Yoshii Isamu
Encyclopedia
was a Japanese tanka
poet and playwright
writer active in Taishō
and Shōwa period
Japan
. Attracted to European romanticism
in his youth, his later works were more subdued.
district Tokyo
. His grandfather, Count
Yoshii Tomosane was a member of the House of Peers
, the Privy Council
and official in the Imperial Household Ministry
, and his aunt was the wife of Field Marshal
Oyama Iwao
. Yoshii began to live at his father's cottage in Kamakura
, Kanagawa prefecture
from 1887 and entered the elementary section of the Kamakura Normal School in 1891. The following year the family returned to Tokyo, but for the rest of his life, he returned to Kamakura frequently to recuperate from bouts of ill health (i.e. tuberculosis
).
He started to write short verses while attending school at Tokyo Metropolitan No.1 Junior High School and Kogyokusha Junior High School.
Yoshii enrolled briefly in the School of Political Science and Economics at Waseda University
in 1908, but dropped out the same year to join Yosano Tekkan's Tokyo Shin-shi Sha (Tokyo New Poetry Society), and began contributing his tanka verses to the society's literary magazine
, Myōjō
(Bright Star). As a member of the Myōjō inner circle, he met and was influenced by Mori Ōgai
, Ueda Bin
, and Kitahara Hakushū
.
and aestheticism
. In 1909, with the patronage of Mori Ōgai, Yoshii brought out a new literary magazine, Subaru.
In 1910, Yoshii published his first collection of tanka, Sakehogai, (Revelry) describing the joys and sorrows of a young poet given to wine and women. This established his name firmly in poetry circles and was followed by other tanka anthologies such as Sakujitsu made (Until Yesterday), Gion kashu (Gion Verses 1915), and Tokyo kōtō shū (Collection from the Tokyo Red-Light District, 1916).
Yoshii was also interested in the Shingeki (New Theater) movement. His first stage play (actually a collection of eleven one-act plays), called Gogo Sanji (3 pm), was published in Subaru in 1911, marking his debut as a playwright
. This was followed by pieces such as Yumesuke to So to (Yumesuke and the Monk), and Kyo Geinin (Comic Artist).
While drifting around Shikoku
, Kyūshū
, and Kyoto, he joined the Radio Drama Kenkyukai with Kubota Mantarō
at the request of Tokyo Broadcasting Corporation (later NHK
), which started broadcasting radio
programs in 1925. In the same year, he released scripts for radio dramas, such as Saigo no Seppun (The Last Kiss), Gekijo Iriguchi no Hanjikan (Half an Hour at the Theater Door), and Kamome no Shigai (Dead Seagull). In 1927, his play Ame no Yobanashi (Night Stories in the Rain) about a melancholic traveling performer wandering around the country was broadcast as a radio drama
. The story proved very popular and gained Yoshii a wide following in the early days of radio.
In his later years, Yoshii lived in a house at the base of Mount Hiei
in Kyoto
, and was a frequent visitor to the Gion
entertainment district. Every year on November 8, a festival is held in his memory, where the geisha
and maiko
of the Gion district lay flowers before a monument with his verse:
In 1948, Yoshii was appointed to be a poetry selector for the Imperial Household
's New Year poetry reading. He died in 1960 at the age of 74. His grave is at the Aoyama Reien in Tokyo.
Waka (poetry)
Waka or Yamato uta is a genre of classical Japanese verse and one of the major genres of Japanese literature...
poet and playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
writer active in Taishō
Taisho period
The , or Taishō era, is a period in the history of Japan dating from July 30, 1912 to December 25, 1926, coinciding with the reign of the Taishō Emperor. The health of the new emperor was weak, which prompted the shift in political power from the old oligarchic group of elder statesmen to the Diet...
and Shōwa period
Showa period
The , or Shōwa era, is the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of the Shōwa Emperor, Hirohito, from December 25, 1926 through January 7, 1989.The Shōwa period was longer than the reign of any previous Japanese emperor...
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...
. Attracted to European romanticism
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
in his youth, his later works were more subdued.
Early life
Yoshii Isamu was born in the elite TakanawaTakanawa
Takanawa is a neighborhood in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.-Education:*The Takanawa Library is in Takanawa. is a junior high school. Takamatsunomiya contributed some of its own mansions for Minato and a junior high school was built there.-Notable sites:...
district 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...
. His grandfather, Count
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
Yoshii Tomosane was a member of the House of Peers
House of Peers (Japan)
The ' was the upper house of the Imperial Diet as mandated under the Constitution of the Empire of Japan ....
, the Privy Council
Privy Council (Japan)
was an advisory council to the Emperor of Japan that operated from 1888 to 1947.-Functions:Modeled in part upon the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, this body advised the throne on matters of grave importance including:...
and official in the Imperial Household Ministry
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 aunt was the wife of Field Marshal
Field Marshal (Japan)
was the highest title in the prewar Imperial Japanese Military.The term gensui, which was used for both the Imperial Japanese Army and the Imperial Japanese Navy, was at first a rank held by Saigō Takamori as the Commander of the Armies in 1872...
Oyama Iwao
Oyama Iwao
|-...
. Yoshii began to live at his father's cottage 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...
, Kanagawa prefecture
Kanagawa Prefecture
is a prefecture located in the southern Kantō region of Japan. The capital is Yokohama. Kanagawa is part of the Greater Tokyo Area.-History:The prefecture has some archaeological sites going back to the Jōmon period...
from 1887 and entered the elementary section of the Kamakura Normal School in 1891. The following year the family returned to Tokyo, but for the rest of his life, he returned to Kamakura frequently to recuperate from bouts of ill health (i.e. tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
).
He started to write short verses while attending school at Tokyo Metropolitan No.1 Junior High School and Kogyokusha Junior High School.
Yoshii enrolled briefly in the School of Political Science and Economics at Waseda University
Waseda University
, abbreviated as , is one of the most prestigious private universities in Japan and Asia. Its main campuses are located in the northern part of Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as Tokyo Senmon Gakko, the institution was renamed "Waseda University" in 1902. It is known for its liberal climate...
in 1908, but dropped out the same year to join Yosano Tekkan's Tokyo Shin-shi Sha (Tokyo New Poetry Society), and began contributing his tanka verses to the society's literary magazine
Literary magazine
A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry and essays along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letters...
, Myōjō
Myojo
' was the title of a monthly literary magazine first published in Japan between February 1900 and November 1908.The name Myōjō can be translates as either Bright Star or Morning Star. It was the organ of a poetry circle called Shinshisha which had been founded by Yosano Tekkan in 1899...
(Bright Star). As a member of the Myōjō inner circle, he met and was influenced by Mori Ōgai
Mori Ogai
was a Japanese physician, translator, novelist and poet. is considered his major work.- Early life :Mori was born as Mori Rintarō in Tsuwano, Iwami province . His family were hereditary physicians to the daimyō of the Tsuwano Domain...
, Ueda Bin
Ueda Bin
was a Japanese author.Born in Tsukiji, Tokyo, he graduated from Tokyo Imperial University. His major work is Kaichoon 海潮音, a collection of translations from Western Poets by Ueda himself.- External links :* at Aozora bunko...
, and Kitahara Hakushū
Kitahara Hakushu
is the pen-name of ', a Japanese tanka poet active during the Taishō and Shōwa periods of Japan. He is regarded as one of the most popular and important poets in modern Japanese literature.-Early life:...
.
Literary career
Yoshii left Myōjō to form a new group, Pan no Kai, together with Kitahara Hakushu due to their shared attraction of romanticismRomanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
and aestheticism
Aestheticism
Aestheticism was a 19th century European art movement that emphasized aesthetic values more than socio-political themes for literature, fine art, the decorative arts, and interior design...
. In 1909, with the patronage of Mori Ōgai, Yoshii brought out a new literary magazine, Subaru.
In 1910, Yoshii published his first collection of tanka, Sakehogai, (Revelry) describing the joys and sorrows of a young poet given to wine and women. This established his name firmly in poetry circles and was followed by other tanka anthologies such as Sakujitsu made (Until Yesterday), Gion kashu (Gion Verses 1915), and Tokyo kōtō shū (Collection from the Tokyo Red-Light District, 1916).
Yoshii was also interested in the Shingeki (New Theater) movement. His first stage play (actually a collection of eleven one-act plays), called Gogo Sanji (3 pm), was published in Subaru in 1911, marking his debut as a playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
. This was followed by pieces such as Yumesuke to So to (Yumesuke and the Monk), and Kyo Geinin (Comic Artist).
While drifting around Shikoku
Shikoku
is the smallest and least populous of the four main islands of Japan, located south of Honshū and east of the island of Kyūshū. Its ancient names include Iyo-no-futana-shima , Iyo-shima , and Futana-shima...
, Kyūshū
Kyushu
is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....
, and Kyoto, he joined the Radio Drama Kenkyukai with Kubota Mantarō
Kubota Mantaro
was a Japanese author, playwright, and poet.-Biography:Kubota was born in the Asakusa district of Tokyo, to a clothing merchant family. He became interested in stage plays at an early age, largely through the influence of his grandmother, who also provided financial support for him to attend college...
at the request of Tokyo Broadcasting Corporation (later NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
), which started broadcasting radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
programs in 1925. In the same year, he released scripts for radio dramas, such as Saigo no Seppun (The Last Kiss), Gekijo Iriguchi no Hanjikan (Half an Hour at the Theater Door), and Kamome no Shigai (Dead Seagull). In 1927, his play Ame no Yobanashi (Night Stories in the Rain) about a melancholic traveling performer wandering around the country was broadcast as a radio drama
Radio drama
Radio drama is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance, broadcast on radio or published on audio media, such as tape or CD. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine the characters and story...
. The story proved very popular and gained Yoshii a wide following in the early days of radio.
In his later years, Yoshii lived in a house at the base of Mount Hiei
Mount Hiei
is a mountain to the northeast of Kyoto, lying on the border between the Kyoto and Shiga prefectures, Japan.The temple of Enryaku-ji, the first outpost of the Japanese Tiantai sect of Buddhism, was founded atop Mount Hiei by Saichō in 788. Both Nichiren and Honen studied at the temple before...
in Kyoto
Kyoto
is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
, and was a frequent visitor to the Gion
Gion
is a district of Kyoto, Japan, originally developed in the Middle Ages, in front of Yasaka Shrine. The district was built to accommodate the needs of travelers and visitors to the shrine...
entertainment district. Every year on November 8, a festival is held in his memory, where the geisha
Geisha
, Geiko or Geigi are traditional, female Japanese entertainers whose skills include performing various Japanese arts such as classical music and dance.-Terms:...
and maiko
Maiko
is a Japanese word for dancing girl and is an apprentice geisha. Maiko is also a feminine Japanese given name.-Possible writings:Maiko can be written using different kanji characters and can mean:*舞子 or 舞妓, apprentice geishaas a given name...
of the Gion district lay flowers before a monument with his verse:
No matter what they say,
I love Gion.
Even in my sleep
The sound of water
Flows beneath my pillow
In 1948, Yoshii was appointed to be a poetry selector for the 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...
's New Year poetry reading. He died in 1960 at the age of 74. His grave is at the Aoyama Reien in Tokyo.