graduated with a MA. She worked for a while as an editor in the US before moving to Germany in 1962. She lived in Marburg and Göttingen, where she attended the university and perfected her German language skills. She then settled in Cologne, and in 1970, obtained her PhD in philosophy jointly from the Ruhr University of Bochum and the University of Göttingen. In 1967 Matsubara started to write a regular column at the German weekly newspaper Die Zeit. This work turned into a collection of short stories and essays, Blick aus Mandelaugen, 1968, through which she entered the German literary scene.In 1969, Matsubara published a German translation of the ancient *anese tale Taketori-monogatari. She worked on do*entaries of the major German TV stations ARD and ZDF. She published several novels in German (Brokatrausch 1978, Samurai 1979, Glückspforte 1980, Abendkranich 1981, Brückenbogen 1986,Karpfentanz 1994, Himmelszeichen 1998,) which were quite successful in Germany and internationally as well. Her novels are set in recent *anese history addressing changes in *anese culture during the modernization and western influences as a background theme.Matsubara also wrote non-fiction books (Weg zu *an 1983, and Raumschiff *an 1989) highlighting contrasts between *anese history and European history over the past five centuries. She moved back to the US in the mid 1980s, where she was a scholar at the Hoover Ins*ution of Stanford University. In recent years, she has published mostly in *anese, both fiction and non-fiction. Currently she lives with her family in Los Altos.

Hisako Matsubara is a member of the German PEN since 1971 and since 1985 a member of the American Art Directors Club. She received the New York Critics Award in 1985 and in 1987 she was the Writer in residence at the East West Center in Manoa, Hawaii.

Matsubara is married to the German solid state physicist Friedemann Freund. Their son, the physicist Minoru Freund (1962-2012), died of brain tumor (glioblastoma) in early 2012. The woodcut artist Naoko Matsubara is her younger sister.

Works

• The Tale of the Shining Princess, Kodansha International Ltd. 1966, ISBN:978-4770000231
• "Die Geschichte des Bambussammler, Langewiesche-Brand, 1966
• Blick aus Mandelaugen: Eine *anerin in Deutschland, Piper 1968, ISBN:3-8135-0624-X
• "Hisako Matsubara's Weltausstellung", Piper 1969, ISBN:3-492-018351
• Brokatrausch, Albrecht Knaus 1978, ISBN:978-3-442-08451-7
• Samurai, Times Books 1980, ISBN:081290852X
• Glückspforte, Albrecht Knaus 1980, ISBN:978-3-8135-0563-4
• Abendkranich: Eine Kindheit in *an, Albrecht Knaus 1981 ISBN:978-3813566192
• "Blick aus Mandelaugen: West-Ostliche Miniature" Albrecht Knaus 1981 ISBN:3-8135-2146-X
• Cranes at Dusk (Abendkranich), Doubleday 1985, ISBN:978-0385278584
• Brückenbogen, Albrecht Knaus 1986, ISBN:3-8135-0267-8
• Wakon no jidai, Mikasa Shobo 1987, ISBN:978-4-8379-1344-X:Parameter error in {{ISBN}}: Invalid ISBN.
• Nihon no chie Yoroppa no chie, Mikasa Shobo 1987, ISBN:978-4-8379-1266-8
• Raumschiff *an: Realität und Provokation, Albrecht Knaus 1989, ISBN:3-8135-0624-X
• The *anese: A Mystery Unfolded, Atlantic Monthly Press 1990, ISBN:978-0-87113-111-9
• Karpfentanz, Albrecht Knaus 1994, ISBN:978-3813560848
• Himmelszeichen, Albrecht Knaus 2000, ISBN:978-3-442-44700-8
• "Kotoageseyo Nihon", President Sha 2000, ISBN:4-8334-9055-2
• "Ogoreru Hakujin", Bungei Shunju 2005, ISBN:4-16-366980-9
• "Kuroi Jujika", Fujiwara Shoten 2008, ISBN:978-4-89404-665-9:Parameter error in {{ISBN}}: Invalid ISBN.
• Mino: A young scientist's life-long journey through outer and inner space, Daniel & Daniel 2019 ISBN:978-1-56474-614-6

References

• Review of Cranes at Dusk and a biographical note on the author (archived version)
• Sharon Dirlam: Cranes at Dusk. Los Angeles Times, 1985-2-17
• Review of the German translation of Taketori-monogatari in Die Zeit (December 12, 1969, German)
• Hisako Matsubara at Munzinger Online (German)

Further reading

• Sharon G. Carson: Violence in Female bildung: Hisako Matsubara and Ella Leffland. Literature Interpretation Theory, Volume 3, Issue 2, 1991, pp. 151-161
• Ulrike Reeg: Autor/innen aus dem asiatischen Kulturraum. In: Carmine Chiellino (Hrsg.): Interkulturelle Literatur in Deutschland: Ein Handbuch. Springer, 2000, ISBN:9783476052643, pp.:263–274, in particular pp. 265-67 (German)
• Friedemann Freund and Stephanie Langhoff, editors: "Universe of Scales: From Nanotechnology to Cosmology" Symposium in Honor of Minoru M. Freund; Springer Proceedings in Physics 150, 2014

Notes