A/Void Pregnancy? Yagi Emi’s Kūshin techō and Fake Pregnancy as a Means of Exploring Women’s Struggles

Kūshin techō (Diary of a void), Yagi Emi’s brilliant debut in the Japanese literary scene, was published in 2020 and proceeded to win the 36 th Osamu Dazai Prize. With its provocative tones, the novel addresses maternal issues during a very crucial moment for literature. Indeed, contemporary women’s writing from all over the world is growing more and more engaged with issues such as illness, disease, healthcare, medical practice, and clinical institutions, as well as with the topic of “care,” usually depicted as a women’s responsibility. In this paper, I argue that, through the parody of the Maternal and Child Health Handbook, Yagi Emi advances a critique of the condition of Japanese women in contemporary Japan. More specifically, the use of the fake pregnancy and the diary as a narrative strategy serve as a means to explore contradictions and gender gaps women face during pregnancy, in the workplace and at home, such as sekuhara (sexual harassment) and matahara (maternal harassment), social pressure, prejudice and stigma, and economic inequality. At the same time, I argue that the absence of a male partner throughout the narrative reveals the prejudice and stigma surrounding unmarried pregnant women in Japan, and on the other hand, it makes it possible to read Kūshin techō as an example of Hélène Cixous’ écriture feminine.