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Tanaka Kiyomitsu

たなか きよみつ

Tanaka Kiyomitsu

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1931-03-19 （Inariyama Town, Sarashina District, Nagano Prefecture (now Chikuma City), Japan）
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Chikuma City (formerly Inariyama Town) → Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, Japan

Career

Occupations
poet, bank clerk
Active Years
1952-
Influenced By
Tachihara Michizō, Yagi Jūkichi, Hori Tatsuo

Education

Old Ueda Middle School (now Nagano Prefectural Ueda High School)
Country: Japan

Awards

Japan Poets' Club Prize
1994
Work: House of Wind
Organization: Japan Poets' Club
Result: winner
Poetry and Song Literature Museum Prize
1997
Work: By the Shore
Organization: Poetry and Song Literature Museum
Result: winner
Yamamoto Kenkichi Literary Prize
2001
Work: Rebirth
Organization: Yamamoto Kenkichi Literary Prize Committee
Result: winner
Miyoshi Tatsuji Prize
2008
Work: The Landscape Reaches Its Zenith
Organization: Miyoshi Tatsuji Prize Committee
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Harvest Festival

1960 Poetry

An early collection of poems presenting lyrical perspectives through fragments of nature and everyday life.

naturelyricism

Mountain Range Rhythm

1976 Poetry

A collection centered on mountains, exhibiting characteristics of mountain poetry.

mountainsnaturesolitude

House of Wind

1994 Poetry

A lyrical collection blending a sense of nature with introspection.

lyricismnatureintrospection

By the Shore

1996 Poetry

A collection themed on shores and watersides, questioning existence through calm landscape descriptions.

watersideexistencelandscape

Rebirth

2000 Poetry

A collection dealing with motifs of life, death, and rebirth, portraying inner human perspectives and renewal.

life and deathrebirthinteriority

The Landscape Reaches Its Zenith

2007 Poetry

A mature work depicting the intensification of mountains and nature, indicating poetic peaks.

mountainslandscapematurity

Bibliography

  • Tachihara Michizō, Eureka, 1954
  • Life and Works of Tachihara Michizō, Eureka, 1956
  • Harvest Festival (poetry), Eureka, 1960
  • Poet Yagi Jūkichi, Mugisha, 1969
  • Bitter Love, Yayoi Shobo, 1970
  • Butterfly Path, Seiga Shobo, 1976
  • Mountain Range Rhythm (poetry), Mugisha, 1976
  • Seasons of Shinano, Ski Journal, 1977
  • Hori Tatsuo: Soul's Journey, Bunkyo Shobo, 1978
  • Shinshu's Kamakura: Pilgrimage to Old Temples of Shiodadaira, Creative Center, 1979
  • Azumino / Rokuzan Art Museum, Creative Center, 1981
  • Harp on the Mountain, Bunkyo Shobo, 1982
  • Orpheuses of the Fin de Siècle: Currents of Modern Japanese Poetry, Chikuma Shobo, 1985
  • Mountains and Poets, Bunkyo Shobo, 1986
  • Tateyama, Jiji Press, 1987
  • Kamikochi, Jiji Press, 1988
  • Yamamura Bocho, Chikuma Shobo, 1988
  • Mountain Märchen, Bunkyo Shobo, 1989
  • Painters of Moonlight: The Youth of Tanaka Kyokichi and Onchi Koshiro, Chikuma Shobo, 1990
  • Mountains of Poets: My Anthology, Kobunsha, 1994
  • House of Wind, Shichosha, 1994
  • By the Shore, Shichosha, 1996
  • Taisho Poetry Outlook, Chikuma Shobo, 1996
  • Selected Poems of Tanaka Kiyomitsu, Shichosha, 1998
  • Rebirth (poetry), Shichosha, 2000
  • Soul Calming, Shichosha, 2001
  • Ending and Beginning, Shichosha, 2003
  • To Things That Pass, Shichosha, 2005
  • The Landscape Reaches Its Zenith, Shichosha, 2007
  • Northern Regions, Shichosha, 2009
  • Three Thousand Days, Shichosha, 2011
  • From the Twilight Earth, Shichosha, 2013

Style & Themes

Literary Style
lyricallyricismmountain-poetry expression
Recurring Motifs
mountainsnaturerebirthlandscape

Legacy

Tanaka Kiyomitsu is an important postwar Japanese poet noted for lyricism and mountain poetry. He received several literary prizes and is recognized for his contemplative depictions of mountains and nature.

Academic Societies

  • Japan Poets' Club

Archives

  • Holdings in the National Diet Library (works and authority data)
  • Authority records in VIAF / WorldCat and other databases

Trivia

  • He worked as a bank clerk at Hachijuni Bank until age 45 before becoming a full-time poet.
  • Began publishing in 1952 with 'For Love and Life'.
  • Has published many poems focusing on mountains (mountain poetry).
  • Resident of Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture.