Japanese Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Shuntaro Tanikawa

たにかわ しゅんたろう

Tanikawa Shuntaro

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1931-12-15 （Suginami (then Toyotama), Tokyo, Japan）
Died
2024-11-13 （Tokyo, Japan） age 92
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Suginami, Tokyo, Japan (birth / upbringing) → Yodo, Kyoto, Japan (evacuation during WWII)

Career

Occupations
poet, translator, children's book author, screenwriter, lyricist
Active Years
1948-2024
Influenced By
Tatsuji Miyoshi, Takaaki Yoshimoto
Influenced
Miyuki Nakajima (example of artists influenced), Many contemporary poets and musicians (cross-generational influence)

Education

Tokyo Metropolitan Toyotama High School
Period: 〜1950
Year of Graduation: 1950
Country: Japan
Final formal education: Tokyo Metropolitan Toyotama (school name changed historically)

Awards

Japan Record Award — Lyricist Award
1962
Work: Songs for the Days of the Week (month–sun songs)
Category: 作詞賞
Organization: Japan Record Awards (organizers)
Result: 受賞
Japan Translation Culture Award
1975
Work: Mother Goose Songs (translation)
Organization: Translation/Publishing cultural award (Japan)
Result: 受賞
Yomiuri Literature Prize
1983
Work: Maps of Everyday Life
Organization: Yomiuri Shimbun
Result: 受賞
Gendai-shi Hanatsubaki Award
1985
Work: Yoshinashi Songs
Organization: Hanatsubaki (magazine)
Result: 受賞
Noma Children's Literature Prize
1988
Work: Naked
Organization: Noma Cultural Foundation (Noma Prize)
Result: 受賞
Shogakukan Literature Prize
1988
Work: First Grader
Organization: Shogakukan
Result: 受賞
American Book Award
1989
Work: Melancholy River Voyage
Organization: Before Columbus Foundation
Result: 受賞
Maruyama Yutaka Memorial Contemporary Poetry Prize
1992
Work: On Women
Organization: Maruyama Yutaka Memorial Foundation
Result: 受賞
Hagiwara Sakutaro Prize
1993
Work: Sekenchiraz (Unworldly)
Organization: Hagiwara Sakutaro Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Asahi Prize
1996
Organization: Asahi Shimbun
Result: 受賞
Japan Cultural Design Grand Prize
2005
Organization: Cultural Design Prize (Japan)
Result: 受賞
Mainichi Art Award
2006
Work: Chagall and the Leaves
Organization: Mainichi Shimbun
Result: 受賞
Shika-Bungakukan Prize
2008
Work: I / Myself
Organization: Poetry & Song Museum (Shika-Bungakukan)
Result: 受賞
Ayukawa Nobuo Prize
2010
Work: Tromsø Collage
Organization: Ayukawa Nobuo Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Zhongkun International Poetry Prize
2011
Organization: Private/Chinese poetry organization
Result: 受賞
Miyoshi Tatsuji Prize
2016
Work: On Poetry
Organization: Miyoshi Tatsuji Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Japan Foundation Award
2019
Organization: Japan Foundation
Result: 受賞
Struga Poetry Evenings — Golden Wreath
2022
Organization: Struga Poetry Evenings (organizers)
Result: 受賞
NHK Broadcasting Culture Award
2023
Organization: NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)
Result: 受賞
Japan Record Awards — Special Lifetime Achievement
2024
Category: 特別功労賞
Organization: Japan Record Awards (organizers)
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Two Billion Light-Years of Solitude

1952 poetry collection

Debut poetry collection that established Tanikawa as a postwar poetic voice.

solitudecosmoseveryday observation
Translations
  • Translated into English and many other languages

Maps of Everyday Life

1982 poetry collection

A collection of poems weaving everyday and urban scenes. Winner of the Yomiuri Literature Prize.

citymemorydaily life

Sekenchiraz

1993 poetry collection

Published in 1993; one of the works awarded the Hagiwara Sakutaro Prize, notable for its unique diction and perspective.

selflanguagedistance from society

Tromsø Collage

2009 poetry collection

Contains poems related to Tromsø and the North; recipient of the Ayukawa Nobuo Prize.

travellandscapememory

Bibliography

  • Two Billion Light-Years of Solitude (1952)
  • Maps of Everyday Life (1982)
  • Sekenchiraz (1993)
  • Tromsø Collage (2009)

Adaptations

  • Tokyo Olympiad (documentary film — script participation)
  • Matariba (1973 — screenplay)
  • Phoenix (1978 — screenplay)

Translations by Author

  • Swimmy and many children's books (Leo Lionni, etc.)
  • Translations of Peanuts (Snoopy) — handled from c.1967 to 2020

Translations of Works

  • Poetry collections translated into English, French, German, Chinese and others

Style & Themes

Literary Style
plain, conversational dictionuse of wordplay and attention to soundsimplicity and universality accessible to children
Recurring Motifs
language and wordplaycity and everyday lifesolitude and the cosmoschildren / childlike perspective

Health

  • senility / old age
    2024
    Died of age-related causes in November 2024

Legacy

One of postwar Japan's representative and widely read poets. His multifaceted career — poetry, translation, children's books, lyrics, and screenwriting — influenced many generations.

Museums

  • Kyoto Institute of Technology (donation recipient) Kyoto, Japan Opened in 2005

In Popular Culture

  • Lyrics such as 'The Promise of the World' (theme song for Howl's Moving Castle) are widely known in film and music contexts
  • Long-term translations of Peanuts contributed to Snoopy's cultural presence in Japan

Quotes

  • Once a poem is written, it belongs to others.
    Source: Interview / essay (paraphrased remark) (2007)
  • I take pride in being a professional poet.
    Source: Statements / interviews (2000)

Trivia

  • Collected vintage radios and donated the collection to Kyoto Institute of Technology in 2005.
  • Worked on translations of Peanuts for roughly 50 years.
  • Reportedly practiced eating one meal a day.
  • Married three times during his life.