Hisae Sawachi

Hisae Sawachi
澤地久枝
Born (1930-09-03) 3 September 1930
Minato, Tokyo, Empire of Japan
EducationTokyo Metropolitan Mukaioka High School
Alma materWaseda University
Writing career
Notable awardsAsahi Prize
Kikuchi Kan Prize
Japan Women Broadcasters Association Award
Websitesites.google.com/site/hisaesawachi/

Hisae Sawachi (Japanese: 澤地久枝, Japanese: さわち ひさえ born 3 September 1930) is a Japanese writer, magazine editor and anti-nuclear activist. She is known for her non-fiction writing on Japan's Shōwa era and wartime experiences as well as for her autobiographical work. She is a recipient of the Asahi Prize, the Kikuchi Kan Prize and the Japan Women Broadcasters Association Award.

Early life and education

Sawachi was born on 3 September 1930 in Minato, Tokyo, Empire of Japan. As a child, Hisae and her family emigrated to Jilin, Manchuria.[1] After the Japanese defeat in World War II in 1945, she lived in a refugee camp known as "Kin-Ken" for a year, before her family returned to Japan aboard a repatriation ship bound for Hakata in August 1946.[2][3][4][5] Her mother had become very unwell and her father suffered from jaundice.[5] In 1947, she moved to Tokyo.[6]

Sawachi studied at Tokyo Metropolitan Mukaioka High School then at Waseda University (Japanese: 早稲田大学) in Shinjuku, Tokyo.[2][6] While a student at Waseda, she participated in the 1952 May Day protests, marching alongside the Publisher's Labour Union and then with fellow university students. Two demonstrators were killed by the Police during the protest which became known as Bloody May Day.[7]

After graduating from university, Sawachi worked for Chuokoron-Shinsha publishing house.[8] Sawachi also worked as the editor of the bi-weekly women's magazine Fujin Kōron.[9]

In 1959, Sawachi underwent heart surgery and, after a relapse, had a second heart surgery in 1969. In 1994, she had heart surgery to replace her mitral valve with an artificial one.[10]

Writing

Sawachi is known for her non-fiction writing on Japan's Shōwa era and wartime experiences as well as for her autobiographical work.[1] Her first book Wives of the February 26 Incident, about the wives of the young army officers who attempted a coup d'état and assassinated Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi in 1936 (later known as the February 26 incident), was published in 1972.[11]

Sawachi's book Midowei Kaisen Kiroku established the Japanese casualty figures of World War II's 1942 naval Battle of Midway in the Pacific Ocean. She tabulated the name, rank, birth province, age at time of death, and term of service from Japanese prefectural records, alongside researching the lists of people who received decorations published in newspapers, visiting archives and veterans associations in the United States and Japan and visiting the graves of fallen soldiers.[12][13] Her figure of 3,057 casualties is considered "authoritative."[13] The book was awarded the Kikuchi Kan Prize.[11] After writing Midowei Kaisen Kiroku, Sawachi wrote a series of magazine articles detailing the lives of the casualties from the Battle of Midway and the grief experienced by their families, considered from both the Japanese and American perspectives. The articles were republished in five volumes from 1984 to 1985.[12][14][15] A new edition was released in 2025.[14]

In 1980, Sawachi interviewed Tomiko Satō (Japanese-Chinese wife of writer Guo Moruo) for a biography of her in Zoku Shōwashi no onna (1983).[16]

Sawachi has appeared on NHK programmes such as Talking About the Outbreak of War Between Japan and the United States: Why Did the Navy Make a Mistake? - From 400 Hours of Testimony.[11] In 1985, she was honoured with the Japan Women Broadcasters Association Award.[17] She has also conducted interviews for Japanese late night television.[18]

Sawachi's book 14 Sai: Fōteen explores the concepts of militarism and gyokusai (a term meaning "to die gallantly as a jewel shatters" used by the Japanese military) in the Shōwa era.[19] Sawachi was awarded the Asahi Prize in 2008 for “Non-fiction Work Examining the Realities of the Showa Period Leading Up to the War."[20][21]

In 2020, she wrote a tribute to Japanese physician Tetsu Nakamura, after his death in Afghanistan.[22]

Activism

In 1982, Sawachi appeared at Tokyo High Court as a defence witness, where she criticised the anti-pornography clause of the Japanese Penal Code as "anachronistic."[23]

Sawachi campaigned against the potential repeal of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, a clause in the Constitution of Japan that prohibits an act of war by the state. In 2004, a group of Article 9 supporters, including Sawachi, Kenzaburō Ōe, Makoto Oda, Mutsuko Miki and Takeshi Umehara joined to establish the Article 9 Association.[10][24][25][26]

After the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, Sawachi attended anti-nuclear protest rallies.[27][28]

As of 2023, Sawachi had participated in monthly standing anti-war demonstrations in front of the National Diet since 2015. She has attended every month, aside from a few months in 2020 while recovering from a broken lumbar vertebrae caused by a fall.[29] She also gives talks to young people about war.[5][30]

References

  1. 1 2 Shan, Lianying (2023-10-18). "Women and Colonies: Shanghai and Manchuria in the Autobiographical Writings of Hayashi Kyōko, Sawachi Hisae, and Miyao Tomiko". In Copeland, Rebecca (ed.). Handbook of Modern and Contemporary Japanese Women Writers. Amsterdam University Press. pp. 294–308. doi:10.1017/9789048558360.021. ISBN 9789048558360.
  2. 1 2 "名誉・表彰－芸術功労者". www.waseda.jp. Archived from the original on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 2026-06-05.
  3. ↑ Watt, Lori (2020-03-17). When Empire Comes Home: Repatriation and Reintegration in Postwar Japan. BRILL. pp. 10, 75, 107. ISBN 978-1-68417-490-4.
  4. ↑ "澤地久枝94歳「14歳で終戦を迎え、天皇の人間宣言も、女性の選挙権も知らず満洲で1年の難民生活。敗戦から80年、私は戦争反対を唱え続ける」 筆と杖を相棒に＜前編＞｜教養｜婦人公論.jp". 婦人公論.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-06-05.
  5. 1 2 3 "「14歳」と向き合った澤地久枝さん 「あなたたちは何も知らない」：朝日新聞". 朝日新聞 (in Japanese). 2023-07-11. Retrieved 2026-06-05.
  6. 1 2 澤地, 久枝; Sawachi, Hisae (2014-06-20). "わたしの学生時代 : 朝鮮戦争前後の日本". 成蹊法学 (in Japanese). 80: 139–162. doi:10.15018/00000214.
  7. ↑ Hasegawa, Kenji (2018-09-17). Student Radicalism and the Formation of Postwar Japan. Springer. p. 8. ISBN 978-981-13-1777-4.
  8. ↑ "澤地久枝｜著者｜婦人公論.jp". 婦人公論.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-06-05.
  9. ↑ Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages. Thomson Gale. 2007. ISBN 978-0-7876-7585-1.
  10. 1 2 "特集　病とともに生きる　ロング・インタビュー　澤地久枝　命はもろくて強いもの | Webでも考える人 | 新潮社". Webでも考える人 (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2016-04-24. Retrieved 2026-06-05.
  11. 1 2 3 "澤地久枝さわちひさえ". NHK (in Japanese).
  12. 1 2 Park So-young (2008-11-05). "Viewpoint: The persistence of Japanese militarism". Korea Joongang Daily. Retrieved 2026-06-05.
  13. 1 2 Parshall, Jonathan B.; Tully, Anthony P. (2007). Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway. Potomac Books. p. 575. ISBN 978-1-57488-924-6.
  14. 1 2 佐藤, 由紀. "書籍：澤地久枝著『新装版 滄海よ眠れ』刊行「大勢の死んだ人が私の中で宇宙を作っている（澤地）」". 週刊エコノミスト Online (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-06-05.
  15. ↑ "澤地久枝著「滄海よ眠れ」、番記者の完読ガイド／上 まずエピローグ". 毎日新聞 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-06-05.
  16. ↑ Yan, Lu (2004-04-30). Re-understanding Japan: Chinese Perspectives, 1895–1945. University of Hawaii Press. p. 245. ISBN 978-0-8248-2730-4.
  17. ↑ "歴代受賞者 | 日本女性放送者懇談会　SJWRT". sjwrt.com. Retrieved 2026-06-05.
  18. ↑ Cazdyn, Eric M. (1998). Problem Cinema: Culture, Capital and Form in Japan. University of California, San Diego. p. 118.
  19. ↑ Salğar, Habibe (2022-10-28). "Hisae Sawachi'nin 14 Sai: Fōteen Romanında Militarizm Algısı ve Gyokusai Kavramı". Şarkiyat Mecmuası (in Turkish) (41): 159–180. doi:10.26650/jos.1136996. ISSN 1307-5020.
  20. ↑ "朝日賞 　2001－2021年度 | 朝日新聞社の会社案内". 朝日新聞社インフォメーション (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2026-05-20. Retrieved 2026-06-05.
  21. ↑ "SAWACHI Hisae". Amakuma Ryukyu. Retrieved 2026-06-05.
  22. ↑ Hisae, SAWACHI (2020-03-31). "The Path that Dr. Nakamura Left to the Afghans: The Water that Saved 600,000 People". Japan Policy Forum. Retrieved 2026-06-05.
  23. ↑ Asiaweek. Vol. 8. Asiaweek Limited. 1982. p. 39.
  24. ↑ Carter, Candice C. (2010-09-27). Peace Philosophy in Action. Springer. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-230-11299-5.
  25. ↑ Rosenbaum, Roman; Claremont, Yasuko (2012-09-10). Legacies of the Asia-Pacific War: The Yakeato Generation. Routledge. p. 87. ISBN 978-1-136-93621-0.
  26. ↑ Shibuichi, Daiki (2017-06-01). "The Article 9 Association, Leftist Elites, and the Movement to Save Article 9 of Japan's Postwar Constitution". East Asia. 34 (2): 147–161. doi:10.1007/s12140-017-9269-y. ISSN 1874-6284.
  27. ↑ Ogawa, Akihiro (2013-03-18). "Young precariat at the forefront: anti-nuclear rallies in post-Fukushima Japan". Inter-Asia Cultural Studies. 14 (2): 317–326.
  28. ↑ Ogawa, Akihiro (2018-11-29). "Security Paradigms and Social Movements". Asian Journal of Social Science. 46 (6): 725–747. doi:10.1163/15685314-04606006. ISSN 1568-4849. Archived from the original on 2024-07-03.
  29. ↑ "満身創痍の93歳、国会前に立ち続ける作家・澤地久枝さんの譲れない願い 「戦死は異形の死」「岸田さんは間違っている」：東京新聞デジタル". 東京新聞デジタル (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-06-05.
  30. ↑ 日本放送協会 (2023-08-08). "澤地久枝が若者に語った戦争". NHKニュース (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-06-05.
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