[2] The relationship with her stepmother Yayoko, a well-read woman, poet, and a devout Christian, but suffering from rheumatism and unable to run a household, proved to be difficult.

[2][3][4][5] She married the son of a sake wholesaler at age 24, but divorced after 10 years and returned with her daughter, Tama, to live with her father.

[4] Kōda's first works, written at the request of publishers when she was 43, were memoirs of life with her famous father; they include Chichi: sono shi (lit.

[3][4] A recurring theme was her own feeling of inferiority, caused not only by her demanding father, but also by measuring herself against her seemingly preferred sister and her two aunts, both musicians who studied abroad.

[3][4] Kōda's subsequent short stories, novels, and essays explored women's lives, family relations, and traditional culture.

She spent much of her later years trying to raise funds for the restoration of the pagoda of the Hōrin-ji temple, and writing essays on the subject of trees and landslides.