Early life Born on May 12, 1903, in Kami-Ogawa Village, Ishiki District,
Fukushima Prefecture, the second son of his father Kaoru Kusano and mother Tomeyo. In February 1911, his grandfather Kozo died at the age of 67. Kozo was a landowner who served as a member of the Fukushima prefectural assembly and village mayor. In September, he returned to Guangzhou from February to April 1924, he published
mimeograph poems "Sky and Telephone Pole In June. It was during this period of study that he began writing poetry. Shortly before returning to Japan, he read "Haru to Shura," a collection of poems by
Kenji Miyazawa sent from Japan, and was greatly inspired by it. In November, he published "Daihyaku-kyuu" (The Hundredth Grade), his first collection of poetry printed in
letterpress. All of the poems were about
frogs, and he continued to write poems dealing with other
amphibians; in December, he published the first issue of the poetry magazine "Gakko". In January 1931, he published "Amerika proletaria shishu" (American Proletarian Poetry Anthology) with other poets; In January 1934, he edited and published "In Memoriam of Kenji Miyazawa" following
Kenji Miyazawa's death the previous September. In November, he left
Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun and joined "Toa Kakuritsu Sha" the following month, becoming the editor-in-chief of Toa Kakuritsu. in October, he opened a small rental
library called "Tenzan" in front of
Ogawago Station in his hometown; in 1948, he closed the library after eight months and moved to
Tokyo by himself in August. In August 1949, he moved to
Mount Mitake. In November, he became a director of the Japan Writers' Association. In March 1951, he was a member of the first selection committee for the Mr. H Prize established by the Japan Contemporary Poets Association. In April 1954, he was elected secretary-general of the Japan Contemporary Poets Association. He serialized a novel about Wang Zhaoming in the Yomiuri Shimbun, titled "The Person of Destiny."
Poetic Works In January 1970, he received the 21st
Yomiuri Literary Award for "Wagamama Kotaro" published the previous year. In May 1973, "Kusano Shinpei Poetic Complete Works" (Chikuma Shobo) is published. In 1976, on March 29, a fire broke out in a neighboring house in
Higashimurayama, Tokyo, burning Shinpei's house half to the ground. In April 1977, he was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 3rd class. 1978, May, "Kusano Shinpei Complete Works" was published by
Chikuma Shobo and completed in 12 volumes in May 1984. In October 1983, he became a
Person of Cultural Merit, and in July 1984, he became an honorary citizen of Iwaki City. ==Last years==