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Ishikawa Keirou

いしかわ けいろう

Ishikawa Keirou

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1909-08-06 （Seizaka, Mita, Shiba, Tokyo）
Died
1975-11-06 age 66
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Nogaya, Tsurukawa Village (now Nogaya, Machida) → Mita, Shiba, Tokyo

Career

Occupations
haiku poet, essayist, novelist, editor, barber
Active Years
1934-1975
Affiliations
Tsurū (magazine), Tsubo (magazine), Asebi (magazine), Fudo (magazine), Haiku Kenkyu (magazine), Haiku (magazine)
Influenced By
Ishida Hakkyō, Sugita Kyūjo, Yokomitsu Riichi, Mizuhara Shūōshi
Influenced
Tezuka Misa, Kamizo Ki, Shimatani Seiryo, Hosoya Ryota
Nominations
Naoki Prize nominee (32nd) for 'Tsuma no Onsen'

Education

Ota Higher Elementary School
Country: Japan
Completed higher elementary school; later took over family barber shop

Awards

Haijin Kyokai Award
1961
Work: Haiku collection 'Sado-yuki' and other works
Organization: Haiku Poets Association
Result: winner
Yomiuri Literature Prize (Essay/Travel Writing)
1974
Work: Haijin Fukyo Retsuden
Category: 随筆紀行賞
Organization: Yomiuri Shimbun
Result: winner
Dakotsu Prize
1975
Work: Later works including the haiku collection 'Koro'
Organization: Kadokawa Culture Promotion Foundation
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Razor Diary

1942 novel

A novel depicting life during his barber-shop days, containing autobiographical elements set against the difficulties of wartime Japan.

everyday lifefamily businesswartime experience

Wife's Hot Spring

1954 novel / essay

Work depicting subtleties of life and travel. It was a Naoki Prize nominee in 1955.

travelhuman relationshipseveryday life

Haiku Poets: Legends of Eccentricity

1973 essays / travelogue

An essay collection portraying the eccentricities of various haiku poets. Winner of the Yomiuri Literature Prize.

biographical sketcheseccentricityliterary portraits

Koro

1973 haiku collection

A late haiku collection characterized by a light, witty style and depictions of everyday urban life.

urban lifefood and drinktravel

Bibliography

  • Ganshu (Rōkandō, 1956)
  • Collected Works of Ishikawa Keirou (Yahatafunesha, 1968)
  • Taketori (Bokuyosha, 1969)
  • Koro (Bokuyosha, 1973)
  • Shion (Kadokawa, 1976)
  • Collected Works of Ishikawa Keirou (Haijin Kyokai ed., 1994)
  • Razor Diary (Kyōei Shuppansha, 1942)
  • Wife's Hot Spring (Haiku Kenkyu Sha, 1954)
  • Haijin Fukyo Retsuden (Kadokawa, 1973)
  • Zanshō (Kadokawa, 1976)
  • Menkai Sajutsu (Tōmon Shoya, 1978)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
light, witty stylerealistic depictions of everyday lifeportrayals of eccentric, bohemian figures
Recurring Motifs
food and drinktravel haikuurban scenesdrinking and outspoken behavior

Health

  • heart disease
    生涯を通じて（詳細不明）
    Affected his life and possibly his work; details unclear
  • pulmonary tuberculosis (surgery)
    1956年（手術）
    Deepened his haiku perspective through composing while ill and traveling
  • esophageal cancer
    1974年 - 1975年
    Caused his death in 1975; a posthumous haiku collection 'Shion' was published in 1976

Legacy

A haiku poet and essayist noted for a light, witty style rooted in everyday urban life. Best known for 'Haijin Fukyo Retsuden', which won the Yomiuri Literature Prize, and regarded as an important figure in 20th-century haiku.

Academic Societies

  • Haiku Poets Association

Archives

  • Holdings at the National Diet Library
  • Publisher archives and editions

In Popular Culture

  • Frequently discussed in haiku studies and modern haiku encyclopedias

Quotes

  • Noon frog — on which ridge, which turn will it take?
    Source: Representative haiku
  • A turtle turns over — one should think; it cries out
    Source: Representative haiku

Trivia

  • Real name was Ishikawa Kazuo.
  • Born the son of a barber; took over the family shop after his father's death but later closed it.
  • Underwent surgery for pulmonary tuberculosis in 1956.
  • Diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 1974 and died in 1975.