Lee Yangji

Yangji Lee (Yoshie Tanaka, 1955–1992), a second-generation Zainichi (ethnic Korean residing in Japan) novelist, artist, and folk dancer, used writing as one of many creative outlets to explore her experience as an outsider in both Japanese and Korean society. She studied in Korean literature and performance at Waseda University in Tokyo and later at Seoul National University, where she wrote “Nabi T’aryǒng.” In 1989, she became the first Zainichi woman to receive the Akutagawa Prize for "Yuhi," the last novel she published during her lifetime.
In 1992, Lee died at age 37 from acute myocarditis, and her final novel Ishi no koe was published posthumously. To mark the 30th year of her passing, Yangji Lee Selection and Kotoba no Tsue: Lee Yangji Essay Collection were published in 2022.