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Homura Hiroshi

ほむら ひろし

Homura Hiroshi

Pen Names: Homura Hiroshi（Byline used for picture-book and children's-book translations）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1962-05-21 （Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan）
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan → Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan → Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan → Nagoya, Aichi (grew up in Showa Ward)

Career

Occupations
Tanka poet, Poet, Literary critic, Translator, Essayist, Children's-book translator, Lyricist
Active Years
1986-
Affiliations
Member of the tanka magazine 'Kaban', SS-PROJECT (collective promoting New Wave tanka)
Memberships
Kaban (tanka magazine), SS-PROJECT (collective), Yomiuri Shimbun Reader Committee (2003-2004), Asahi Shimbun Book Review Committee (2009-2012), Bungei Prize (selection committee member, appointed 2020)
Influenced By
Kunio Tsukamoto, Yumiko Oshima

Education

Hokkaido University
Division I, Humanities
Period: 1981（在学・退学）
Country: Japan
Began interest in tanka during enrollment; withdrew from the university
Sophia University
Faculty of Humanities / Department of English Literature
Degree: Bachelor of Arts
Period: 1983-1987
Year of Graduation: 1987
Country: Japan
Graduation thesis on Ernest Hemingway

Awards

Kadokawa Tanka Prize
1986
Work: Syndicate (sequence)
Organization: Kadokawa Shoten
Result: 次席（Runner-up）
Ito Sei Literary Prize
2008
Work: Friends of Tanka
Category: 評論部門
Organization: Ito Sei Prize Committee
Result: 受賞（Winner）
Tanka Kenkyu Award
2008
Work: A Pleasant Day
Organization: Tanka Kenkyu Award Committee
Result: 受賞（Winner）
Ars Electronica (Interactive category)
2008
Work: Fire, Touchable (collaboration with Yoko Ishii)
Category: インタラクティブ部門
Organization: Ars Electronica
Result: 栄誉賞（Honorary Award）
Yochien Picture-Book Prize (Special Prize)
2013
Work: Aka Ninja (Red Ninja)
Organization: Yochien Picture-Book Prize Committee
Result: 受賞（Special Prize）
Kodansha Essay Award
2017
Work: Goosebumps
Organization: Kodansha
Result: 受賞（Winner）
Wakayama Bokusui Prize
2018
Work: Hydrofoil Ship on Fire
Organization: Wakayama Bokusui Prize Committee
Result: 受賞（Winner）

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Syndicate

1990 Tanka collection

Debut collection centered on the sequence 'Syndicate'; regarded as a representative work of the New Wave tanka movement.

contemporary lifeyouthplayfulness with language

Dry Dry Ice

1992 Tanka collection

Second tanka collection; an experimental work described by the author as akin to a 'summer holiday research project'.

experimentalismeveryday life

Mami the Letter Witch — Summer Moving (With a Rabbit)

2001 Tanka collection (dialogue form)

Third collection presented as dialogues in the voice of 'Mami', portraying contemporary forms of love from a girl's perspective.

lovegirlhooddialogue

Line Markers — The Best of Homura Hiroshi

2003 Selected/Best-of collection

A best-of collection compiling representative poems from the author's early to mid career.

selected worksretrospective

Hydrofoil Ship on Fire

2018 Tanka collection

Fourth tanka collection containing keen observations on contemporary society; winner of the Wakayama Bokusui Prize.

social observationurban lifeunease

Goosebumps

2016 Essay collection

Essay collection mixing fine observation and humor; awarded the Kodansha Essay Award.

everyday observationreminiscencehumor

Bibliography

  • Syndicate
  • Dry Dry Ice
  • Mami the Letter Witch — Summer Moving (With a Rabbit)
  • Line Markers — The Best of Homura Hiroshi
  • Hydrofoil Ship on Fire
  • Tanka as a Bomb — For Those Who Want to Become Tanka Poets Now
  • Friends of Tanka
  • World-Illiterate
  • Goosebumps
  • My Tanka Notebook
  • Tanka for Beginners
  • The Hunting of the Snark (translation)

Adaptations

  • Provided lyrics for songs by Haruka to Miyuki (e.g. 'Sonna Umi wa Doko ni mo Nai')

Translations by Author

  • Map Picture Book (Sara Fanelli) — Japanese translation
  • Button (Sara Fanelli) — Japanese translation
  • It's Okay (Todd Parr) — Japanese translation
  • The Hunting of the Snark (Lewis Carroll) — Japanese translation

Style & Themes

Literary Style
colloquial and accessible dictionhumor and witexperimental modern tanka (New Wave tanka)
Recurring Motifs
details of everyday lifeyouthful madnessgirl's perspective and dialogueurban landscapes

Health

  • Glaucoma
    2020年代（公表は2025年）
    He has discussed the impact of vision loss on daily life and creative activity

Legacy

As a leading figure of New Wave tanka, he contributed to popularizing tanka and expanding contemporary expression. Through essays, translations and media appearances he has influenced a broad readership.

Archives

  • Held/recorded in the National Diet Library (works and manuscripts)

In Popular Culture

  • Radio segment 'Homuhomu no Fumufumu' on NHK Radio's 'Radio Shinyabin'
  • Lyricist for the NHK National School Music Contest (high school division) course song 'Maple Syrup' (2015)

Quotes

  • Tanka is both a fixed-point observation of its era and society and a medium that makes one think about history, form, and, ultimately, what Japan is.
    Source: Interviews / essays (source: summary from Wikipedia article) (2001)
  • Poetry can harness that peculiar intensity one might call the madness of youth as a strength.
    Source: Criticism / interview (source: summary from Wikipedia article) (2001)

Trivia

  • Wrote his graduation thesis on Ernest Hemingway while at Sophia University.
  • Many picture-book translations are published under the byline 'ほむらひろし' (Homura Hiroshi).
  • Active on X (formerly Twitter) under the account @homurahiroshi.
  • Wrote the lyrics for the NHK National School Music Contest course song (2015).
  • Known as a central figure in the New Wave tanka movement.