Japanese Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Kenji Fukuma

ふくま けんじ

Fukuma Kenji

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1949-03-10 （Niigata Prefecture, Japan）
Died
2023-04-26 age 74
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese, English

Career

Occupations
poet, translator, film critic, film director, university professor
Active Years
1967-2023
Affiliations
Okayama University, Lecturer (General Education), Tokyo Metropolitan University (later Tokyo Metropolitan University / Tokyo Metropolitan University of Science and Technology) Associate Professor / Professor, Tokyo Metropolitan University (Capital University of Tokyo) Graduate School of Humanities, Professor (2005-2013)

Education

Tokyo Metropolitan University (former)
Faculty of Humanities, English Literature / English Literature
Country: Japan
Completed master's coursework at the graduate school of humanities (exact graduation year not specified)
Tokyo Metropolitan University Graduate School of Humanities
Country: Japan
Completed master's program (exact year unknown)

Awards

Hagiwara Sakutaro Prize
2011
Work: Blue House
Organization: Hagiwara Sakutaro Prize Committee
Result: winner
Fujimura Memorial Rekitei Prize
2011
Work: Blue House
Organization: Fujimura Memorial Rekitei Prize Committee
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Blue House

2011 Poetry collection

A collection of poems weaving themes of family, memory and fragments of daily life. Considered one of his major recent works and awarded multiple literary prizes in the same year.

familymemoryeveryday life
Adaptations
  • [Film] Reason of Autumn / 高田亮 (2016)

Silence and Tattoos: Kenji Fukuma Poetry Collection 1969-1971 (I)

1971 Poetry collection

An early poetry collection compiling his debut-period poems.

youthrebellionthe body

Just a Little More

2015 Poetry collection

A recent collection containing poems that depict everyday life and introspection from a mature perspective.

agingrecollectionquietude

Bibliography

  • Silence and Tattoos: Kenji Fukuma Poetry Collection 1969-1971 (I)
  • Winter's Commandments: Kenji Fukuma Poetry Collection 1969-1971 (II)
  • Until Becoming a Demon: Kenji Fukuma Poetry Collection 1969-1971 (III)
  • The Day After Tomorrow I'm Seventeen
  • Blue House
  • Just a Little More
  • People I Want to See
  • How to Rest
  • Poetry Is Alive
  • Maze and Blue Sky: Living Poetry, Living Film

Adaptations

  • Reason of Autumn (film, 2016)
  • You Weren't Born Yesterday (dir. Kenji Fukuma, 2023 release)

Translations by Author

  • Tokyo Diary: Selected Poems of Richard Brautigan (translator)
  • Michael Ondaatje: The Collected Billy the Kid (translator)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
image-focused modern poetrycinematic description and fragmentary narration
Recurring Motifs
memoryfamilyfilmic imageryfragments of time

Health

  • pneumonia
    2023-04
    Died in April 2023 due to pneumonia

Legacy

Active as a poet, translator, film critic and film director, he is regarded as a bridge between modern poetry studies and film culture. His later collection 'Blue House' won multiple literary prizes.

Trivia

  • He frequented Wakamatsu Production from junior high and appeared in films by Koji Wakamatsu.
  • Used the pseudonym 'Shinji Tachibana' for screenplay credit on at least one film (1995).
  • Worked for many years not only as a poet but also as a film director and screenwriter.