The Representation of Death in Haiku Creation During the Second Sino-Japanese War ：Focusing on <i>Shina Jihen Sanzen Ku</i>

Abstract

The Haiku anthology Shina Jihen Sanzen Ku is the culmination of the tradition of war Haiku that flourished during the Second Sino-Japanese War. This anthology includes more than 3,000 haikus, with an almost equal number of Haiku from the front line and home front, two sites which therefore intersect in this anthology.This feature Previous studies on Haiku have focused only on the outstanding work of Haiku poets rather than paying attention to such anthologies of war Haiku.This paper focuses on the representation of the war dead in this anthology’s Haiku, and the way these texts are organized.It contributes to current research on the perspective on and the intimacy with the dead that characterizes war Haiku. It also proposes an undeveloped approach to studying Haiku anthologies such as Shina Jihen Sanzen Ku, which can expand the scope of research on Haiku expressiveness.