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Takahashi Shinkichi

たかはし しんきち

Takahashi Shinkichi

Pen Names: Dadaist Shinkichi（Pen name used during his Dadaist period）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1901-01-28 （Ikata, Ehime, Japan）
Died
1987-06-05 age 86
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Religion
Buddhism (Zen)

Career

Occupations
poet, novelist, essayist
Active Years
1920-1987
Influenced By
Dadaism, Zen (Buddhist thought)
Influenced
Subsequent Zen-influenced and avant-garde poets

Education

Yawatahama Commercial School (now Ehime Prefectural Yawatahama High School)
Period: 中退
Country: Japan
Dropped out; subsequently led an itinerant life.

Awards

Arts Selection (Minister of Education Award)
1973
Work: Collected Poems of Shinkichi Takahashi (Definitive Edition)
Organization: Arts Selection (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
Result: 受賞
Japan Poets Club Prize
1982
Work: Void
Organization: Japan Poets Club
Result: 受賞
Ehime Shimbun Cultural Award
1984
Organization: Ehime Shimbun
Result: 受賞
Fujimura Memorial Rekitei Prize
1985
Work: The Complete Works of Shinkichi Takahashi
Organization: Fujimura Memorial Rekitei Prize
Result: 受賞
Ehime Prefecture Education and Culture Award
1986
Organization: Ehime Prefecture
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Poems of Dadaist Shinkichi

1923 poetry

Early collection reflecting Dadaist spirit and experimental techniques, notable for linguistic play and visual expressions.

anti-artnihilismZen transcendence
Translations
  • Selected poems translated into English (1971)

Collected Poems of Shinkichi Takahashi (Definitive Edition)

1972 poetry

Definitive collected edition of his poetry, including representative works on Zen and transcendence.

Zentranscendencetemporality

Void

1981 poetry

A major late-career collection characterized by deep Zen insight and introspection.

emptinessintrospectionviews on life and death

Bibliography

  • Poems of Dadaist Shinkichi (1923)
  • Gion Festival: Lyric Pieces (1926)
  • New Poems of Shinkichi Takahashi (1928)
  • Collection of Nonsense (1934)
  • Madman (novel) (1936)
  • Selected Poems of Shinkichi (1936)
  • Madness: Short Stories (1936)
  • Folly Collection (1941)
  • Shinkichi Takahashi: Poetry Collection (1952)
  • Nihility (1957)
  • Zen Essays (1958)
  • Definitive Complete Poems of Shinkichi Takahashi (1972)
  • Collected Works of Shinkichi Takahashi (1982)

Translations of Works

  • English translations of Zen-related poems (1971)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Dadaist experimentalismZen-based meditative expressionvisual-poetry techniques
Recurring Motifs
emptiness (kū)transcendencevast time spans (e.g., 500 million years)repetition of everyday objects (plates, etc.)

Health

  • prostate cancer
    1983-1987
    Diagnosed in 1983; underwent repeated hospitalizations and ultimately died from the illness.

Legacy

He forged a unique poetic realm combining Dadaist avant-garde spirit and Zen transcendence, gaining recognition domestically and abroad as a Zen poet. An important figure in interwar avant-garde poetry who later contributed to dissemination of Zen literature.

Archives

  • National Diet Library (holds related materials)

Quotes

  • DADA asserts and denies everything.
    Source: Poems of Dadaist Shinkichi (1923)
  • Plate plate plate plate plate plate plate plate plate plate plate plate plate plate plate plate plate / weariness
    Source: Poem 'Plate' (1923)

Trivia

  • He lost his mother during his childhood.
  • In 1922 he was arrested after assaulting a taxi driver with a cane (reported at the time).
  • Debuted as a novelist before turning to poetry.
  • In 1971, his Zen-related poems were translated into English and received attention in the West.