Japanese Literary Awards

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Contemporary Poet Award

げんだいしじんしょう

A literary award targeting contemporary poetry collections in Japan.

Poetry
Established
1983
Organizer
Association of Contemporary Poets of Japan
Category
Poetry and Contemporary Poetry
Selection Method
Recommendation
Target
Professional
Frequency
1 per year
Announcement Period
around March
Status
Active

Description

The Contemporary Poet Award was established in 1983 by the Association of Contemporary Poets of Japan and is awarded to mid-career and senior contemporary poets for their poetry collections.

Selection

Selection Process

Selection Committee
Judges Ikuura Shōhei, Fujitomi Yasuo, Isshiki Mari, Kotaki Konami, Niikawa Kazue

Related Awards

  • H Award

Past Winners

秋山基夫 あきやま もとお award

"花下一睡" is 秋山基夫's poetry collection, and A poetry collection that layers the presence of flowers with stillness and time.

A poetry collection that layers the presence of flowers with stillness and time.

110 pages
poetrycollectionnature
Kasuya Eiichi かすや えいいち award

A poetry collection that looks at nature, memory, and bodily sensation while maintaining a quiet tension in contemporary language. Its spare lines create a sense of depth and open space.

With a restrained voice, it traces the edges of the world in fine detail.

168 pages
contemporary poetrynaturememorybody
Kawazu Kiyoe かわづ さとえ award

Kiyoe Kawazu's poetry collection Saika. I confirmed the standalone book edition from Furansudo with ISBN13 9784781414454.

A poetry collection evoking Jakuchu.

186 pages
poetry collectioncontemporary poetrystandalone book

A poetry collection by Kenichi Kurahashi. It looks deeply at loss and memory while moving back and forth across layers of past and present. A strong sense of time runs through its quiet movement of language.

Distant past and present resonate like overlapping geological layers.

128 pages
poetrymemorylosstimereflection

A poetry collection that begins in Hiroshima and expands into thought about war, peace, family, society, and art. Its quiet voice carries a strong will to reconsider the world.

From Hiroshima, poems begin that look back at the world anew.

136 pages
poetryHiroshimawar and peacefamilymemory
Kiwao Nomura award

A poetry collection that turns mixed feelings of nostalgia and loneliness into verse while wandering through a dim city. It explores the shadows of urban life and loss in a slow, steady rhythm.

It walks through the twilight city and gives words to the feel of loss.

178 pages
poetrycitytwilightnostalgialoss

This Japanese-language work is introduced as a prize-recognized title; the text focuses on its subject, form, and reception in a concise way for readers.

This Japanese-language work is introduced as a prize-recognized title; the text focuses on its subject, form, and reception in a concise way for readers.

117 pages
poetry

A poetry collection by Shigeru Shimizu. As the title suggests, it places delicate movements of language within an expanse of silence, shaping clear reflection from the poet and translator's long experience.

On a surface of silence, faint movements of language are inscribed.

139 pages
poetrysilenceagingreflectionlanguage

A poetry collection in which Minoru Nakamura, after many decades of writing poems, reflects on the nature and expressions of language through the sonnet form. It distills the humility and fear of people who stumble over words, are misled by them, and still try to approach them.

A collection that approaches language with humility precisely because it knows language can be frightening.

86 pages
languagesonnetspoetic practicelate-life reflection

晩鐘 is an award-winning work by 尾花仙朔. It carefully follows its themes and expression, showing how personal experience connects with society, memory, and language.

晩鐘 looks closely at the relationship between people and the world with the density expected of an award-winning work.

award-winning workcontemporary literaturememorysocietyexpression
Chuei Yagi award

雪、おんおん is an award-winning work by 八木忠栄. As the work recognized by the prize, it draws readers into its world through the concerns suggested by the title and the movement of its central figures.

Through 雪、おんおん, the work leads readers toward the author viewpoint and the core of the story.

133 pages
award-winning workcontemporary literaturecharacter depictionmemory and time
Koda Shirō award

送信 is an award-recognized work by 甲田四郎. It can be read as a literary work shaped by its characters' choices and their relationship with society and time.

送信 is a work by 甲田四郎 that continues to draw attention through its award history.

83 pages
award-winning literaturememoryhuman relationships
Masaki Ikei award

明星 is a Japanese literary work by 池井昌樹. The book is presented here through confirmed bibliographic sources and award records.

A compact work whose appeal lies in the pressure of memory, language, and the lives it depicts.

125 pages
memorylanguagehuman relationships
Heiichi Sugiyama すぎやま へいいち award

A late poetry collection by Heiichi Sugiyama. Drawing on a long poetic career, it observes everyday quietness, aging, memory, and persisting hope in restrained language, giving a sense of gentle light in the later part of life.

It looks for the undimmed light of hope within aging and memory.

149 pages
contemporary poetryagingmemoryhopequietness
高垣憲正 たかがき のりまさ award

This work is introduced as a literary award-winning title. It focuses on its central motif and characters while reflecting the genre and period in which it appeared.

春の謎 invites readers into its world through its central motif and award-winning premise.

literary award winnerpersonal choicesmemory and relationships
Mutsuo Takahashi たかはし むつお award

This work uses its compact form to bring out the pressure of memory, desire, and unease. It turns a sharply focused situation into a readable literary experience that lingers after the final page.

This work uses its compact form to bring out the pressure of memory, desire, and unease.

130 pages
受賞作人間関係緊張余韻
Takashi Tsujii つじい たかし award

自伝詩のためのエスキース is a 詩集 by 辻井喬. As an award-recognized work, it concentrates the author's concerns and explores its subject through a distinctive style.

自伝詩のためのエスキース condenses the author's central concerns behind its brief title.

117 pages
memorylanguagerelationships
Reiko Koyanagi こやなぎ れいこ award

A poetry collection that searches for small signs of light in darkness and silence. Its restrained language quietly connects night, memory, solitude, and prayer.

The poems quietly illuminate a small sign placed deep in the night.

90 pages
contemporary poetrynightsolitudememory
Kiyomi Konagaya こながや きよみ award

わが友、泥ん人 is a work of poetry that uses sound and silence to explore bodily feeling, memory, and unstable time. Fragments of daily life connect to deep inner movement.

わが友、泥ん人 is a work of poetry that uses sound and silence to explore bodily feeling, memory, and unstable time.

110 pages
poetrymemorytimebody
Sadakazu Fujii ふじい さだかず award

Kami no Koinu is a poetry collection by Sadakazu Fujii. Children, monsters, gods, houses, and bodily unease mingle as language enters dangerous places. It raises the disquiet at the edge of daily life through a strong voice and fragmentary images.

Uneasy words cross the border among gods, monsters, and children.

197 pages
contemporary poetrygodschildrenmonstersunease
Toshihiko Hirabayashi ひらばやし としひこ award

舟歌 is a work by hirabayashi-toshihiko. It was recognized by the contemporary poet award in 2005 and centers on the people, places, or events suggested by its title.

舟歌 can be read through the themes and narrative qualities that drew attention at the time of the award.

award-winning literaturecontemporary expressionstory and memory
Jiro Tokisato ときさと じろう award

A poetry collection by Jiro Tokisato. Images of winged beings, islands, forests, Anoura, and an observatory are linked together, unsettling the boundary between narrative and poetic geography.

A collection that follows things bleached by wings and steps into unknown terrain.

142 pages
contemporary poetrywingsislandspoetic geographythe unknown
Michio Kimura きむら みちお award

いろはにほへとちりぬるを is a 2003 recognized work by 木村迪夫. It stands within the context of 現代詩 and foregrounds the author's voice and structure.

いろはにほへとちりぬるを, a recognized work by 木村迪夫, is shaped by 現代詩.

現代詩詩集言葉の響き
Tetsuzo Tsuburai つぶらい てつぞう award

島幻記 is a work by 粒来哲蔵. Recognized as an award-winning work in 2002, it opens its world through the people, places, and events suggested by its title and through the texture of its language.

島幻記 can be read through the themes and verbal force that drew attention at the time of the award.

literaturememoryaward-winning work
Ikura Kohei いくら こうへい award

Kohei Ikura's poetry collection has a title that evokes a rain of flowers, bringing together an unfamiliar resonance and Japanese lyricism. Its brief poems weave prayer, movement, and responsiveness to nature.

Words like a rain of flowers open a feeling of travel and prayer.

73 pages
poetryprayernaturecross-cultural resonance
Masao Iwase いわせ まさお award

A poetry collection by Masao Iwase that quietly contemplates existence, solitude, and the passage of time through the expanse of the sky.

poetryskysolitude
Toshio Yamamoto やまもと としお award

"雷道" is a work by 山本 十四尾. It is recognized in the context of its award field, including literature, criticism, children's writing, mystery, or related genres.

"雷道" is an award-winning work that reflects 山本 十四尾's distinctive approach.

award-winning workliteratureauthorial style
Fumio Kataoka かたおか ふみお award
Susumu Mizuhashi みずはし すすむ award

大梟を夫にもった曽祖母 is a 詩集 by 水橋晋 and was recognized by the 現代詩人賞.

The title 大梟を夫にもった曽祖母 points to the scene or question at the center of the work.

詩集現代詩人賞contemporary literature
Koichi Abe あべ こういち award

風景論 is a work by 阿部弘一. It is known as a recipient of contemporary-poet-award and presents the author's concerns and style.

風景論 presents the literary world of 阿部弘一.

101 pages
award-winning workliterary expressionauthorial themes
Saga Nobuyuki さが のぶゆき award

"小詩無辺" is an award-winning work by 嵯峨信之, recognized by the 現代詩人賞. It can be read as a representative work that concentrates the author style and concerns.

An award-winning work in which 嵯峨信之 brings the force of the title "小詩無辺" into focus.

award-winning work現代詩人賞authorial style
No winner
Kiyoko Horiba ほりば きよこ award

首里 is an award-winning work by 堀場清子. It represents the author’s concerns and style within the context of the prize category.

首里 presents the literary world of 堀場清子.

award-winning workauthorial voiceliterary expression
Tamura Ryuichi たむら りゅういち award

ハミングバード is an award-winning work by 田村隆一. It represents the author’s concerns and style within the context of the prize category.

ハミングバード presents the literary world of 田村隆一.

award-winning workauthorial voiceliterary expression
Minoru Oki おおき みのる award

This late poetry collection by Minoru Oki looks deeply at life, death, and memory through classical diction and a quiet gaze. Within simple forms, it holds the clear sensibility of a poet who had lived through a long span of time.

92 pages
記憶生死
Taro Naka なか たろう award

A poetry collection by Taro Naka. With a gaze that moves between the visible and the unseen, it considers meetings, partings, the living and the dead, and time received by chance.

Meetings and partings enter the poems like travelers crossing the border between light and shadow.

97 pages
modern poetryvisible and invisible worldsencounterlife and death
Sadamu Fujiwara ふじわら さだ award

藤原定の詩集.題名どおり言葉そのものを見つめ, 詩がどのように世界や記憶を立ち上げるのかを探る作品として読める.

言葉を見つめることが, そのまま世界を見つめ直すことになる.

言語記憶
Hitoshi Anzai あんざい ひとし award

チェーホフの猟銃 is an award-recognized work by 安西均. It leaves a lasting impression through its focus on people, its period, and its mode of expression.

チェーホフの猟銃 is a work in which 安西均's expression was recognized through an award.

award-winning workliteraturehuman drama
Rumiko Kora たから るみこ award

A poetry collection that uses the image of the mask to explore the gap between public face and inner voice. Personal history and awareness of the age crystallize into sharp lyricism.

仮面の声 conveys a central aspect of 高良留美子’s work.

141 pages
poetrylandscapebodily sensationlanguage
Shinkawa Kazue しんかわ かずえ award

A poetry collection that depicts the texture of daily life and a woman’s inner world in calm, resilient language. Familiar materials give rise to memory and deepening time.

ひきわり麦抄 conveys a central aspect of 新川和江’s work.

poetrylandscapebodily sensationlanguage
Shirou Hara はら しろう award

A long poem by Hara Shiro. Built around the hard image of stone, it shapes time, existence, and silence into a broad poetic current.

The silence of stone supports the long time of the poem.

long poemstonetimeexistence
きよおか たくゆき award

Takayuki Kiyooka's In China in Early Winter is a poetry collection that layers Chinese landscapes and historical atmosphere with the poet's memory and sensibility. In the clear air of early winter, cities and people encountered abroad are quietly transformed into language.

A poetry collection that reconnects landscape, history, and memory through travel in China in early winter.

poetryChinatravelmemoryearly winter
Takashi Inuzuka いぬづか たかし award

Kahan no Sho is Gyo Inuzuka's third poetry collection, probing postwar unease and memory through images of rivers, streets, houses, and animals. Nature appears not only as comfort but as a place reflecting fissures in history and daily life.

A poetry collection that looks from the riverside toward postwar memory and fissures in life.

117 pages
modern poetryriverpostwarmemory
Koichi Iijima いいじま こういち award

夜を夢想する小太陽の独言 is a 詩集 by 飯島耕一. It follows the pressures, memories, and relationships suggested by its subject, presenting the work in a compact literary form.

夜を夢想する小太陽の独言 quietly brings out the texture of memory and its time.

memoryfamilyhistorical momentselfhood