Akiko Yosano

Poet. Born on December 7, 1878, in Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture, as the third daughter of the long-established confectionery store Suruga-ya. Her maiden name was Hou, and her real name was Shiyou. From her early teens, she helped out at the store and became familiar with classics and history books. After graduating from Sakai Girls' School, she submitted poems and tanka to the Kansai Youth Literature Association's journal, Yoshiashigusa, and other publications. In 1900 (Meiji 33), she became a member of Shinshisha, a poetry society founded the previous year by Yosano Hiroshi (Yosano Tekkan), and published tanka in Myojo. In August of the same year, she met Hiroshi at a lecture he gave in Osaka, which greatly stimulated her creative desire, but the following year she ran off to live with him in Tokyo, and published her first collection of poems, Midaregami, which attracted the attention of the literary world. He sang of the passion of modern love with bold sensuality, such as in lines like "Am I not lonely, preaching the way, even as I feel the warmth of your skin?", revealing a romantic world that embraced the aesthetics of Japanese sensuality and methods close to those of modern Western poetry. His brilliant style was praised by Ueda Bin as "a pioneer in the innovation of the poetry world."

After marrying Hiroshi, she became the central figure in the magazine "Myojo" and became active in many areas, including novels, poetry, criticism, and classical studies. Her collections of poems subsequently changed, with works such as "Koougi" (1904), "Koi-goromo" (co-authored, 1905), "Saohime" (1909), "Seigaiha" (1912), "Firebird" (1919), "Ryusei no Michi" (1924), and "Kokoro no Toukei" (1928), totaling over twenty volumes, including the posthumously compiled "Shirazakurashu" (1942). During this time, her style did not lose the romantic beauty of her early days, but gradually added inner shadows and inflections, and while incorporating serene self-reflection and contemplative lyricism, her poems gradually became filled with admiration for life. The style of his later years, as can be seen in "Owl, bring back all the old times when you cried in the moonlight of Obana Valley" ("Shirazakura Collection"), is one that expresses deep sorrow after witnessing Kan's death, but even within this, he breaks new ground in the expression of one unique, lustrous lyricism.

She was also active in critical writing, publishing over a dozen books, including "From a Corner" (1911), "Going Through Turmoil" (1919), and "Ningen Worship" (1921), and her interests were focused on women's issues from a broad social perspective. While calling for women to constantly think, she preached ways to improve their status, and she was at odds with women's activist Raicho Hiratsuka on the issue of "state protection of the mother's body," arguing that children should be seen as individual persons, demonstrating a firm view of femininity based on the self-reliance of conscious motherhood.

It can be said that the origin of Akiko's creative work was the world of classics that she had been familiar with since her childhood, and she continued to lecture on "The Tale of Genji" at the regular meetings of the Shinshisha Society, demonstrating her enthusiasm for translating it into modern Japanese on two occasions. She also left behind modern Japanese translations and research of "The Tale of Eiga Monogatari" and "The Diary of Izumi Shikibu."

Furthermore, her long poem "Kimi Shinitamafu Koto Nakare" (1904), in which she remembers her younger brother serving in the military during the Russo-Japanese War, sparked controversy over its ideological theme and caused a stir, but Akiko's poetry, including her colloquial poems, was compiled in the Complete Collection of Akiko's Poems (1929). She was also active in education, becoming the first superintendent of Bunka Gakuin when it was founded in 1921 (Taisho 10), and leaving a trail of wide-ranging activities through literature. She died on May 29, 1942. She is buried in Tama Cemetery.

[Akiko Baba]

The Complete Works of Yosano Akiko, 20 volumes in total (1979-1981, Kodansha) ▽ Yosano Akiko Poetry Collection (Iwanami Bunko, Obunsha Bunko) ▽ Yosano Akiko Essay Collection (Iwanami Bunko) ▽ Appreciation of Yosano Akiko's Excellent Poems by Baba Akiko (1981, Tanka Shimbunsha) ▽ Biography of Yosano Tekkan and Akiko by Hemmi Kumi (1975, Yagi Shoten) ▽ Irie Haruyuki's Around Akiko (1981, Yoyosha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

歌人。明治11年12月7日、大阪府堺(さかい)市に菓子の老舗(しにせ)駿河屋(するがや)の三女として生まれる。旧姓は鳳(ほう)、本名志(し)よう。10代の初めから、店を手伝いながら古典、歴史書に親しみ、堺女学校卒業後、関西青年文学会の機関誌『よしあし草』などに詩や短歌を投稿。1900年（明治33）与謝野寛(ひろし)（与謝野鉄幹）によって前年に創立された新詩社の社友となり、『明星』に短歌を発表。同年8月大阪で講演した寛に会い大いに創作意欲を刺激されたが、翌年東京の寛のもとに出奔、処女歌集『みだれ髪』を刊行して文壇の注目を浴びた。「やは肌のあつき血汐(ちしほ)にふれも見でさびしからずや道を説く君」など、近代の恋愛の情熱を大胆な官能とともに歌い上げ、日本的な艶(えん)の美学と、西欧の近代詩に近い方法を包摂した浪漫(ろうまん)的一世界を開顕して、その華麗な作風は上田敏(うえだびん)に「詩壇革新の先駆」と評価された。

　寛と結婚後は『明星』の中心となって、小説、詩、評論、古典研究など多方面に活動をもつようになる。歌集はその後、『小扇(こおうぎ)』（1904）、『恋衣』（共著。1905）、『佐保姫(さおひめ)』（1909）、『青海波(せいがいは)』（1912）、『火の鳥』（1919）、『流星の道』（1924）、『心の遠景』（1928）と変化をたどりつつ、没後に編まれた『白桜集』（1942）まで二十数冊を数える。この間、その作風は初期の浪漫的美質を失わなかったが、しだいに内面的な翳(かげ)りや屈折を加え、沈静な自己観照や思索的な叙情を内包しつつ、しだいに人生的な詠嘆をもつようになる。晩年の作風は、「梟(ふくろふ)よ尾花の谷の月明に鳴きし昔を皆とりかへせ」（『白桜集』）にみられるように、寛の死を見送ってのちの哀傷感が深いが、そのなかにも一点、艶をたたえた叙情の表出に独自の境を開いている。

　評論活動も積極的で、『一隅より』（1911）、『激動の中を行く』（1919）、『人間礼拝』（1921）など十数冊に上り、その関心は広い社会的視野にたって婦人問題に注がれていた。女性に絶えず考える姿勢を求めつつ、その地位の向上への方途を説いたが、なかでも「母体の国家保護」をめぐる問題では平塚らいてうら婦人活動家と対立し、子供は一個の人格体としてとらえるべきだと主張するなど、自覚された母性の自恃(じじ)に基づいた確固たる女性思想を示していた。

　晶子の創作の原点には、少女時代から親しんだ古典の世界があったといえるが、新詩社の例会では『源氏物語』の講義を続け、2回にわたって現代語訳に意欲をみせているほか、『栄花物語(えいがものがたり)』『和泉式部日記(いずみしきぶにっき)』などの現代語訳や研究を残している。

　また、日露戦争従軍中の弟を思う長詩「君死にたまふことなかれ」（1904）は、その思想的主題をめぐる論争を巻き起こして反響をよんだが、晶子の詩作品は口語詩を含め『晶子詩篇全集(しへんぜんしゅう)』（1929）にまとめられた。なお、1921年（大正10）文化学院創立にあたっては初代学監に就任するなど、教育活動にも熱心で、文学を通して幅広い活動の軌跡を残している。昭和17年5月29日没。多磨霊園に葬られる。

［馬場あき子］

『『定本与謝野晶子全集』全20巻（1979～1981・講談社）』▽『『与謝野晶子歌集』（岩波文庫・旺文社文庫）』▽『『与謝野晶子評論集』（岩波文庫）』▽『馬場あき子著『鑑賞与謝野晶子の秀歌』（1981・短歌新聞社）』▽『逸見久美著『評伝与謝野鉄幹・晶子』（1975・八木書店）』▽『入江春行著『晶子の周辺』（1981・洋々社）』

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