Kenkichi Nakamura

Poet. Born in Hiroshima Prefecture. Graduated from the Department of Economics at Tokyo Imperial University. Studied under Ito Sachio and became a member of the Araragi magazine when it was first published. His early works were noted for their delicate sensibility in composing urban scenes, but he eventually returned to his hometown to follow his family's sake brewing business, and apart from a brief period in Osaka where he worked as a newspaper reporter, he continued to live as the head of a wealthy family in Kyomura. In his later years, he established his own unique style of poetry, which was warm and elegant, singing about the nature around him and about life. His collections of poems include Potato Flowers (1913, co-authored with Shimaki Akahiko), Rinsenshu (1916), Keiraishu (1931), and After Keiraishu (1934). Posthumously, the four volumes of the Complete Works of Nakamura Kenkichi (1937-38, Iwanami Shoten) were published.

[Yoshimi Kondo]

In the cold spring, a crane walks through a sparse plum grove, striding high, but not passing under the branches.

"Complete Collection of Poems by Kenkichi Nakamura" (1966, Hakutama Shobo) "Complete Collection of Japanese Poets 11: Kenkichi Nakamura, Bunmei Tsuchiya, and Rigen Kinoshita" (1968, Shinchosha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

歌人。広島県生まれ。東京帝国大学経済学科を卒業。伊藤左千夫(さちお)に師事して『アララギ』の創刊とともに同人となる。その初期作品は繊細な感覚の都市風物詠として注目されたが、やがて帰郷し家業の酒造業に従い、一時大阪に出て新聞記者をしたほかは峡村の素封家のあるじとしての生活に終始し、晩年にかけて四囲の自然と人生とを歌って温潤・高雅な独自の歌風を樹立した。歌集『馬鈴薯(ばれいしょ)の花』（1913、島木赤彦との合著）、『林泉(りんせん)集』（1916）、『軽雷(けいらい)集』（1931）、『軽雷集以後』（1934）などがある。死後『中村憲吉全集』4巻（1937～38・岩波書店）が出た。

［近藤芳美］

　春さむき梅の疎林をゆく鶴(つる)のたかくあゆみて枝をくぐらず

『『中村憲吉全歌集』（1966・白玉書房）』▽『『日本詩人全集11　中村憲吉・土屋文明・木下利玄』（1968・新潮社）』

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