Shūzō Takiguchi

Shūzō Takiguchi (瀧口 修造, Takiguchi Shūzō; December 7, 1903 – July 1, 1979) was a Japanese poet, art critic, and artist. He was the central figure of orthodox Surrealism in pre- and postwar Japan. Devoting his life to exemplifying the movement in its orthodox form. Starting in the 1950s, he began offering new experimental outlets for young postwar avant-garde artists who lacked opportunities for presenting their work in formats other than group exhibitions.

Among his early activities in Surrealism, in 1937, in collaboration with the poet Chirū (Tiroux) Yamanaka, he organised the traveling Kaigai Chōgenjitsushugi Sakuhin-ten (Exhibition of Overseas Surrealist Works) in the cities of Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Nagoya. Yamanaka had made contact with and corresponded with French Surrealists André Breton and Paul Éluard, helping to promote international exchange around Surrealism. The exhibition introduced original Surrealist works to many Japanese audiences and left a lasting impression on the young poet-photographer Kansuke Yamamoto.