Japanese Literary Awards

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Akira Tatehata

たてはた あきら

Tatehata Akira

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1947-08-01 （Kyoto Prefecture, Japan）
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese

Career

Occupations
poet, art critic, museum director, university professor
Active Years
1970-
Affiliations
Geijutsu Shincho (editor), National Museum of Art, Osaka (senior researcher / director), Tama Art University (assistant professor / professor / president / professor emeritus), Kyoto City University of Arts (president / professor emeritus), Saitama Prefectural Museum of Modern Art (director), Yayoi Kusama Museum (director), Columbia University (visiting researcher), Tokyo University of the Arts (visiting professor)
Memberships
Japan PEN Club

Education

Waseda University
Faculty of Letters / Department of French Literature
Year of Graduation: 1970
Country: Japan

Awards

Rikutei Shin'ei Prize (2nd)
1991
Work: Yohaku no Runner (Margin Runner)
Result: winner
Takami Jun Prize (35th)
2005
Work: Reido no Inu (Dog of Zero Degrees)
Result: winner
Hagiwara Sakutaro Prize (21st)
2013
Work: Shigo no Lesson (Lessons in Dead Words)
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Yohaku no Runner (Margin Runner)

1991 poetry

A poetry collection focusing on margins and fragments; one of the author's early representative works.

marginsfragmentsthe city

Sono Humming o Shimo

1993 poetry

A lyrical, rhythmical collection of poems.

soundmemory

Patrick Century

1996 poetry

A collection containing poetic allegories concerning people and eras.

individualstime

Answers Without Questions: Objects and Sculpture

1998 art criticism

A series of essays on objects and sculpture, summarizing his work as an art critic.

sculptureobjectsmodernism

Unfinished Past: Painting and Modernism

2000 art criticism

A work containing considerations on painting history and modernism.

painting historymodernism

Reido no Inu (Dog of Zero Degrees)

2004 poetry

A poetry collection characterized by a calm gaze and motifs of silence. Winner of the Takami Jun Prize.

silencesolitude

The Greens of Dublin

2005 essays

An essay collection concerning Dublin and Ireland.

travelmemory

Shigo no Lesson (Lessons in Dead Words)

2013 poetry

A poetry collection themed on the demise and forgetting of language. Winner of the Hagiwara Sakutaro Prize.

languageforgettingdead words

Taxidermy Series

2021 poetry

A poetry collection that questions existence and memory through the motif of taxidermy.

preservationmemory

Bibliography

  • Yohaku no Runner (Margin Runner)
  • Sono Humming o Shimo
  • Patrick Century
  • Answers Without Questions: Objects and Sculpture
  • Unfinished Past: Painting and Modernism
  • Reido no Inu (Dog of Zero Degrees)
  • The Greens of Dublin
  • Shigo no Lesson (Lessons in Dead Words)
  • Taxidermy Series

Style & Themes

Literary Style
fragmentary, poetic expressionart-critical observational voice
Recurring Motifs
marginsmemorydead languageurban landscapes

Legacy

Alongside his work as a poet, he contributed significantly to dissemination and education of contemporary art in Japan as a museum director and university president. Known for a distinctive perspective that traverses poetry and art criticism.

Museums

  • Saitama Prefectural Museum of Modern Art Saitama Prefecture, Japan
  • Yayoi Kusama Museum Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan Opened in 2017

Academic Societies

  • Japan PEN Club

Archives

  • National Diet Library (works and materials)
  • CiNii / KAKEN (research performance databases)

Trivia

  • His elder brother is sculptor Sakuya Tatehata.
  • His father was sculptor Kakuzo Tatehata and his grandfather was sculptor Daimu Tatehata.
  • He is active both as a poet and as an art critic / museum administrator.