Early life Sakae Tsuboi was born in the village of Sakate (now part of the town of
Shōdoshima) in
Kagawa Prefecture, the fifth daughter of
soy sauce barrel maker, Tokichi Iwai. Despite the bankruptcy of her father's employer, and the consequent worsening of her family's economic situation, she was still able to complete eight years of schooling, before going on to work in the post office and town hall. In 1925, at the age of 26, she went to Tokyo to marry
Shigeji Tsuboi.
Career After the publication of her debut work
Daikon no Ha (Radish Leaves) in 1938, she wrote prolifically, winning the Minister of Education Award for Fine Arts among other prizes. In 1954 the director
Keisuke Kinoshita made a film adaptation, starring
Hideko Takamine, of her 1952 novel,
Nijushi no Hitomi (
Twenty-Four Eyes), and
Shodoshima became a household name in Japan. In 1967, she was made an honorary citizen of
Uchinomi, Kagawa before dying the same year at the age of 67.
Sakae Tsuboi Prize In 1979, to honour Tsuboi's work, Kagawa Prefecture established the Sakae Tsuboi Prize for children from the prefecture. ==Important works==