Takashi Okai, a poet and cultural merit dies, has a big impact on modern tanka July 11 at 15:10
After the war, Takashi Okai, a poet who greatly influenced the expression of modern tanka by promoting the avant-garde tank movement, died at home in Tokyo on the 10th due to heart failure. I was 92 years old.
Born in Aichi Prefecture in 1933, Takashi Okai started his creative activities at the age of 17 and went to the medical school of the university while honing his skills as a poet. After graduating from university, he worked as an internal medicine doctor one after another. I have created and criticized.
We promoted the avant-garde tanka movement with Kunio Tsukamoto and Shuji Terayama, and had a great influence on the expression of modern tanka. In addition to his creations, he has been involved in activities to deepen the understanding of Japanese classical literature such as Tanka, including criticism of Shigekichi Saito, and was also the elector of the beginning of the song and a professor at Kyoto Seika University.
In 1996, he received the Medal with Purple Ribbon, and in 2004 he received the Asahi Ribbon Medal. In 2016, he was selected as a Person of Cultural Merit.
Mr. Okai has continued creative activities even after he was 90 years old, but according to his relatives, his physical strength weakened from around spring this time, and he died at home in Tokyo around 10 noon due to heart failure. ..