Amanda C. SeamanStephen MillerKaufman, Brett2024-04-262024-04-262020-052020-0510.7275/17621364https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14394/33996The goal of this thesis is to examine the theme of community in two translated works, Paradise in the Sea of Sorrow: Our Minamata Disease and Lake of Heaven, by Ishimure Michiko. I analyze how Ishimure defines a community, and I also look at the tension between insiders of the community with outsiders. Next, I look at Ishimure’s use of genre in Paradise in the Sea of Sorrow; she blends autofiction, autobiography, and illness narratives to give different perspectives to reflect on the Minamata disease health crisis. Through this analysis, I also look at the shift in Ishimure’s tone toward outsiders, moving from anger to reconciliation between the texts in question. Lastly, I comment on the change in Ishimure’s public image and discuss a story where she is the outsider experiencing Tokyo.communityIshimure MichikoecocriticismMinamataArts and HumanitiesEast Asian Languages and SocietiesJapanese Studiesthesishttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4419-5896