Born in 1904 in Kanda, Tokyo. He worked for many years at Bungeishunju, supporting the publishing world as an editor under Kikuchi Kan, and after the war served as editor-in-chief of All Yomimono and Bungeishunju. Meanwhile, as a master of the short story, he published acclaimed works such as Asagiri, Kaze Futatabi, and Aki, and as one of the Kamakura Bunshi he associated with Kawabata Yasunari and Kobayashi Hideo. He wrote haiku from early on under his real name rather than a pen name. Living long in Kamakura, he left many haiku on its town and people. He was admitted to the Japan Art Academy in 1981 and received the Order of Culture in 1984. He died at his home in Kamakura on October 12, 1990, at 86.

A man of letters who combined the cool judgment of an editor with the delicate sensibility of a writer. He loved Kamakura's daily life and seasons, and the warm gaze he cast on his family and townspeople flowed into his haiku.

As a leading figure of the Kamakura Bunshi, he left a major mark on Showa literary history. As a haiku poet he is also loved for many verses singing of Kamakura's four seasons. In 2009 the Kamakura Literature Museum held an exhibition titled 'Nagai Tatsuo — A Writer of Kamakura.'