Day, Michael. 2009. “Children of the Anti-World: Confrontations between Children and Adults in the Fiction of Kurahashi Yumiko.” M.A., United States -- California: University of Southern California. https://www.proquest.com/docview/304995418/abstract/AE9E876B63D84255PQ/1.
Although slightly lengthy compared to the other sources listed, this paper is well laid out and jam packed with crucial insight into Kurahashi, her works, and her sentiments. Since it is conveniently split into two sections, for those short of time I’d recommend sticking to the first as it thoroughly and efficiently explores Kurahashi’s own written expressions of her ideal novel as well as explains the concept of the “anti-world” and “anti-novel.” Day dives into the profound effects of Kurahashi writing about a seemingly nobody, planning to do something, but then never following through and how that is intertwined with her grappling with the notion of human existence. In essence, Day explains that Kurahashi’s writing style is to raise a dilemma but never offer an opinion much less a resolution. All of which Day eloquently ties into his analysis on Kurahashi’s exploration of the tension between childhood and the harsh reality of coming to age in the adult world. Should the reader have more time and interest, the second chapter examines three of Kurahashi’s works more in-depth, which is insightful in its own right but not critical in understanding overall themes or agendas in her greater body of works. I cannot recommend this source enough for anyone looking for insight into Kurahashi’s world views and writing process based on a though review of her own written sentiments.
“Ebine Hiroshi.” 2010. “Experimenting with Jane Austen: Kurahashi Yumiko.” In Persuasions On-line 30 (2). Jane Austen Society of North America. Accessed April 25, 2022. https://jasna.org/persuasions/on-line/vol30no2/ebine.html.
This is a great quick read on the influence reading the works of Jane Austen had on Kurahashi Yumiko’s writing. Particularly interesting is Ebine’s commentary on Kurahashi’s beliefs that Austen’s versions of comedy reflect human order, and how it is crucial Kurahashi’s characters understand this set of social rules to reveal their confidence and courage when they defy them. This source is by no means extensive in terms of its length nor broad in its range of topic covered, but it does sum up nicely the niche influence and nuanced source of inspiration Jane Austen’s work provided for Kurahashi.
Guarini, Letizia. 2016. “Walking through Texts: The Father-Daughter Plot in Kurahashi Yumiko’s Fiction.” Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies 16 (1): 53.
Through the lens of analyzing two of Kurahashi’s older novels, The Long Passage of Dreams and To Die at the Estuary, Guarini challenges the common argument that Kurahashi’s work is a form of plagiarism, simply retelling the plots of Greek tragedies and Noh theater. She eloquently counters by arguing Kurahashi merely uses these archetypes to push an entirely new perspective, such as a father breaking out of his role rather than a daughter rebelling in the typical father-daughter dichotomy. Most important for understanding “The Woman with the Flying Head,” however, is her discussion on cyclical incestuous relationships, more specifically a father’s attraction to his daughter based on sentiments for the mother figure, which she explores in the plot of To Die at the Estuary. Though written for academic purposes, the paper is brief and readily understandable by a broader audience. I also appreciated Guarini’s discussion on how fear of being labeled as a plagiarizer has led Kurahashi to interact more with her readers by attaching notes on her inspiration to her later works.
JAPANquickies. 2021. Yōkai Files: Rokurokubi (ろくろ首) & Nukekubi (ぬけ首). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXcGIiS-awg.
For anyone unfamiliar with the Japanese folk tale of the rokurokubi and the nukekubi, this is the perfect refrence. Not only does it utilize images of original Edo period (1603-1867 C.E.) artwork, but it also provides very relevant summaries of a few of the most popular tales around these cursed figures. Particularly useful when reading Kurahashi is the explanation provided of how rokurokubi are typically killed by covering the body and hiding it from the head as well as the hatred and violence these women endured for a curse that was already the result of the malicious actions of the men in their lives. The narrative style of this piece is also intriguing and nudges the viewer to empathize and introspect on the toll a curse like this can have on a person. In as brief as seven minutes, this handy video manages to offer contemplative insight into popular classical as well as lesser-known stories to give the viewer a well-rounded knowledge base to draw on before diving into Kurahashi’s works.
Sakaki, Atsuko. 1992. “The Intertextual Novel and the Interrelational Self: Kurahashi Yumiko, A Japanese Postmodernist.” PhD diss. University of British Columbia. file:///C:/Users/sophi/Downloads/ubc_1992_fall_sakaki_atsuko.pdf
This thesis paper is not one I would recommend as being particularly useful for understanding Kurahashi or the motivations behind her work for the average reader. It does provide quite in-depth summaries of characters and plots of a few of Kurahashi’s notable works, but overall, the paper lacks brevity and many very original arguments or insights. Of the whole paper, the section on “Thematic Concerns” in the second chapter on identity and amnesia is the most useful. More specifically, the first two paragraphs on page 98 provide the most meaningful insight on the matter, stating that Kurahashi uses elements of incest and amnesia to raise question around her characters’ identities and explains Kurahashi’s world views. Sakaki writes that Kurahashi believes there are three planes to existence: death, society, and nature. Further, humans inherently exist in society and incest is a demoting act, sending them to the animal realm. Overall, unless one is looking for lengthy summaries of Kurahashi’s novels with little additional original commentary, I would suggest reading the original works instead.
SNARLED. 2019. The Cursed Rokurokubi of Japan - Scary Story Time // Something Scary | Snarled. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7WO6FmqKVo.
As a fun narration of a rokurokubi tale, this source serves as a great refrence for a quick and visual example of the types of Japanese folk tales Kurahashi drew on as inspiration for “The Woman with the Flying Head.” The plot and accompanying illustrations demonstrate well the varying sentiments male relatives have twords rokurokubi women in their household as well as highlights the absence of fault and cognizance the rokurokubi women typically possess. This bite size interpretation of the rokurokubi narrative is not all far off from Kurahashi’s and is a neat, easily accessible supplement for better understanding individual characters and their relationships.