Tetsuo Shimizu - Japanese Literary Awards

Profile

Gender: Male
Born: 1938-02-15 （Saginomiya, Nakano, Tokyo, Japan）
Died: 2022-03-07 （Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan (hospital)） age 84
Nationality: Japan
Languages: Japanese
Residence History: Saginomiya, Nakano, Tokyo (birthplace) → Musashino, Tokyo (associated in later years)

Career

Occupations: Poet, Haiku poet, Editor, Radio personality
Active Years: 1963-2022

Education

Institution	Faculty	Department	Degree	Period	Country
Kyoto University, Faculty of Letters	Philosophy	Philosophy	—	—	Japan

Kyoto University, Faculty of Letters

Philosophy / Philosophy

Country: Japan

Participated in poetry magazine activities while a student

Awards

Year	Award	Work	Category	Organization	Result
1975	H Prize	Water of the Water Jar Constellation	—	H Prize Selection Committee	受賞
1986	Shika Bungakukan Prize	Tokyo	—	Poetry and Song Literature Museum	受賞
1994	Sakutaro Hagiwara Prize	Red Sails in the Sunset	—	Sakutaro Hagiwara Prize Committee	受賞
1994	Bansui Prize	Red Sails in the Sunset	—	Bansui Prize Committee	受賞
2006	Miyoshi Tatsuji Prize	Yellow Phosphorus and the Lariat	—	Miyoshi Tatsuji Prize Committee	受賞
2006	Yamamoto Kenkichi Literary Prize	Yellow Phosphorus and the Lariat	—	Yamamoto Kenkichi Prize Committee	受賞
2019	Kaoru Maruyama Prize	On a Small Chair Under the Exhaust Fan	—	Kaoru Maruyama Prize Committee	受賞

H Prize

1975

Work: Water of the Water Jar Constellation

Organization: H Prize Selection Committee

Result: 受賞

Shika Bungakukan Prize

1986

Work: Tokyo

Organization: Poetry and Song Literature Museum

Result: 受賞

Sakutaro Hagiwara Prize

1994

Work: Red Sails in the Sunset

Organization: Sakutaro Hagiwara Prize Committee

Result: 受賞

Bansui Prize

1994

Work: Red Sails in the Sunset

Organization: Bansui Prize Committee

Result: 受賞

Miyoshi Tatsuji Prize

2006

Work: Yellow Phosphorus and the Lariat

Organization: Miyoshi Tatsuji Prize Committee

Result: 受賞

Yamamoto Kenkichi Literary Prize

2006

Work: Yellow Phosphorus and the Lariat

Organization: Yamamoto Kenkichi Prize Committee

Result: 受賞

Kaoru Maruyama Prize

2019

Work: On a Small Chair Under the Exhaust Fan

Organization: Kaoru Maruyama Prize Committee

Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

H Award 1 appearances

Edition 25 (1975) award

Shiika Bungakukan Prize 1 appearances

Edition 1 (1986) award

Hagiwara Sakutaro Award 1 appearances

Edition 2 (1994) award

Miyoshi Tatsuji Award 1 appearances

Edition 1 (2006) award

Yamamoto Kenkichi Literary Award 1 appearances

Edition 6 (2006) poetry category

Works

Major Works

Applause

1963 Poetry collection

Early collection showcasing youthful sensibility and experimental expression.

youthindividual sensibility

Water of the Water Jar Constellation

1974 Poetry collection

Representative mid-period work including pieces that led to the H Prize.

daily lifememory

Speech Balloon

1975 Poetry collection (experimental)

An experimental collection notable for using comic-character names as titles; plain language with a sharp lingering bitterness.

pop culturethe underside of words

Tokyo

1985 Poetry collection

A collection centered on the city of Tokyo. Winner of the Shika Bungakukan Prize.

citymovement

Red Sails in the Sunset

1994 Poetry collection

A mature collection of introspective and lyrical poems. Winner of the Sakutaro Hagiwara and Bansui Prizes.

losslight and shadow

Yellow Phosphorus and the Lariat

2005 Poetry collection

A notable 2000s work praised for sonority and structural craft; winner of the Miyoshi Tatsuji and Yamamoto Kenkichi Prizes.

sound of languagefragments of memory

On a Small Chair Under the Exhaust Fan

2018 Poetry collection

A late-career collection focusing on the minutiae of daily life, marked by a gentle gaze with underlying bitterness.

everyday lifeaging

Bibliography

Applause (1963)
Water Overcoat (1970)
Applause / Water Overcoat (1974)
Water of the Water Jar Constellation (1974)
Speech Balloon (1975)
Collected Poems of Tetsuo Shimizu (1976)
Field, Ball. (1977)
Bird on a Rainy Day (1978)
Sweet Voice (1979)
The Film in the Palm (1980)
Clouds Travelling the Map (1983)
Tokyo (1985)
Red Sails in the Sunset (1994)
Continued Collected Poems of Tetsuo Shimizu (1997)
Green Small Box (1997)
Yellow Phosphorus and the Lariat (2005)
On a Small Chair Under the Exhaust Fan (2018)
Spoon-Washer (haiku collection) (1991)
Strike! The Drum (haiku collection) (2003)

Style & Themes

Literary Style: concise, sharp phrasingbitterness beneath plain vocabularyincorporation of pop-culture elements
Recurring Motifs: the cityfragments of daily lifememory and lossborrowing of characters and images

Health

Kidney failure

診断時期不明〜2022年3月（逝去）

A health issue in later life that ultimately caused his death.

Legacy

Known for poetry that pairs plain language with sharp bite, he was active across poetry, haiku and radio. He received multiple literary prizes and remained influential into his later years.

In Popular Culture

Was widely known through radio personality work on TOKYO FM and other stations.
The experimental structure of 'Speech Balloon' was notable in the poetry world.

Quotes

A person who fought with words and lived by words as his weapon.

Source: Koshokojitsu (Asahi Shimbun) memorial article (2023)

Trivia

Was a longtime fan of the Yomiuri Giants baseball team.
Ran the online haiku appreciation site 'Zoushoku Suru Haiku Saijiki' for many years.
Father was fireworks researcher Takeo Shimizu; younger brother was poet Akira Shimizu.