Poets

Tatsuji Miyoshi ( Miyoshi Tatsuji, 23 August 1900 – 5 April 1964) was a Japanese poet, literary critic, and literary editor active during the Shōwa period of Japan. He is known for his lengthy free verse poetry, which often portray loneliness and isolation as part of contemporary life, but which are written in a complex, highly literary style reminiscent of classical Japanese poetry.

Miyoshi was born in Nishi-ku, Osaka as the eldest son in a large family of modest background running a printing business. He suffered from poor health as a child and was frequently absent from school due to nervous breakdowns. He was forced to drop out of junior high school due to inability to pay the tuition once the family business went bankrupt, and his father abandoned the family to escape from creditors. He was only able to complete his schooling by the charity of an aunt.
From 1915-1921 Miyoshi enlisted in the Imperial Japanese Army, first undergoing training at the Osaka Army Cadet School, followed by a tour of duty in Korea. He left the army in 1921 to enroll in the Third Higher School in Kyoto, where he majored in literature. Miyoshi had been interested in literature even while still at high school, especially in the works of Friedrich Nietzsche and Ivan Turgenev. In 1914, he began to compose his own haiku verse.