Chirū Yamanaka

Chirū Yamanaka (山中 散生, Yamanaka Chirū) (1905–1977) was a Japanese poet, critic, and translator based in Nagoya who played a significant role in introducing and promoting Surrealism in Japan. In 1929 he founded the avant-garde poetry magazine CINÉ, which helped circulate Surrealist ideas and texts in Japan and connected Nagoya’s literary scene to international Surrealist networks. He also collaborated with critic Shūzō Takiguchi to plan the 1937 Kaigai Chōgenjitsushugi Sakuhinten (海外超現実主義作品展) (Exhibition of Overseas Surrealist Works), a major prewar introduction of European Surrealist works and materials to Japanese audiences.