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Kiyoko Horiba

ほりば きよこ

Horiba Kiyoko

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1930-10-19 （Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan）
Died
2025-01-10 （Chiba Prefecture (elder care facility), Japan） age 94
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese

Career

Occupations
poet, women's history researcher, critic
Active Years
1956-2025
Affiliations
Kyodo News, Ishutar (poetry magazine), Japan PEN Club
Memberships
Member of Japan PEN Club
Influenced By
Takaguni Itsue

Education

Waseda University
Faculty of Letters / Department of Japanese Literature
Degree: Bachelor
Country: Japan

Awards

Aoyama Nao Award for Women's History (5th)
1990
Work: Inaguya Nanabachi: Exploring Okinawan Women's History
Organization: Awarding committee for women's history
Result: 受賞
Gendai Shijin (Contemporary Poets) Award (11th)
1993
Work: Shuri (poetry collection)
Organization: Contemporary Poets Award Committee
Result: 受賞
Women's Culture Award (14th)
2010
Organization: Women's Culture Award Organization
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Fox's Eyes (poetry collection)

1956 poetry

Early poetry collection combining personal sensibility and social observation.

personal memorypostwar life

Sky (poetry collection)

1962 poetry

A collection of short poems reflecting 1960s sensibilities.

existenceeveryday life

Inaguya Nanabachi: Exploring Okinawan Women's History

1990 women's history / non-fiction

A study examining Okinawan women's history, re-evaluating sources from regional and gender perspectives.

women's historyregional historyfeminism

Shuri (poetry collection)

1992 poetry

A series of poems lyrically depicting memories and landscapes related to Okinawa.

memorywar and atomic bombingregional identity

Forbidden Atomic-Bomb Experiences

1995 non-fiction / research

A study addressing atomic-bomb experiences, their representation, and issues of censorship.

atomic bombingfreedom of expressioncensorship

Fragments: Hiroshima and Fukushima

2013 essays / criticism

An essay collection contrasting memories and present realities of Hiroshima and Fukushima.

memorydisaster-affected areassocial critique

Bibliography

  • Fox's Eyes (1956)
  • Sky (1962)
  • The Rear Window of America (1968)
  • A Long Tale About Pants (1971)
  • A Hundred Faces of Old Men (1974)
  • Women: The Creators (1986)
  • The Era of Seito: Hiratsuka Raicho and the New Women (1988)
  • Inaguya Nanabachi: Exploring Okinawan Women's History (1990)
  • Kiyoko Horiba Collected Poems (1992)
  • Shuri (1992)
  • Forbidden Atomic-Bomb Experiences (1995)
  • Atomic-Bomb Representation and Censorship: How the Japanese Responded (1995)
  • Women Breaking Customs (1998)
  • Ennen (2003)
  • Fragments: Hiroshima and Fukushima (2013)
  • Complete Poems of Kiyoko Horiba (2013)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
contemporary poetic expressiondocumentary and essayistic prosecriticism with a feminist perspective
Recurring Motifs
atomic bombing / hibakusha experiencewomen's history and everyday lifememory and regional identity

Health

  • senility
    晩年
    In later years she experienced age-related decline and lived in elder care; she died of senility.

Legacy

A poet and researcher active for decades in postwar Japan's literary and women's history fields. Her works on atomic-bomb memories and women's history are valued across scholarship, education, and cultural expression.

Academic Societies

  • Japan PEN Club

Archives

  • National Diet Library (holds related materials)

Trivia

  • She witnessed the atomic bombing while evacuated to Hiroshima.
  • She edited and ran the poetry magazine Ishutar.
  • She worked at Kyodo News before devoting herself to poetry and research.
  • She edited and collaborated on several works related to Takaguni Itsue.