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Terutoshi Hirai

ひらい しょうびん

hirai terutoshi

Pen Names: Shobin（Haiku pen name used in literary publications）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1931-03-31 （Tokyo, Japan）
Died
2003-09-13 age 72
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese, French
Residence History
Tokyo, Japan → Aoyama Gakuin Women's Junior College (worked)

Career

Occupations
haiku poet, poet, French literature scholar, university lecturer, critic, translator
Active Years
1954-2003
Affiliations
Aoyama Gakuin Women's Junior College, Kanrai (haiku magazine)
Memberships
Kanrai (haiku magazine), Haiku Poets Association
Influenced By
Kato Shuuson (Kato Shūson)

Education

University of Tokyo, Faculty of Letters
Faculty of Letters (French Literature) / Department of French Literature
Degree: 学士
Period: 1950s
Year of Graduation: 1954
Country: Japan
Entered graduate program in comparative literature/culture (master's course)
University of Tokyo Graduate School (attended)
Graduate School, Comparative Literature/Comparative Culture / Comparative Literature / Comparative Culture
Period: 1959-
Country: Japan
Entered master's program; completion year unknown.

Awards

Kanrai Prize
Organization: Kanrai (haiku magazine)
Result: won
Haijin Association Criticism Prize
1989
Work: Kana-kaki no Uta (On Kana Writing in Poetry)
Category: 評論
Organization: Haiku Poets Association
Result: won
Yamamoto Kenkichi Literature Prize (Criticism)
2002
Work: Jakotsu and Kyūson
Category: 評論
Organization: Yamamoto Kenkichi Literature Prize Committee
Result: won
Honorary Professor (Aoyama Gakuin Women's Junior College)
2001
Organization: Aoyama Gakuin Women's Junior College
Result: conferred

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Eva's Family

1959 poetry collection

An early poetry collection containing poems influenced by his studies of French poetry and a sensitive lyrical voice.

selffamilylanguage

Nekomachi

1974 haiku collection

First haiku collection characterized by urban sensibilities and quiet scene描写 of everyday life.

urban lifeeveryday momentsdialogue with nature

Poems in Kana Writing

1987 criticism / essays

A collection of essays examining kana writing and haiku expression, discussing Bashō-type kana usage and its relation to modern haiku.

linguisticshaiku theoryclassics vs. modernity

Jakotsu and Kyūson

2001 criticism

A critical study contrasting the works and achievements of haiku poets Iida Jakotsu and Kato Shūson.

study of haiku poetscomparisontradition and innovation

Bibliography

  • Eva's Family
  • Study of Yve Bonnefoy
  • On Language (poems)
  • The Art of White: Development of Postwar Poetry
  • The Tower of Silence (haiku)
  • Nekomachi
  • Introduction to Modern Haiku
  • Haiku Enlightenment
  • The Logic of Modern Haiku
  • Poems in Kana Writing
  • Sekito (haiku collection)
  • Summer Rain (haiku collection)
  • Jakotsu and Kyūson

Translations by Author

  • The World of Lautréamont (Gaston Bachelard)
  • From Baudelaire to Surrealism (Marcel Raymond)
  • Flaubert Collected Works (First Draft of Sentimental Education)
  • To Wait Is To Forget (Maurice Blanchot)
  • The Second Simplicity (Yves Bonnefoy)
  • Works by Pierre Jean Jouve (translation)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
concise and lyrical haiku expressionfusion of classical elements and modern sensibilityattention to language informed by French poetry studies
Recurring Motifs
urban scenestranquil naturelanguage and orthography (kana writing)

Health

  • heart failure
    2003
    Died of heart failure in September 2003

Legacy

A haiku poet and critic who left a significant mark on both theory and practice of modern haiku. He integrated perspectives from French literary studies into haiku criticism and nurtured many students as an educator.

Academic Societies

  • Haiku Poets Association

Trivia

  • Pen name was "Shobin"; real name pronounced Terutoshi.
  • Honorary professor at Aoyama Gakuin Women's Junior College.
  • Active in both French literary studies and haiku.