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Chizuko Imai

いまい ちづこ

Imai Chizuko

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1928-06-16 （Tokyo, Japan）
Died
2025-07-04 （Tokyo, Japan） age 97
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese

Career

Occupations
haiku poet
Active Years
1950-2025
Affiliations
Contributor, Tamamo (magazine), Contributor, Hototogisu (magazine), Japan Traditional Haiku Association (director)
Memberships
Japan Traditional Haiku Association, Co-founder and contributor, San (magazine)
Influenced By
Tsurujo Imai, Ritsuko Hoshino
Influenced
Shoko Imai

Education

Tokyo Woman's Christian University
Department of Japanese Language / Japanese language
Degree: Bachelor
Country: Japan
Graduated from the Department of Japanese Language

Awards

Haiku Shiki Grand Prize
2008
Work: Passing By
Organization: Haiku Shiki (magazine)
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Ago (Chizuko Imai Anthology)

1981 haiku collection

A personal haiku collection featuring delicate poems on family and everyday scenes.

familyseasonseveryday life

Return to Tokyo

1982 haiku collection

A collection of haiku reflecting on returning and feelings toward Tokyo.

nostalgiacity and nature

Umegaoka (Chizuko Imai Haiku Collection)

1995 haiku collection

A collection centered on haiku about plums and flowers.

natureplantsseasons

Passing By (haiku collection)

2007 haiku collection

Contains sensitive haiku about aging and change; winner of the 8th Haiku Shiki Grand Prize.

agingpassage of timeseasons

Bibliography

  • Ago: Chizuko Imai Anthology
  • Return to Tokyo
  • Umegaoka: Chizuko Imai Haiku Collection
  • Passing By: Haiku Collection
  • Haiku Correction Classroom (co-authored)
  • Waremokou: Tsurujo Imai Haiku Collection (editor)
  • Encyclopedia of Modern Haiku (co-edited)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
A refined, lyrical style rooted in traditional haikuDelicate observation that makes use of seasonal words (kigo)
Recurring Motifs
seasonsplums and flowersfamily and childrenaging

Health

  • pneumonia
    2025年
    Died of pneumonia

Legacy

Active for many decades as a female haiku poet; contributed to the preservation and dissemination of traditional haiku as a contributor to magazines such as Tamamo and Hototogisu and as a director of the Japan Traditional Haiku Association. Her collection Passing By won the Haiku Shiki Grand Prize.

Academic Societies

  • Japan Traditional Haiku Association

Archives

  • National Diet Library (holds works and related materials)

Trivia

  • Her mother, Tsurujo Imai, was also a haiku poet; she began composing haiku from an early age.
  • She served as a scribe for Takahama Kyoshi's oral dictation.
  • Authority records exist (ISNI, VIAF, National Diet Library).