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Ken Kasugai

かすがい けん

Kasugai Ken

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1938-12-20 （Niwa District, Aichi Prefecture (now Kōnan City)）
Died
2004-05-22 （Nagoya, Aichi, Japan） age 65
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Niwa District, Aichi Prefecture (now Kōnan City) → Shōwa Ward, Nagoya → Chikusa Ward (Hikari-ga-oka), Nagoya

Career

Occupations
tanka poet, university professor, writer, theatre director, TV personality
Active Years
1958-2004
Affiliations
Aichi Women's Junior College (now Nagoya Gakugei University Junior College), Chubu Tanka Association
Influenced By
Mizuho Ōta, Hideo Nakai, Kunikazu Tsukamoto
Influenced
Kyoko Inaba, Shion Mizuhara, Torahiko Otsuka, Tomoko Furuya, Akio Kita, Karan Kurose, Naoko Tsuzuki, Tokika Horita

Education

Nanzan University
Faculty of Letters / English Department
Country: Japan

Awards

Nagoya City Arts Encouragement Award
1982
Organization: Nagoya City
Result: 受賞
Aichi Prefecture Cultural Award
1993
Organization: Aichi Prefecture
Result: 受賞
Tanka Kenkyu Prize (34th)
1998
Work: "Haku-u" (30 poems) and "Koharasho" (21 poems)
Organization: Tanka Kenkyu (Tanka Research) Society
Result: 受賞
Japan Kajin Club Prize (27th)
2000
Work: 'Tomono Sho' and 'Haku-u'
Organization: Japan Tanka Poets Club
Result: 受賞
Choko Prize (34th)
2000
Work: 'Tomono Sho' and 'Haku-u'
Organization: Choko Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Chunichi Culture Award (57th)
2004
Organization: Chunichi Shimbun
Result: 短歌創作と歌誌発行による貢献（受賞）

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Miseinen

1960 tanka

First collection of poems from his youth, noted for its fantastic and aesthetic (decadent) style; prefaced by Yukio Mishima.

fantasyaestheticismyouth

Ike Kaeru Koto Naku

1970 poetry collection

Published in 1970; poems from a period when he increasingly engaged in theatre and media work.

diversification of expressiontheatricality

Haku-u (White Rain)

1999 tanka

One of his late collections, containing poems confronting illness and the notions of body and mind.

illnessdeathbody and mind

Isen

2002 tanka

Published in 2002; reflects perspectives from his later years.

later yearsrecollection

Asa no Mizu (Morning Water)

2004 tanka

Posthumously published collection with poetic engagement with illness and confrontation.

illnessdeathloss and recovery

Bibliography

  • Miseinen (1960)
  • Ike Kaeru Koto Naku (1970)
  • Kasugai Ken Collected Poems (1977)
  • Toukai Shika-shuu (1982)
  • Aoi Ashi (1984)
  • Tomono Sho (1999)
  • Haku-u (1999)
  • Mizu no Kura (2000)
  • Isen (2002)
  • Asa no Mizu (2004)
  • Background of Miseinen (2005, essays)
  • Complete Collected Poems of Kasugai Ken (2010)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
fantastic and aesthetic (decadent) style in early worksbalanced use of classical written Japanese style in later works
Recurring Motifs
deathillnessbody and mindaesthetics

Health

  • pharyngeal cancer (oropharyngeal cancer)
    1999-2004
    Underwent chemotherapy and radiation; illness strongly influenced his late work, bringing themes of disease and mortality to the fore.

Legacy

A prominent figure in modern tanka, he left a broad poetic oeuvre from early fantastical works to late poems confronting illness. Through editing and publishing a tanka magazine he contributed to the regional tanka community and mentored many disciples.

Academic Societies

  • Chubu Tanka Association
  • Chunichi Tanka Association

Quotes

  • "We have one young Teika among us."
    Source: Yukio Mishima (preface to 'Miseinen') (1960)

Trivia

  • Both his parents were disciples of Mizuho Ōta, placing him in the Chōon lineage.
  • His grand-nephew is writer and game designer Ukyo Kotachi (Kotachi Ukyo is the Japanese reading; known as K. Kotachi in some sources).
  • Several collections and essays were published posthumously.