NAGATSUKA TAKASHI

Nagatsuka Takashi was a poet from Ibaraki Prefecture. At the age of 19 he became interested in Masaoka Shiki’s lyrical portrayal of nature, and two years later helped Masaoka launch the poetry journal Araragi (The Yew). Nagatsuka is mainly known for his writing of tanka, and his 1914 collection Hari no gotoku (Like a Needle) is his most noteworthy lyrical publication. Nagatsuka also wrote novels, most notably Tsuchi (1910; tr. The Soil, 1981), a depiction of agrarian poverty written in dialect, which was serialized in the Asahi newspaper. He died of tuberculosis at the young age of 37.

See also GENBUN ITCHI.