The writer Higuchi Ichiyō (1872-1896) died young from the romantic illness of the 19th century — tuberculosis, which befell many Japanese writers; she was only 24 years old. Having started writing at the age of 21, she soon achieved fame as an outstanding master of words. In her works, she beautifully conveys the difficult-to-grasp atmosphere of "ukiyo" — "the floating world." According to Buddhist beliefs, life is characterized by fragility and ephemerality; without transience, there is no life, and the world that drifts away into the distance is endlessly sad — that is why each moment of it is precious.
Higuchi Ichiyō passed away in November 1896 at the age of twenty-four. On the day of her death, a true pilgrimage of admirers of her creativity was coming to her home from all over Japan.
The writers raised funds through subscriptions — it turned out there was no money to bury her...
