was a poet and playwright active during the Shōwa period

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...

 in 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...

. He also was a scriptwriter.

Biography

Born in Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; 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...

, Nagata was the brother of fellow writer Nagata Hideo

Hideo Nagata

was a poet and playwright in Showa period Japan. He also was a scriptwriter.Born in Tokyo, Nagata was the son of a Shinto priest at the Kikuchi Jinja. Interested in literature and poetry from an early age, he developed his own style of modern poetry and was ranked alongside Kitahara Hakushu and...

. He graduated from Waseda University

Waseda University

, abbreviated as , is one of the most prestigious private universities in Japan and Asia. Its main campuses are located in the northern part of Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as Tokyo Senmon Gakko, the institution was renamed "Waseda University" in 1902. It is known for its liberal climate...

. Influenced by his brother, and his brother's associates Kitahara Hakushū and Yoshii Isamu

Yoshii Isamu

was a Japanese tanka poet and playwright writer active in Taishō and Shōwa period Japan. Attracted to European romanticism in his youth, his later works were more subdued.-Early life:Yoshii Isamu was born in the elite Takanawa district Tokyo...

, he also turned to poetry and literature as a career, and later to movie scriptwriting.

He is best known for his semi-factual work on the Great Kantō Earthquake

1923 Great Kanto earthquake

The struck the Kantō plain on the Japanese main island of Honshū at 11:58:44 am JST on September 1, 1923. Varied accounts hold that the duration of the earthquake was between 4 and 10 minutes...

, Daichi wa furu ("The Earth Shakes", 1923) and for numerous works on the Gion

Gion

is a district of Kyoto, Japan, originally developed in the Middle Ages, in front of Yasaka Shrine. The district was built to accommodate the needs of travelers and visitors to the shrine...

 district of Kyoto

Kyoto

is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...

.

He died of pneumonia

Pneumonia

Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...

 in 1964, and his grave is at the Kanei-ji Cemetery in Ueno, Tokyo

Ueno, Tokyo

is a district in Tokyo's Taitō Ward, best known as the home of Ueno Station and Ueno Park. Ueno is also home to some of Tokyo's finest cultural sites, including the Tokyo National Museum, the National Museum of Western Art, and the National Science Museum, as well as a major public concert hall...

.

See also

• Japanese literature
  Japanese literature
  Early works of Japanese literature were heavily influenced by cultural contact with China and Chinese literature, often written in Classical Chinese. Indian literature also had an influence through the diffusion of Buddhism in Japan...
  
  
• List of Japanese authors