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Ban'ya Natsuishi

なついし ばんや

Natsuishi Ban'ya

Pen Names: Ban'ya Natsuishi（Pen name; legal name is Inui Masayuki (乾 昌幸)）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1955-07-03 （Sugawara-cho, Aioi, Hyōgo, Japan）
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese, English
Residence History
Aioi, Hyōgo, Japan (birth) → Fujimi, Saitama, Japan (residence)

Career

Occupations
haiku poet, critic, university professor, magazine editor
Active Years
1970-
Affiliations
Meiji University (Faculty of Law, Professor), Saitama University (former faculty), World Haiku Association (founder & director)
Memberships
Contemporary Haiku Association (former youth & international affairs officer), World Haiku Association (founder & director)
Influenced By
Shigenobu Takayanagi, Surrealism (France)

Education

University of Tokyo
Faculty of Arts and Sciences (French Department) / French Studies
Degree: 学士
Period: 1974-1979
Year of Graduation: 1979
Country: Japan
Undergraduate thesis on Lautréamont (written in French)
University of Tokyo Graduate School
Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology (Comparative Literature/Culture) / Comparative Literature and Culture
Degree: 修士
Period: 1979-1981
Year of Graduation: 1981
Country: Japan
Master's thesis: Comparative literary theory of short poetic forms
University of Tokyo Graduate School (Doctoral program)
Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology (Comparative Literature/Culture) / Comparative Literature and Culture
Degree: 博士課程修了
Period: 1981-1984
Year of Graduation: 1984
Country: Japan
Listed as doctoral-course completion in some sources; other brief summaries sometimes note withdrawal

Awards

Haiku Hyoron Annual Recommended Writer (1979/1980)
1980
Organization: Haiku Hyoron (magazine)
Result: 受賞
Shi no Ki Prize
1984
Organization: Shi no Ki Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Contemporary Haiku Association Prize
1991
Organization: Contemporary Haiku Association
Result: 受賞
1st 21st Century Ehime Haiku Award (Kawahigashi Hekigotō Prize)
2002
Organization: 21st Century Ehime Haiku Award Committee
Result: 受賞
World Haiku Achievement Contest, 3rd Place
2000
Organization: World Haiku Association
Result: 第3位
Romanian Haiku Association Commendation
2005
Organization: Romanian Haiku Association
Result: 表彰
AZsacra International Poetry Award (for Taj Mahal Review)
2008
Organization: Taj Mahal Review / AZsacra
Result: 受賞
Sarah and Moïse Russo International Prize for Poetry
2013
Organization: Taj Mahal Review
Result: 受賞
Mongolian Writers Association Highest Award
2015
Organization: Mongolian Writers Association
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Ryōjōki

1983 Haiku collection

Debut haiku collection containing poems from his teens through late twenties; praised by critics including Shigenobu Takayanagi.

early-career sensibilitynature and the urban

Metropolitic

1985 Haiku collection

A collection experimenting with avant-garde expressions; includes notable haiku such as "A wind comes from the future that splits waterfalls".

avant-garde haikutime and impact

Pilgrimage of the Earth

1998 Haiku collection

A large collection of haiku composed about locations around the world; aims at "earth-poetry" rather than merely overseas poems.

travelmulticultural encountersglobal perspective

The Flying Pope: 161 Haiku

2008 Haiku collection (Japanese-English bilingual)

A thematic collection of 161 haiku all referencing the "Flying Pope", presented in Japanese-English bilingual format.

religion and parodyrepetition of symbols

Bibliography

  • Ryōjōki (Seichisha, 1983)
  • Metropolitic (Bokuyōsha, 1985)
  • Shinkūritsu (Shichōsha, 1986)
  • Gods' Fugue (Koeidō Shoten, 1990)
  • Rakuryō (Shoshi Yamada, 1992)
  • Pilgrimage of the Earth (Rippū Shobo, 1998)
  • The Flying Pope: 161 Haiku (Kōrosha/Tokyodo, 2008)

Adaptations

  • Haiku readings collaborated with music composed by Nobu Sasakubo

Translations of Works

  • A Future Waterfall—100 Haiku from the Japanese (Red Moon Press, 1999)
  • Turquoise Milk (Japanese-English, Cyberwit.net, 2010)
  • Concentric Circles (multilingual, Serbia, 2009)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
avant-garde haikumultilingual haiku readingscosmological haiku perspectiveparody and symbolic expression
Recurring Motifs
mythcosmosmegaliths & sacred treestravel and global perspective

Legacy

Recognized domestically and internationally as an experimental avant-garde haiku poet and critic, he contributed to the promotion of global haiku movements. Known for attempting new expressions with each collection.

Academic Societies

  • World Haiku Association

Archives

  • Personal papers and publications (location details not specified)

In Popular Culture

  • Haiku readings collaborated with music have been recorded on CDs, indicating intersections with music.

Quotes

  • Ban'ya Natsuishi's haiku have the motive of leaping to the same dimension of expression as Western modern poetry.
    Source: Takaaki Yoshimoto, The Power of Poetry (Shinchō Bunko, 2009) — section on Ban'ya Natsuishi (2009)

Trivia

  • Legal name is Inui Masayuki (乾 昌幸).
  • Began composing haiku at age 14 and debuted in 1970.
  • Founded the international haiku magazine Gin'yū in 1998 and the World Haiku Association in 2000.