Tsuchiya Bunmei

Poet. Born on September 18, 1890, in Kamisato Village, Nishigunma County, Gunma Prefecture (present-day Takasaki City). Born into a small farming family that also brokered cocoons and raw silk. As a boy, he learned the secret of his grandfather, who died in exile in Hokkaido, and developed an interest in literature. After graduating from Takasaki Middle School, he moved to Tokyo and tried to work in a cowshed under the poet Ito Sachio, but with his protection, he graduated from First High School and the Department of Philosophy at Tokyo Imperial University. He became a member of the early members of Araragi, and started out as a fresh, lyrical poet. After serving as a teacher and principal at Suwa Girls' High School and Matsumoto Girls' High School in Nagano Prefecture, he returned to Tokyo and taught at Hosei University Preparatory School and Meiji University Literature Department while also working on the editing of Araragi. In 1925 (Taisho 14), he published his first collection of poems, Fuyukusa. He subsequently published collections such as Oukanshu (1930), Sankokushu (1935), and Rokugatsukaze (1942), and attracted attention for his unique realistic style of poetry that sang about the hardships of life as an intellectual against the backdrop of an era in Japan heading towards war, starting in the early Showa period. During World War II, he toured the China front, published Kaiseishu (1946), and evacuated to Gunma Prefecture after the Tokyo air raids, where he remained until Japan's defeat in the war.

After the war, he returned to Tokyo in 1951 and deepened his contemplative world with works such as "Water from the Mountains" (1948) and "Jiryusen" (1953), becoming one of the leading figures in the world of waka poetry in the Showa period. As a scholar of the "Man'yoshu", he published 20 volumes of "Man'yoshu Private Notes" (1949-1956) and many other anthologies of poetry such as "Tanka Komichi". In 1986, he was awarded the Order of Culture.

[Yoshimi Kondo]

The autumn leaves in the valley before my eyes are turning red and I feel lonely.

“Tsuchiya Bunmei” written by Yoshimi Kondo (1980, Sakura Kaedesha) ▽ “Tsuchiya Bunmei” written by Toshiaki Yoneda (1966, Keiso Shobo)”

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

歌人。明治23年9月18日、群馬県西群馬郡上郊(かみさと)村（現高崎市）に生まれる。生家は繭・生糸の仲買を兼ねる小農であった。少年の日、北海道の流刑地で獄死した祖父の秘密を知って文学への思いを抱く。高崎中学を出て上京、歌人伊藤左千夫(さちお)のもとで牛舎の労働に従おうとしたが、その庇護(ひご)で一高、東京帝国大学哲学科を卒業。『アララギ』初期同人となり、初め清新な叙情的歌人として出発した。長野県の諏訪(すわ)高等女学校・松本高等女学校教師、校長などを務めたのちふたたび上京、法政大学予科、明治大学文芸科の教鞭(きょうべん)をとりながら『アララギ』の編集に携わる。1925年（大正14）第一歌集『ふゆくさ』を刊行。その後『往還集』（1930）、『山谷(さんこく)集』（1935）、『六月風(ろくがつかぜ)』（1942）などの歌集を重ね、昭和初期から、戦争に向かう日本の一時代を背後に知識人としての生き方の苦渋を歌う現実主義的な独自の歌風を展開し注目された。第二次世界大戦中、中国戦線を視察、『韮菁(かいせい)集』（1946）を刊行、東京空襲後群馬県に疎開、敗戦を迎える。

　戦後1951年（昭和26）帰京、『山下水(やましたみず)』（1948）、『自流泉(じりゅうせん)』（1953）などと時代を凝視する思索的世界を深め、昭和歌壇を指導する老大家の一人となる。また、『万葉集』研究者として『万葉集私注』20巻（1949～56）の著があるほか、『短歌小径』などの歌論集も多い。86年文化勲章を受章。

［近藤芳美］

　目の前の谷の紅葉(もみじ)のおそ早もさびしかりけり命それぞれ

『近藤芳美著『土屋文明』（1980・桜楓社）』▽『米田利昭著『土屋文明』（1966・勁草書房）』

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