Daigaku Horiguchi

Daigaku Horiguchi
Born	(1892-01-08)8 January 1892 Tokyo,Japan
Died	15 March 1981(1981-03-15)(aged 89) Kamakura, Kanagawa,Japan
Occupation	writer
Genre	poetry

Daigaku Horiguchi(Quật khẩu đại học,8 January 1892 – 15 March 1981)was apoetandtranslatorofFrench literatureinTaishōandShōwa periodJapan.He is credited with introducing FrenchsurrealismtoJapanese poetry,and to translating the works of over 66 French authors intoJapanese.

Early life

Horiguchi was born in theHongōneighborhood ofTokyo.His father,Horiguchi Kumaichiwas the son of ex-samuraifromEchigoand a career diplomat with theForeign Ministrywho was the Japanese consul atIncheonduring theFirst Sino-Japanese War.

Horiguchi attended the Literature Department ofKeio University,but never graduated (which is rather ironic, since his given name "Daigaku" is written with the samekanjias "university", and came from the fact that his father was still a student atTokyo Imperial Universitywhen he was born). Even prior to entering the university, he was a member of theShinshisha(The New Poetry Society) and contributingtankapoetry toSubaru(Pleiades) and otherliterary magazines,such asMita Bungaku.Under the encouragement ofTekkan Yosanoand his wifeAkiko Yosanohe also began to write other types of verse.

In 1911, Horiguchi left school to accompany his father on overseas postings and during the next 14 years overseas he became fluent inFrench(assisted by his Belgian stepmother) and interested inFrench literature,particularly the novels and poetry of theSymbolist movement.He first spent over a year inMexico,where he was diagnosed withtuberculosis,causing Horiguchi to abandon his father's hope that he become a diplomat, and he devoted his time to writing verse and translation of French works instead. He was in Mexico during theMexican Revolution,and it was also during this time that he was drawn toParnassianismas a style of verse. In 1913, the family relocated toBelgium,viaSiberia.While in Belgium, he studied the works ofPaul Verlaineand the works of theSymbolistmovement, including the works ofRemy de Gourmont.He subsequently lived for brief periods inSpain,Paris,BrazilandRomaniaand maintained correspondence withMarie LaurencinandThomas Mann,whose works he also translated while recuperating at a sanatorium inSwitzerland.

Pre-war career

In 1919, Horiguchi published his first anthology of verse,Gekko to Pierrot(Moonlight and Pierrot), and a book ofwakaverse,Pan no fue(Pan pipes). On returning to Japan in 1925, he brought out a collection of poemsGekka no ichigun,which introduced the Japanese literary world to the works ofJean Cocteau,Raymond Radiguet,Paul Verlaine,andGuillaume Apollinaire.This work greatly influenced modernJapanese poetrystarting from the late 1920s and 1930s. In addition, his translation ofPaul Morand'sOuvert la nuit(Yo hiraku; Night opens) had a strong impact on theShinkankakuha,or the New Sensation School whose best-known exponent wasYokomitsu Riichi.

In 1928 he created his own poetry magazine,Pantheon,but its publication was discontinued the following year after he had a falling out with co-authorKōnosuke Hinatsu.He subsequently launched a new poetry magazine,Orpheon.

In 1932, Horiguchi moved to the Ishikawa neighborhood of Tokyo. In 1935, he became vice-chairman of the Japan PEN Club (the chairman at the time wasTōson Shimazaki), and in May of the same year entertained Jean Cocteau during his visit to Japan, by taking him to seekabuki.However, spoke out against the increasing militarization of Japan, and after promulgation of theNational Mobilization Law,went into self-imposed confinement at a hotel on the shores ofLake Nojiri,continuing with his translations of French literature under the ever more vigilant eyes of thecensors.In 1941, he was evacuated toOkitsu, Shizuoka,but returned briefly to Tokyo in 1942 to give a eulogy at the funeral of Akiko Yosano. He remained in Shizuoka until 1945, and moved briefly toSekikawa, Niigatabefore the end of the war.

Post-war career

Horiguchi moved back to Shizuoka at the end of World War II, and an anthology of five volumes of his poetry was published in 1947. From 1950, he moved toHayama, Kanagawa,where he spent the remainder of his life. In 1957, he was made a member of theJapan Art Academy,and met withAndré Chamson,the president ofPEN Internationalwho was visiting Japan, the same year. In 1959, one of his works was awarded the prestigiousYomiuri Prize.Over the next ten years, he was in demand as a guest speaker on modern Japanese poetry around the country. In 1967, his submission of poetry in the traditional Japanese style for theUtakai Hajimecontest at the Imperial Palace on the topic of fish drew praise fromEmperor Hirohito(an amateur marine biologist), and Horiguchi was awarded the 3rd class of theOrder of the Sacred Treasures.In 1970, he became honorary chairman of the Japan Poetry Club, and in November of the same year was made aPerson of Cultural Meritby the Japanese government. In 1973, he was awarded the 2nd class of the Order of the Sacred Treasures. In 1976 a limited edition collection of Horiguchi's poems, entitled "Tôten no Niji" ( "Rainbow in the Eastern Sky" ), was illustrated by noted modernist artist Hodaka Yoshida, who contributed seven signed and numbered prints to accompany the poems.

In 1979 he was awarded theOrder of Cultureby the Japanese government. Horiguchi died in March 1981 at the age of 89. His grave is at the Kamakura Reien cemetery.

During his career, Horiguchi published more than 20 books of poetry. His verses combined the flexibility of the Japanese style with hints of the resonance of the French language, and he was noted for making use of colloquial Japanese words in his translations to come closer to the original imagery, rather than attempting to force the translated poems into a more traditional Japanese format.

See also

• Japanese literature
• List of Japanese authors

References

• Horiguchi, Sumireko.Chichi no katamigusa: Horiguchi Daigaku to watakushi.Bunka Shuppankyoku (1990).ISBN4-579-30325-3(Japanese)
• Epp, Robert, "Introduction" (pp. 17–30), inRainbows—Selected Poetry of Horiguchi Daigaku(1994). 565 works; 360 pp.
• Frederic, Louise. Japan Encyclopedia. Harvard University Press (2002).ISBN0674017536.
• Baker, Mona. Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies. Routledge (2001).ISBN0415255171