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Shu Mayuzumi

まゆずみ しゅう

Mayuzumi Shu

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1930-03-27 （Yugawara, Ashigarashimo District, Kanagawa, Japan）
Died
2020-10-21 （Yugawara, Kanagawa, Japan） age 90
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Yugawara, Kanagawa → Yokohama, Kanagawa → Tokyo (worked/lived)

Career

Occupations
haiku poet
Active Years
1963-2020
Affiliations
Haiku Poets Association (advisor; later honorary member), Japan Writers' Association (member), Yugawara Haiku Association (chair)
Memberships
Haiku Poets Association, Japan Writers' Association
Influenced By
Heinosuke Gosho, Atsushi Anzumi, Kunitsugu Matsuo, Kaoru Kitaura
Influenced
Madoka Mayuzumi (daughter; haiku poet), Local haiku poets in Yugawara region
Nominations
Jakko Prize (Susubashira) — finalist

Education

Meiji University Specialized Department, School of Political Economy
Specialized Department, Political Economy
Period: 1946–1949
Year of Graduation: 1949
Country: Japan
He reportedly attended little and spent much time reading literary works.

Awards

Shuntō Prize (3rd)
1975
Organization: Shuntō (Harutō) magazine
Result: winner
Haiku Poets Association Award (43rd)
2004
Work: Nomenseki (collection)
Organization: Haiku Poets Association
Result: winner
Jakko (Jakkotsu) Prize (finalist)
2014
Work: Susubashira (collection)
Organization: Jakko Prize Selection Committee
Result: finalist

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Haruno (Shu Mayuzumi Collected Haiku)

1981 haiku collection

First haiku collection; gathers poems on nature, native landscapes and aging with a light, restrained tone.

naturehometownseasons

Muramichi

1986 haiku collection

Second collection; includes poems reflecting local scenes and echoes of wartime.

local lifememoryaftereffects of war

When the Magnolia Opens

1995 haiku collection

A mature collection showing concern for aging and everyday tenderness.

agingeveryday lifefamily

Nomenseki

2003 haiku collection

Includes poems that regard local landworks and practices such as stonewalling.

localityland practicesnature

Ake no Ki

2009 haiku collection

Collects many poems set against cultivated fields and rural landscapes.

rural lifefour seasonsdaily life

Susubashira

2013 haiku collection

Contains many late-period poems, notable for domestic imagery and street lights.

late lifehomeurban scenes

Spring Village

2016 haiku collection

A collection showing his pursuit of lightness and freshness in later work.

springvillagelightness

Spring Has Come

2020 haiku collection

Final collection; includes poems composed during illness, showing calm poignancy.

springlate lifemortality and daily life

Bibliography

  • Haruno (Shu Mayuzumi Collected Haiku), Tokyo Bijutsu, 1981
  • Muramichi, Tokyo Bijutsu, 1986
  • When the Magnolia Opens, Kadokawa Shoten, 1995
  • Shu Mayuzumi, Kachinsha, 1998
  • Nomenseki, Honami Shoten, 2003
  • Ake no Ki, Kadokawa Magazines, 2009
  • Susubashira, Kadokawa Gakugei Publishing, 2013
  • Spring Village, KADOKAWA, 2016
  • Spring Has Come, KADOKAWA, 2020
  • Complete Haiku Collection of Shu Mayuzumi, Kadokawa Cultural Foundation, 2020

Style & Themes

Literary Style
concise, light-handed dictiongentle observation linking everyday life and naturelate work characterized by soft poignancy and warmth
Recurring Motifs
mountains and foothillsseasonal changefamily and domestic lifestreet lightsaging

Health

  • tuberculosis
    1940年代（若年期）
    Contracted in youth, temporarily interrupted employment; recovered after treatment.
  • lumbar spinal stenosis
    2011年頃〜
    Began around 2011; affected late-life activities, requiring hospitalization and treatment.
  • thoracic aortic aneurysm
    2012年、2016年〜2017年（手術・再手術）
    A large aneurysm discovered; underwent stent-graft surgery and later reintervention after postoperative leak.
  • malignant tumor (terminal)
    2020年（末期が発見される）
    Terminal cancer discovered in 2020; he died while under care.

Legacy

Regarded as a haiku poet who calmly rendered local nature and daily life; he contributed to regional haiku culture and nurtured successors. He presided over the journal Haruno and left numerous collections.

Academic Societies

  • Haiku Poets Association
  • Japan Writers' Association
  • Yugawara Haiku Association

Archives

  • National Diet Library of Japan (works and authority data)

In Popular Culture

  • Appeared in a 2015 Nescafé President advertisement alongside his daughter Madoka Mayuzumi
  • A haiku monument erected at Makuyama Plum Grove in Yugawara (2020)
  • One of his haiku was included in a 6th-grade elementary school textbook (2015 edition)

Quotes

  • While the city's lights enter my body, they seem to be lit.
    Source: Spring Has Come (collection) (2020)

Trivia

  • Appeared in a 1998 coffee advertisement (Nescafé President) with his daughter Madoka Mayuzumi.
  • His gravestone is inscribed with 'Mayuzumi family grave'.
  • He contracted tuberculosis in his youth.