While still in middle school, Ariake developed an interest in the works of
Byron and
Heine, and he began writing poetry in a similar style. In 1894, he started a
literary journal called
Ochibo Zōshi ("Gleaners’ Notes") together with
Hayashida Shuncho and
Yamagishi Kayo, in which he serialized his first novel, . He escaped
military conscription during the
First Sino-Japanese War because he failed the physical examination. In 1898, Ariake won first prize in a
Yomiuri Shimbun contest with his second novel , which was highly praised by one of the judges,
Ozaki Kōyō. However, Ariake gave up prose and decided to concentrate only on poetry for the rest of his literary career. His first anthology, , was published in 1902. It borrowed themes from the ancient Japanese chronicles
Kojiki and
Fudoki. However, the style of his works exhibited influence from western poets, such as
John Keats and
Dante Gabriel Rossetti. He followed with a second anthology of lyrical poetry called
Dokugen Aika (独絃哀歌) in 1903. In this anthology, he also included Japanese translations of works by Keats, in which he attempted to follow the rhyming pattern of the original
sonnet, but he resorted to many archaic and difficult words. Ariake served as the manager of a popular writers' salon called
Ryūdōkai, which was started in November 1904, by art critic
Iwamura Tōru at a French restaurant called Ryūdōken in Azabu, Tokyo. Ariake and Iwamura were friends, and Ariake made contact with numerous people in the contemporary literary world, including
Kunikida Doppo,
Tayama Katai,
Shimazaki Tōson, and
Masamune Hakuchō, through his job as manager of the Ryūdōken. In his fourth anthology, , in 1908, Ariake introduced the 14-line sonnet, which was previously seldom used in conventional Japanese modern poetry. Its publication gained him a reputation as a leading figure in Japanese
symbolist poetry. However, this came at a time when the literary world was gravitating rapidly towards
free verse, and as Ariake refused to adapt to the new trends, he gradually withdrew from literary circles. In 1947 he published his autobiographical novel, , which was the final poetic work of his career, although he continued to work on translations of European poets as well as literary criticism. In 1948, Ariake was inducted into the
Japan Art Academy. Ariake moved from Tokyo to
Kamakura,
Kanagawa prefecture, in 1919, but was forced to relocate to
Shizuoka city
Shizuoka prefecture after his house collapsed during the
Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923. He returned to Kamakura in 1945, after his house was burned down by the
firebombing of Shizuoka during the
Pacific War. He continued to live in Kamakura until his death in 1952 of acute
pneumonia at the age of 76. From 1945 to 1946, the
Nobel Prize-winning
Kawabata Yasunari was a house-guest at Ariake's house in Kamakura. Ariake's grave is located at the temple of Kensō-ji in
Moto-Azabu, Tokyo. ==See also==