Japanese Literary Awards

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Goro Wada

わだ ごろう

Wada Gorō

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1923-06-18 （Mikage, Muko District, Hyogo (now Higashinada-ku, Kobe)）
Died
2015-02-23 age 91
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Kobe (birthplace) → Nara (worked at Nara Women's University)

Career

Occupations
haiku poet, chemist, university professor
Active Years
1952-2015
Influenced By
Hashi Kanshaku, Shigenobu Takayanagi, Toko Akao

Education

Osaka University
Faculty of Science
Country: Japan
Graduated from Faculty of Science (specific year not provided)

Awards

Gendai Haiku Association Prize
1969
Organization: Gendai Haiku Association
Result: winner
Gendai Haiku Grand Prize
2007
Organization: Gendai Haiku Association
Result: winner
Yomiuri Literary Prize (Poetry/Haiku)
2013
Work: Kazaguruma (Windmill)
Category: 詩歌俳句賞
Organization: Yomiuri Shimbun
Result: winner
Hyogo Prefecture Cultural Award
Organization: Hyogo Prefecture
Result: winner
Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon
1999
Organization: Government of Japan
Result: recipient
Osaka Cultural and Arts Contribution Award
Organization: Osaka (local organizations)
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Kazaguruma (Windmill)

2012 haiku collection

A late-career haiku collection featuring poems that often employ scientific concepts and a broad, cosmic perspective.

naturetimethe universedimensions

Zabō

2001 haiku collection

A mid-to-late career collection showcasing reflective poems that merge quiet observation with scientific vocabulary.

tranquilityobservationnature

Shichijuman-nen

1968 haiku collection

An early collection containing poems that reveal an expansive view of time and nature.

timenature

Bibliography

  • Shichijuman-nen (1968)
  • Gen (1977)
  • Yamakai-shi (1981)
  • Shokatsuna (1983)
  • Sakuramori (1984)
  • Horyu-ji Densho (1987)
  • Shoma (1993)
  • Sokkyō no Yama (1996)
  • Zabō (2001)
  • Ningenritsu (2005)
  • Kazaguruma (2012)
  • Goro Wada Haiku Collection (1992)
  • Chemistry Festival (Shumisaï) (2003)
  • Haiku and Nature (1989)
  • Haiku Civilization (2003)
  • Whispers of Space-Time (2011)

Translations by Author

  • The Chemistry of Culture (translation)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
uses scientific terminology and broad conceptual framesconcise, observation-based imageryphilosophical and cosmic perspectives
Recurring Motifs
timeearththe universedimensionsquiet of nature

Health

  • emphysema
    晩年
    Affected health in later years and led to death in 2015.

Legacy

A haiku poet with a background in physical chemistry, known for integrating scientific vocabulary into haiku and offering a distinctive, expansive perspective. Highly regarded in the modern haiku community and recipient of major awards.

Academic Societies

  • Gendai Haiku Association

Archives

  • Materials possibly held at Nara Women's University

In Popular Culture

  • Frequently cited in modern haiku anthologies and academic studies.

Quotes

  • A cold dawn — by a divine blow it becomes day
    Source: Haiku (written after the Great Hanshin–Awaji Earthquake) (1995)

Trivia

  • Began composing haiku in 1952.
  • Home was destroyed in the 1995 Great Hanshin–Awaji Earthquake.
  • Received the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon in 1999.
  • Founded and edited the journal 'Furai' in 2010.
  • Also a scholar specialized in physical chemistry.