Background
Zenmaro Toki was born on June 8, 1885 in Tokyo, Japan.
善麿 土岐
Zenmaro Toki was born on June 8, 1885 in Tokyo, Japan.
After initially taking up tanka in his teens, he studied under Kun'en Kaneko, and when in attendance at Waseda University he socialized with other notable Naturalist poets such as Bokusui Wakayama. He graduated from Waseda University (1908).
While yet at university studied waka poetry under Kun-en Kaneko and with the rise of realism into literature he advocated the blending of poetry with reality. His first anthology titled Nakiwarai (Tearful Smiles) was published in 1910.
Later together with Takuboku Ishikawa originated a new style of writing poetry by using three lines. Hitherto poems were written in one vertical line. Was publisher of a magazine titled "Life and Arts."
After graduating joined the editorial staff of Yomiuri Shimbun (newspaper). Then switching to Asahi Shimbun, became chief of their social section (1918), then head of literature and arts section, and ultimately leader writer. Was correspondent in Europe and America (1927). Has for long been an ardent supporter of romanizing the Japanese language.
Among his works are "In The Evening," "Inequality on Streets" (an anthology), "Tayasu-Munetake" and a book an Noh plays. Member of the UNESCO committee in Japan.
(Japanese Edition)
He adopted mild socialist tendencies in the 1910s, and when, in the 1930s, the militarist government began to crack down heavily on left-wing literature, he shifted over to writing scholarly works rather than produce propaganda.