Shuntaro Tanikawa
Encyclopedia
is a Japan
ese poet
and translator. He is one of the most widely read and highly regarded of living Japanese poets, both in Japan and abroad, and a frequent subject of speculations regarding the Nobel Prize in Literature
. Several of his collections, including his selected works, have been translated into English, and his Floating the River in Melancholy, translated by William I. Eliot and Kazuo Kawamura, won the American Book Award in 1989.
Tanikawa has written more than sixty books of poetry in addition to translating Charles Schulz's Peanuts
and the Mother Goose
rhymes into Japanese. He was nominated for the 2008 Hans Christian Anderson Award for his contributions to children's literature. He also helped translate "Swimmy" by Leo Lionni into Japanese. Among his contribution to less conventional art genres is his open video-correspondence with Shūji Terayama
(Video Letter, 1983).
He has collaborated several times with the lyricist Chris Mosdell
, including creating a deck of cards created in the omikuji
fortune-telling tradition of Shinto
shrines, titled The Oracles of Distraction. Tanikawa also co-wrote Kon Ichikawa
's Tokyo Olympiad
and wrote the lyrics to the theme song of Howl's Moving Castle
.
The philosopher Tetsuzō Tanikawa
was his father.
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...
ese poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and translator. He is one of the most widely read and highly regarded of living Japanese poets, both in Japan and abroad, and a frequent subject of speculations regarding the Nobel Prize in Literature
Nobel Prize in Literature
Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
. Several of his collections, including his selected works, have been translated into English, and his Floating the River in Melancholy, translated by William I. Eliot and Kazuo Kawamura, won the American Book Award in 1989.
Tanikawa has written more than sixty books of poetry in addition to translating Charles Schulz's Peanuts
Peanuts
Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000, continuing in reruns afterward...
and the Mother Goose
Mother Goose
The familiar figure of Mother Goose is an imaginary author of a collection of fairy tales and nursery rhymes which are often published as Mother Goose Rhymes. As a character, she appears in one "nursery rhyme". A Christmas pantomime called Mother Goose is often performed in the United Kingdom...
rhymes into Japanese. He was nominated for the 2008 Hans Christian Anderson Award for his contributions to children's literature. He also helped translate "Swimmy" by Leo Lionni into Japanese. Among his contribution to less conventional art genres is his open video-correspondence with Shūji Terayama
Shuji Terayama
was an avant-garde Japanese poet, dramatist, writer, film director, and photographer. According to many critics and supporters, he was one of the most productive and provocative creative artists to come out of Japan. He was born December 10, 1935, the only son of Hachiro and Hatsu Terayama in...
(Video Letter, 1983).
He has collaborated several times with the lyricist Chris Mosdell
Chris Mosdell
Chris Mosdell is a British lyricist, poet, author, composer, vocalist and illustrator, based in Tokyo, Japan, and Boulder, Colorado, USA.He has worked with a wide range of Japanese musicians and artists—the documentary Ink Music: In the Land of the Hundred-Tongued Lyricist bills him as the...
, including creating a deck of cards created in the omikuji
Omikuji
Omikuji are random fortunes written on strips of paper at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples in Japan. Literally "sacred lot", these are usually received by making a small offering and randomly choosing one from a box, hoping for the resulting fortune to be good...
fortune-telling tradition of 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...
shrines, titled The Oracles of Distraction. Tanikawa also co-wrote Kon Ichikawa
Kon Ichikawa
was a Japanese film director.-Early life and career:Ichikawa was born in Ise, Mie Prefecture. In the 1930s Ichikawa attended a technical school in Osaka. Upon graduation, in 1933, he found a job with a local rental film studio, J.O. Studio, in their animation department...
's Tokyo Olympiad
Tokyo Olympiad
Tokyo Olympiad is a 1965 documentary film directed by Kon Ichikawa which documents the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Like Leni Riefenstahl's Olympia, which documented the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Ichikawa's film was considered a milestone in documentary filmmaking...
and wrote the lyrics to the theme song of Howl's Moving Castle
Howl's Moving Castle
Howl's Moving Castle is a young adult fantasy novel by British author Diana Wynne Jones, first published in 1986. It won a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award and was named an ALA Notable Book for both children and young adults. In 2004 it was adapted as an Academy Award-nominated animated film by Hayao...
.
The philosopher Tetsuzō Tanikawa
Tetsuzo Tanikawa
was a Japanese philosopher who promoted the concept of World Government for purposes of peace.Tanikawa introduced philosophical ideas in Japan through his translations of Georg Simmel and Immanuel Kant. His major philosophical influence was Johann Wolfgang von Goethe...
was his father.