Pseudonym of Princess Fukuko Asaka (1941-2009) a Japanese sf author better known as the second cousin of Emperor Hirohito. A great grand-daughter of the same Meiji Emperor whose restoration ushered in Japan's modern era, Asaka lost her title during a 1947 pruning of the imperial family tree conducted by US Occupation authorities. Her pseudonym Bi'en Fū (literally: "Beauty Garden") was used in several stories printed in Takumi Shibano's influential Fanzine, {UCHUJIN}.
Unsurprisingly inspired by the Mythology from which the Japanese imperial family still claimed descent, her "Hoshi no Hakamori" ["Stellar Grave Keeper"] (circa 1968 Uchūjin) depicts an Immortal imperial consort, tending the tomb of the long-dead ruler of a Galactic Empire (> Ruins and Futurity). Some later works, such as "Chōja Gensōfu" ["An Aztec Fantasy"] (1968 Uchūjin) championed the causes of Native Americans, while "Apcolimit Monogatari" ["Apcolimit Romance"] (1968 Uchūjin) was an early work concerning Cyborgs. The critic Takayuki {TATSUMI} locates Asaka not only as a disinherited noblewoman re-inventing a place for herself in a new literary elite, but also as a pioneer in much of the concerns of Postmodernism and SF that would eventually form the basis of Japanese Cyberpunk. [JonC]
Fukuko Asaka
born Japan: 1941
died Japan: 19 February 2009
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