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Nomura Toshiro

ノムラ トシロウ

Nomura Toshirō

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1911-01-05 （Yanaka, Taito, Tokyo, Japan）
Died
2001-05-24 （Tokyo, Japan） age 90
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese

Career

Occupations
Haiku poet, Secondary school teacher
Active Years
1931-2001
Affiliations
Haiku magazine "Asebi" (Masuboku / Asebi), Founder and editor of haiku magazine "Oki"
Influenced By
Mizuhara Shūōko
Influenced
Masaki Yuko, Nakabara Michio, Chikushi Iwai, Imase Goichi, Ozawa Katsumi, Suzuki Takao, Suzuki Setsuko, Omaki Hiroshi, Kamakura Sayumi

Education

Kokugakuin University (Higher Normal School Division)
Higher Normal School Division / Japanese literature
Period: 1931-
Country: Japan

Awards

Asebi Newcomer Prize
1948
Organization: Haiku magazine Asebi
Result: 受賞
Asebi Prize
1956
Organization: Haiku magazine Asebi
Result: 受賞
Modern Haiku Association Prize
1956
Organization: Modern Haiku Association
Result: 受賞
Jyakotsu (Jakushō) Prize
1985
Work: Poem collection 'Tenjōka'
Organization: Jakushō Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Order of the Sacred Treasure, Fourth Class
1990
Organization: Government of Japan
Result: 叙勲
Poetry and Literature Museum Prize
1993
Work: Poem collection 'Choshō'
Organization: Poetry and Literature Museum
Result: 受賞
Ichikawa City Cultural Award
1997
Organization: City of Ichikawa
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Soshakuon

1955 Haiku collection

First haiku collection focusing on life as a teacher; everyday scenes of teaching and domestic life are central.

educationeveryday lifeseasons

Kare no Oki (Wasteland's Offing)

1970 Haiku collection

A collection marking a shift to an image-focused style less reliant on subject matter; incorporates inner landscapes.

inner lifenatureageing

Tenjōka

1984 Haiku collection

A late-career collection awarded the Jakushō Prize in 1985; praised for its mature, graceful tone.

ageingrecollectionnature

Bibliography

  • Soshakuon (Kondō Shoten, 1955)
  • Gasshō Buraku (Kondō Shoten, 1957)
  • Kare no Oki (Bokuyōsha, 1970)
  • Minwa (Bokuyōsha, 1972)
  • Gensansui (Nagata Shobō, 1975)
  • Ui no Yama (Nagata Shobō, 1978)
  • Fuyu no Ongaku (Nagata Shobō, 1981)
  • Tenjōka (Kadokawa Shoten, 1984)
  • Kanku (Kadokawa Shoten, 1987)
  • Kikujin (Kyūryūdō, 1989)
  • Choshō (Kadokawa Shoten, 1992)
  • Ekisui (The Asahi Shimbun Company, 1996)
  • Bōshu (France-dō, 1999)
  • Huka (Kadokawa Shoten, 2001)
  • Kashin Collection: Nomura Toshirō (Kashinsha, 1992)
  • Haiku Library: Nomura Toshirō (Shunyōdō, 1992)
  • Hito no Shōka: Selected Haiku (France-dō, 1995)
  • Complete Haiku of Nomura Toshirō (France-dō, 2010)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Image-focused, concise dictionSpare lines without excess narrationTendency to incorporate inner landscapes
Recurring Motifs
ageingnatureteacher's lifefire / burningseasonal feeling

Legacy

A haiku poet active from the postwar period to his late years. He founded and edited the magazine "Oki," nurtured many disciples, and was praised for a style that balanced tradition and image-orientation. Recipient of the Jakushō Prize, Poetry and Literature Museum Prize and the Order of the Sacred Treasure (Fourth Class), he secured a respected place in the haiku world.

Academic Societies

  • Modern Haiku Association

Archives

  • National Diet Library (holds works)

Quotes

  • We light a fire — someone passes across the wasteland's offing.
    Source: Haiku collection 'Kare no Oki' (1970)
  • Welling boots sunk in mud — an old teacher in the autumn gale.
    Source: Representative haiku (1954)

Trivia

  • Born in Yanaka, Taito, Tokyo as the fourth son among seven siblings.
  • Served as teacher and later vice-principal at Ichikawa Gakuen, retiring from the school in 1978.
  • Won the Asebi Newcomer Prize in 1948 and the Asebi Prize and Modern Haiku Association Prize in 1956.
  • Awarded the Jakushō Prize in 1985 for 'Tenjōka'.
  • Decorated with the Order of the Sacred Treasure (Fourth Class) in 1990.
  • In May 2001 he handed over editorship of 'Oki' to his third son Nomura Kenzō (研三) and died on May 24, 2001.
  • The deaths of his young sons influenced the tone and subjects of some of his haiku.