Learning History of Ariyoshi’s Friendship with Keene in Wakayama; Intellectual Curiosity Shared by Japanese Writer and American Scholar

By Futoshi Mori / Japan News Senior Writer

13:37 JST, March 26, 2026

An event was held in Wakayama City on March 19 to deepen the public’s understanding of the friendship and achievements of Sawako Ariyoshi (1931–84), the author of novels such as “The River Ki” and “The Twilight Years,” and Donald Keene (1922–2019), the American scholar who introduced Japanese literature to the wider world. At the event, an audience of about 100 people was delighted by many fascinating anecdotes about the commonalities between her and Keene, as well as their shared intellectual curiosity.

The “bullet” suit

Ariyoshi spent her early childhood in Wakayama, and later returned there for several years as an evacuee during the Pacific War. She would go on to leave behind many works set in and around the city.

The event, organized by the city government and held at the Wakayama City Museum, consisted of three parts. In the first part, Seiki Keene, 75, who became Donald Keene’s adopted son in 2012, 7 years before Donald’s death, gave a lecture.

“This [clothing that I am wearing] is the ‘bullet’ suit,” Seiki said as he stood up at one point during his lecture. The venue erupted in applause and laughter. The dark navy suit with vertical stripes that Seiki had on that day was tailored from high-quality British fabric that Ariyoshi had given to Keene. It was a favorite of Keene’s, and Seiki still stores it carefully. He shared the following anecdote, saying, “My father told me this story many times.”

Keene once wrote of Ariyoshi, “What I particularly admired was her generosity, which can only be described as overwhelming.” As a specific example, he recounted that while he was writing a series of essays for a weekly magazine, Ariyoshi would call him every week to offer encouragement or express concern after reading each one. Keene, who worried every time about whether anyone would read what he had written, was deeply grateful. When the series was collected into a book and published in English, he dedicated it to Ariyoshi, who sent him back a gift of high-quality suit fabric so quickly. It was “just like a bullet.”

Their friendship began in 1959, when Ariyoshi was 28 and Keene was 37. That year, Ariyoshi published one of her masterpieces, “The River Ki,” and she met Keene for the first time just before leaving to study at a university in New York. From their very first meeting, Keene was impressed by Ariyoshi’s intelligence. Their shared intellectual interests extended beyond literature. They also shared a deep appreciation for traditional Japanese performing arts, and Seiki remarked, “I think they just clicked.”

In one of his essays, Keene wrote with a touch of humor, “If Ariyoshi-san were to meet Sei Shonagon (female author of the mid-Heian period), I imagine they would have plenty in common to talk about, and besides, being so knowledgeable, Ariyoshi-san would surely have a lot to teach Sei Shonagon.”

Every November or December, Keene would invite close friends to a party at his apartment. Along with such figures as the writer Kobo Abe, the pianist Hiroko Nakamura and onetime Minister of Education Michio Nagai, Ariyoshi was a regular guest.

Their friendship lasted for a quarter of a century, until Ariyoshi passed away suddenly at the age of 53.

Contrasting poetic selections

The second part of the event, titled “The literature brought about by Donald Keene and Sawako Ariyoshi,” was a panel discussion moderated by Masakazu Onda, director of the Wakayama City Ariyoshi Sawako Memorial Museum. Four panelists participated, including Seiki and haiku poet Yuki Horimoto. The panelists, each with their own fields of specialization, shared their perspectives and exchanged opinions on Ariyoshi and Keene.

During the discussion, the group touched on the Tanabata haiku gathering held on July 7, 1973, at Ariyoshi’s residence in Suginami Ward, Tokyo. A total of seven people attended, including Ariyoshi, Keene, the then president of Nomura Securities company and actor Daisuke Kato, who frequently appeared in films directed by Akira Kurosawa.

Horimoto explained that the event was a “Sekidai” session, in which participants composed haiku based on themes announced on the spot. It is likely that the participants anonymously submitted seven haiku each on themes such as Tanabata or the furo, a tea ceremony utensil. Afterward, each participant selected ten haiku they considered the best from among the submissions, read them aloud and offered commentary.

Normally, participants would only select others’ haiku, but four of the ten chosen by Ariyoshi were ones she herself had written. Keene’s selections, by contrast did not include any of his own haiku. It was said that this was Ariyoshi’s way of livening up the gathering, and Horimoto remarked, “That free-spirited, go-with-the flow attitude really reflects Ariyoshi’s personality,” causing the audience to burst into laughter.

In the third and final part of the event, rakugo performer Maimai Katsura read aloud the first story from Ariyoshi’s book “Aoi Tsubo” (The blue pot), a collection of linked short stories which achieved the unprecedented feat of topping the paperback bestseller list in the first half of last year. Maimai delivered the reading so vividly that the scenes of dialogue in the Kansai dialect seemed to come to life before the audience’s eyes.

Wonderful connection from “heaven”

The Ariyoshi Sawako Memorial Museum, where Onda serves as director, only opened in June 2022. The facility was created by relocating and restoring Ariyoshi’s residence in Tokyo’s Suginami Ward, where she wrote many of her works. Her study, including the desk and chair she used, as well as her tearoom and garden, have been recreated almost exactly as they were in her lifetime. Important documents are also on display.

Seiki, who used to be a Joruri shamisen player, once performed in a puppet theater production that Ariyoshi scripted and directed when she was young.

Onda, 76, graduated from Niigata Prefectural Niigata High School, as did Seiki, who was just a year behind him. The two reportedly learned of this connection when they first met last year. This was one reason that they were able to organize the event so quickly.

An amazing and wonderful connection could be felt between the attendees, as if Ariyoshi and Keene were orchestrating everything from heaven.

Japanese version

有吉佐和子さんとドナルド・キーンさんの四半世紀にわたる交流、対照的な人柄と縁をしのぶ