Senge Motomaro
Encyclopedia
was a Japanese
poet
active during the Taishō
and Shōwa
periods of Japan
.
as the younger son of the Shinto
high priest of Izumo-taisha in Shimane Prefecture
, who was also a member of the House of Peers. He was a member of the Shirakaba ("White Birch") literary circle, and published many of his poems in their literary magazine
. Save for xenophobic poems written during World War II, his poetry reflects the philosophy of humanism
with an optimistic perspective on the world. He was a prolific author, publishing as many as 30-40 works per month. His poems tend toward minimalism and describe everyday events and scenes, without resort to excessive sentimentality.
His anthology, Jibun wa mita (“I Saw”, 1918), contains the poem Kuruma no oto (“Noise of the Carts”), which often appears in Japanese collections of Taisho period poetry. His longer work, Mukashi no ie (“House of Long Ago”, 1929), is autobiographical
, describing his aristocratic background.
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
poet
Japanese poetry
Japanese poets first encountered Chinese poetry during the Tang Dynasty. It took them several hundred years to digest the foreign impact, make it a part of their culture and merge it with their literary tradition in their mother tongue, and begin to develop the diversity of their native poetry. For...
active during the Taishō
Taisho period
The , or Taishō era, is a period in the history of Japan dating from July 30, 1912 to December 25, 1926, coinciding with the reign of the Taishō Emperor. The health of the new emperor was weak, which prompted the shift in political power from the old oligarchic group of elder statesmen to the Diet...
and Shōwa
Showa period
The , or Shōwa era, is the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of the Shōwa Emperor, Hirohito, from December 25, 1926 through January 7, 1989.The Shōwa period was longer than the reign of any previous Japanese emperor...
periods of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Biography
Motomaro Senge was born in TokyoTokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
as the younger son of the Shinto
Shinto
or Shintoism, also kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written...
high priest of Izumo-taisha in Shimane Prefecture
Shimane Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region on Honshū island. The capital is Matsue. It is the second least populous prefecture in Japan, after its eastern neighbor Tottori. The prefecture has an area elongated from east to west facing the Chūgoku Mountain Range on the south side and to...
, who was also a member of the House of Peers. He was a member of the Shirakaba ("White Birch") literary circle, and published many of his poems in their literary magazine
Literary magazine
A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry and essays along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letters...
. Save for xenophobic poems written during World War II, his poetry reflects the philosophy of humanism
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
with an optimistic perspective on the world. He was a prolific author, publishing as many as 30-40 works per month. His poems tend toward minimalism and describe everyday events and scenes, without resort to excessive sentimentality.
His anthology, Jibun wa mita (“I Saw”, 1918), contains the poem Kuruma no oto (“Noise of the Carts”), which often appears in Japanese collections of Taisho period poetry. His longer work, Mukashi no ie (“House of Long Ago”, 1929), is autobiographical
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
, describing his aristocratic background.
External links
- e-texts of works at Aozora BunkoAozora BunkoAozora Bunko is a Japanese digital library. This online collection encompasses several thousands of works of Japanese-language fiction and non-fiction. These include out-of-copyright books or works that the authors wish to make freely available....