was a Japanese

haiku is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a ''kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 '' on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, and a ''kigo'', or se ...

poet active in

Shōwa period Shōwa may refer to: * Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa * Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufacturer, affiliated with the Honda keiretsu Japanese eras * Jōwa (Heian ...

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 ...

Early life

Matsumoto was born in the Sarugakuchō district of

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

into a family of

Noh is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Developed by Kan'ami and his son Zeami, it is the oldest major theatre art that is still regularly performed today. Although the terms Noh and ' ...

theater players of the Hosho school. His stage debut was at the age of eight. From the earliest age, he was devoted to honing his skills as a Noh actor. He also had a strong interest in classical Chinese literature,

Japanese calligraphy also called is a form of calligraphy, or artistic writing, of the Japanese language. Written Japanese was originally based on Chinese characters only, but the advent of the hiragana and katakana Japanese syllabaries resulted in intrin ...

and the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

, and was also fond of popular theater and ''

rakugo is a form of ''yose'', which is itself a form of Japanese verbal entertainment. The lone sits on a raised platform, a . Using only a and a as props, and without standing up from the seiza sitting position, the rakugo artist depicts a long ...

'' comic storytelling. While recovering from an illness in 1921, he came across the haiku

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 ...

'' Hototogisu''. Later, he joined ''Shippo-kai'', a haiku circle predominantly for Noh actors and began to study haiku under the famed poet

Takahama Kyoshi was a Japanese poet active during the Shōwa period of Japan. His real name was ; Kyoshi was a pen name given to him by his mentor, Masaoka Shiki. Early life Kyoshi was born in what is now the city of Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture; his father, Ik ...

. At around the age of 20, Matsumoto abandoned the idea of becoming a Noh actor because of his ongoing health problems and turned to composing haiku professionally. After spending the summer of 1925 recuperating from illness in

Kamakura is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Kamakura has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 persons per km² over the total area of . Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939. Kamak ...

, Matsumoto moved there the following year and made it his home until 1945. He composed many verses about Kamakura during that period. In 1929, he joined the ''Hototogisu'' group, where he was acknowledged to be an equal of the much acclaimed Kawabata Bosha.

Literary career

In 1935, Matsumoto published his first

anthology, ''Matsumoto Takashi Kushu''. This was followed by the haiku anthologies ''Taka'' ("Hawk"), ''Yumi'' ("Arrow"), ''Nomori'' ("Gamekeeper") and the essay collections of ''Ego no Hana'' ("

Styrax ''Styrax'' (common names storax or snowbell) is a genus of about 130 species of large shrubs or small trees in the family Styracaceae, mostly native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the majority in eastern ...

blossom"), and ''Kanawa'' ("Iron Ring") In 1946, he began his own

, ''Fue'' ("Flute"). He also wrote a

biographical novel The biographical novel is a genre of novel which provides a fictional account of a contemporary or historical person's life. Like other forms of biographical fiction, details are often trimmed or reimagined to meet the artistic needs of the fiction ...

about the late nineteenth century Noh actor, Hosho Kuro. In 1954, he was awarded the 5th

Yomiuri Literary Prize The is a literary award in Japan. The prize was founded in 1949 by the Yomiuri Shinbun Company to help form a "strong cultural nation". The winner is awarded two million Japanese yen and an inkstone. Award categories For the first two years, ...

for haiku. Matsumoto died in 1956 at the age of 50.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matsumoto, Takashi 1906 births 1956 deaths People from Tokyo Yomiuri Prize winners 20th-century Japanese poets Japanese haiku poets

Early life

Literary career

See also

References