2018 Volume 98 Pages 146-161
In this paper, I analyze images of violence that appear in Hagiwara Sakutarō's poetry from his early tanka to his first poetry collection Howling at the Moon, such as pistols and executions by firing squad and the electric chair, while also referring to his unpublished notes. These images are grounded in Sakutarō's consciousness of the events of his time, such as the High Treason Incident, a form of state violence, and twentieth century war, beginning with the Russo-Japanese war and culminating in World War I. I assert that Sakutarō's ominous poetic symbols of the violent energy of war show that, while the destructive power of state violence terrified him, he was also strongly attracted to a pure violent energy that is akin to what Walter Benjamin calls “divine violence.” I also point out that Sakutarō's interest in violent energy may well have continued into his last years, during World War II.
