TAKEKURABE

Takekurabe (1895–96; tr. Growing Up, 1956), a novella written by Higuchi Ichiyo, portrays a group of children growing up on the outskirts of the Yoshiwara pleasure quarters in the Meiji period. A classic coming-of-age story, it shows how social and gender differences and expectations quickly and permanently alter the loose and open relationships children naturally form. A film adaptation was produced in 1953.

See also WOMEN IN LITERATURE.