Wakayama Bokusui

Poet. His real name was Shigeru. He was born on August 24, 1885, in Tsuboya Village, Higashiusuki County, Miyazaki Prefecture (present-day Hyuga City) as the eldest son of a doctor, Wakayama Ryuzo. He began composing poems at Nobeoka Middle School, and took the name Bokusui. He entered the English department of Waseda University and became a student of Onoe Saishu, and was a member of the poetry circles of the magazine Shinsei. Upon graduation in 1908 (Meiji 41), he published a collection of poems called Umi no Koe (Voice of the Sea), and in 1910, he published his third collection, Separation (Betsuri), which, together with fellow student Maeda Yugure, brought the Bokusui-Yugure period to the poetry circles. Apart from two short stints as a newspaper reporter, he lived exclusively as a poet. He moved from Tokyo to Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture in 1920 (Taisho 9), and passed away on September 17, 1928 (Showa 3). He loved traveling so much that he was called on the same level as Saigyo and Basho, and he also loved alcohol. From his early days, when he was influenced by romanticism and naturalism, his style of poetry was clear and simple, with a flowing voice, and he was widely loved and sung. His poems range from those from his youth, such as "If I have to cross many mountains and rivers, I will travel today as well, to a land where loneliness is the end," and "The sake of autumn nights seeps into my white pearl teeth, and I should drink it quietly," to his mature nature poems in later years, such as "The leaves of the pale crimson are the first to sprout, and I am about to bloom, as if to say, the mountain cherry blossoms." There are currently over 100 monuments to his poems around the country. He also presided over the poetry magazine Sozo, which was first published in 1910, for the rest of his life, and as a judge for poetry columns in many newspapers and magazines across the country, he widely guided the next generation of poets.In addition to his poems, he also wrote many excellent travelogues and essays, and there is a memorial hall in his birthplace.

His wife, Kishiko (1888-1968), was born in Hirooka Village, Higashichikuma County, Nagano Prefecture (now Shiojiri City). She was known as a female poet, and after Bakisui's death, she became the founder of the magazine Sosaku.

[Daigo Norio]

"The Complete Works of Wakayama Bokusui, 13 volumes (1958-59, Yukeisha)" ▽ "The Complete Collection of Poems by Wakayama Bokusui" (1975, Tanka Shimbunsha)" ▽ "The Life of Wakayama Bokusui, by Daigo Horio (1976, Tanka Shimbunsha)" ▽ "The Complete Collection of Poems by Wakayama Kishiko" (1981, Tanka Shimbunsha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

歌人。本名繁。明治18年8月24日、医師若山立蔵(りゅうぞう)の長男として宮崎県東臼杵(ひがしうすき)郡坪谷(つぼや)村（現日向(ひゅうが)市）に生まれる。延岡(のべおか)中学時代から作歌、牧水と号し、早稲田(わせだ)大学英文科に入るとともに尾上柴舟(おのえさいしゅう)門下となって雑誌『新声』の歌壇に拠(よ)る。1908年（明治41）卒業と同時に歌集『海の声』を出版し、10年出版の第三歌集『別離』によって同門の前田夕暮(ゆうぐれ)とともに歌壇に「牧水・夕暮時代」を現出させ、前後2回の短い新聞記者のほかは、もっぱら歌人として生活する。20年（大正9）東京から静岡県沼津に移り、28年（昭和3）9月17日に没したが、西行(さいぎょう)、芭蕉(ばしょう)と並称されるほど旅を愛し、また酒を愛することも深かった。浪漫(ろうまん)主義、自然主義の影響を受けた初期から歌風は平明清澄、声調は流麗で広く愛唱され、「幾山河(いくやまかは)越えさりゆかば寂しさのはてなむ国ぞけふも旅ゆく」「白玉(しらたま)の歯にしみとほる秋の夜の酒は静かに飲むべかりけり」の青春時代から「うす紅(べに)に葉はいちはやく萌(も)えいでて咲かむとすなり山ざくら花」などの円熟した後期の自然詠まで、全国のその歌碑は現在100基を超えている。また1910年創刊の歌誌『創作』を生涯主宰し、全国多数の新聞雑誌歌壇の選者として広く後進を導き、歌のほか優れた紀行文、随筆が多く、生地に記念館がある。

　なお、夫人喜志子(きしこ)（1888―1968）は長野県東筑摩(ひがしちくま)郡広丘村（現塩尻(しおじり)市）の生まれ。女流歌人として知られ、牧水没後『創作』を主宰した。

［大悟法利雄］

『『若山牧水全集』全13巻（1958～59・雄鶏社）』▽『『若山牧水全歌集』（1975・短歌新聞社）』▽『大悟法利雄著『若山牧水伝』（1976・短歌新聞社）』▽『『若山喜志子全歌集』（1981・短歌新聞社）』

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