Nan’yo Haiku and Tropical Seasonal Words Theory During and After the World War Ⅱ ：Focusing on the Haiku Collection Flame Tree and Haikus from the Jurong Internment Camp

This paper analyzes the development of Nanyo haiku (South Seas haiku) and the theory of tropical seasonal words from the prewar to postwar periods within the context of colonialism and postcolonialism. As Japan’s imperialist expansion progressed, haiku in the outer territories faced the problem of seasonal discrepancies, leading to the theory of tropical seasonal words proposed by Takahama Kyoshi and others. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the significance of Nanyo haiku and the tropical seasonal words they include through analysis of wartime and immediately postwar works. The wartime haiku anthology “Kaenju” (Flame Tree) contains many war-glorifying verses, with seasonal words like “summer grasses” linked to warfare. Futabatei Shimei was especially revered as an icon of Nanyo literature. However, in the postwar Jurong internment camp, haiku depicting camp life were composed, expressing a desolation that contrasted sharply with this wartime exaltation. Nomoto Kenshu argued that tropical haiku should be developed by local haiku poets and proposed the use of “conjugated seasonal words” combining traditional seasonal words with tropical representations. Research on Nanyo haiku has significant importance in confronting issues surrounding World War II directly, and in examining the potential for international haiku.