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Taro Naka

なか たろう

Naka Tarō

Pen Names: Fukuda Masajirō（Used for early publications）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1922-01-23 （Koujiya-machi, Fukuoka City, Japan）
Died
2014-06-01 （Hospital in Tokyo, Japan） age 92
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese

Career

Occupations
poet, teacher
Active Years
1950-2014
Memberships
Member of the Japan Art Academy, Member of the literary magazine 'Rekitei'
Influenced By
Sakutarō Hagiwara
Influenced
Itsuko Ishikawa, Sachiko Yoshihara

Education

Tokyo Imperial University (now University of Tokyo)
Faculty of Letters / Japanese Literature
Country: Japan

Awards

Muro Saisei Poet Prize
1965
Work: Ongaku (Music)
Organization: Muro Saisei Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Yomiuri Prize for Literature
1966
Work: Ongaku (Music)
Organization: Yomiuri Shimbun
Result: 受賞
Arts Encouragement Prize (Minister of Education Award)
1985
Work: Ku-ga Sanbō Nichijō and others
Organization: Agency for Cultural Affairs
Result: 受賞
Contemporary Poet Prize
1991
Work: Yūmei Kakakushō
Organization: Contemporary Poet Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Japan Art Academy Prize / Imperial Award
1994
Organization: Japan Art Academy
Result: 受賞
Fujimura Memorial Rekitei Prize
1995
Work: Requiem
Organization: Rekitei Society
Result: 受賞
Order of the Sacred Treasure, Third Class
1995
Organization: Government of Japan
Result: 受章

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Etudes

1950 poetry collection

Early poetry collection published under the name Fukuda Masajirō; contains experimental lyric poems.

lyricismearly experimentation

Ongaku (Music)

1966 poetry collection

One of Naka Taro's notable collections, exploring sound and resonance through poetry.

soundresonancetime

Kuga Sanbo Nichijo and others

1985 poetry collection

A mid-career collection compiling poems from the 1980s, intersecting daily life and spiritual reflection.

everyday lifeintrospectionvoid

Yumei Kakakushō

1990 poetry collection

A collection of poems that contemplates the boundary between life and death. Awarded the Contemporary Poet Prize in 1991.

life and deathremembranceboundaries

Requiem

1995 poetry collection

Layered late-career poems; recipient work for the Fujimura Memorial Rekitei Prize.

mourninghistorymemory

Bibliography

  • Etudes (as Fukuda Masajirō)
  • Ongaku (Music)
  • Taro Naka Poetry Collection (Modern Poetry Library)
  • Hakata
  • Sakutarō Hagiwara and Others (editor)
  • Music of Melancholy (essays)
  • Words of Poetry
  • Personal Interpretation of Sakutarō Hagiwara's Poetry
  • Kuga Sanbo Nichijo and Others
  • Hakata Phantoms (essays)
  • Yumei Kakakushō
  • Garden of Time
  • Requiem
  • Continued: Taro Naka Poetry Collection
  • Komorebi Anthology (essays)
  • Selected Poems of Taro Naka (Geirin Shobo)
  • The First Emperor (modern Noh)
  • Haiku and Life: Interviews with Taro Naka
  • Space, Being, That Sound
  • Taro Naka: Hakata Essays (selected by Fukuoka City Literature Museum)
  • Kūjaku: Taro Naka Haiku Collection

Style & Themes

Literary Style
lyricalsymbolicreflective style
Recurring Motifs
soundmemorynostalgia (Hakata)life and deathboundaries of time and space

Health

  • pneumonia
    2014
    Died in 2014 due to pneumonia

Legacy

Naka Taro is regarded as an important postwar Japanese poet whose collections and essays influenced modern Japanese poetry. He was a member of the Japan Art Academy and a recipient of its prizes.

Museums

  • Fukuoka City Literature Museum Fukuoka City, Japan

Academic Societies

  • Japan Art Academy

Archives

  • Collections at Fukuoka City Literature Museum
  • Japan Art Academy archives

In Popular Culture

  • Known as a member of the literary magazine 'Rekitei'

Trivia

  • Was adopted into the Fukuda family as an infant
  • Early poetry collection was published under the name Fukuda Masajirō
  • Graduated from Tokyo Imperial University (now University of Tokyo), Faculty of Letters, Japanese Literature
  • Taught at Tokyo metropolitan high schools and Tamagawa University