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Isamu Kurita

くりた いさむ

Kurita Isamu

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1929-07-18 （Tokyo, Japan）
Died
2023-05-05 （Japan） age 93
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese

Career

Occupations
French literature scholar, art critic, writer, translator, poet, playwright, critic, university professor
Active Years
1960-2023
Affiliations
Komazawa Women's University, Meiji University, Chiba University, Waseda University, Sokei Art School (Western Print History), Japan Cultural Research Institute (Director / Honorary Director)
Influenced By
Comte de Lautréamont, Leon Trotsky, André Breton

Education

University of Tokyo
Faculty of Letters / Department of French Literature
Degree: 文学士
Period: 1949-1953
Year of Graduation: 1953
Country: Japan
Undergraduate degree in French literature
Graduate School, University of Tokyo
Graduate School of Letters (Master's) / Department of French Literature
Degree: 修士（文学）
Period: 1953-1955
Year of Graduation: 1955
Country: Japan
Completed master's program

Awards

Arts Encouragement Prize (Minister of Education Award)
1977
Work: Ippen Shonin - The Pilgrim Thinker
Category: 文部大臣賞
Organization: Agency for Cultural Affairs / Ministry of Education
Result: 受賞
Medal with Purple Ribbon
1999
Category: 叙勲
Organization: Government of Japan
Result: 受章

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Ippen Shonin - The Pilgrim Thinker

1977 Japanese cultural studies / Biography

A cultural study and biographical essay on the medieval monk Ippen, using his travels and thought to discuss Japanese culture.

BuddhismpilgrimageJapanese culture

Cactus (Poetry Collection)

1955 Poetry

Early poetry collection showing experimental and symbolist influences.

symbolismintrospection

Complete Works of Lautréamont (translation)

1957 Translation (poetry)

Japanese translation of Lautréamont, including Les Chants de Maldoror; known as the first complete Japanese translation.

symbolismconnections to surrealism

Bibliography

  • Cactus (Poetry Collection)
  • The Paradox of Tradition
  • The Demon of the Anti-world: Politics within Passion
  • Contemporary Space
  • The Stone Temple
  • City and Design
  • Ippen Shonin - The Pilgrim Thinker
  • The Archetype of Japanese Beauty
  • Pilgrimage of Beauty in Asuka and Yamato
  • Zen and the Japanese

Translations by Author

  • Complete Works of Lautréamont (3 vols.)
  • Les Chants de Maldoror (Japanese translation)
  • My Life (Trotsky, co-translation)
  • Nadja (André Breton, co-translation)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
symbolist-influenced translation and poetic expressionessayistic and critical prosecultural-historical approach
Recurring Motifs
Buddhismancient temples / pilgrimageJapanese nature and beautycity and space

Health

  • senility / natural causes
    晩年
    Died of senility in 2023. Public activities were reduced in his final years.

Legacy

Isamu Kurita is known as a major translator of French symbolism and for his wide-ranging essays on Japanese culture, art, and religion. He also contributed as a longtime educator and helped popularize studies of Japanese culture.

Trivia

  • He produced the first complete Japanese translation of Lautréamont (Les Chants de Maldoror).
  • Served as director and later honorary director of the Japan Cultural Research Institute at Komazawa Women's University.
  • Known not only as a poet and translator but also for his writings on Japanese culture and art criticism.