Japanese poet Shuntaro Tanikawa, master of modern free verse, has died at 92

Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — Shuntaro Tanikawa, who pioneered modern Japanese poetry, poignant but conversational in its divergence from haiku and other traditions, has died. He was 92. His son Kensaku Tanikawa says his father died Nov. 13 at a Tokyo hospital. The cause of death given was old age. Tanikawa translated the “Peanuts” comic strip and penned the lyrics for the theme song of the animation series “Astro Boy.” He stunned the literary world with his 1952 debut work “Two Billion Light Years of Solitude,” a bold look at the cosmic in daily life, sensual, vivid but simple in its use of everyday language.