Jimbo Kotaro’s Poems Collection Nanpo Shishu: The Author’s Perspective and Reality

Abstract

Nanpō Shishū is a collection of poetry written by Jinbō Kotarō (1905-1990) when he was serving as a member of the Propaganda Division during the Japanese military occupation of Singapore (Shonan) from 1942 to1945. The poems, which describe his feelings during his ten months of duty in Singapore were written in Japanese and self-published in 1944 after Kotarō’s return to Japan. In other words, the target readers of his poems were Japanese only. This study does not delve into the reasons for Jinbō’s involvement in the Asia-Pacific War, since he was known as a romantic poet, but to analyze the characteristic of his poems and how he describes the relationship between Japanese and the multiethnicity of Singaporean people at that time. This study employs a qualitative approach that prioritizes the literary materials, especially Jinbō’s poetry collection, Nanpō Shishū.

Keywords

• Asia-Pacific War
• Propaganda Division
• Literature
• Japan
• Singapore