Hara Miki

Poet and novelist. Born in Hiroshima on November 15, 1905. Graduated from the Department of English Literature at Keio University. From around 1936 (Showa 11), he began publishing short prose-style poems in Mita Bungaku. In 1944, his wife died of illness. "If I were to be separated from my wife by death, I would survive for just one year, so that I could leave behind a sad but beautiful collection of poems..." ("A Distant Journey"), he thought. With this in mind, in the spring of 1945, he evacuated to his brother's house in Hiroshima. On August 6, the atomic bomb was dropped and he was affected by the disaster. This terrifying experience, like a new hell, became the subject of his works such as "Summer Flowers" and "Requiem." In 1946, he moved to Tokyo and became involved in editing Mita Bungaku. In 1947, he published "Summer Flowers" in the magazine, which was well received and for which he received the first Minakami Takitaro Prize. His other works include From the Ruins (1947), Prelude to Destruction (1949), The Land of Desire (1951), and Collected Poems of Tamiki Hara (1951, Hosokawa Shoten). He committed suicide in front of a train in Nishi-Ogikubo on March 13, 1951. Driven by the creative impulse he continued to write after witnessing the atomic bombing, a historic event for the nation, he wrote Summer Flowers and a series of other atomic bomb novels. Though the content is horrific, he writes in a restrained style, which makes him all the more impressive.

[Takashi Nakaishi]

"The Complete Works of Tamiki Hara, 3 volumes and 1 supplementary volume (1978-79, Seidosha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

詩人、小説家。明治38年11月15日広島市に生まれる。慶応義塾大学英文科卒業。1936年（昭和11）ころより『三田文学(みたぶんがく)』に散文詩風な短編をしきりに発表する。1944年妻病死。「もし妻と死に別れたら一年間だけ生き残ろう、悲しい美しい一冊の詩集を書き残すために……」（「遙(はる)かな旅」）そんな思いを抱き、1945年春、広島市の兄のもとに疎開する。8月6日、原爆投下にあい被災。この新地獄のような怖(おそ)ろしい体験は『夏の花』『鎮魂歌』などの作品となる。1946年上京、『三田文学』の編集に携わる。1947年『夏の花』を同誌に発表、世評高く、これにより第1回水上滝太郎賞(みなかみたきたろうしょう)を受賞。作品にはほかに『廃墟(はいきょ)から』（1947）、『壊滅の序曲』（1949）、『心願の国』（1951）、『原民喜詩集』（1951・細川書店）などがある。昭和26年3月13日西荻窪(にしおぎくぼ)で鉄道自殺。民族の歴史的事件ともいうべき原爆投下に遭遇し、創作衝動に駆られ書き続けられた『夏の花』以下一連の原爆小説は、凄惨(せいさん)な内容だが抑制された文体で描いていて、感銘もいっそう深い。

［中石　孝］

『『原民喜全集』3巻・別巻1（1978～79・青土社）』

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