Satoko Tsushima was born on March 30, 1947, in Mitaka, Tokyo and died on February 18, 2016.

She was known by her pen name Yūko Tsushima (津島 佑子 Tsushima Yūko.

Yuko was a contemporary Japanese fiction writer, essayist, and critic.

Her father was a famed novelist Osamu Dazai, who committed suicide when Yuko was one year old.

Tsushima attended Shirayuri Women’s University she published her first fiction.

When she was 24 yrs old, she published her first collection of stories, Carnival (Shaniku-sai).

Whilst he was a prolific writer, she was the winner of several literary prizes.

During 1972, her memoir “Pregnant with a Fox” (“Kitsune wo haramu”) was a runner-up for the Akutagawa Prize.

Yūko Tsushima was awarded the Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature in 1977 and the first annual Noma Prize for New Writers in 1979.

During 1983, Yūko Tsushima was awarded the Kawabata Prize for her short story “The Silent Traders” (“Danmari ichi”) and in 1986, she won the Yomiuri Prize for her novel Driven by the Light of the Night (Yoru no hikari ni owarete).

In 1998, Yūko was awarded the 34th Tanizaki Prize and the 51st Noma Prize for her novel Mountain of Fire: Account Of A Wild Monkey (Hi no yama – yamazaruki).

Yūko Tsushima passed away 68 yrs old.