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Yuko Onda

おんだ ゆうこ

Onda Yuko

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1956-09-17 （Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan）
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Shizuoka City → Tokyo (studied at Waseda University)

Career

Occupations
haiku poet, critic, reader, lecturer
Affiliations
Member of 'Kai' haiku group
Influenced By
Yukihiko Settsu, Toshihiro Tanemura, Osamu Ikeuchi, Tokihiko Kusama

Education

Shizuoka Prefectural Shizuoka High School
Country: Japan
Began writing tanka and haiku while in high school.
Waseda University, First Faculty of Letters, Department of Literary Arts
First Faculty of Letters / Department of Literary Arts
Country: Japan
Experienced her parents' divorce while a student. After graduation she aspired to be a potter but abandoned it due to kidney disease and later returned to haiku.

Awards

Bunkamura DUMAGe Literature Prize (23rd)
Work: Festival of Margins
Organization: Bunkamura
Result: 受賞
Arts Encouragement Prize — Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award (67th)
2017
Work: Dream Washing
Organization: Agency for Cultural Affairs (Japan)
Result: 受賞
Modern Haiku Association Award
2017
Work: Dream Washing
Organization: Modern Haiku Association
Result: 受賞
Katsura Nobuko Prize (9th)
2017
Work: Dream Washing
Organization: Katsura Nobuko Prize Committee
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Festival of Margins

2013 essays / criticism

A collection of art and haiku essays compiled over 16 years of writing, containing observations on Japanese haiku and aesthetics.

haiku criticismJapanese cultureaesthetics

Dream Washing

2016 haiku collection

A haiku collection exploring sensitivity, time, and beauty, characterized by delicate nature imagery and introspective perspectives.

naturetimebeauty

Ivan's Foolish Love

2000 haiku collection

An early haiku collection containing poems that capture everyday life and emotion from distinctive viewpoints.

daily lifeemotion

Lover of Chaos: Hokusai's Waves, Basho's Interests

2022 essays / criticism

An essay collection discussing intersections of Japanese art and haiku through perspectives on Hokusai and Basho.

art criticismhaiku criticismHokusaiBasho

Bibliography

  • Ivan's Foolish Love (Furansudo, 2000)
  • The Horse That Looks Back (Shichosha, 2005)
  • Kuujin Hisho (Kadokawa Gakugei, 2008)
  • Festival of Margins (Shin'ya Sōshosha, 2013)
  • Dream Washing (KADOKAWA, 2016)
  • Hadakamushi (KADOKAWA, 2022)
  • Lover of Chaos: Hokusai's Waves, Basho's Interests (Shunjusha, 2022)
  • The Star-Gazer: Japanese, Reversal from the Depths (Shunjusha, 2023)
  • Kubota Mantarō Haiku Collection (editor, Iwanami Bunko, 2021)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Concise, poetic haiku-centered styleIn criticism she blends scholarly analysis with essayistic reflection
Recurring Motifs
natureseasonsflowersparadoxes of timeJapanese culture and aesthetics

Health

  • kidney disease
    Forced her to abandon aspirations as a potter and became a turning point leading her back to haiku.

Legacy

One of the notable contemporary female haiku poets and critics, active in explaining and promoting haiku domestically and abroad. Her collections and essays have contributed to aesthetic discussions.

Academic Societies

  • Modern Haiku Association

Trivia

  • Her parents divorced while she was a student at Waseda University.
  • After graduation she aspired to be a potter but had to abandon it due to kidney disease.
  • In 2014 she gave lectures and haiku readings at the Japan Cultural Institute in Paris and at the Collège de France.
  • In 2017 her haiku collection 'Dream Washing' received the Arts Encouragement Prize (Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award).