Ayako Miura

Ayako Miura in 1966 (from the Monthly Christ January issue)

With almost 80 works to her name, Ayako Miura (née Hotta) was a prolific author whose themes revolved around Christianity, which she converted to in her lifetime. In 1922, she was born in Asahikawa, a city in the northern part of Hokkaido. With three older brothers, an older sister, three younger brothers, and a younger sister in addition to both parents being eldest children and needing to support their respective families, money was understandably tight. Despite this, Miura was able to graduate from Asahikawa Municipal Women’s High School and started working as a teacher at Kamui Elementary School a few towns over in Utashinai at the age of 17.

This was a pivotal time in Miura’s life, however, as Japan was defeated in World War II. She had been reassigned to a school in Asahikawa, but with Japan’s defeat, she was awakened to the errors of militaristic education and the adoration of the state, which led to her quit the profession after seven years of teaching (Miura). When writing about how after the defeat, the students were asked to block out large portions of their textbooks with India ink, she writes, “What made this exercise even more tragic was the fact that the students were so unaware of why they were being instructed to do this. Teachers aren’t supposed to make mistakes. The students trusted us with a special trust, which is why this pain is so hard to express in words” (Miura). She continues, stating, “For seven years I put my heart and soul into teaching my students. I loved them from the bottom of my heart, and I would have been content to teach till I drew my last breath. But having to instruct the students to black out large portions of the textbooks we had used throughout the war years killed any desire I had to remain in the profession.” She ended up quitting the teaching profession altogether.

At the age of 25, Miura was engaged to be married, however, soon after she had stopped teaching, she was diagnosed with tuberculosis. It progressed to tuberculosis of the spine, a painful condition that confined her to an institution for thirteen years, mostly bedridden, with the last seven years spent in a body cast that restricted all movement (Carr). She would eventually call off the engagement which had a profound effect on her: “Having lost sight of what I should teach,” she writes, discussing the time she was diagnosed, “I finally quit my [teaching] job….[When I was diagnosed with tuberculosis,] I felt like mocking myself by saying ‘it’s just what I deserve!’” (Miura).

She became a self-proclaimed nihilist as she struggled with her pain and circumstances. From the Oxford English Dictionary, "nihilism" is defined as a total rejection of prevailing religious beliefs, moral principles, laws, etc., often from a sense of despair and the belief that life is devoid of meaning. With Japan’s defeat in the war, Miura’s subsequent disillusionment with its wartime efforts, and then contracting tuberculosis, she was experiencing an immense amount of pain, not only physically but psychologically as well. A turning point in her beliefs came while she was in the hospital. She had an epiphany about sin: “I began wondering whether it was not the greatest sin of all to be unaware of one’s sin.” The severe diagnosis of tuberculosis in her spine further solidified this sense of her sinfulness:

Although my spine was being eaten away by tuberculosis and I stumbled as I walked, we had been blind to its presence simply because it had not appeared on the X-ray. If this ignorance had continued, might not all my bones have been affected? I certainly would have died. And then I thought, ‘The same could be true of my soul’ (The Lion & Phoenix).

Miura was eventually able to leave the hospital and was baptized by the time she was 30 and then married to Mitsuyo Miura at the age of 38. As he was also Christian, they exchanged Bibles instead of rings.

The poetry Miura wrote was often featured in Araragi, a top Japanese literary magazine. Her debut novel titled Freezing Point was submitted in 1963 to a contest run by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper with a prize of 10 million yen (almost $70 thousand today). Out of 731 submissions, Miura’s was chosen and subsequently serialized in the paper from 1964 to 1965. The main theme was Original Sin – genzai (原罪) in Japanese – a word so unfamiliar to the general public that they weren't sure how to read the characters (Carr). Despite the unfamiliarity, the novel became an immediate best-seller.

Her following book, Shiokari Pass, was published in 1968. Often considered her best novel, it’s based on Nagano Masao, who died in the line of duty in a train accident at Shiokari Pass in Wassamu, Hokkaido in 1909. While the novel recounts his story as a railway worker who sacrificed himself to save the passengers on board, it also describes the inner conflict of a young man who is forced to choose between his childhood sweetheart and his newly found Christian faith (Carr). Due to the popularity of her works, many film and television series adaptations have been made over the years in many languages.

Throughout her life, Ayako Miura had many health issues including heart attacks, cancer, and Parkinson’s disease in addition to tuberculosis. She died in 1999 at the age of 77 due to multiple organ failure. Japan’s literary guild has often relegated her writings to the category of “popular novels” unworthy of serious criticism…largely [due to] her examination of theological issues and Christian themes, which were seen as “foreign” to Japan (Carr). However, the genius in her writing lies in her ability to show how these themes are universal and unescapable, regardless of culture and upbringing. Besides bringing her a newfound purpose to her life outside of the pain she suffered from her illnesses, her writing resonated with readers and is why she remains a significant and celebrated author today.

Additional Selected Works

A Heart of Winter (1991)

Hidden Ranges (1993)

Lady Gracia (2004)

The Wind is Howling (1977)

Visit

Ayako Miura Literature Museum in Asahikawa (and online): https://www.hyouten.com/ (in Japanese)

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Works Cited

Carr, Simonetta. “Ayako Miura – from Disillusioned Nihilist to Christian Author.” Placefortruth.org, 13 Apr. 2021, www.placefortruth.org/blog/ayako-miura-from-disillusioned-nihilist-to-christian-author. Accessed 1 June 2025.

The Lion & Phoenix. “Protestant Profiles #31: Ayako Miura.” The Lion & Phoenix, 28 Oct. 2017, lionandphoenix.wordpress.com/2017/10/28/protestant-profiles-31-ayako-miura/. Accessed 8 June 2025.

Miura, Ayako. “My Life and Times.” Translated by Deborah Davidson. Kamui Mintara, no. 14, May 1986, kamuimintara.net/detail.php?rskey=14198605t02. Accessed 8 June 2025.

Oxford English Dictionary. “Nihilism, N., Sense 2.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Dec. 2024, doi.org/10.1093/OED/7862287626. Accessed 9 June 2025.