Yamamura Bocho

Japanese: 山村暮鳥 - やまむら・ぼちょう

Year of death: December 8, 1924
Year of birth: January 10, 1884 (Meiji 17)
A poet and evangelist from the Meiji and Taisho periods. The eldest son of Kogure Hisashichi and Shimura Shaw. Born in Munetaka Village, Nishigunma County, Gunma Prefecture. His real name was Tsuchida Hachiju (maiden names Shimura and Kogure). He seems to have come from a complicated family, and in his autobiography he recounts his unfortunate upbringing. He changed jobs from a young age, and at the age of 16 he became a substitute teacher at an elementary school, while at the same time learning English at a pastor's chapel in Maebashi. He was baptized in 1902 (Meiji 35), and in 1903 he entered the Holy Trinity Seminary in Tsukiji, and after serving in Manchuria (northeastern China) as a soldier, he graduated in 1906. He served as an Anglican evangelist in Akita, Yuzawa, Sendai, Mito, and other places. At first he submitted tanka poems under the name Kogure Ryusei, but in 1908 he joined the Free Poetry Society, which was founded by Hitomi Tomei and others, and changed his name to Yamamura Madora, focusing on poetry. In 1913, he published "Three Virgins." In 1914, he published "The Holy Triangle Glass," whose contents caused a stir in the poetry world and received mixed reviews. Some criticized it as wordplay, others read it as symbolic poetry, and others gave up on it, saying it was incomprehensible. It contains elements of Dadaism, which was ahead of its time, but it is questionable how much deeper meaning it contained. However, "The Wind Whispered in the Grasses," published in 1918, is a collection of poems overflowing with humanism, closer in content to Francis Jamme than to the Baudelaire of his favorite books. That year, he coughed up blood and took a break from his missionary work, living in Isohama, Ibaraki Prefecture, to recuperate. During this time, he wrote children's stories, the 1,300-line poem "The Glory of the Majestic Sufferer" (1920), and "Grains" (1921), a collection of 87 of his best works, but he died in the middle of compiling the poetry collection "Clouds." The poems he wrote in his later years sing of the simple, peaceful daily life.

(Shigeru Oikawa)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：大正13.12.8(1924)
生年：明治17.1.10(1884)
明治大正時代の詩人,伝道師。木暮久七,志村シャウの長男。群馬県西群馬郡棟高村に生まれる。本名土田八九十(旧姓志村,木暮)。複雑な家庭だったらしく,自伝で不幸な生い立ちを述懐している。小さいころから様々な職を転々とし,16歳のとき小学校の代用教員となり,同時に前橋の牧師チャッペルについて英語を学ぶ。明治35(1902)年,洗礼を受け,36年,築地の聖三一神学校に入学,兵役で満州(中国東北部)に出征したのち,41年卒業。聖公会伝道師として,秋田,湯沢,仙台,水戸などを歴任する。初めは木暮流星の名で短歌の投稿をするが,43年,人見東明らの結成した自由詩社に参加,山村暮鳥と改名,詩作を専らとする。大正2(1913)年,『三人の処女』を出版。4年,『聖三稜玻璃』刊,内容が詩壇に波紋を投げかけ,毀誉褒貶あい半ばする評価を受けた。言葉遊びとけなす者,象徴詩を読み取る者,意味不明と匙を投げる者などであった。時代に先んじたダダイスム的要素がみられるが,深い意味がどこまであったかは疑問である。しかし7年刊の『風は草木にささやいた』は,ヒューマニズム溢れる詩集で,愛読書のボードレール的な面よりは,内容的にはフランシス・ジャムに近い。この年,喀血して伝道師を休み,茨城県磯浜に療養生活を送ることになる。この間も童話の執筆,1300行からなる長編詩『荘厳なる苦悩者の頌栄』(1920),自作のなかから会心の作87篇を集めた『穀粒』(1921)などがあるが,詩集『雲』の編纂途中で没した。晩年の詩は穏やかな日常を素朴に歌っている。

(及川茂)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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