AN OUTLINE HISTORY OF TWENTIETH CENTURY JAPANESE LITERATURE 19 In general the proletarian poets had very little interest in poetry as an art. They also paid little or no attention to the newer movements current in foreign poetry. For them art was only an accessory to politics. Although there was a great deal of vigor in the proletarian poetry movement, the results were uniformly poor. 30. The Surrealist Movement and the Magazine Shi to shiron. t t (The Long Poem and Poetics) It was the journal Shi to shiron which became the central gathering point of the poets who constituted the largest and most important group in the first years of the Sh6wa era. In this magazine are found the major developments of modern poetry, especially poetry inspired by surrealism. Surrealism was introduced into Japan through Gekka no ichigun (Group under the moon), a collection of translations from French poetry published in 1925 by Horiguchi Daigaku. In 1928 Horiguchi and Hinatsu Konosuke joined in bringing out the first issue of the journal Panteon (Pantheon). Here Tanaka Fuyuji, Iwasa ToichirO, Aoyagi Mizuho, JO Samon, and others developed an urban and elegant poetic style. Panteon came to an end in 1929 after ten issues and Horiguchi became the editor of a new magazine Orufeon (Orpheon). The poet who became most conspicuous here was Hishiyama Shuzo, the author of poetic prose characterized by a previously unknown intellectualist flavor. Okazaki Seiichir6 and Iwasa T6ichir6 also attempted to write poetic prose. The final issue of Orufeon came in 1930 after Miyoshi Tatsuji, Haruyama Yukio, and Anzai Fuyue too had contributed to its pages. Panteon and Orufeon both seemed to lie somewhat outside the mainstream of poetry, but they stood in sharp opposition to proletarian poetry and reflected one of the phases of society in the early Showa era. It was the quarterly magazine Shi to shiron which actually introduced, put into practice, and gave unity to the doctrines of surrealism. Published for the first time in 1928, it appeared somewhat later than Panteon. Coming to a temporary end in December, 1931, after fourteen issues had been published, it was republished in March of the following year under the name Bungaku (Literature), which too was a quarterly and ran through six issues. All of the artistic ideologies then current abroad were introduced through Shi to shiron and put into practice. Andre Breton's proclamation on Dadaism, translated by Sato Saku, was published in the third number, and a proclamation on surrealism, by Kitagawa Fuyuhiko, in the fourth and fifth numbers. Bungaku took on the appearance almost of a journal devoted to the publication of studies of Western literature. The eleven poets who from the first belonged to the coterie publishing Shi to shiron were Anzai Fuyue, Iijima Tadashi, Ueda Toshio, Takenaka Iku, Kambara Tai, Kitagawa Fuyuhiko, Kondo Azuma, Takiguchi Takeshi, Toyama Usaburo, Haruyama Yukio, and Miyoshi Tatsuji. With the publication of the fifth issue in September, 1929, these poets renamed themselves the kikosha or contributors and added the following names to their number: 6no Shun'ichi, Sasazawa Yoshiaki, Sat5 Ichiei, Sat6 Saku, Takiguchi Shuzo, Nishiwaki Junzabur6, Hori Tatsuo, Yokomitsu Riichi, and Yoshida Issui. Kitazono Katsue, Sakamoto Etsuro, and Hishiyama Shuzo also contributed. Murano Shir6 and Ando Ichiro are other poets who stand close to the Shi to shiron group. It is by no means true that all of these poets were necessarily agreed in all the details of their practice. Haruyama and Kitazono, who were two of the leaders, made formalism their aim, Ueda Toshio and Takiguchi Shuzo aimed at the representation of their psychological reactions, and Takenaka Iku worked at the writing of cinepoems. But in giving shape to a new spirit in poetry, these poets agreed. And the poet who gave the strongest theoretical support to their activities was Haruyama,who denied all the musical and lyric qualities in poetry and emphasized an intellectualized composition depending on images and the combination of images. Kitagawa tried to give actuality to this new spirit in poetic prose. Nishiwaki, like Haruyama, became known as an introducer of surrealist principles and as a poet who realized these principles in his works. Remaining from this period are Ken'onki to hana (A thermometer and flowers) and Senso (War) by Kitagawa, Ambaruwaria (Ambarvalia) by Nishiwaki, Zoge kaigan (The Ivory Coast) by Takenaka, and Sokuryosen (Survey ship) by Miyoshi. The surrealist movement achieved its highest vogue during the first two years or so of its existence. After June, 1930, when the eighth number of Shi to shiron came out, Kitagawa and Miyoshi left the movement, which thereupon fell into a gradual decline. But the surrealist movement continued for a long time thereafter to influence many poets and its members still rank in the forefront of present-day poets. 31. The Long Poem in the Thirties Kitagawa and Miyoshi, who had left the Shi to shiron group, joined in publishing Shi, genjitsu (Poetry, reality) in June, 1930, and tried to recapture the humanness which surrealism had lost. Other poets coming to this new journal included Hishiyama, Kambara, Moriyama, Nishizawa Ryuiji, Maruyama Kaoru, and Ito Shinkichi. As a whole, they were characterized by a strong Marxist tendency; this is particularly evident in the works of Ito and Moriyama. In Kogito (Cogito), first published in 1932, were assembled Tanaka Katsumi, Kurahara Shinjiro, Ito Shizuo, and Yasuo Yojiir6, who all worked toward a return to an elegant classicism. In Shinshiron (A new poetics) were gathered the lyric poets Yoshida Issui, SatO Ichiei, Oki Atsuo, and Hemmi Ydkichi. In May, 1933, was published Shiki (The four seasons) which served as the organ of a group of poets newly arriving on the literary scene after the end of Shi to shiron. It was intended to be a quarterly, but in October, 1934, after the first two issues had come out, it became a monthly, and for a period of about ten years, held the center of the stage, at least as far as the long poem was concerned. Miyoshi, Maruyama, and Hori Tatsuo were the announced editors of this journal, but actual control resided in Hagiwara Sakutaro. All of the poets were anti-proletarian; they were also critical of surrealism, and developed a new lyrical style which attempted the harmonizing of the intellect and feelings. This may perhaps be regarded as the proper development of the poetry of the Meiji and Taisho eras. The models may be seen in the freshly lyrical styles of Tachihara Michizo and