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Machi Tawara

たわら まち

Tawara Machi

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1962-12-31 （Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture, Japan）
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Shijonawate, Osaka Prefecture, Japan (childhood) → Takefu (now Echizen), Fukui Prefecture, Japan (moved) → Tokyo (studied at Waseda University) → Kanagawa Prefecture (worked at Hashimoto High School) → Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan → Ishigaki Island, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan (moved) → Miyazaki City, Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan (moved) → Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan (returned in 2022 to support elderly parents)

Career

Occupations
Tanka poet, Essayist, Translator, Lyricist, Novelist, High school teacher
Active Years
1986-
Affiliations
Kokoro no Hana (tanka group), Tokyo Concerts (management agency)
Memberships
Kokoro no Hana (tanka group), National Language Council (served as a member)
Influenced By
Sasaki Yukitsuna, Muraki Michihiko
Influenced
Umenai Mikako, Osano Dan, Hagiwara Shin'ichirō

Education

Waseda University, School of Letters, Arts and Sciences I
School of Letters, Arts and Sciences I / Japanese Literature
Degree: 学士（文学）
Period: 1981-1985
Year of Graduation: 1985
Country: Japan
Fukui Prefectural Fujishima High School
Period: 1978-1981
Year of Graduation: 1981
Country: Japan

Awards

Kadokawa Tanka Award
1986
Work: August Morning
Organization: Kadokawa Shoten
Result: 受賞
Modern Tanka Poets Association Prize
1988
Work: Salad Anniversary
Organization: Modern Tanka Poets Association
Result: 受賞
Murasaki Shikibu Literary Prize
2003
Work: Loving The Tale of Genji
Organization: Murasaki Shikibu Literary Prize
Result: 受賞
Wakayama Bokusui Prize
2006
Work: Pooh's Nose
Organization: Wakayama Bokusui Prize
Result: 受賞
Shiika Literature Museum Prize
2021
Work: The Size of the Future
Organization: Shiika Literature Museum
Result: 受賞
Chokuu Prize
2021
Work: The Size of the Future
Organization: Chokuu Prize
Result: 受賞
Asahi Prize
2022
Organization: The Asahi Shimbun
Result: 受賞
Best Mother Award
2009
Organization: Best Mother Awards Committee
Result: 受賞
Miyanichi Publishing Grand Prize (Special Award)
2019
Work: Bokusui's Love
Organization: Miyanichi Publishing Award
Result: 受賞
Order of the Purple Ribbon
2023
Organization: Cabinet Office, Government of Japan
Result: 受章

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Salad Anniversary

1987 Tanka collection

Her first tanka collection, notable for colloquial, accessible tanka that reached a broad readership and became a major bestseller in 1987.

everyday lifelovefoodhumor

Chocolate Revolution

1997 Tanka collection

Her third tanka collection, continuing to depict everyday life with familiar language and light sensibility.

everyday lifelovememory

Pooh's Nose

2005 Tanka collection

Fourth tanka collection, featuring gentle humor and a warm gaze on daily life and family.

familychildcareeveryday life

The Size of the Future

2020 Tanka collection

Her sixth tanka collection, containing poems that contemplate time and the future with a mature perspective.

timefuturematurity

Triangle

2004 Novel

Her first full-length novel, serialized in the Yomiuri Shimbun and later adapted for film.

human relationshipslovemodern life
Adaptations
  • [Film] TANNKA Tanka / 阿木燿子

I'm Mario

2013 Tanka collection

Her fifth tanka collection, incorporating contemporary themes into tanka.

contemporary cultureeveryday lifeplayfulness

Bibliography

  • Salad Anniversary
  • Fresh Tanka
  • Another Love
  • Palm of the Wind
  • Chocolate Revolution
  • Little Friends
  • Longing to Be Held Like a Bouquet
  • Time Until We Meet (Selected Tanka)
  • Pooh's Nose
  • Triangle
  • I'm Mario
  • The Size of the Future
  • The Avocado Seed
  • Afterword Not Yet: Selected Tanka by Machi Tawara

Adaptations

  • Novel 'Triangle' adapted as the film 'TANNKA Tanka'

Translations by Author

  • Come Down, John (original: John Burningham)
  • Madeline's Christmas (original: Ludwig Bemelmans)
  • The Christmas Star (original: Marcus Pfister)
  • The Bear and the Forest Piano (original: David Litchfield)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
colloquial tankause of everyday languageelements of light versehumorous and witty tone
Recurring Motifs
everyday lifelove/romancefamilyfoodtravelnaturechildcare/parenting

Legacy

Machi Tawara popularized tanka among general readers with her 1987 collection 'Salad Anniversary', significantly contributing to the spread of colloquial tanka and light verse. Through essays, translations and wide-ranging media activities, she is recognized for broadening the audience for contemporary tanka.

Academic Societies

  • Modern Tanka Poets Association

In Popular Culture

  • 'Salad Anniversary' became a bestseller and sparked a social phenomenon
  • Appeared as a guest judge on NHK Kohaku (1987, 1998, 2023, etc.)
  • Film appearance ('Welcome to the Quiet Room', etc.) and broad media activities
  • Influenced education, writing lyrics for pieces used in school music contests

Trivia

  • Her real name is Machi Tawara; it is not a pen name derived from Tawaramachi station, as she has stated.
  • 'Salad Anniversary' sold millions of copies (sources cite figures such as over 2.6 million or 2.8 million copies).
  • In 2003 she gave birth to a son and has raised him as a single mother while continuing her creative work.
  • Graduated from Waseda University (School of Letters); after graduation she worked as a high school Japanese teacher.
  • Her work spans tanka, essays, translations, lyric-writing, serializations and novels.