{{short description|Japanese writer and poet}} {{for|the Filipina screenwriter|Michiko Yamamoto (screenwriter)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox writer | name = Michiko Yamamoto | honorific_suffix = | image = | image_size = | image_upright = | alt = | caption = | native_name = 古屋道子 | pseudonym = 山本道子 | birth_date = {{birth date|1936|12|04|df=y}} | birth_place = Tokyo, Japan | death_date = {{death date and age|2026|1|29|1936|12|04|df=y}} | death_place = Chigasaki, Kanagawa, Japan | alma_mater = | occupation = Writer | language = Japanese | residence = | nationality = Japanese | genre = {{plainlist| *Fiction *Short story *Poetry}} | notableworks = {{plainlist| *"Mahō" *"Betei-san no niwa" *''Mofuku no ko'' }} | awards = {{plainlist| *Shincho Prize for New Writers *Akutagawa Prize *Izumi Kyoka Prize for Literature }} | years_active = | website = }} {{Nihongo|'''Michiko Yamamoto'''|山本道子|Yamamoto Michiko|4 December 1936 – 29 January 2026}} is the professional name of {{nihongo|Michiko Furuya|古屋道子|Furuya Michiko}}, a Japanese writer and poet. Yamamoto won the Shincho Prize for New Writers, the Akutagawa Prize, and the Izumi Kyoka Prize for Literature.
==Biography== Yamamoto was born in Nakano, Tokyo and graduated from Atomi University in 1957.<ref>{{cite book|title=Japanese Women Writers: A Bio-critical Sourcebook|editor-last=Mulhern|editor-first=Chieko Irie|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|date=1994|isbn=9780313254864}}</ref> Her first three short stories, "Mahō," "Ame no Isu," and "Betei-san no Niwa" appeared in ''Shinchō'' magazine in March, July and November 1972 editions, respectively. "Rōjin no Kamo" was published August 1972 in the magazine ''Fūkei''. These four stories were based on her experience living in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, where she had accompanied her husband in 1967.<ref>{{cite book|title=The A to Z of Modern Japanese Literature and Theater|last=Miller|first=J. Scott|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|date=2010|isbn=9780810876156}}</ref> They later appeared in a collective issue. “Betty-san” became the title story for the English version, which was translated by Geraldine Harcourt and published in 1984 by Kodansha.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/01/01/books/exile-and-detention.html|title=Exile and Detention|work=The New York Times|last=Domini|first=John|date=1 January 1984|access-date=10 July 2018}}</ref>
She lived in Kamakura, Kanagawa with her husband. The couple had two grown daughters.
Yamamoto died on 29 January 2026 at a hospital in Chigasaki, at the age of 89.<ref>{{cite news |title=日本の戦争花嫁描いた「ベティさんの庭」で芥川賞受賞、作家の山本道子さん死去 89歳 |url=https://www.sankei.com/article/20260416-FVZRZ7ENABKJNJQ2HTUOY7WXKE/ |access-date=3 May 2026 |work=Sankei Shimbun |date=16 April 2026 |language=Japanese |trans-title=Author Michiko Yamamoto, winner of the Akutagawa Prize for "Betty's Garden," a novel depicting Japanese war brides, has died at the age of 89.}}</ref>
==Literary awards== *1972 4th Shinchō Prize for New Writers for ''Mahō'' (''Powers'')<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shinchosha.co.jp/prizes/shinjinsho/archive.html|language=japanese|title=新潮新人賞 過去の受賞作品|publisher=Shinchosha|access-date=10 July 2018}}</ref> *1972 68th Akutagawa Prize for ''Betei-san no Niwa'' (Betty’s Garden)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bunshun.co.jp/shinkoukai/award/akutagawa/list.html|language=japanese|title=芥川賞受賞者一覧|publisher=日本文学振興会|access-date=10 July 2018}}</ref> *1993 21st Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www4.city.kanazawa.lg.jp/11020/bungaku/kyouka/index.html|language=japanese|title=泉鏡花文学賞|publisher=City of Kanagawa|access-date=10 July 2018}}</ref>
== Bibliography == * ''Mahō'' (Powers) * ''Ame no Isu'' (Chair in the Rain) * ''Betei-san no Niwa'' (Betty-san)(1973), title story of four short stories * ''Rōjin no Kamo'' (Father Gooze) * ''Razō'' (1974), short stories * ''Nichiyōbi no Kasa'' (1976), poetry * ''Yamamoto Michiko Shishū'' (1976), poetry * ''Tenshi yo Umi ni mae'' (1981), novel * ''Umi no Satō-kibi'' (1982), short stories * ''Birejji no Ame'' (1982), short stories
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Akutagawa Prize winners}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yamamoto, Michiko}} Category:1936 births Category:2026 deaths Category:People from Nakano, Tokyo Category:Japanese women novelists Category:Akutagawa Prize winners