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Seimin Horiguchi

ほりぐち せいみん

Horiguchi Seimin

Pen Names: Seimin Horiguchi（Haigo (pen name; real name Keiji)）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1923-03-13 （Annaka Town, Usui District, Gunma Prefecture (now Annaka City), Japan）
Died
2015-02-02 age 91
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Annaka City, Gunma Prefecture (birthplace; opened practice) → Tokyo (worked at University of Tokyo Hospital; residence) → Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture (one of bases for composing haiku)

Career

Occupations
haiku poet, physician, essayist, magazine editor
Active Years
1943-2015
Influenced By
Shūōshi Mizuhara

Education

Gunma Prefectural Takasaki High School (former Takasaki Middle School)
Country: Japan
Attended predecessor institutions before university
Niigata High School (old system)
Country: Japan
Attended under old system
Faculty of Medicine, Tokyo Imperial University (now University of Tokyo)
Faculty of Medicine / Internal medicine
Degree: 医学士
Period: 1942-1947
Year of Graduation: 1947
Country: Japan
After graduation, joined the internal medicine department at the University of Tokyo Hospital

Awards

Asebi Prize
1958
Work: The Road of Volcanic Ash (haiku collection)
Organization: Magazine 'Asebi'
Result: 受賞
Haiku Poets Association Award (16th)
1976
Work: Breeding Season (haiku collection)
Organization: Haiku Poets Association
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Road of Volcanic Ash (Haiku Collection)

1958 haiku

Early collection focusing on natural and mountain scenes.

naturemountainsseasons

Breeding Season (Haiku Collection)

1976 haiku

A collection featuring poems inspired by highland landscapes and wild birds. Winner of the Haiku Poets Association Award.

birdshighlandsnesting

Aoba-boku (Haiku Collection)

1983 haiku

A mid-period collection notable for quiet observation and natural depiction.

nature depictionbirdstranquility

Drops on the Trees (Haiku Collection)

1990 haiku

Works that capture detailed scenes on trees and leaves.

treesdropsclose observation

Gion Festival (Haiku Collection)

1992 haiku

A collection including poems set against festivals and human activities.

festivalshuman lifetradition

Bibliography

  • The Road of Volcanic Ash (Haiku Collection)
  • Breeding Season (Haiku Collection)
  • Collected Works of Seimin Horiguchi
  • Aoba-boku (Haiku Collection)
  • Spring of the Fountain: An Easy Haiku Collection
  • Rural Essays
  • Haiku Mountaineering: For Those Making Haiku for the First Time
  • Drops on the Trees (Haiku Collection)
  • Haiku Flower Garden: Appreciating Excellent Haiku for Beginners
  • Seimin Horiguchi: Selected 300 Haiku
  • Gion Festival (Haiku Collection)
  • Continued: Haiku Flower Garden
  • For an Introduction to Haiku
  • Under the Table (Haiku Collection H10-H20)
  • Under the Table (Haiku Collection S61-H9)
  • Selected Works of Seimin Horiguchi

Style & Themes

Literary Style
concise haiku with keen observationemphasis on nature and seasonal depictiondetailed focus on highlands and wild birds
Recurring Motifs
wild birdshighlandsnestingseasonal changedetails of trees and leaves

Legacy

A haiku poet noted for highland-inspired imagination and bird-themed poems. He revitalized the magazine 'Asebi', won the Haiku Poets Association Award, and made significant contributions to the haiku community while working as a physician.

Academic Societies

  • Haiku Poets Association (advisor)

Archives

  • National Diet Library holdings and materials
  • Authority data via VIAF identifiers

Trivia

  • Real name: Keiji.
  • Submitted haiku to the magazine 'Asebi' from 1943 and became a member in 1952.
  • Won the Asebi Prize in 1958 for 'The Road of Volcanic Ash'.
  • Won the 16th Haiku Poets Association Award in 1976 for 'Breeding Season'.
  • Founded and edited the quarterly magazine 'Tochi' in 1984.