was the
pen-name
A pen name or nom-de-plume 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 name may be used to make the author's na ...
of , a
Japanese poet and scholar of
Japanese literature
Japanese literature throughout most of its history has been influenced by cultural contact with neighboring Asian literatures, most notably China and its literature. Early texts were often written in pure Classical Chinese or , a Chinese-Japa ...
, active in
Shōwa period
Shōwa most commonly refers to:
* Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa
** Shōwa era (昭和), the era of Hirohito from 1926 to 1989
* Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufactu ...
Japan. He also occasionally used another pen name, ''Mizuhonoya''.
Early life
Ōta was born in
Chikuma District,
Nagano prefecture
is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,007,682 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture ...
in what is now part of the city of
Shiojiri. While still a student at Nagano Normal School (now
Shinshu University
, abbreviated to , is a Japanese national university located in Matsumoto, Nagano, Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. As the only national university in Japan bearing the name of a former Provinces of Japan, Japanese province, it bears the nam ...
), he taught himself the basics of traditional Japanese poetry by studying the ancient
Japanese literature
Japanese literature throughout most of its history has been influenced by cultural contact with neighboring Asian literatures, most notably China and its literature. Early texts were often written in pure Classical Chinese or , a Chinese-Japa ...
classics such as the ''
Man'yōshū
The is the oldest extant collection of Japanese (poetry in Classical Japanese), compiled sometime after AD 759 during the Nara period. The anthology is one of the most revered of Japan's poetic compilations. The compiler, or the last in ...
'' and ''
Kokinshū,'' When he began writing his own poetry, he was able to get it published in the prestigious
literary journal, ''
Bungakukai
is a Japanese monthly literary magazine published by Bungeishunjū as a oriented publication.
History and profile
The first version of ''Bungakukai'' was published from 1893 to 1898. The founders were the first generation romantic authors in ...
'', which was enough to make him realize that life as a professional poet was unrealistic.
Literary career
On graduation from university with a teaching certificate, he was hired by the local Matsumoto Higher Girls School. His literary interests became a hobby, and he established a ''
waka'' verse coterie, called ''Kono-hana Kai'', with friends and students. This club resulted in the ''waka'' anthologies ''Tsuyukusa'' (“Dew Flower”) in 1903 and ''Sanjo Kojo'' (“On Mountain, On Lake”) in 1906 brought Ōta wide recognition, although he was only a co-author.
In 1909, Ōta moved to
Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
and was hired by the
Nippon Dental University as a professor of
ethics
Ethics is the philosophy, philosophical study of Morality, moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates Normativity, normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches inclu ...
. He married former student and fellow poet
Shiga Mitsuko in 1910 and the two continued their creative activities while earning their living as teachers.
As fan of the works of
Matsuo Bashō
; born , later known as was the most famous Japanese poet of the Edo period. During his lifetime, Bashō was recognized for his works in the collaborative '' haikai no renga'' form; today, after centuries of commentary, he is recognized as th ...
, in 1915, Ōta began the ''
tanka
is a genre of classical Japanese poetry and one of the major genres of Japanese literature.
Etymology
Originally, in the time of the influential poetry anthology (latter half of the eighth century AD), the term ''tanka'' was used to disti ...
''
literary magazine, ''Chōon'' to publicize his research, and gradually moved from creating his own verse to writing about the theory of ''tanka'' and his researches of the Japanese classics. Ōta's philosophy was that poetry should be primarily symbolic, and spoke out strongly against the tendency to realism exhibited by modern Japanese poets. His ''waka'' anthologies include ''Unchō'' (“Cloud Bird”), ''Fuyuna'' (“Winter Greenery”), ''Raden'' (“Mother-of-Pearly Inlay”) and Ryu-o (“Bush Warbler”), which are written in a style continuing the lyric traditions of classical ''waka'' poetry.
From 1934, Ōta used a cottage in
Kamakura
, officially , is a city of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. It is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 people per km2 over the tota ...
,
Kanagawa prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...
as a retreat, and moved their permanently from Tokyo in 1939 until his death. His grave is at the temple of
Tōkei-ji
, also known as or , is a Buddhist temple and a former nunnery, the only survivor of a network of five nunneries called , in the city of Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the Rinzai school of Zen's Engaku-ji branch, and was o ...
in Kamakura.
See also
*
Japanese literature
Japanese literature throughout most of its history has been influenced by cultural contact with neighboring Asian literatures, most notably China and its literature. Early texts were often written in pure Classical Chinese or , a Chinese-Japa ...
*
Japanese poetry
Japanese poetry is poetry typical of Japan, or written, spoken, or chanted in the Japanese language, which includes Old Japanese, Early Middle Japanese, Late Middle Japanese, and Modern Japanese, as well as poetry in Japan which was written in th ...
*
List of Japanese authors
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 ...
References
*Morrell, Sachiko Kaneko. ''Zen Sanctuary of Purple Robes: Japan's Tōkeiji Convent Since 1285''. SUNY Press (2006).
*
Kato, Shuichi. ''A History of Japanese Literature: The First Thousand Years ''. Kodansha (2003). .
*Ueda, Makoto. ''Bashō and His Interpreters: Selected Hokku with Commentary''. Stanford University Press (1995).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ota, Mizuho
1876 births
1955 deaths
People from Nagano Prefecture
Scholars of Japanese literature
19th-century Japanese poets
20th-century Japanese poets