Born in Hongo, Tokyo, Higuchi Ichiyo resolved to become a novelist to support her family after her father's death. She studied waka at Nakajima Utako's Haginoya school and trained in fiction writing under Nakarai Tosui. At first she struggled financially, even running a general goods and candy shop for a period — an experience that would come alive in her later works. From 1894 she published one masterpiece after another: "On the Last Day of the Year," "Growing Up" (Takekurabe), "Troubled Waters" (Nigorie), and "The Thirteenth Night" — a period called the "Miraculous Fourteen Months." Her distinctive style, using classical literary Japanese to vividly portray the pathos and vitality of people living in the lower strata of society around the Yoshiwara pleasure district, opened entirely new territory. She died young of tuberculosis at 24 in 1896. Her active period as a professional writer spanned only a few years, yet her body of work is considered a treasure of modern Japanese literature. Long beloved as the face of the current 5,000 yen note, she continues to be cherished by many as a pioneering female writer.

A woman of quiet dignity amid poverty. Despite hardship, she never lost her literary passion, transforming her experience living near the Yoshiwara pleasure quarter into masterpieces. Praised by Mori Ogai and others.

Known from the former 5,000-yen bill. In just 24 years, she left an indelible mark on modern Japanese literature. The first female author to secure a firm place in literary history.