Japanese Literary Awards

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Tsuji Yukio

つじ ゆきお

Tsuji Yukio

Pen Names: Kamotsusen（Used as a haiku pen-name）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1939-08-14 （Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan）
Died
2000-01-14 （Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, Japan (hospital)） age 60
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Asakusa / Mukojima area, Tokyo, Japan → Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, Japan (later life)

Career

Occupations
poet, haiku poet, critic, novelist
Active Years
1954-2000
Influenced By
Arthur Rimbaud, Rainer Maria Rilke

Education

Tokyo Metropolitan Sumidagawa High School
Period: 1954-1957
Year of Graduation: 1957
Country: Japan
High school graduate
Meiji University, Faculty of Letters
Faculty of Letters
Period: 1958-1962
Country: Japan
Attendance indicated; exact graduation year not definitively specified in source

Awards

Arts Festival (Minister of Education Award)
Work: Portrait of the Woman Rowing a Boat / River Mouth View (poetry collections)
Organization: Agency for Cultural Affairs (Arts Festival)
Result: 受賞
Shika Bungakukan Prize
Work: Portrait of the Woman Rowing a Boat / River Mouth View (poetry collections)
Organization: Poetry and Song Museum
Result: 受賞
Gendai Shi Hanatsubaki Prize
Work: Haikai Tsuji Poetry Collection
Organization: Gendai Shi Hanatsubaki Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Hagiwara Sakutarō Prize
Work: Haikai Tsuji Poetry Collection
Organization: Hagiwara Sakutaro Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Fujimura Memorial Rekitei Prize
Work: Angels, Butterflies, White Clouds and Other Meditations
Organization: Fujimura Memorial Rekitei Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Takami Jun Prize
Work: In Verlaine's Margins
Organization: Takami Jun Prize Committee
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Memories of School

1962 Poetry collection

First poetry collection published while at university; gathers his early poems.

memoryeveryday lifeyouth

How to Catch a Cold

1987 Poetry collection

One of his major post-1987 works; depicts subtle discoveries in daily life with a light tone.

everyday discoverieslight narrationdetails of existence

Portrait of the Woman Rowing a Boat

1992 Poetry collection

A poetry collection portraying fragments of life and character portraits from a distinctive viewpoint; critically recognized.

character portrayalwatersidememory

River Mouth View

1993 Poetry collection

A collection using river mouths and waterside motifs to depict layered time-spaces.

river mouthlayered timelandscape

Haikai Tsuji Poetry Collection

1996 Poetry / Haiku collection

Collection including haiku under the pen-name 'Kamotsusen' and poems; recipient of multiple literary prizes.

haikaieveryday lifeseasonality

Bibliography

  • Memories of School (1962)
  • Now I am a Minstrel (1970)
  • To Sumida River (1977)
  • Setting Sun (1979)
  • How to Catch a Cold (1987)
  • Angels, Butterflies, White Clouds and Other Meditations (1987)
  • Uguisu — 16 Pieces of Children and Samurai (1990)
  • In Verlaine's Margins (1990)
  • Simple Chaos (1991)
  • Portrait of the Woman Rowing a Boat (1992)
  • River Mouth View (1993)
  • Picture Book Skyscraper Tale (1995)
  • Haikai Tsuji Poetry Collection (1996)
  • Collected Poems of Tsuji Yukio (2003, first ed. 1996)
  • Confronting the Buds that Spring Forth (1998)
  • Continued Collected Poems of Tsuji Yukio (1999)
  • Setting Sail (1999)
  • Our (Butcher-Block-Like) Pistols (1999)
  • Kamotsusen Haiku Collection (2001)
  • Portrait of Gauche (2002)
  • Let's Talk About Poetry (2003)
  • My Introduction to Modern Poetry — Poetry Isn't Difficult (2004)
  • The Water is Cold — Collected Poems of Tsuji Yukio (2004)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
a light-verse (Light Verse) tone often described as 'light-burse'poetic structures that evoke layered time-spacesdepiction of fine details in everyday life
Recurring Motifs
waterside and river mouthsships and boatsfragments of everyday lifeportraits of peopleseasonal change

Health

  • spinocerebellar degeneration
    晩年〜2000年
    He battled the disease in later years and died from its complications; it affected his physical abilities and his later literary output.

Legacy

Renowned for a distinctive poetic voice that captures subtle everyday details with a light tone while evoking layered temporal spaces. His multifaceted work in haiku, poetry, criticism, and fiction left a lasting mark on contemporary Japanese poetry.

Quotes

  • This work was a poem of despair.
    Source: Self-reflection (comment on his poem)

Trivia

  • His haiku pen-name was 'Kamotsusen' (literally 'Cargo Ship').
  • After publishing an early piece titled 'Tree', he experienced a long period of being unable to write.
  • He grew up familiar with the pleasure quarters near Mukojima and Hato-no-machi, which comforted him.