was a monthly literary magazine published in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

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 Yosano Hiroshi (与謝野寛; 26 February 1873 – 26 March 1935), known by his pen name was a Japanese author and poet active in late Meiji, Taishō, and early Shōwa era. His wife was fellow author Yosano Akiko. His grandson was politicia ...

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 influential poetry anthology (latter half of the eighth century AD), the term ''tanka'' was used to disti ...

'' poetry. Famous contributors such as

Yosano Akiko , known by her pen name Yosano Akiko (Shinjitai: , Kyūjitai: , ), was a Japanese author, poet, feminist, pacifist, and social reformer, active in the late Meiji era as well as the Taishō era, Taishō and early Shōwa eras of Japan. She is one ...

, 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 and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

. Other important contributors included Hagiwara Sakutaro,

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 ...

, , Kitahara Hakushu, Noguchi Yonejiro, Kinoshita Rigen, and Haruo Satō. The magazine was advised by

Mori Ōgai Lieutenant-General , known by his pen name , was a Japanese people, Japanese Military medicine, Army Surgeon general officer, translator, novelist, Japanese poetry, poet and father of famed author Mori Mari, Mari Mori. He obtained his medical l ...

, Ueda Bin 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 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 largest aut ...

'' (''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