Taeko Kono

[1]​ El laureado Nobel japonés Oe Kenzaburo describió a Kōno como una de las mujeres escritoras más "lúcidamente inteligentes" del país asiático, y el crítico estadounidense Masao Miyoshi destacó su figura por su "conciencia crítica e inteligencia histórica".

En 1963 su cuento "Kani" (Cangrejos) (蟹) ganó el prestigioso Akutagawa Premio (su historia "Yuki" [Nieve] había sido nominado en 1962).

Kōno's writing explores how "underneath the seemingly normal routines of daily life, one may find hidden propensities for abnormal or pathological behavior", demonstrating that often "reality and fantasy are not so clearly distinguishable from each other".

[1]​ Alternative sexual practices is a theme that permeates Kōno's's writing; sadomasochism, for example, figures in "Toddler-Hunting," and "Ants Swarm" (1964), as well as her novel Miiratori ryōkitan; and Kaiten tobira (Revolving Door, 1970) features spouse-swapping.

[4]​ Kōno uses these themes to explore sexuality itself and the expression of identity.

One critic has written that the story "turn[s] the myth of motherhood on its head" while another argued that Hayashi was a representation of demonic women who threatened patriarchy itself.

[2]​ In Fui no koe (1968), which one critic has called a "modern woman's Hamlet", Kōno presents the story of Ukiko, whose dead father haunts her.