Yamaguchi Seishi (山口誓子)
Seishi YAMAGUCHI (November 3, 1901 - March 26, 1994) is a haiku poet (a Japanese poem in seventeen syllables having a 5-7-5 syllabic form and traditionally containing a reference to the seasons) from Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture. His real name is Chikahiko YAMAGUCHI.
He was a leader of 'Shinko Haiku Undo' (Movement of Emerging Haiku Poem). His haiku pen name 'Seishi ' (誓子) is on-yomi (Chinese reading of kanji) of 'Chikai' (誓い) 'Ko' (子), because his real name 'Chikahiko' (新比古) also can be read 'Chikai-ko' in historical kana orthography.
Brief Personal History
He was born in Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture in 1901. After that, he moved to Tokyo Prefecture and Karafuto. After returning to Kyoto, he graduated from Kyoto Icchu (present Kyoto Prefectural Rakuhoku High School), and then he advanced to Third High School under old school system (Kyusei Daisan Koto Gakko). Seishi, who had been interested in haiku, became a member of "Kyodai Sanko Haiku-kai" (haiku society of Kyoto University Third High School). He started posting haiku to 'Hototogisu' (a magazine: Hototogisu means a bird's name) by the invitation from his schoolmate, Sojo HINO. At this time, he started creating haiku in earnest.
In 1922, he met Kyoshi TAKAHAMA and studied under him. In the same year, Seishi entered the University of Tokyo Faculty of Law and became a member of "Todai Haikukai" (haiku society of the University of Tokyo). He also met Shuoshi MIZUHARA there, and they interacted each other. In 1926, he joined the corporate headquarter of Sumitomo Group after the graduation from the University of Tokyo. However, his chest disease was getting worse from around 1940, so he quit the company at the 16th year of service in 1942.
Although he quit his job, he continued submitting haiku to 'Hototogisu' and being directed by Kyoshi. Seishi, who started to garner attention with Zatsuei (haiku without set themes) column, became a Dojin (literary group [coterie]) of 'Hototogisu' in 1929, the year after he got married to Hatsujo ASAI. After that, he led to the heyday of Haidan (the world of the haiku)as one of "4S" with Shuoshi MIZUHARA, Suju TAKANO and Seiho AWANO, and livened up Haidan in the early Showa period.
In 1932, he published the first haiku collection "Toko" (Frozen Harbor). The book was praised as a practical book for learning haiku. In the wake of publication of a haiku collection "Koki" (Yellow Flag) in 1935, he fell away from 'Hototogisu' and took part in 'Ashibi' as Dojin, and he became a leader of Shinko Haiku Undo with Shuoshi MIZUHARA. His fresh style using techniques such as montage technique appealed to young people. In the postwar period, he rebelled against "Daini Geijutsu Theory" (Second-Class Art Theory), and he aspired to the revival of haiku and launched a magazine, 'Tenro' (Sirius), with Sanki SAITO in 1948. He contributed to the revival of traditional haiku which was becoming obsolete in the post war period.
He moved to Kurakuen, Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture in 1953. He had worked as selector of the Asahi haidan since 1957, and he had traveled to The Asahi Shimbun Company in Tokyo by SHINKANSEN (Bullet Trains) Super Express to select haiku. The haiku what he composed beside the window in Shinkansen at that time is called 'Madogiwa Haiku' (Haiku Written Next to the Window).
He received Award of the Japan Art Academy in 1987 and award as a Bunkakoro-sha (Person of Cultural Merits) in 1992 for the whole of his great achievement. In 1994, he died at the age of 92. The heritage of Seishi was donated to Kobe University.
The residence where Seishi YAMAGUCHI had lived was collapsed by Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, and instead, a poem monument and a commemoration were built. Now the residence has been reproduced in the campus of Kobe University Faculty of Agriculture, and it is open irregularly as Seishi YAMAGUCHI Memorial House to Kobe University.
Seishi had commuted from Nishinomiya to Tokyo to select haiku for the "Asahi Haidan." So, Dojins of Tenro living in Nagoya asked him to stop at Nagoya and hold kukai (a haiku gathering) for devotees of 'Tenro' who lived in Tokai region. Since Seishi gave a ready consent to this offer, Tenro Nagoya Kukai in which Seishi directly taught the students held monthly near Nagoya Station. This kukai produced quality haiku poets such as Morinao TSUKAKOSHI, Kousui TOMINAGA and Yoshie MURAKAMI. Tenro Nagoya Kukai was now reborn as 'Mori' Haiku-kai, and it is held monthly to inherit and develop the haiku spirit of Seishi. This 'Mori' Haiku-kai, based on the fundamentals of haiku such as keeping 5-7-5 syllabic form including season words, learns followings as 'teaching of Seishi': 1. Two objects' impact technique (making readers feel emotions by writing of two objects), 2. Montage technique (writing active aspects) and 3. Continuous flight technique (associating an 'object' with a related thing).
The Haiku Collection
"Toko" (Frozen Harbor) (Shojinsha, 1932)
"Koki" (Yellow Flag) (Ryuseikaku, 1935)
"Enchu" (Summer Noon) (Sanseido, 1938)
"Shichiyo" (Seven Days of the Week) (Sanseido, 1942)
"Gekiro" (Turbulent Waves) (Seijisha, 1946)
"Dangai" (Cliff)
"Ensei" (Distant Star) (Sogensha, 1947)
"Koin" (Light and Shade)
"Bankoku" (Evening Hours) (Sogensha, 1947)
"Tsuma" (Wife)
"Seijo" (Blue Goddess) (Chubu Nihon Shinbunsha, 1950)
"Hoi" (Direction) (Shunjusha, 1967)
"Seido" (Bronze) (Shunjusha, 1967)
"Setsugoku" (Snowy Peak)
"Kojitsu" (Red Sun/Scarlet Sun) (Miji Shoin, 1991)
"Ichigu" (One Corner) (Shunjusha, 1977)
"Fudo" (Unmoving) (Shunjusha, 1977)
"Henkyo" (Remote Region)
"Wafuku" (Japanese Clothes) (Kadokawa Shoten, 1955)
"Kokyo" (Truss Bridge) (Shunjusha, 1967)
"Taiyo" (Ocean) (Meiji Shoin, 1994)
"Shinsen Taiyo" (New Selections of Ocean) (Shibunkaku Shuppan, 1996)