Kazuko Shiraishi: The Jazz-Poetess of Japan Passes Away at 93

Kazuko Shiraishi, a prominent figure in modern Japanese beat poetry recognized for her dramatic readings often accompanied by jazz music, has passed away at 93. Known as the 'Allen Ginsberg of Japan,' Shiraishi's avant-garde works broke conventional literary norms and have been translated into numerous languages.

Kazuko Shiraishi, a leading name in modern Japanese "beat" poetry known for her dramatic readings often accompanied by jazz music, has died at the age of 93. Shiraishi, dubbed the "Allen Ginsberg of Japan" by American poet and translator Kenneth Rexroth, passed away due to heart failure on June 14, according to her Tokyo-based publisher Shichosha.

Shiraishi gained acclaim at just 20 years old after graduating from Waseda University in Tokyo, with her surrealist work 'Tamago no Furu Machi' (The Town that Rains Eggs), which portrayed Japan's wartime destruction. Her long black hair and theatrical style defied traditional stereotypes of the silent, non-assertive Japanese woman. 'I have never been anything like pink,' she wrote in one of her poems.

Shiraishi was a pioneer in performance poetry, reading her works with jazz legends like Sam Rivers and Buster Williams. Born in Vancouver and raised in Japan, she joined an avant-garde poetry group during her teenage years. Her works, sometimes bizarre or erotic, broke free from Japan's historical forms of literature like haiku and tanka. Shiraishi's poems, heavily influenced by Joan Miro, Salvador Dali, and John Coltrane, were translated into multiple languages with the help of Rexroth.

In 1973, Paul Engle invited her to the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, enriching her artistic scope. German writer Gunter Kunert noted that her poems successfully bridged Eastern and Western literary traditions, refuting Kipling's notion that the two worlds would never meet. A private funeral was held, and a memorial service is being planned. She is survived by her husband, Nobuhiko Hishinuma, and a daughter.

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