Crossing boundaries: Gender, ideology and national identity in war reportage by Japanese women writers
Soon after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident (8-9 July 1937), which marked the beginning of Japanese military aggression of mainland China, the Japanese publishing industry sent established writers to cover the conflict, along with professional journalists. Between August 1937 and January 1938, nine members of the bundan (literary circles) set off to China in order to visit the front and to write articles and reportage about the war. Among them there were two notable women writer, Yoshiya Nobuko and Hayashi Fumiko, who also took part to a government-sponsored mission the following year.