Kitahara Hakushu, given name Ryukichi, was a popular tanka poet. Born in Fukuoka Prefecture, he attended Waseda University but dropped out to write poetry. Much of his early poetry was published in Myojo (Venus) until he formed his own literary group, the Pan no kai (The Society of Pan). In 1918, he joined the Akai Tori (Red Bird) literary journal, for which he began collecting children’s songs. He published several volumes of Japanese children’s song lyrics as well as translations of English nursery rhymes. Kitahara died in 1942 of complications from diabetes.
See also CHILDREN’S LITERATURE.
Historical dictionary of modern Japanese literature and theater. J. Scott Miller. 2009.