Poetry in the Wake of Imperial Japan:Politics of the Traditional Literature Since1868

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  • 明治期日本の和歌と〈政治〉─高崎正風を中心にして─
  • メイジ キジツホン ノ ワカ ト 〈 セイジ 〉 : タカサキ ショウフウ オ チュウシン ニ シテ

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Traditional Japanese poetry (waka) faced extreme difficulties due to the massive inflow of western thought at the emergence of Imperial Japan in the late nineteenth century. Masakaze Takasaki, a waka poet, who served Emperor Meiji in a governmental capacity, played a crucial role for the continuation of waka during the time of Japan's westernization. How did Japanese traditional literature survive in a time of extraordinary socio-cultural and political transformation? This paper explores the history of Japanese poetry culture and the role of Takasaki in its struggle, renewal, and stabilization since1868. Historical analyses provide an alternative view of the history of poetry in Japan. Takasaki, as a government bureaucrat and social activist, established the ideal waka poetry typology and played an important role in the diffusion process of the renewed traditional culture. His poetry work attempted to turn the attention of Emperor Meiji and political elites in the Imperial Government toward the minds of the people. As a result, waka poetry became an important spiritual and political binding between Emperor Meiji and people of Japan. Thus, by bringing the cultural status of poetry into the political arena, Takasaki contributed to the renewal and continuation of a cultural tradition and literature. In the emergence of Imperial Japan, Masakaze Takasaki gave new value to traditional Japanese poetry, which once thought to be unnecessary in a rapidly modernizing and westernizing society.

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