Izumi Suzuki

was a Japanese writer and actress, known for her science fiction stories and essays on Japanese pop culture. Married to avant-garde saxophonist Kaoru Abe from 1973 to 1977, she is also known for her association with photographer Nobuyoshi Araki.

Life Suzuki was born in Itō, Shizuoka in 1949. Her father Eiji Suzuki was a reporter for the Yomiuri Shimbun. After graduating from Shizuoka Prefectural Itō High School in 1968, she worked briefly as a keypunch operator at Itō City Hall. In 1969 she was selected as a runner-up for the New Writers' Award administered by the monthly literary magazine Shōsetsu Gendai and moved to Tokyo, where she found work as a hostess, nude model, and actress.

In 1973, Suzuki married avant-garde saxophonist Kaoru Abe, by whom she had a daughter, Azusa, in April 1976. Azusa did not come to live with Suzuki until the early 80s, however; in the interim she was raised by Suzuki's family in Shizuoka. Despite this, in 1995 the novel was adapted for film by Kōji Wakamatsu, an exponent of the pink film genre who had earlier directed Suzuki in his 1970 film Violence Without a Cause.

Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki took portraits of Suzuki throughout her career. These photographs were compiled after her death in a collection titled Izumi,this bad girl. Araki's portraits of Suzuki have also been used on covers of Japanese reissues of her works as well as on foreign translations of her stories.

Writing

In 1970, Suzuki was shortlisted for the Bungakukai Prize for New Writers, and from 1971 devoted herself to writing. In 1975, thanks to an introduction from the science fiction author Taku Mayumura, she published her first sci-fi short story, "Trial Witch," in S-F Magazine. She had initially met Mayumura when she made an appearance on the late-night television program 11PM in 1970, during which he suggested she try reading science fiction. SF critic Nozomi Ōmori, a translator of Ted Chiang and Rudy Rucker, has described her 1982 story "Hey, It's a Love Psychedelic!" as a forerunner of cyberpunk.

The sensibility of Suzuki's science fiction has occasionally been likened to drag. Her work has also drawn comparison to the writing of Octavia Butler for its prescience about advanced technologies.

Acting

Although her acting career was brief, Suzuki's work was varied, and she appeared in both pink films and on stage as a member of Tenjō Sajiki, the avant-garde theater troupe co-founded by Shūji Terayama.

In 1970, she appeared in a number of pink films under the name Naomi Asaka, beginning with her debut, A Virgin at Play, as well as Violence Without a Cause, directed by Kōji Wakamatsu, and the film adaptation of George Akiyama's controversial manga Zeni Geba, directed by Yoshinori Wada. On stage, Suzuki was a member of the cast of Tenjō Sajiki's 1970 play 人力飛行機ソロモン The Man-powered Plane Solomon. In January 1971 the troupe presented "Izumi Suzuki's Avant-Garde Theater Week," during which they staged her plays ある種の予感 A Kind of Premonition and マリィは待っている Marie is Waiting. Later that year, she accompanied Tenjō Sajiki to Paris and Amsterdam.

In popular culture

The timing of Suzuki's death is a preoccupation of "The Unfertilized Egg," a short story by Junko Hasegawa, in which the main character, Moriko, who is also thirty-six, is haunted by the fact that Suzuki, Princess Diana and Marilyn Monroe all died at the same age, before their beauty or their powers waned.

Selected bibliography Japanese 愛するあなた The One I Love, Gendaihyōronsha, 1973 あたしは天使じゃない I'm No Angel, Buronzusha, 1973 残酷メルヘン Cruel Fairytale, Seigashobō, 1975 女と女の世の中 Within a World of Women, Hayakawa Bunko, 1978 いつだってティータイム Teatime Any Time, Byakuyashobō, 1978 感触 Touch, Kosaido Publishing, 1980 恋のサイケデリック! A Love Psychedelic!, Hayakawa Bunko, 1982 ハートに火をつけて! だれが消す Set My Heart on Fire! Who Will Put it Out, San-Ichi Shobō, 1983 鈴木いづみプレミアム・コレクション Izumi Suzuki: The Premium Collection, Bunyūsha, 2006 契約 鈴木いづみSF全集 Covenant: The Complete SF of Izumi Suzuki, Bunyūsha, 2014

English Terminal Boredom, Verso Books, 2021 (short stories) Hit Parade of Tears, Verso Books, 2023 (short stories) Set My Heart on Fire, Verso Books, 2024 (novel), trans. Helen O'Horan

Portuguese Tédio terminal, DBA Literatura, 2024 (short stories) - trans. Andre Cunha, Rita Kohl, Eunice Suenaga Incendeie meu coração, DBA editora, 2026 - trans. Jefferson José Teixeira

Italian Noia terminale, ADD Editore, 2024 (short stories) - trans. Ozumi Asuka Hit parade di lacrime, ADD Editore, 2025 (short stories) - trans. Ozumi Asuka Un mondo pieno di vuoto, ADD Editore, 2026 (short stories) - trans. Ozumi Asuka

Spanish

Aburridísima, consonni ediciones, 2025 (short stories) - translator: Tana Oshima; foreword: Chenta Tsai

Selected filmography As Naomi Asaka 処女の戯れ A Virgin at Play (Million Film) 1970 売春暴行白書・性暴力を斬る White Paper on the Violation of Prostitutes: Sexual Violence (Million Film) 1970 女性の性徴期 A Woman's Sexual Development (Million Film) 1970 絶妙の女 The Perfect Woman (Kantō Movies) 1970 情炎・女護ヶ島 Burning Passion: The Isle of Women (Kantō Movies) 1970 理由なき暴行 現代性犯罪絶叫篇 Violence Without a Cause: The Scream of Modern Sex Crimes (Wakamatsu Productions) 1970

As Izumi Suzuki 銭ゲバ Zeni Geba(Kindai Hōei) 1970 書を捨てよ街へ出よう Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets (Art Theater Guild/Jinriki Hikōki) 1971