Yamanokuchi Baku

• Born: 1903/9/11
• Died: 1963/9/16
• Other Names: 山口重三郎 (Yamaguchi Jûzaburô)
• Japanese: 山之口獏 (Yamanokuchi Baku)

Yamanokuchi Baku was an Okinawan poet.

He was born in the Higashi neighborhood of Naha in 1903, the third son (fifth child) of Yamaguchi Jûchin and Kamado. As early as when he was still in middle school, he submitted poems to be published in newspapers. He later formed a poetry group alongside Yamashiro Seichû and Kuniyoshi Shintetsu, taking on the pen-name Yamanokuchi Baku around that time.

In 1925, he traveled to Tokyo for the second time. While going from one job to another, he received support from writers such as Satô Haruo and Kaneko Mitsuharu, and began to publish his poetry. Collections of his poetry were published in 1938, 1940, and then 1958. In November 1958, he returned to Okinawa for the first time in 34 years, remaining there for two years.

Yamanokuchi died of cancer on 16 September 1963. A fourth collection of his poems was published the following year. In 2010, some 7,500 remaining poems that had never been published were donated to the Okinawa Prefectural Library.

References

• Plaque in Yogi Park, Naha.[1]