b. 1939, Tokyo; lives and works Tokyo, Japan.

Gozo Yoshimasu is a poet, performer and visual artist widely regarded as a major figure in contemporary Japanese poetry. Since his debut collection Departure in 1964, Yoshimasu has explored the limits of language through experimental forms that combine repetition, multiple voices, interruptions and visual text. Emerging from the radical literary movements of the 1960s, his work later shifted toward slower, listening-based rhythms that treat poetry as both sound and performance. Yoshimasu has published more than 30 poetry collections and, in recent decades, expanded into film and visual art through his ongoing ‘Gozo Ciné’ works.

Recent solo exhibitions include Yoshimasu Gozo Exhibition: ‘A, i, u, e, o, no, a!’, Signal, Tokyo (2025); Ne No Ne, SIGNAL, Tokyo (2024); Footnotes – Gozo Yoshimasu According Gozo Yoshimasu According Gozo Yoshimasu, Maebashi City Museum of Literature, Gunma (2023); Voix, Take Ninagawa, Tokyo (2022); Dear Monster, Take Ninagawa, Tokyo (2021); Yoshimasu Gozo, Art Office Ozasa, Kyoto (2018); The Voice Between: The Art and Poetry of Yoshimasu Gozo, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (2016) and Yoshimasu Gozo, Daiwa Foundation Japan House, London (2013). Recent groups shows include The Ecology of Relationships: The Forest is the Sea’s Lover, Frac Sud – Cité de l’art contemporain, Marseille (2026); 15th Shanghai Biennale, Does the flower hear the bee? (2025); 36th Bienal de São Paulo, Not All Travellers Walk Roads – Of Humanity as Practice (2025); Blumen, Take Ninagawa, Tokyo (2025); ONE SINGLE BOOK, Gallery Koyanagi, Tokyo (2024); 15, Take Ninagawa, Tokyo (2023); Poet Slash Artist, Manchester International Festival, Manchester (2021); MOT Annual 2019: Echo after Echo – Summoned Voices, New Shadows, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (2019); Sharjapan: The Poetics of Space, Al Hamriyah Studios, Sharjah (2018); Sapporo International Art Festival, Hokkaido University Museum, Sapporo (2017); Shinano Primitive Sense Art Festival, Nagano (2015); Aomori Earth 2014 – Part 2: Knotted Poems, Aomori Prefectural Museum of Art (2014); Paraty Poetry Festival, Paraty (2006); the 21st São Paulo Biennale, São Paulo (1991).

For further information about this artist please click here.

For Aki Sasamoto's entry on Asia Art Archive's website please click here.