Japan has many poets, especially in modern times. So, who are the poets? Let’s follow me to find out more!
1) Shuntarou Tanikawa
Shuntarou Tanikawa (1931-) is a famous contemporary Japanese poet, playwright, and translator. Graduated from Tokyo Metropolitan Toyotama High School. His father, Tanigawa Tetsuzo, is a famous contemporary Japanese philosopher and literary theorist. At the age of seventeen (June 1952), he published his maiden collection of poems "Two Billion Light Years of Loneliness", and was known as the cosmic poet of the Showa era with this collection of poems. Afterwards, he published more than 70 poetry collections including "62 Sonnets" and "On Love". "Life", "living" and "human nature" are the themes expressed by Shuntaro Tanigawa. His poems have concise, clean and pure language, especially in recent years, which are Zen and ethereal, revealing a kind of perceptual Eastern wisdom. He is unique among the contemporary Japanese poets who emerged after the war and is known as the standard-bearer of modern Japanese poetry.
2) Nobu Ooka (1931- ) is a representative poet and critic of Japan's "Second Post-War School".
When I was in the third grade of middle school, I published the lithographic version of the fanzine "Ghost Words" with my Chinese language teacher and another student. In 1950, he entered the Department of Literature of Tokyo University and read ancient and modern classical poems from the East and the West. In 1951, he published the fan magazine "Modern Literature" and wrote "Hisumi Shusan Lun". Later, he became a fan of "Akamon Literature", "Today", and "Crocodile" magazines. Formed the "Surrealism Research Society" (1956) with Koichi Iijima, Takuyuki Kiyooka and others. He is currently a professor at Meiji University and a member of the Japanese Modern Poetry Society. His major collections of poems include "Memory and Present", "My Poetry and Reality", "Perspective - For Summer", and the collection of commentaries "On Modern Poetry", "Surrealism and Lyrics", and "The Genealogy of the Prodigal Son".
3) Ishikawa Takuboku (1886～1912) Japanese poet and novelist.
His real name is Ishikawa Ichi, and he was born on October 28, 1886 in Iwate Prefecture. While studying in middle school, under the influence of the poet Yosano Hiroshi, he wrote for the poetry magazine "Star" edited by Yosano Hiroshi and began to write poetry. During this period, he sold newspapers to support the workers who were victims of the Ashio Copper Mine poisoning incident. Later, he was appreciated by Yoshitano Hiroshi and became a colleague of the "New Poetry Society" led by him. In 1905, he published his first collection of poems, "Longing". Based on the life experience accumulated during his tenure as a primary school teacher, he created poems that showed his courage to innovate in teaching methods. The teacher's novel "Yun is a Genius".
4) Hejing Zuiming (1874-1965), poet. The original name is flat.
Born in a small businessman's family in Kitahirago Town, Osaka. He began to get close to poetry at the age of 13, and initially tried to compose Japanese songs, haiku and folk songs. Around 1894, he met the poet Yosano Tetsukan and gradually became active in the poetry world. His maiden collection of poems, "The Bow Without Strings," was published in 1900. After the publication of his masterpiece "Shadow of the Tower" in 1904, it aroused great repercussions. The literary magazine "Wenku" with him as its main contributor has successively cultivated many young authors, most of whom later became famous poets. In 1906, he withdrew from the "Wenku" Society, launched the "Shicao Society", and founded the "Poet", which promoted the development of the spoken free poetry movement. Since then, his poetic style has also turned to colloquialism. In 1937, he was elected as a member of the Japan Academy of Art. His other collections of poems are "Yayoi Collection" (1921) and "Violet Flowers" (1937).