Born to a French mother and a Japanese father, Kikou Yamata, the first Japanese consul in Lyon, discovered Japan at the age of 11. After studying at the Sorbonne, she was revealed in 1925 by her first novel, “Masako”, which followed “Sur des lèvres japonaises” [Upon Japanese Lips], a collection of Japanese poems. With some 30 volumes, she interpreted Japanese culture in France. She also translated literature classics such as Murasaki Shikibu*’s “Tale of Genji” (1928) and Tanizaki’s “The Reed Cutter” and “A Portrait of Shunkin” (1960). Written from a Japanese point of view in order to meet the expectations of the French public, her work reflects the contradictions of a woman shared between two languages and two countries but who tries to fight against the prejudices of her time by calling for the fusion of cultures.
