Hagiwara Sakutaro Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 11 (2003) nominee
Masato Tomobe
ともべ まさと
Tomobe Masato
Pen Names:
Masato Ono（Used as his legal/birth name）
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1950-05-25 （Kichijoji, Musashino, Tokyo, Japan）
- Nationality
- Japan
- Languages
- Japanese
- Residence History
- New York, USA (residence/extended stays) → Japan (various cities)
Career
- Occupations
- singer, poet, lyricist, songwriter, essayist
- Active Years
- 1972-
- Influenced By
- Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Redbellies / Red Berry (folk influences), Shuntaro Tanikawa (noted poet who praised him), Mitsuharu Kaneko, Ryuichi Tamura
- Influenced
- Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi, Masatoshi Mashima, Yoshito Teraoka, Motoharu Sano, Kazufumi Miyazawa, Naotaro Moriyama, Soichi Futaba
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aichi Prefectural Atsuta High School | — | — | — | — | Japan |
Aichi Prefectural Atsuta High School
Country:
Japan
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
The Walrus Rides the Chuo Line
1977 PoetryA collection of poems treating urban life and everyday scenes, written in concise, songlike language.
city lifeeveryday lifememory
The Nameless Shopping Street
1980 PoetryPoems depicting scenes and emotions of people observed in shopping streets and urban corners.
street scenespeopletravel
Friends in Paris
1991 EssaysAn essay collection recounting overseas experiences, including time in Baghdad and Europe.
travelinternational experienceobservation
The Voice of My Star: Poems by Masato Tomobe
1992 PoetryA representative poetry collection published by Shicho-sha, exploring daily life and inner images from a poet's perspective.
inner lifeeverydaymusical elements
Bibliography
- The Walrus Rides the Chuo Line (1977, Shicho-sha)
- The Nameless Shopping Street (1980, Shicho-sha)
- Friends in Paris (1991, DAI-X Publishing)
- The Voice of My Star (1992, Shicho-sha)
- Wonderful Goodbye (2003, Shicho-sha)
- Boredom Is Lovely (2010, Shicho-sha)
- Standing at the Bus Stop Waiting for a Spaceship (2015, Nanaroku-sha)
- Searching for Songs (2020, Selected Essays, Chikuma Bunko)
Adaptations
- Multiple music video releases and live recording videos
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- colloquial yet poetic narrationconcise expressions drawing on everyday languagea style that crosses the boundary between lyrics and poetry
- Recurring Motifs
- journey/travelpeople on street cornersfragments of everyday lifefood imagery (bread, coffee, beer)perspective on American culture
Legacy
Recognized both as a folk singer and as a poet/essayist, he influenced younger musicians and writers with his dual practice of music and words, establishing a distinctive presence through long-term activity and published collections.
In Popular Culture
- Influenced numerous musicians and is known for collaborations and festival appearances
Quotes
-
I want the audience to listen with their eyes closed, not watching the stage.
Source: Interview / Wikipedia (citation needed)
Trivia
- Birth name is Masato Ono.
- Likes bread, beer and coffee; these appear frequently in his lyrics.
- Maintained a life between New York and Japan and settled in Japan in 2016.
- Has run the New York City Marathon multiple times; finished 2016 in 3:23:29 and 2022 in 4:17:36.