About this work
A set of tanka with brief prose introductions finds subjects in a park, an old tree, a crow, the scent of jasmine and a sports ground closed during the pandemic. This English version is an editorial translation for access; the Japanese text remains available alongside it for comparison.
Parallel reading
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Read the Japanese original and its English translation together. On smaller screens, each language follows in sequence.
日本語原文 Japanese original
東京府中 河内裕二
近所の公園の光景もどこか生きづらい世の中に見えてくる。
梅雨時の南風を黒南風といふとか。
黒南風に蓮より落ちる水玉に
揺られし水面鯉が顔出す
暗闇に立つ一本の老木に思いを寄せて
五月闇空き家の庭の老木は
過去見つむるや朽ち果つるまで
濡羽色の鴉は死と再生のシンボルとされている。
路地裏に震えしこゑでなく鴉
黒き瞳に空映りたり
ジャスミンのかほり残して去りしきみ
春にはわれを想ふならむや
コロナ禍で使用禁止中のグランドを見つめ
雨上がり土の匂ひのグランドに
若かりしわれ握りめし喰ふ
English translation 英訳
AI-assisted English translation. The Japanese original remains authoritative.
Short Song Drafts
February 17, 2020
Hiroshi Kominato, Tokyo Fuchu
The scenery of the nearby park seems to appear in a world where it is hard to live.
They call the south wind in the rainy season the black south wind.
The black south wind, the lotus falling into waterdrops, the ripples of the pond where the koi fish show their faces.
Thinking of a single old tree standing in the darkness, the old tree in the abandoned garden in May, the darkness of the season, the tree that sees the past and finally decays.
The black-eyed crow is a symbol of death and rebirth.
Not the trembling voice in the alley, but the crow with black eyes, its eyes reflecting the sky.
The scent of flowers calls back old memories.
The lingering fragrance of jasmine, the scent that has gone, when spring comes, if you think of me, then I will think of you.
Looking at the field that is forbidden for use during the pandemic, the field that smells of earth after the rain.
When I was young, I held it in my hands and ate it.
Original wording, author credits, notes and source materials are preserved there.