About this work
Tanka with prose recollections bring together a mother’s flower-arranging practice, the landscapes of Hoshino, life in coal-mining communities and remembrance of a relative who worked in education. This English version is an editorial translation for access; the Japanese text remains available alongside it for comparison.
Parallel reading
日本語と英語で読む
Read the Japanese original and its English translation together. On smaller screens, each language follows in sequence.
日本語原文 Japanese original
母は昭和３４年１月に華道家元池坊より華道教授職１級の免許を取得している。その後亡くなる直前まで裏庭に植えた四季折々の花を使って、お弟子さんたちに生け花の指導に当たっていた。
裏庭に咲く紫陽花は時を超え
母の思い出尚も匂ふや
母の生まれ故郷八女市星野村では５月の茶摘みが終わると、棚田の田植えが始まる。日本の棚田百選にも指定された星野村の棚田の見学に多くの人が訪れる。
棚田には赤や黄色の曼珠沙華
暮れる夕日に色づく稲穂
幼い頃過ごした八女市星野村。母の生まれ育った旅館の近くを星野川が流れ、一面の茶畑。夏になると用水路から数多くの沢蟹が現われた。
田んぼへと沢蟹歩む蝉しぐれ
涼しさ嬉し夏の夕暮れ
団扇持ち浴衣姿で盆踊り
ボタ山見える炭住広場
令和３年６月１６日、大阪府寝屋川市に住む義兄が享年７８歳で亡くなった。長年小学校の校長を務めた。子供の教育に全力を注いで責務を全うした人物だった。
涙ぐむ教え子の髪白くとも
義兄の御教え永久に生きなむ
English translation 英訳
AI-assisted English translation. The Japanese original remains authoritative.
My mother obtained a first-class license to teach flower arranging from the head of the flower arranging school, Chikafu, in January 1959. After that, until the day she passed away, she continued to guide her students in the art of flower arranging, using the flowers she planted in the back garden throughout the four seasons.
The hydrangeas blooming in the back garden transcend time
The memory of my mother still lingers in the scent
In the village where my mother was born, Hoshino Village, Hachibayashi City, tea picking ends in May, and then the rice planting begins in the terraced fields. Many people visit to see the terraced fields of Hoshino Village, which are designated as one of the 100 selected terraced fields in Japan.
The terraced fields are adorned with red and yellow mandarin flowers
The rice stalks are dyed in color as the evening sun sets
The village where I spent my childhood, Hoshino Village, Hachibayashi City. The river Hoshino flows near the inn where my mother was born, and there is a vast tea field. In summer, many crayfish appear from the irrigation channels.
The cicadas walk through the rice fields with the crayfish
The coolness of summer evening brings joy
My father was a buyer of pit timber in the coal mines of Chikuho. He lived as a mountain man until the mine closed due to the energy revolution. He moved from mine to mine across Kyushu to Hokkaido, and there I lived, watching the botasan and the charcoal dwellings.
With a fan and in a kimono, he danced in the festival of Obon
The botasan is visible in the charcoal dwellings' square
On June 16, 2021, my brother-in-law, who lived in Nyeruka City, Osaka Prefecture, passed away at the age of 78. He had long served as a principal of an elementary school. He was a person who devoted himself fully to the education of children and fulfilled his duties.
Even with the white hair of the weeping students
The teachings of my brother-in-law live on forever
Original wording, author credits, notes and source materials are preserved there.