Reginald Horace Blyth
Encyclopedia
Reginald Horace Blyth was an English
author and devotee of Japan
ese culture.
, England
, the son of a railway clerk. In 1916, at the height of World War I
, he was imprisoned at Wormwood Scrubs
, as a conscientious objector
, before working on the Home Office
Scheme at Princetown
Work Centre in the former and future Dartmoor Prison. After the war he attended the University of London
, where he read English and from which he graduated in 1923, with honours. He adopted a vegetarian lifestyle which he maintained throughout his life.
Blyth played the flute
, made musical instruments, and taught himself several European languages. He was particularly fond of the music of J.S. Bach. In 1924, he received a teaching certificate from London Day Training College. The same year, he married Annie Bercovitch, a university friend. Some accounts say they moved to India
, where he taught for a while until he became unhappy with British colonial rule. Other scholars dismiss this episode, claiming it to have been invented by Blyth's mentor Suzuki Daisetsu. (Pinnington, 1997).
(then under Japanese rule), where Blyth became Assistant Professor of English at Keijo University in Seoul
. While in Korea, Blyth began to learn Japanese
and Chinese
, and studied Zen
under the master
Hanayama Taigi of Myōshin-ji
Keijo Betsuin (Seoul
). In 1933, he informally adopted a Korean student, paying for his studies in Korea and London. (Pinnington, 1997). His wife returned to England alone in 1934. He later followed her and they were divorced shortly thereafter, in 1935.
in Japan
, and took a job as English teacher at the Fourth Higher School (later Kanazawa University
).
When World War II
broke out, Blyth was interned
as a British enemy alien
. Although he expressed his sympathy for Japan and sought Japanese citizenship
, this was denied. During his internment his extensive library
was destroyed in a bombing raid.
After the war, Blyth worked diligently with the authorities, both Japanese and American, to ease the transition to peace. Blyth functioned as liaison to the Japanese Imperial Household
, and his close friend, Harold Gould Henderson
, was on General Douglas MacArthur
's staff. Together, they helped draft the declaration Ningen Sengen, by which Emperor Hirohito
declared himself to be a human being, and not divine
.
By 1946, Blyth had become Professor
of English at Gakushuin University
, and tutored Crown Prince
(later emperor) Akihito
in English. He did much to popularise Zen
philosophy
and Japanese poetry
(particularly haiku
) in the West
. In 1954, he was awarded a doctorate
in literature
from Tokyo University, and, in 1959, he received the Zuihōshō
(Order of Merit) Fourth Grade.
Blyth died in 1964, of a brain tumour
and complications
from pneumonia
, in the Seiroka Hospital
in Tokyo
. He was buried in the cemetery of the Shokozan Tokei Soji Zenji Temple
in Kamakura
, next to his old friend, D. T. Suzuki. He left the following death poem
:
interest in haiku the genre drew less attention in English, until after World War II, with the appearance of a number of influential volumes about Japanese haiku.
In 1949, with the publication in Japan of the first volume of Haiku, Blyth's four-volume work, haiku was introduced to the post-war Western world. Blyth produced a series of works on Zen
, haiku, senryū
, and on other forms of Japanese
and Asian literature
, the most significant being his Zen in English Literature and Oriental Classics (1942); his four-volume Haiku series (1949-52), dealing mostly with pre-modern haiku, though including Shiki
; and his two-volume History of Haiku (1964). Today he is best known as a major interpreter of haiku to English speakers.
Present-day attitudes to Blyth's work vary: On the one hand, he is appreciated as a populariser of Japanese culture; on the other, his portrayals of haiku and Zen have sometimes been criticized as one-dimensional. Many contemporary Western writers of haiku were introduced to the genre through his works. These include the San Francisco and Beat Generation
writers, such as Jack Kerouac
, Gary Snyder
, and Allen Ginsberg
, as well as J.D. Salinger. Many members of the international "haiku community" also got their first views of haiku from Blyth's books, including American author James W. Hackett
(b. 1929), Eric Amann, William J. Higginson
, Anita Virgil, Jane Reichhold, and Lee Gurga. Some noted Blyth's distaste for haiku on more modern themes and his strong bias regarding a direct connection between haiku and Zen, a connection largely ignored by modern Japanese poets. (Bashō, in fact, felt that his devotion to haiku prevented him from realising enlightenment. In addition, many classic Japanese haiku poets, including Chiyo-ni, Buson, and Issa
were Pure Land rather than Zen Buddhists.) Blyth also did not view haiku by Japanese women favourably, downplaying their substantial contributions to the genre, especially during the Bashō
era and the twentieth century.
Although Blyth did not foresee the appearance of original haiku in languages other than Japanese when he began writing on the topic, and although he founded no school of verse, his works stimulated the writing of haiku in English
. At the end of the second volume of his History of Haiku (1964), he remarked that "The latest development in the history of haiku is one which nobody foresaw...the writing of haiku outside Japan, not in the Japanese language." He followed that comment with a number of original verses in English by Hackett with whom Blyth corresponded.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
author and devotee of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese culture.
Early life
Blyth was born in EssexEssex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the son of a railway clerk. In 1916, at the height of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, he was imprisoned at Wormwood Scrubs
Wormwood Scrubs (HM Prison)
HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs is a Category B men's prison, located in the Wormwood Scrubs area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, in inner west London, England. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service....
, as a conscientious objector
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
, before working on the Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
Scheme at Princetown
Princetown
Princetown is a town situated on Dartmoor in the English county of Devon.In 1785, Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt, Secretary to the Prince of Wales, leased a large area of moorland from the Duchy of Cornwall estate, hoping to convert it into good farmland. He encouraged people to live in the area and suggested...
Work Centre in the former and future Dartmoor Prison. After the war he attended the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
, where he read English and from which he graduated in 1923, with honours. He adopted a vegetarian lifestyle which he maintained throughout his life.
Blyth played the flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, made musical instruments, and taught himself several European languages. He was particularly fond of the music of J.S. Bach. In 1924, he received a teaching certificate from London Day Training College. The same year, he married Annie Bercovitch, a university friend. Some accounts say they moved to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, where he taught for a while until he became unhappy with British colonial rule. Other scholars dismiss this episode, claiming it to have been invented by Blyth's mentor Suzuki Daisetsu. (Pinnington, 1997).
Korea (1925-1935)
In 1925, the Blyths moved to KoreaKorea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
(then under Japanese rule), where Blyth became Assistant Professor of English at Keijo University in Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
. While in Korea, Blyth began to learn Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
and Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
, and studied Zen
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
under the master
Zen master
Zen master is an umbrella title sometimes used to refer to an individual who has been recognized by an authorized Zen lineage holder and teacher as having met his or her own teacher's standards of realization or insight. These standards vary widely in different traditions, and may vary among...
Hanayama Taigi of Myōshin-ji
Myoshin-ji
is a temple complex in Kyoto, Japan. The Myōshin-ji school of Rinzai Zen Buddhism is the largest school in Rinzai Zen. This particular school contains within it more than three thousand temples throughout Japan, along with nineteen monasteries. The head temple was founded in the year 1342 by the...
Keijo Betsuin (Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
). In 1933, he informally adopted a Korean student, paying for his studies in Korea and London. (Pinnington, 1997). His wife returned to England alone in 1934. He later followed her and they were divorced shortly thereafter, in 1935.
Japan (1936-1964)
Having returned to Seoul in 1936, Blyth remarried in 1937, to a Japanese woman named Kishima Tomiko (Pinnington, 1997), with whom he later had two daughters, Nana Blyth and Harumi Blyth. He moved to KanazawaKanazawa, Ishikawa
is the capital city of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan.-Geography, climate, and population:Kanazawa sits on the Sea of Japan, bordered by the Japan Alps, Hakusan National Park and Noto Peninsula National Park. The city sits between the Sai and Asano rivers. Its total area is 467.77 km².Kanazawa's...
in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, and took a job as English teacher at the Fourth Higher School (later Kanazawa University
Kanazawa University
is a national university of Japan located in the city of Kanazawa, the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture.Kanazawa University is divided into two main campuses: Kakuma and Takaramachi. Student enrollment is about 11,000 including 350 international students....
).
When World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
broke out, Blyth was interned
Internment
Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning as: "The action of 'interning'; confinement within the limits of a country or place." Most modern usage is about individuals, and there is a distinction...
as a British enemy alien
Enemy alien
In law, an enemy alien is a citizen of a country which is in a state of conflict with the land in which he or she is located. Usually, but not always, the countries are in a state of declared war.-United Kingdom:...
. Although he expressed his sympathy for Japan and sought Japanese citizenship
Citizenship
Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...
, this was denied. During his internment his extensive library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
was destroyed in a bombing raid.
After the war, Blyth worked diligently with the authorities, both Japanese and American, to ease the transition to peace. Blyth functioned as liaison to the Japanese Imperial Household
Imperial Household Agency
The is a government agency of Japan in charge of the state matters concerning Japan's imperial family and also keeping the Privy Seal and the State Seal...
, and his close friend, Harold Gould Henderson
Harold Gould Henderson
Harold Gould Henderson was an American academic, art historian and Japanologist. He was a Columbia University professor for twenty years...
, was on General Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
's staff. Together, they helped draft the declaration Ningen Sengen, by which Emperor Hirohito
Hirohito
, posthumously in Japan officially called Emperor Shōwa or , was the 124th Emperor of Japan according to the traditional order, reigning from December 25, 1926, until his death in 1989. Although better known outside of Japan by his personal name Hirohito, in Japan he is now referred to...
declared himself to be a human being, and not divine
Divinity
Divinity and divine are broadly applied but loosely defined terms, used variously within different faiths and belief systems — and even by different individuals within a given faith — to refer to some transcendent or transcendental power or deity, or its attributes or manifestations in...
.
By 1946, Blyth had become Professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of English at Gakushuin University
Gakushuin University
is an elite higher educational institution in Mejiro, Toshima Ward, Tokyo. It was re-established after World War II as an affiliate of the Gakushūin School Corporation, the privatized successor to the original Gakushūin University or "Peers School" set up during the Meiji era to educate the...
, and tutored Crown Prince
Crown Prince
A crown prince or crown princess is the heir or heiress apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The wife of a crown prince is also titled crown princess....
(later emperor) Akihito
Akihito
is the current , the 125th emperor of his line according to Japan's traditional order of succession. He acceded to the throne in 1989.-Name:In Japan, the emperor is never referred to by his given name, but rather is referred to as "His Imperial Majesty the Emperor" which may be shortened to . In...
in English. He did much to popularise Zen
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and Japanese poetry
Japanese poetry
Japanese poets first encountered Chinese poetry during the Tang Dynasty. It took them several hundred years to digest the foreign impact, make it a part of their culture and merge it with their literary tradition in their mother tongue, and begin to develop the diversity of their native poetry. For...
(particularly haiku
Haiku
' , plural haiku, is a very short form of Japanese poetry typically characterised by three qualities:* The essence of haiku is "cutting"...
) in the West
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
. In 1954, he was awarded a doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
in literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
from Tokyo University, and, in 1959, he received the Zuihōshō
Order of the Sacred Treasure
The is a Japanese Order, established on January 4, 1888 by Emperor Meiji of Japan as the Order of Meiji. It is awarded in eight classes . It is generally awarded for long and/or meritorious service and considered to be the lowest of the Japanese orders of merit...
(Order of Merit) Fourth Grade.
Blyth died in 1964, of a brain tumour
Brain tumor
A brain tumor is an intracranial solid neoplasm, a tumor within the brain or the central spinal canal.Brain tumors include all tumors inside the cranium or in the central spinal canal...
and complications
Complication (medicine)
Complication, in medicine, is an unfavorable evolution of a disease, a health condition or a medical treatment. The disease can become worse in its severity or show a higher number of signs, symptoms or new pathological changes, become widespread throughout the body or affect other organ systems. A...
from pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
, in the Seiroka Hospital
St. Luke's International Hospital
is a general hospital located in the Tsukiji district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan. It was founded in 1902 by Rudolph Bolling Teusler, a missionary doctor sent by the American Episcopal Church. In 1933, R. B...
in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. He was buried in the cemetery of the Shokozan Tokei Soji Zenji Temple
Tokei-ji
, also known as or ), is a Buddhist temple and a former nunnery, the only survivor of a network of five nunneries called , in the city of Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the Rinzai school of Zen's Engaku-ji branch, and was opened by Hōjō Sadatoki in 1285. It is best known as...
in Kamakura
Kamakura, Kanagawa
is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, about south-south-west of Tokyo. It used to be also called .Although Kamakura proper is today rather small, it is often described in history books as a former de facto capital of Japan as the seat of the Shogunate and of the Regency during the...
, next to his old friend, D. T. Suzuki. He left the following death poem
Death poem
A death poem is a poem written near the time of one's own death. It is a tradition for literate people to write one in a number of different cultures, especially in Joseon Korea and Japan.-History:...
:
- Sazanka ni kokoro nokoshite tabidachinu
- I leave my heart
- to the sasanquaCamellia sasanquaThe Christmas Camellia is a species of Camellia native to the evergreen coastal forests of southern Japan in Shikoku, Kyūshū and many other minor islands as far south as Okinawa. It is usually found growing up to an altitude of 900 metres.It is an evergreen shrub growing to 5 m tall...
flower - on the day of this journey
Blyth and haiku
After early imagistImagism
Imagism was a movement in early 20th-century Anglo-American poetry that favored precision of imagery and clear, sharp language. The Imagists rejected the sentiment and discursiveness typical of much Romantic and Victorian poetry. This was in contrast to their contemporaries, the Georgian poets,...
interest in haiku the genre drew less attention in English, until after World War II, with the appearance of a number of influential volumes about Japanese haiku.
In 1949, with the publication in Japan of the first volume of Haiku, Blyth's four-volume work, haiku was introduced to the post-war Western world. Blyth produced a series of works on Zen
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
, haiku, senryū
Senryu
is a Japanese form of short poetry similar to haiku in construction: three lines with 17 or fewer total morae . Senryū tend to be about human foibles while haiku tend to be about nature, and senryū are often cynical or darkly humorous while haiku are more serious...
, and on other forms of Japanese
Japanese literature
Early works of Japanese literature were heavily influenced by cultural contact with China and Chinese literature, often written in Classical Chinese. Indian literature also had an influence through the diffusion of Buddhism in Japan...
and Asian literature
Asian literature
-Examples:*East Asian literature**Chinese literature**Japanese literature**Korean literature*Central Asian literature**Bengali literature**Indian literature**Pakistani literature**Tamil literature*West Asian literature**Arabic literature...
, the most significant being his Zen in English Literature and Oriental Classics (1942); his four-volume Haiku series (1949-52), dealing mostly with pre-modern haiku, though including Shiki
Masaoka Shiki
, pen-name of Masaoka Noboru , was a Japanese poet, author, and literary critic in Meiji period Japan. Shiki is regarded as a major figure in the development of modern haiku poetry...
; and his two-volume History of Haiku (1964). Today he is best known as a major interpreter of haiku to English speakers.
Present-day attitudes to Blyth's work vary: On the one hand, he is appreciated as a populariser of Japanese culture; on the other, his portrayals of haiku and Zen have sometimes been criticized as one-dimensional. Many contemporary Western writers of haiku were introduced to the genre through his works. These include the San Francisco and Beat Generation
Beat generation
The Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
writers, such as Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
, Gary Snyder
Gary Snyder
Gary Snyder is an American poet , as well as an essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist . Snyder is a winner of a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry...
, and Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
, as well as J.D. Salinger. Many members of the international "haiku community" also got their first views of haiku from Blyth's books, including American author James W. Hackett
James William Hackett
James William Hackett is an American poet and philosopher born in Seattle, Washington in 1929, most notable for his work with haiku in English. The James W. Hackett Annual International Award for Haiku, named after him, was administered by the British Haiku Society from 1991 to 2009.-References:...
(b. 1929), Eric Amann, William J. Higginson
William J. Higginson
William J. Higginson was an American poet, translator and author most notable for his work with haiku and renku, born in New York City...
, Anita Virgil, Jane Reichhold, and Lee Gurga. Some noted Blyth's distaste for haiku on more modern themes and his strong bias regarding a direct connection between haiku and Zen, a connection largely ignored by modern Japanese poets. (Bashō, in fact, felt that his devotion to haiku prevented him from realising enlightenment. In addition, many classic Japanese haiku poets, including Chiyo-ni, Buson, and Issa
Issa
Issa or ISSA may refer to:Issa*Abdisalam Issa-Salwe, Somali scholar*Darrell Issa, a Californian Representative*List of The Belgariad and The Malloreon characters#Issa, a divine character in David Eddings's fantasy series The Belgariad and The Malloreon*Issa or Isa, the Arabic name for Jesus in...
were Pure Land rather than Zen Buddhists.) Blyth also did not view haiku by Japanese women favourably, downplaying their substantial contributions to the genre, especially during the Bashō
Matsuo Basho
, born , then , was the most famous poet of the Edo period in Japan. During his lifetime, Bashō was recognized for his works in the collaborative haikai no renga form; today, after centuries of commentary, he is recognized as a master of brief and clear haiku...
era and the twentieth century.
Although Blyth did not foresee the appearance of original haiku in languages other than Japanese when he began writing on the topic, and although he founded no school of verse, his works stimulated the writing of haiku in English
Haiku in English
Haiku in English is a development of the Japanese haiku poetic form in the English language.Contemporary haiku are written in many languages, but most poets outside of Japan are concentrated in the English-speaking countries....
. At the end of the second volume of his History of Haiku (1964), he remarked that "The latest development in the history of haiku is one which nobody foresaw...the writing of haiku outside Japan, not in the Japanese language." He followed that comment with a number of original verses in English by Hackett with whom Blyth corresponded.
Further reading
- Ikuyo Yoshimura, The Life of R. H. Blyth, 1996
- Robert AitkenRobert Baker AitkenRobert Baker Dairyu Chotan Aitken Roshi was a Zen teacher in the Harada-Yasutani lineage. He co-founded the Honolulu Diamond Sangha in 1959...
, Original Dwelling Place, 1996 - Dower, John W. (1999). Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II. New York: W. W. NortonW. W. NortonW. W. Norton & Company is an independent American book publishing company based in New York City. It is well known for its "Norton Anthologies", particularly the Norton Anthology of English Literature and the "Norton Critical Editions" series of texts which are frequently assigned in university...
. 10-ISBN 0-393-04686-9; 13-ISBN 978-0-393-04686-1; OCLC 39143090 - Pinnington, A. Ch. 19, R.H. Blyth in Britain & Japan: Biographical Portraits; Japan Society; 1994; ISBN 1-873410-27-1
External links
- Chronology, bibliography, links, quotes by Michael P. Garofalo. Accessed 2008-10-10.
- Self-introduction by Yasuhiko Shigemoto, making brief mention of Blyth. Accessed 2008-10-10.