Editor and Translator: Takako Lento 

Pioneers of Modern Japanese Poetry breaks new ground in the study and appreciation of modern Japanese poetry. It assembles the work of four major poets of the twentieth century and places their achievement in the historical and literary context of their times. The book presents a generous sampling of the poetry of Murō Saisei, Kaneko Mitsuharu, Miyoshi Tatsuji, and Nagase Kiyoko, selected from their lifetime of work. Each section opens with a discussion of the poet’s life, career, and poetics. The original Japanese text is printed on facing pages with a clear, faithful, and sensitive English translation. The general introduction to Pioneers, referencing scholarly and historical materials otherwise unavailable in English, traces the evolution of modern Japanese poetry from the 1880s through the 1980s. It provides readers with a fascinating survey of how the turbulent history of modern Japan intersects with the work of these important poets. It also establishes Murō, Miyoshi, Kaneko, and Nagase as exemplary modern Japanese poets who shunned traditional forms, conventions, and subject matter to address the concerns of modern life in free verse and vernacular language.