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Junzaburō Nishiwaki (西脇順三郎, Nishiwaki Junzaburō, 20 January 1894 – 5 June 1982) was a contemporary...

Junzaburō Nishiwaki (西脇順三郎, Nishiwaki Junzaburō, 20 January 1894 – 5 June 1982) was a contemporary Japanese poet and literary critic, active in Shōwa period Japan. Nishiwaki was born in Ojiya in Niigata prefecture, where his father was a banker. He came to Tokyo intending to become a painter and studied under the famous Fujishima Takeji and Kuroda Seiki but had to give up an artistic career due to his father’s sudden death. Instead, he enrolled in Keio University's Department of Economics, and also studied Latin, English, Greek, and German. Even as a student he demonstrated extraordinary language abilities, writing his thesis entirely in Latin. Nishiwaki became interested in poetry while a student at Keio University, and contributed verses to the boy's magazine Shonen Sekai. He also began to write poetry in English. Nishiwaki expressed distaste for the romanticism and subjective modes which dominated modern Japanese poetry. He accepted a teaching post at Keiō University in 1920, while continuing to contribute English verses to various journals, and editing poetry magazines on the side. After graduation, he was hired by the Japan Times newspaper, but was forced to resign due to poor