Town of Ikata

Town Profile

Our Town: Poets

Nenten Tsubouchi

Tsubouchi was born in Kuchō, Ikata. He currently resides in Ōsaka.

On display we have a haiku composed and calligraphed by Tsubouchi, "Sweet sticky beans in March, tee hee hee hee." This poem is so famous that it appears in elementary school textbooks. 17 additional poems by Tsubouchi, composed with Ikata as the main theme, also appeared in a 1997 calendar published by the Ikata Nuclear Power Publicity Center.

Year after year, Tsubouchi continues to make unique, creative poems that make one wonder, "is this really poetry?" A "Nenten Tsubouchi Poetry Collection" has also been published.

An interesting article once appeared in the Mainichi Newspaper.

Tsubouchi, an accomplished student of the life of Shiki Masaoka (a late 19^th century poet), held an event he called "Eat with Shiki for a Day" about 10 years ago.

The idea apparently was to spend the anniversary of Shiki's death eating and drinking the same things he did. Shiki began a diary starting on September 2^nd the year before he died, and at the beginning of each entry he often wrote what he ate for breakfast, lunch, and dinner that day.

Based on this idea, Tsubouchi's wife showed off her cooking skills by making a few modern touches to the menu. It must have been quite a party, eating the same things as Shiki, surrounded by one's friends and Shiki's descendants.

Profile

• Born in Kuchō, Ikata
• Completed the master's program at Ritsumeikan University Graduate School; currently a professor at the Kyōto School of Education
• Publications include "In the Steps of Shiki," "Living Words—Ideas Born from Haiku," poetry collections "Morning Shore," "Spring Home," "My Town," and more
• Currently residing in Minoh, Ōsaka