HORIGUICHI DAIGAKU

(1892–1981)

   Horiguchi Daigaku was a poet and French literature translator from Tokyo. His first name, which means “university,” was given him by his college-student father because he was born near the campus of Tokyo University. He enrolled in Keio University to study literature, but dropped out. Always an active poet, he was a member of the Shinshisha (New Poetry Society) and also contributed tanka to various literary journals. Through his association with Yosano Tekkan and Yosano Akiko he was persuaded to try his hand at other forms of poetry. At 19 Horiguchi traveled abroad with his diplomat father and spent the next 14 years in Mexico, Belgium, Spain, and Brazil, becoming fluent in French with a particular interest in symbolism. His first poetry anthology was titled Gekko to piero (Moonlight and Clowns, 1919). Upon returning to Japan, he published a translation of contemporary French poetry titled Gekka no ichigun (A Moonlit Gathering, 1925). He published over 20 books of poetry during his lifetime and was awarded the Order of Cultural Merit in 1979.