Overview
The book cover image is the collection “Kawada Seiichi shishū” whose beautifully bound is made by Kusano Shinpei. It was published in a limited edition of 100 copies by Shōshinsha.
Not many people can have heard of the poet Kawada Seiichi. He was born in 1911 in the town of Niochō in the Mitoyo District of Kagawa Prefecture in Shikoku, and later studied in the preparatory course of the Waseda University No. 2 High School If you are a member of this university, he is one of your senpai. Kawada spent his youth alongside writers such as Tamura Taijirō (1911-1983), Inoue Tomoichirō (1909-1997), and Sakaguchi Ango (1906-1955) who—though they may not be much read anymore—were active in the postwar years. Kawada published many poems in the magazine Aishō and was recognized as a genius during his own lifetime, but he fell victim to tuberculosis and died in 1934, aged only 22.
His closest friend Tamura assumed responsibility for Kawada’s surviving manuscripts, and with the editorial help of Inoue and the poet Kusano Shinpei (1903-1988), in 1940 the collection Kawada Seiichi shishū was published. This remains Kawada’s only printed collection of poems. During the editing process, Tamura, who had already been conscripted, corresponded with Inoue, who was still in Tokyo. Thereafter, both Tamura and Inoue were swallowed up by the chaos of the period. This collection is thus not only the fruit of Kawada’s poetic compositions, but also a memorial to the youth of a man whose life was cut short by war and tuberculosis.
In this exhibition, we display surviving manuscripts by Kawada and his friends, as well as materials by other young people who were active in literary circles at the same time. We must be cautious about juxtaposing the era in which Kawada and his friends lived with our contemporary age. Yet when we stand before the exhibition materials, we cannot help but feel the passion with which these unknown young people devoted themselves to activities they cared about at a time when the future was so radically uncertain. Perhaps when we do what we really want to do, the currents of the time are unimportant. Quite by chance, this exhibition coincides with graduation and entrance ceremonies. We shall be delighted if it provides you with some encouragement to pursue your own path.
Date/Venue
Venue：Exhibition Room (Center for Scholarly Information, 2nd Floor)
Date：Mar. 23 (Thu) – Apr. 28 (Fri) 2023
Opening hours：10:00am – 6:00pm
- Admission free
- Closed on Sundays (except Mar. 26 or Apr. 2)
- Closing at 5:00pm on Mar. 25, 26 and Apr. 2
- Visitors without a library card can enter, too.
Note
For preventing COVID-19, read “Important notice regarding the exhibition” in advance when visiting.
List of Exhibits
manuscripts, epistles, a diary, magazines, poetry collection “Kawada Seiich Shisyu”
You can get a free-of-charge booklet containing a brief chronology of Seiichi Kawada and a list of his works at the exhibition room.
Related articles
「河田誠一の詩と生涯、およびその詩集成立と遺稿類について」（Bulletin of the Waseda University Library, 69）
Virtual Museum
「The Brief but Beautiful Life of a Genius Poet: Kawada Seiichi or Adolescence in an Age of Tuberculosis and War」（Waseda University Cultural Resource Database）
