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Makoto Takayanagi

たかやなぎ まこと

Takayanagi Makoto

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1950-09-13 （Nagoya）
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Nagoya → Machida, Tokyo (Tamagawa University)

Career

Occupations
poet, art historian, university professor
Active Years
1980-
Affiliations
Tamagawa University (former professor)
Influenced By
Osamu Tateishi (artist), Kenji Kitagawa, Kenji Kobayashi (artist)

Education

Doshisha University
Faculty of Letters / Department of Japanese Literature
Degree: Bachelor of Arts
Period: 1971-1975
Year of Graduation: 1975
Country: Japan

Awards

H Prize
1982
Work: Egg Universe / Crystal Palace / Natural History
Organization: H Prize Committee
Result: winner
Takami Jun Prize
1989
Work: Portraits of the City
Organization: Takami Jun Prize Committee
Result: winner
Fujimura Memorial Rekitei Prize
1997
Work: Perspective of Moonlight / Tactile Analytics / Interstellar Transcription (triptych)
Organization: Fujimura Memorial Rekitei Prize Committee
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Aliceland

1980 prose poetry

An early prose-poetry collection characterized by experimental imagery and linguistic exploration.

fantasylinguistic experimentationimagery

Egg Universe / Crystal Palace / Natural History

1982 poetry collection

One of his notable poetry collections, containing experimental poems that won the H Prize.

cosmologybecomingmemory

Portraits of the City

1988 poetry collection / essays

A set of poems focused on the city; awarded the Takami Jun Prize. Layers urban landscapes with inner memory.

citymemorylandscape

Perspective of Moonlight

1997 poem-art book

A poem-and-art book, part of a collaborative trilogy with visual artists.

moonvisual-poetic interplaycollaboration

Tactile Analytics

1997 poem-art book

An experimental poem-art book exploring tactile perception, including collaboration with Kenji Kitagawa.

touchformexperimental poetry

Interstellar Transcription

1997 poem-art book

A poem-art attempt on space and stars; a collaborative work with artists such as Kenji Kobayashi.

spacestarscollaboration

Bibliography

  • Aliceland (1980)
  • Egg Universe / Crystal Palace / Natural History (1982)
  • Ayadori-bito (1985)
  • Collected Poems (1986)
  • Contemporary Japanese Poetry (co-author, 1987)
  • Portraits of the City (1988)
  • Adams Brothers Catalogue No.23 (1989)
  • Arboreal World (1992)
  • Tower (1993)
  • Homage to Image (1996)
  • Tactile Analytics (1997)
  • Interstellar Transcription (1997)
  • Perspective of Moonlight (1997)
  • Meteor of All Things (1998)
  • Tilman Riemenschneider: The Last Medieval Sculptor (1999)
  • Do Not Forget Dreams (2001)
  • Words, Poetry, and Edo Painting (co-author, 2004)
  • Half-Naked Infant (2004)
  • Moonclock of Ruins / Counterpoint of Wind (2006)
  • Mineral Score (2008)
  • To the Shore Trembling with Light (2010)
  • Faces of Earth, Voice of Fire / Songs of Stars, Blood's Darkness (2012)
  • Living on the Dark Side of the Moon (2014)
  • Complete Collected Poems (3 vols., 2016-2019)
  • Essays for Poetics (2016)
  • Wandering Comet Dispatches (2017)
  • To Assassinate an Innocent Summer (2019)
  • Francesca's Skirt (2021)
  • An Elegy for the Rolling Rays (2023)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
experimental prose poetry, fusion of poetry and visual art, image-driven verse
Recurring Motifs
citymoonstarsmemorytouch

Legacy

Makoto Takayanagi is an important contemporary Japanese poet and art historian whose research and teaching expanded the intersection of poetry and visual art. He has received multiple literary awards and is recognized for his poem-art books.

Trivia

  • International identifiers such as VIAF and ISNI are registered for him.
  • He served as a professor at Tamagawa University.