Japanese Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Susumu Kagawa

かがわ すすむ

Kagawa Susumu

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1910-07-15 （Tadotsu, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan）
Died
1998-10-13 age 88
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese

Career

Occupations
tanka poet, businessman, editor
Active Years
1932-1998
Influenced By
Maeda Yūgure
Influenced
Shigeki Ono, Masako Amemiya

Education

Kobe Commercial University (now Kobe University)
Year of Graduation: 1934
Country: Japan
Joined Shirahichisha while a student and studied under Maeda Yūgure

Awards

4th Japan Poets Club Recommended Collection (award for 'Wan')
1958
Work: Bay
Organization: Japan Poets Club
Result: winner
7th Toko Prize (award for 'Kochu Sonraku')
1973
Work: Beetle Village
Organization: Toko Prize Committee
Result: winner
15th Modern Tanka Award (award for 'Complete Tanka Collection of Susumu Kagawa')
1992
Work: Complete Tanka Collection of Susumu Kagawa
Organization: Modern Tanka Award Committee
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Landscapes with the Sun

1941 tanka collection

An early collection of tanka poems published by Shirahichisha as part of a poetry series.

naturelightlandscape

Bay

1957 tanka collection

A tanka collection published in the 'Mediterranean' series; received the Japan Poets Club recommended collection award in 1958.

seanostalgiatravel

Gates of India

1961 essays / tanka

A collection reflecting travels and impressions of foreign lands.

travelforeign landsmemory

Beetle Village

1973 tanka collection

A tanka collection focusing on insects and small lives from a unique perspective; won the Toko Prize in 1973.

insectsnatural observationsmall worlds

Complete Tanka Collection of Susumu Kagawa

1991 complete tanka collection

A collected edition of his long-career works; received the Modern Tanka Award in 1992.

reminiscencenaturehuman portrait

Bibliography

  • Landscapes with the Sun. Shirahichisha, 1941.
  • Bay. Akatsutsumi-sha, 1957.
  • Gates of India. Oufu-sha, 1961.
  • Modern Poets Studies Vol.1-4. Oufu/Nagumo-do, 1961–64.
  • Beetle Village. Kadokawa Shoten, 1973.
  • Hirunda, Winter Flowers. Tanka Newspaper Press, 1975.
  • The Best Songs of Maeda Yūgure. Tanka Newspaper Press, 1975.
  • Gastronomic Wandering. Genseirin, 1981.
  • Human Wandering. Yuhosha, 1982.
  • Dialogues: Lifetimes of Poets. Tanka Newspaper Press, 1983.
  • Lake Songs. Tanka Newspaper Press, 1984.
  • Maeda Yūgure's Travels and Songs. Hadano City Library, 1989.
  • Complete Tanka Collection of Susumu Kagawa. Tanka Newspaper Press, 1991.
  • Continued: Maeda Yūgure's Travels and Songs. Hadano City Library, 1992.
  • Letters of Yūgure (co-authored with Sakuma Akira). Hadano City Library, 1993.
  • Complete Tanka Collection 2 (posthumous). Tanka Newspaper Press, 2004.

Style & Themes

Literary Style
colloquial tanka and free-verse tanka (early)returned to classical fixed-form tanka after the warlyrical and observational voice
Recurring Motifs
naturetravelduskinsects

Legacy

While active as a corporate employee before and after the war, he became an influential tanka poet and editor after the war. He founded and edited the magazine 'Mediterranean', guided disciples, and shifted from free-verse to classical fixed-form tanka. He won several major tanka awards and left a mark on the late 20th-century tanka scene.

Academic Societies

  • Japan Poets Club

Archives

  • National Diet Library (materials related to Susumu Kagawa)
  • Kagawa Prefectural Library (local materials)

Trivia

  • He worked at Mitsubishi Corporation and had a career as a corporate employee.
  • After the war he co-founded Toa Kogyo (Tōa Kōeki) and was involved in handling aspects of zaibatsu dissolution.
  • He founded and edited the tanka magazine 'Mediterranean' in 1953.
  • Studied under Maeda Yūgure; pupils include Shigeki Ono and Masako Amemiya.