was a monthly

literary magazine A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letter ...

published in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

between April 1900 and November 1908. The name ''Myōjō'' can be translated as either Bright Star or Morning Star.

History and profile

The magazine was established in 1900. It was the organ of a poetry circle called ''Shinshisha'' (New Poetry Society) which had been founded by

Yosano Tekkan was the pen-name of Yosano Hiroshi, a Japanese author and poet active in late Meiji, Taishō, and early Shōwa period Japan. His wife was fellow author Yosano Akiko. Cabinet minister and politician Kaoru Yosano is his grandson. Early life Yos ...

in 1899. ''Myōjō'' was initially known for its development and promotion of a modernized version of the 31-syllable ''

tanka is a genre of classical Japanese poetry and one of the major genres of Japanese literature. Etymology Originally, in the time of the ''Man'yōshū'' (latter half of the eighth century AD), the term ''tanka'' was used to distinguish "short poem ...

'' poetry. Famous contributors such as

Yosano Akiko Yosano Akiko (Shinjitai: , seiji: ; 7 December 1878 – 29 May 1942) was the pen-name of a Japanese author, poet, pioneering feminist, pacifist, and social reformer, active in the late Meiji era as well as the Taishō and early Shōwa eras of ...

, who also edited the magazine, transformed the traditional poetry with a sensual style in the

romantic movement Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

. Other important contributors included

Hagiwara Sakutaro Hagiwara (written: ) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: * (also known as Sho-Ken), the lead singer of The Tempters *, Japanese pop singer *, San Francisco landscape designer often credited with inventing the fortune coo ...

Ishikawa Takuboku was a Japanese poet. Well known as both a tanka and or poet, he began as a member of the Myōjō group of naturalist poets but later joined the "socialistic" group of Japanese poets and renounced naturalism. He died of tuberculosis. Major wo ...

, Iwano Homei,

Kitahara Hakushu Kitahara (written: ) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Hakushū Kitahara or Kitahara Ryūkichi (1885–1942), Japanese tanka poet * Kana Kitahara (born 1988), Japanese footballer * Kenji Kitahara (born 1976), former ...

, Noguchi Yonejiro,

Kinoshita Rigen was the pen-name of Japanese author Viscount Kinoshita Toshiharu, noted for his ''tanka'' poetry, active in Meiji period and Taishō period Japan. Early life Kinoshita was born in what is now part of Okayama city, Okayama Prefecture, and was a ...

, and Sato Haruo. The magazine was advised by

Mori Ōgai Lieutenant-General , known by his pen name , was a Japanese Army Surgeon general officer, translator, novelist, poet and father of famed author Mari Mori. He obtained his medical license at a very young age and introduced translated German lan ...

Ueda Bin was a Japanese author. Born in Tsukiji, Tokyo, he graduated from Tokyo Imperial University. His major work is Kaichoon 海潮音 (The Sound of the Tide, 1905), a collection of translations from Western poets by Ueda himself. References E ...

and Baba Kocho, with Yosano Tekkan remaining as editor-in-chief of the publication. ''Myōjō'' gradually transformed itself from purely ''tanka'' poetry, to a sophisticated journal promoting the visual arts and western style poetry as well. It is regarded as having a crucial influence on the development of Japanese poetry and literature in the early 20th century. ''Myōjō'' was short lived, as internal dissension dissolved the ''Shinshisha'' literary circle. Many of its original members helped create a successor literary journal, ''

Subaru ( or ; ) is the automaker, automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate (company), conglomerate Subaru Corporation (formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries), the Automotive industry#By manufacturer, twenty-first ...

'' (''The Pleiades''). ''Myōjō'' was revived from 1921-1927 by Tekkan, and again from 1947–1949.

References

External links

* 1900 establishments in Japan 1949 disestablishments in Japan Defunct literary magazines published in Japan Monthly magazines published in Japan Japanese poetry Magazines established in 1900 Magazines disestablished in 1949 Poetry literary magazines {{Art-mag-stub