Shinpei Kusano

Poet. Born on May 12, 1903, in Kami-ogawa Village, Iwaki County, Fukushima Prefecture (present-day Iwaki City). He dropped out of Keio University and traveled to Guangdong, China in 1921 (Taisho 10) to study at Lingnan University. While at university, inspired by the posthumous writings of his older brother, Tamihei, he began writing poetry, and in 1925, he founded the mimeographed poetry magazine "Dora" with Huang Ying and others, but returned to Japan the same year due to the intensification of the anti-Japanese and Anglo-Japanese movement. In 1928 (Showa 3), he founded the poetry magazine "Gakko," and in 1935, he founded the poetry magazine "Rekitei" with Henmi Yukichi and others. "Rekitei" is still in publication today and has become a major trend in contemporary poetry. During this time, he went to China in 1940 as an adviser to the Nanjing government's propaganda department, returning to Japan in 1946. His poetry changed from his early praise of vitality and sympathy with the anarchistic lifestyle of the common people to an increasingly oriented view of infinite time and space, and further to the expression of a fantastical sense of existence against the backdrop of primitive space, but from 1965 and 1966 onwards he became more realistic. His poetry collections include "The Hundredth Class" (1928), "Mother Rock" (1935), "Frog" (1938), "Breaking Views" (1940), "Mount Fuji" (1943), "The Definitive Edition of Frogs" (1948), "The Japanese Desert" (1948), "The Fourth Frog" (1964), "The Mammoth's Tusk" (1966), and "The Broken Organ" (1968). He also participated in the compilation of collected works and poetry collections of Kenji Miyazawa, Kotaro Takamura, Kaita Murayama, and Jukichi Yagi, and has written many critical biographies and memoirs. He became a member of the Japan Art Academy in 1975 and was awarded the Order of Culture in 1987. He passed away on November 12, 1988.

[Takao Tobitaka]

"Kusano Shinpei Poetry Collection" (Obunsha Bunko, Shincho Bunko)" ▽ "Kusano Shinpei Complete Works", 11 volumes (1979-82, Chikumashobo)" ▽ "The Hundredth Class" (1981, Naruse Shobo)" ▽ "Mount Fuji, written by Kusano Shinpei and illustrated by Munakata Shiko (1996, Iwasaki Bijutsusha)" ▽ "Frog: Definitive Edition" (2000, Japan Library Center)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

詩人。明治36年5月12日、福島県石城(いわき)郡上小川村（現いわき市）に生まれる。慶応義塾大学普通部を中退し、1921年（大正10）中国広東(カントン)に渡り、嶺南(れいなん)大学に学んだ。在学中、兄民平の遺稿などに触発されて詩作を始め、25年、黄瀛(こうえい)らと謄写刷りの詩誌『銅鑼(どら)』を創刊したが、排日英運動激化のため、同年帰国した。28年（昭和3）詩誌『学校』を、また35年には逸見猶吉(へんみゆうきち)らと詩誌『歴程』を創刊、『歴程』は現在も刊行され、現代詩の一大潮流となっている。この間、40年に南京(ナンキン)政府の宣伝部顧問として中国に渡り、46年（昭和21）帰国した。詩は、初期の生命力の賛美や庶民のアナキスティックな生活意識への共感の表現から、しだいに無限の時空間への志向を強め、さらに原始的空間を背景とする幻想的実存感覚の表現へと転じたが、65、66年以降、現実性を強めている。詩集『第百階級』（1928）、『母岩』（1935）、『蛙(かえる)』（1938）、『絶景』（1940）、『富士山』（1943）、『定本蛙』（1948）、『日本沙漠(さばく)』（1948）、『第四の蛙』（1964）、『マンモスの牙(きば)』（1966）、『こわれたオルガン』（1968）など。また宮沢賢治、高村光太郎、村山槐多(かいた)、八木重吉らの全集や詩集の編纂(へんさん)に携わり、評伝や回想も多い。75年芸術院会員、87年文化勲章受章。昭和63年11月12日没。

［飛高隆夫］

『『草野心平詩集』（旺文社文庫・新潮文庫）』▽『『草野心平全集』全11巻（1979～82・筑摩書房）』▽『『第百階級』（1981・成瀬書房）』▽『草野心平著、棟方志功画『富士山』（1996・岩崎美術社）』▽『『蛙　定本』（2000・日本図書センター）』

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