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Tetsuhiko Hiyama

ひやま てつひこ

Hiyama Tetsuhiko

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1952-03-25 （Hiroshima Prefecture）
Died
2023-12-30 age 71
Nationality
Japanese
Languages
Japanese, German
Residence History
Hiroshima Prefecture → Bonn (West Germany) → Tokyo, Japan

Career

Occupations
Germanist, Haiku poet, University professor, Translator
Active Years
1975-2023
Affiliations
University of Tokyo, Faculty of Letters (assistant), Tokyo University of the Arts, Faculty of Music (faculty)
Influenced By
Kin'ichi Sawaki

Education

Shudo Junior & Senior High School
Country: Japan
Completed secondary education
University of Tokyo, Faculty of Letters (German Department)
Faculty of Letters / German literature
Degree: MA
Period: 1971-1977
Year of Graduation: 1977
Country: Japan
Undergraduate degree 1975, master's completed 1977
University of Bonn
Period: 1978-1981
Country: West Germany
Studied and conducted research

Awards

Haijin Kyokai Newcomer Award
2001
Work: Koten (Tsubo-ten)
Organization: Haiku Poets Association
Result: winner
Senior Fourth Rank (posthumous)
2024
Organization: Government of Japan (official gazette)
Result: honor
Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold and Silver Rays (posthumous)
2024
Organization: Government of Japan (official gazette)
Result: honor

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Koten: Haiku Collection

2001 Haiku poetry

First haiku collection, featuring lyrical poems rooted in everyday observation.

everyday lifenaturelyricism

Ah, That Longing Lorelei: Love and Eros in German Poetry

2005 Literary criticism

A critical study discussing themes of love and eros in German poetry.

German literatureloveeros

Tenkyō: Tetsuhiko Hiyama Haiku Collection

2012 Haiku poetry

A later collection of haiku characterized by mature perspective and musicality.

maturitymusicalityinterest in Jewish culture

Bibliography

  • Koten: Haiku Collection (Kadokawa) 2001
  • Ah, That Longing Lorelei: Love and Eros in German Poetry (Best Shinsho) 2005
  • Tenkyō: Tetsuhiko Hiyama Haiku Collection (Kadokawa) 2012
  • Coauthored 'Vienna: Fugue of a Multiethnic Culture' (Taishukan) 2010
  • Translation: 'Robert Schumann Song Translations' Vol.2 (Shinkisha) 1985 (etc.)

Translations by Author

  • Robert Schumann: Song Translation Collection Vol.2 (Shinkisha) 1985
  • Hugo von Hofmannsthal, 'Letters of Lord Chandos and Ten Others' (Iwanami Bunko) 1991 (co-translator)
  • 'Schumann Lieder: Translations' Vol.2-3 (Ongaku-no-Tomo) 1992-1994

Style & Themes

Literary Style
lyrical style with emphasis on musicalityscholarly analysis grounded in German-language sources
Recurring Motifs
love and erosJewish culturemusic and poetry

Legacy

A scholar of German literature and a haiku poet active in both research and poetry. He educated many students at Tokyo University of the Arts and contributed a distinctive voice to the haiku community. His later work was recognized by both academia and the haiku world; posthumously he was granted Senior Fourth Rank and the Order of the Sacred Treasure (Gold and Silver Rays).

Academic Societies

  • Haiku Poets Association

Archives

  • National Diet Library (holdings)
  • Tokyo University of the Arts (faculty archives)

Trivia

  • He founded and edited the haiku journal 'Riino' after participating in 'Kaze' and 'Bansho'.
  • Upon his death he was posthumously awarded Senior Fourth Rank and the Order of the Sacred Treasure (reported in the official gazette).
  • Known as a specialist in German lyric poetry and Jewish cultural studies.