Shuntaro Tanikawa, who departed from haiku and other traditions and pioneered a poignant yet dialogical style of modern Japanese poetry, has died at the age of 92.
Tanigawa, who was a translator of the manga “Peanuts'' and wrote the lyrics for the theme song for the anime “Astro Boy'' series, passed away on November 13, his son Kensaku Tanigawa announced on Tuesday. The cause of death was given at a hospital in Tokyo as old age.
Tanigawa surprised the literary world with his 1952 debut novel, Two Billion Light Years of Solitude. This work boldly looks at the universe within everyday life, and is sensual and vivid, yet uses simple everyday language. It was written before Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude and became a bestseller.
Tanigawa's “Word Play Songs'' is a compilation of fun songs that use a lot of alliteration, rhythmically arranging similar-sounding words such as the mythical animal “kappa'' and the horn “trumpet.'' And onomatopoeia.
“For me, the Japanese language is fundamental. Like a plant, I will put down roots, swallow the nutrition of the Japanese language, put out leaves, bloom flowers, and bear fruit,” she told AP at her home in Tokyo in 2022. He said this in an interview with Tsushin.
Tanigawa explored poetry not only in the repetitive music of spoken words, but also in the magic hidden in small things.
One of his works is titled “I wanted to talk to you in the kitchen in the middle of the night.''
“There used to be something about it being a job and being commissioned. Now you can write whatever you want,” he said.
Mr. Tanigawa has also translated Mother Goose, Maurice Sendak, and Leo Lionni, and his work has been widely translated into English, Chinese, and various European languages.
Some of his works have been made into picture books for children and are often included in Japanese school textbooks. He also incorporated Japanese words of foreign origin into his poems, such as “Coca-Cola.”
“Tanikawa's poetry reflects a metaphysical and quasi-religious attitude toward experience. In simple, understated language, he sketches profound ideas and emotional truths.” American Literary Association says the Poetry Foundation.
Tanigawa was born in 1931 as the son of philosopher Tetsuzo Tanigawa, and began writing poetry in his teens, exchanging poems with famous poets of the time such as Shin Ooka and Shuji Terayama.
He said he thought poetry came like inspiration from heaven. But as I grew older, I felt poetry springing up from the ground.
Tanigawa was actually a friendly and unassuming person, and often read out loud in public with other poets. Although he never seemed to take himself seriously, he often confessed that his only regret in life was that he dropped out in the midst of stardom at a young age and never completed his education. I was doing it.
It is possible that his relative isolation from the dark and serious world of academic poetry in postwar Japan encouraged his free verse approach, which went on to innovate and define modern poetics in Japan. be.
Tanigawa said that he was not afraid of death, and hinted that he had probably intended to write a poem about his experience of death as well.
“I'm more concerned about where I'm going to go when I die. It's a different world, right? Of course I don't want pain. I don't want to die after major surgery or something. I suddenly want to die,” he said.
He is survived by his son Kensaku, a composer, his daughter Shino, and several grandchildren. The funeral was held in secret with family and friends. According to Kensaku Tanikawa, a farewell event is being planned in his honor.
“Like everyone, Shuntaro's poems surprised me, moved me, made me laugh and shed tears. It was all a lot of fun, wasn't it?'' he said. “His poetry will be with you forever.”
