was a ''

tanka is a genre of classical Japanese poetry and one of the major genres of Japanese literature. Etymology Originally, in the time of the influential poetry anthology (latter half of the eighth century AD), the term ''tanka'' was used to disti ...

'' poet and scholar of the

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...

and

Heian The Japanese word Heian (平安, lit. "peace") may refer to: * Heian period, an era of Japanese history * Heian-kyō, the Heian-period capital of Japan that has become the present-day city of Kyoto * Heian series, a group of karate kata (forms) * ...

periods of

Japanese literature Japanese literature throughout most of its history has been influenced by cultural contact with neighboring Asian literatures, most notably China and its literature. Early texts were often written in pure Classical Chinese or , a Chinese-Japa ...

. He was active during the

Shōwa period Shōwa most commonly refers to: * Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa ** Shōwa era (昭和), the era of Hirohito from 1926 to 1989 * Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufactu ...

of Japan.

Early life

Sasaki was born in what is now part of Suzuka city,

Mie prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture an ...

. He was considered a child prodigy, and his father, Sasaki Hirotsuna, taught him the basics of poetry composition and encouraged him to memorize classical ''tanka'' verses. After graduation from the Classics Department of

Tokyo Imperial University The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public university, public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several Edo peri ...

, he followed his father's wish and decided to devote his life to '' waka'' poetry, both by researching old verses and by composing new verses himself.

Literary career

In 1894 Sasaki published a lengthy patriotic poem ''Shina seibatsu no Uta'' (“The Song of the Conquest of China”), on the occasion of the start of the

First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 189417 April 1895), or the First China–Japan War, was a conflict between the Qing dynasty of China and the Empire of Japan primarily over influence in Joseon, Korea. In Chinese it is commonly known as th ...

. The poem was extremely popular, and one of its lyrics comparing falling cherry blossoms to Japanese soldiers falling in battle for the emperor became a common symbolic phrase through the end of World War II. Sasaki founded a

literary society A literary society is a group of people interested in literature. In the modern sense, this refers to a society that wants to promote one genre of writing or a specific author. Modern literary societies typically promote research, publish newslet ...

called the ''Chikuhakukai'' (from his father's

pen-name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

), which published a literary journal, ''Kokoro no Hana'' (“Flower of the Heart”) from 1898. Using the journal as a medium, he was able to popularize his own philosophy of ''waka'', publish his research on the history and development of

Japanese poetry Japanese poetry is poetry typical of Japan, or written, spoken, or chanted in the Japanese language, which includes Old Japanese, Early Middle Japanese, Late Middle Japanese, and Modern Japanese, as well as poetry in Japan which was written in th ...

, and to nurturing a next generation of poets. Among his many disciples were Kawada Jun,

Kinoshita Rigen was the pen-name of Japanese author Viscount Kinoshita Toshiharu, noted for his ''tanka'' poetry, active in Meiji period and Taishō period Japan. Early life Kinoshita was born in what is now part of Okayama city, Okayama Prefecture, and was ...

and Katayama Hiroko. The magazine is still in existence today as Japan's oldest poetry monthly. In 1902, Sasaki made a visit to China, travelling up the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

and visiting

Hangzhou Hangzhou, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...

and

Suzhou Suzhou is a major prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. As part of the Yangtze Delta megalopolis, it is a major economic center and focal point of trade and commerce. Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou rapidly grew in size by the ...

. Although some of his earliest works were influenced by

Mori Ōgai Lieutenant-General , known by his pen name , was a Japanese people, Japanese Military medicine, Army Surgeon general officer, translator, novelist, Japanese poetry, poet and father of famed author Mori Mari, Mari Mori. He obtained his medical l ...

, together with

Masaoka Shiki , pen-name of Masaoka Noboru (正岡升), was a Japanese poet, author, and literary critic in Meiji period Japan. Shiki is regarded as a major figure in the development of modern haiku poetry, credited with writing nearly 20,000 stanzas during ...

and

Yosano Tekkan Yosano Hiroshi (与謝野寛; 26 February 1873 – 26 March 1935), known by his pen name was a Japanese author and poet active in late Meiji, Taishō, and early Shōwa era. His wife was fellow author Yosano Akiko. His grandson was politicia ...

, Sasaki took part in a movement to revolutionize ''tanka'' and brought out his first ''tanka'' anthology, ''Omoigusa'' (“Grasses of Thoughts”), in 1903. He eventually published an additional eleven collections of ''tanka'', which included ''Shingetsu'' (“New Moon”, 1912), ''Toyohata gumo'' (“Clouds Streaming in the Wind”, 1929), and ''Yama to mizu to'' (“Mountains and Water”, 1951). In recognition of these efforts, Sasaki was offered the post of lecturer at Tokyo Imperial University in 1905, and was officially commissioned by the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

to work on a modern commentary to the ''

Man'yōshū The is the oldest extant collection of Japanese (poetry in Classical Japanese), compiled sometime after AD 759 during the Nara period. The anthology is one of the most revered of Japan's poetic compilations. The compiler, or the last in ...

''. Sasaki worked together with his father on these efforts, and published a comprehensive survey of medieval ''waka'' (''Wakashi no kenkyu'', “Studies in Japanese Poetry”, 1915). He later led a team of scholars which published a concordance of the ''Man'yōshū'' (“Kohan Man'yōshū”, 1924–1925), which is the accepted basis for modern ''Man'yōshū'' studies. In 1934, Sasaki was made a member of the prestigious Imperial Academy. He was the first person to be awarded the

Order of Culture The is a Japanese Order (decoration), order, established on February 11, 1937. The order has one class only, and may be awarded to men and women for contributions to Japanese Art, Japan's art, Japanese Literature, literature, science, technolog ...

by the Japanese government in 1937 and also became a member of the

Japan Art Academy is the highest-ranking official artistic organization in Japan. It is established as an extraordinary organ of the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs (文化庁, Bunkacho) in the thirty-first article of the law establishing the Ministry of ...

that year. He was subsequently appointed purveyor of poetry to the

Imperial Family A royal family is the immediate family of monarch, monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or emperor, empress, and the term papal family describes the family of ...

, and a judge at the annual '' Utakai Hajime'' poetry reading contests. He was also a tutor to

Empress Teimei , posthumously honoured as , was the wife of Emperor Taishō and the mother of Emperor Shōwa. Her posthumous name, ''Teimei'', means "enlightened constancy". She was also the paternal grandmother of Emperor Emeritus Akihito, and the paternal ...

and other members of the imperial household on the composition of poetry. Sasaki relocated from

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Kamakura , officially , is a city of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. It is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 people per km2 over the tota ...

Kanagawa prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...

in 1921, where he lived to his death in 1963. He also maintained a residence at

Atami, Shizuoka is a city located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 36,865 in 21,593 households

, a hot spring resort further down the coast. Sasaki's grave is at the

Yanaka Cemetery is a large cemetery located north of Ueno in Yanaka 7-chome, Taito, Tokyo, Japan. The Yanaka sector of Taito is one of the few Tokyo neighborhoods in which the old Shitamachi atmosphere can still be felt. The cemetery is famous for its beautif ...

, in Tokyo. Following his death, a memorial museum containing some of his manuscripts was built on the site of his former home in Suzuka city, Mie prefecture, and the summer home he maintained in Atami, Shizuoka has also been preserved by the local governments.

References

* Kato, Shuichi. ''A History of Japanese Literature: The First Thousand Years ''. Kodansha (2003). .

External links

Sasaki Nobutsuna Memorial Museum, Suzuka city, Mie prefecture (Japanese site)

(

National Diet Library The is the national library of Japan and among the largest libraries in the world. It was established in 1948 for the purpose of assisting members of the in researching matters of public policy. The library is similar in purpose and scope to ...

) *
Sasaki Nobutsuna Memorial Museum, Atami

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sasaki, Nobutsuna 1872 births 1963 deaths Scholars of Japanese literature People from Suzuka, Mie University of Tokyo alumni Recipients of the Order of Culture Laureates of the Imperial Prize 19th-century Japanese poets 20th-century Japanese poets

Early life

Literary career

See also

References

External links

Notes