English translation of the prose
AI-assisted English translation of the prose; quoted poems remain in Japanese. The Japanese original remains authoritative.
AI-assisted English translation. The Japanese original remains authoritative.
Originally published:
This material was published on the Japanese website. Dates and notices in the text reflect the original publication.
This is a prose translation. Nine submitted poems and one additional quoted tanka remain in Japanese. References to software describe its use at the time of the original record.
Romantic Poetry Forum: Autumn, September 2022
Recorded September 17, 2022
Record and commentary: 河内裕二, Japan Romanticism Society
The approach of a large typhoon made this a somewhat unsettled day. Around twenty-five typhoons form annually in Japan's context, and this one is No. 14. We must remain alert to further typhoons. We can prepare, but in the end we can only quietly wait for one to pass. The damage they leave—destroyed houses and harmed crops—pains the heart, yet the clear autumn weather afterward is refreshing. I hope this typhoon causes no great damage.
The meeting was held on September 17 from 1:30 p.m. at the Miura Working Citizens' Center. Those present were the following six people and 河内裕二: 三宅尚道, president of the Miura Tanka Society; 加藤由良子, 嶋田弘子 and 清水和子; and 濱野成秋, president of the Japan Romanticism Society, and 岩間滿美子. 羽床員子 and 嘉山光枝 of the Miura Tanka Society also sent poems.
夕暮れにつくつく法師鳴きはじめ
夜は虫の音秋はすぐそこ 光枝
The author is 嘉山光枝, absent today. Cicadas begin calling in summer, but the timing differs somewhat by species. Niinii cicadas call earlier than others; the tsukutsuku-bōshi in the poem call later, from late summer into early autumn. Their distinctive call lingers in the ear. At night, other insects sing as though taking over the baton. Nature repeats this every year, yet as the poet expresses, it is through our senses that we truly feel the change. A calendar date cannot do that.
夢もなし「歩け歩け」と医師の声
「もう夕食か」万歩計持つ 和子
A work by 清水和子. It could be read as cheerful and positive, but the author says it expresses the opposite, a pessimistic feeling. 「夢もなし」 does not mean sleeping so deeply that she has no dreams, but having no dreams for the future. A doctor tells her, almost threateningly, that she will become bedridden if she does not walk. She walks hard, and before she is hungry it is dinnertime. If she must go to the dining room, she can at least record that distance on her pedometer. The poem expresses weariness, but the presence of another self is important. The self that looks at her objectively and makes a poem has not become entirely pessimistic about life. That is why she can compose.
百年の遠きに生くる歌人も
友の衰へ嘆ける夏の日 成秋
The author is President 濱野成秋. Summer heat that taxes the body makes one acutely aware of physical decline with age. A friend met after a long interval on a hot summer day looked older and weaker. Did the poet experience this himself? He composed in sympathy with the following poem in 島木赤彦's collection 『太虚集』 (Taishō 13, 1924).
夏の日は暮れても暑し肌ぬぎつ
もの言ふ友の衰へにける 赤彦
晴れた朝吾子らの位置をゼンリーで
見届け楽しむコーヒーの香り 弘子
A poem by 嶋田弘子. Zenly is the name of a smartphone app through which one can see the locations of phones registered with it. Registered in a group with her children, the author checks where they are and imagines what they are doing. The days of constant worry about them have ended with this app, and now she can enjoy her coffee in peace. Since the poem says 「晴れた朝」, perhaps she sees that her children are at home and imagines them eating breakfast and getting ready to go somewhere.
秋勝り萩の花咲く庭に降り
静謐の中友を言祝ぐ 滿美子
The author is 岩間滿美子. Something happy happened to an acquaintance. Stepping into a garden that had fully taken on the appearance of autumn, she thought of that person and murmured congratulations, feeling as though the plants heard her. The garden flowers seem to celebrate the friend too. The phrase 「静謐の中」 lets only the murmured words of congratulation spread outward. In a world difficult to live in, rejoicing in another person's happiness is not actually so easy. The slander and abuse that are a problem online illustrate that. The beauty of the garden flowers in the opening is a run-up to the beautiful wish for a friend's happiness in the latter part, condensed in the final phrase.
Kotohogu, to offer celebratory words, has two written forms, 「寿ぐ」 and 「言祝ぐ」. Since 「寿ぐ」 strongly suggests wedding congratulations, the author chose 「言祝ぐ」.
いつになくこころ弾めり昼下がり
彩なす秋桜と風に吹かれむ 裕二
My own work. I heard an account from someone who had seen cosmos flowers. One sunny afternoon, the beautiful cosmos blooming in a park lifted the observer's spirits. For a while they gazed at the flowers in the autumn breeze. I composed this by entering that person's feelings.
中秋の名月橋の上にあり
在位七〇年エリザベス女王逝く 由良子
The author is 加藤由良子. She writes of the British queen who recently died. The opening, which suggests a Japanese landscape, develops in the latter part into a world event. The beautiful harvest moon overlaps with the dignified Queen Elizabeth. “Bridge” is symbolic too: the queen, long a bridge between Britain and the world, was loved by people everywhere. Reading the latter part with her in mind returns one's thoughts to the opening: even with so great an event, the harvest moon shines beautifully as ever. It is a splendid poem.
おほよそは歓迎されぬ我なれど
裏山の蚊の歓迎止まぬ 尚道
The author is 三宅尚道. This is a humorous kyōka. We cannot help laughing because everyone knows that some people are frequently bitten by mosquitoes and others are not, yet we do not really know why. Only females before laying eggs suck blood. If the result were merely a little itching, we could admit defeat at having been bitten unawares and resign ourselves. But mosquitoes transmit many infectious diseases, including malaria and dengue fever, and many people die worldwide every year. In some places, this poem would be no laughing matter.
散歩する亡夫の姿見つけたり
一年前のグーグルアースに 員子
The author is 羽床員子, absent today. Google Street View showed her late husband taking a walk near their home while he was still alive. Deeply moved, she composed this poem. 「見つけたり」 conveys her joy. Both his walking at the time of filming and her discovery of the image were coincidences, yet the poem makes one feel that her enduring love drew those coincidences toward her.
Was I surprised that advanced technologies such as Zenly and Google Earth, discussed at this meeting, strengthen family bonds and nurture love because I do not actually use them? The internet pursues efficiency and convenience, and somehow that direction does not seem connected with family. Is that a preconception? In the end, if family problems can be resolved, that is enough. Times have changed.
Original wording, author credits, notes and source materials are preserved there.