Yosano Tekkan's monument in Bitchumatsuyama castle

was the

pen-name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

of Yosano Hiroshi, a

Japanese author This is an alphabetical list of writers who are Japanese, or are famous for having written in the Japanese language. Writers are listed by the native order of Japanese names, family name followed by given name to ensure consistency although some ...

and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

active in late Meiji, Taishō, and early

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. His wife was fellow author

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 ...

. Cabinet minister and politician

Kaoru Yosano (August 22, 1938 – May 23, 2017) was a Japanese politician. He was a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the Sunrise Party of Japan and former member of the House of Representatives, serving his ninth term in the Lower House represe ...

is his grandson.

Early life

Yosano was born in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

as the son of

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

priest, and was a graduate of

Keio University , mottoeng = The pen is mightier than the sword , type = Private research coeducational higher education institution , established = 1858 , founder = Yukichi Fukuzawa , endowmen ...

. After graduation, he taught Japanese language for four years at Tokuyama Girls' School, in what is now Shunan city,

Yamaguchi prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 Square kilometre, km2 (2,359 Square mile, sq mi). Y ...

. He was forced to quit over alleged improprieties with one of his students. At the age of 20, he moved to

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 ...

. He supported himself as a staff writer for Tokyo newspapers. On 11 May 1894, he published a strongly worded article encouraging the reform of traditional Japanese poetry, or ''

waka Waka may refer to: Culture and language * Waka (canoe), a Polynesian word for canoe; especially, canoes of the Māori of New Zealand ** Waka ama, a Polynesian outrigger canoe ** Waka hourua, a Polynesian ocean-going canoe ** Waka taua, a Māori w ...

'', to give it more originality and thus make it more popular.

Literary career

Yosano was a disciple of Ochiai Naobumi, and a prominent founding member of the latter's Asaka Society.Keene, Donald 1999 ''Dawn to the West: A History of Japanese Literature, Volume 4'', p.15. New York: Columbia University Press. In 1900, Yosano founded the

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 ...

Myōjō was a monthly literary magazine published in Japan 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 ...

'' (Bright Star), and soon collected a circle of famous poets, including

Kitahara Hakushū 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 ...

Yoshii Isamu Count was a Japanese ''tanka'' poet and playwright active in Taishō and Shōwa period Japan. Attracted to European romanticism in his youth, his later works were more subdued. Early life Yoshii Isamu was born in the elite Takanawa district Toky ...

and

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 ...

. The magazine was immediately popular with young poets who shared Yosano's enthusiasm for revitalizing ''waka'' through the medium of ''tanka'' poetry. One of the earliest contributors to his magazine was a young woman named Hō Shō, better known by her

(after her marriage to Yosano)

. Yosano's own works include ''Bokoku no on'' (Sounds of a Decaying Country, 1894), which despite its title was a collection of

literary criticism Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

, and ''Tōzai namboku'' (East-west, north-south, 1896), an anthology of his poetry, mostly ''tanka'', but also several ''shintaishi'' and ''

renga ''Renga'' (, ''linked verse'') is a genre of Japanese collaborative poetry in which alternating stanzas, or ''ku (''句), of 5-7-5 and 7-7 mora (sound units, not to be confused with syllables) per line are linked in succession by multiple poets. ...

''. Yosano is also one of the five authors of the essays '' 5 Pairs of Shoes''.

References

*Itsumi Kumi, ed.''Yosano Hiroshi Akiko shokan shusei'', Yagi Shoten, Shohan edition, 2001,

External links

e-texts of Tekkan's works
at

Aozora bunko Aozora Bunko (, literally the "Blue Sky Library", also known as the "Open Air Library") is a Japanese digital library. This online collection encompasses several thousands of works of Japanese-language fiction and non-fiction. These include out-o ...

DIJ-Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yosano, Tekkan 1873 births 1935 deaths 20th-century Japanese poets Writers from Kyoto People of Meiji-period Japan 19th-century Japanese poets Japanese male poets 20th-century Japanese male writers Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist priests

Early life

Literary career

See also

References

External links