Merami Kyū

**Merami Kyū** [英めらみ, 15 October 1885 - 22 March 1967) was a Kantonese poet, novelist and *nijūgata* model. She is considered one of the Six Beauties of Kanton.

## Early years

Merami Kyū was born 15 October 1885 in Kōryō as the second daughter of statesman and diplomat Sakayū Kyū. Her mother was one of his concubines, an unnamed daughter of a fallen *sai* family who had once been a *meiri* in Kabanko. The Kyū family were high-ranking aristocrats; Sakayū was the elder brother of Emperor Shōmi's mother, Hamiko Kyū, making him a first cousin of the Emperor.

In 1894, Kyū was adopted by a distant relative, Toshimiza Henzata. She entered the Kankōryō Girls' School, then a prestigious establishment, 1898. In 1900, she was married to the eldest son of the Henzata family, Eigo, at the age of 15, after which she was forced to drop out of school due to her pregnancy. She gave birth to her eldest son, Eijin, but in 1905 divorced her husband, leaving Eijin to the Henzata family and returning to her parent's abode.

Having committed what was considered an unconventional and deeply indecent act in high society at the time, Kyū was disgraced and could not re-enter her family's main residence. In 1908, she transferred to Kanma Taiyō Girls' School, a Canadian mission school, as a boarder to resume her studies, which she had given up previously due to her marriage and childbirth. There she met Hanari Suyama, a girl five years her senior, who became her close friend. Around this time, she met the painter and photographer Gunji Hitagano, who became at once captivated by her. She agreed to model for him in return for the payment of her yearly school fees.

Kyū's modeling years continued up until 1912, during which time she established herself as a 'modern beauty' (*taijū*) and became incredibly popular. Her photographs and portraits were printed on postcards, in newspapers, and on posters across the country. In 1913, she met a coal mine magnate named Yasai Sawayama in Tōkai; he was ten years older than her. They married the following year, and she gave birth to her second child, Junryō, in 1914. The couple's age, status, and education were all vastly different, and the union could not have been more scandalous; it created a public sensation. The same year, Kyū graduated from Kanma Taiyō.

## Later life

With her immense modeling success, Kyū was nicknamed 'Princess of Kubura' and received offers from artists, magazines, and photographers from all over the country; however, she inwardly felt isolated and depressed. She published multiple poems about her loneliness and suffering, and continued to submit prose and poetry to multiple magazines, including *Asaseki* and *Kantei*.

In 1922, Kyū ran off with an illustrator named Ryōgo Miyazu. At the time, adultery was not treated lightly, and was considered a crime; Kyū announced her 'Dear John' letter to the Sawayama family in a newspaper, and two days later, a protest statement by Yasai had been published, creating a sensation immediately. Kyū's new father-in-law had a large amount of debt, and life became difficult. When Ryōgo fell ill from tuberculosis, Kyū supported her new family by writing and returning to modeling, with less success due to her recent scandal. In 1925, her eldest daughter, Shimi, was born. From 1935 she presided over the poetry magazine Shinbotsu.

Although Kyū eventually lost her eyesight due to glaucoma, she spent a peaceful life of writing poems until her death. She died in Kōryō on 22 March 1967, at the age of 81.