Chōkū Prize
1 appearances
-
Edition 6 (1972) award
Samio Maekawa
まえかわ さみお
Maekawa Samio
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1903-02-05 （Oshimi Village, Minamikatsuragi District, Nara Prefecture, Japan (now Katsuragi)）
- Died
- 1990-07-15 （Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan） age 87
- Nationality
- Japan
- Languages
- Japanese
- Residence History
- Nara (birth and upbringing) → Osaka (Yao — substitute teacher period) → Tokyo (moved to pursue literary career) → Tottori (evacuation and wartime/postwar stays) → Kanagawa (Chigasaki, later Odawara)
Career
- Occupations
- Tanka poet, Lyricist, Editor
- Active Years
- 1921-1990
- Affiliations
- Nippon Kajin (founder/editor), Asahi Kadan (judge/selector)
- Memberships
- Japan Art Academy (member), Contributor/member of the journal 'Nippon Kajin'
- Influenced By
- Sasaki Nobutsuna, Kinoshita Rigen, Ishigure Shigeru (later Goshima Shigeru)
- Influenced
- Kunio Tsukamoto, Toshio Mae, Chieko Yamanaka, Kyojin Onishi, Saejiro Maekawa (son)
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shimobuchi Agricultural and Forestry School | — | — | — | 〜1921 | Japan |
| Toyo University (Specialized Department) | Department of Ethics and Oriental Literature (Specialized Department) | — | — | 1922-1925 | Japan |
Shimobuchi Agricultural and Forestry School
Period:
〜1921
Year of Graduation:
1921
Country:
Japan
A regional agricultural and forestry school; he began composing tanka in childhood/early adolescence.
Toyo University (Specialized Department)
Department of Ethics and Oriental Literature (Specialized Department)
Period:
1922-1925
Year of Graduation:
1925
Country:
Japan
Studied under Sasaki Nobutsuna and became active in the Tokyo literary scene.
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Choko Prize (6th) | Shiraki Kuroki (White Wood, Black Wood) | — | Choko Prize Selection Committee | 受賞 |
| 1975 | Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette (4th Class) | — | — | Government of Japan | 受章 |
| 1989 | Member of the Japan Art Academy | — | — | Japan Art Academy | 就任 |
| 1990 | Order of the Sacred Treasure, Third Class | — | — | Government of Japan | 受章 |
Choko Prize (6th)
1972
Work:
Shiraki Kuroki (White Wood, Black Wood)
Organization:
Choko Prize Selection Committee
Result:
受賞
Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette (4th Class)
1975
Organization:
Government of Japan
Result:
受章
Member of the Japan Art Academy
1989
Organization:
Japan Art Academy
Result:
就任
Order of the Sacred Treasure, Third Class
1990
Organization:
Government of Japan
Result:
受章
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Shokubutsusai (Plant Festival)
1930 Tanka (Japanese short poem)First collection of tanka featuring Dadaist and surrealist-influenced, innovative poems; regarded as a landmark of modernist tanka.
naturemodernismsurrealism
Yamato
1940 TankaSecond collection; includes poems centered on Yamato (Nara) and shows a turn toward neoclassicism.
localityhistorytradition
Shiraki Kuroki (White Wood, Black Wood)
1971 TankaPublished in 1971; one of his notable late collections combining traditional and avant-garde elements.
traditionnatureform and innovation
Bibliography
- Shokubutsusai (Plant Festival)
- Kurenai (Selected Poems)
- Yamato
- Ten New Winds (Collected)
- Hakuhō
- Tenpyō Clouds
- Spring Days
- Hymn: Japan Is Beautiful
- Kongō
- Kōbai (Red Plum)
- Nara Early Spring (Manuscript Tanka)
- Tanka Essays (Critical Essays)
- Kanmusho (Selected Poems)
- Sekijitsu
- One Stem One Flower (Selected Poems)
- One Thousand Poems (Selected)
- Feast (Selected Poems)
- Tottori Selections (Selected Poems)
- Samio Maekawa Collected Poems
- Sōjin
- Selected Songs: December
- Famous Japanese Poems
- Appreciation of Famous Poems: Classical Seasons
- Shiraki Kuroki (White Wood, Black Wood)
- Six Hundred Yamato Poems
- Festivals of Yamato
- Collected Poems (May Shobo)
- Record of Yamato Mahoroba
- Matsusugi (posthumous)
- Complete Works of Samio Maekawa (collected edition)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Modernist tankaSurrealist-influenced imageryDadaist elementsUse of colloquial languageNeoclassicism (later period)
- Recurring Motifs
- natureYamato (Nara)tradition and formmemory and nostalgia
Health
-
acute pneumonia1990Died from acute pneumonia
Legacy
Samio Maekawa was a leading figure of modernist tanka in 20th-century Japan, blending poetic experimentation with traditional elements and influencing later tanka poets. Although his wartime poems generated controversy, he was reassessed within postwar avant-garde movements and received official recognition such as membership in the Japan Art Academy.
Academic Societies
- Japan Art Academy
Archives
- National Diet Library (materials related to Samio Maekawa)
- Various libraries and university special collections
In Popular Culture
- Maekawa Samio Prize (established 2003)
Trivia
- The Maekawa Samio Prize was established in 2003 to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth (sponsored by Nagarami Shobo).
- His eldest son, Saejiro Maekawa, continued the journal 'Nippon Kajin'.