English translation of the prose
AI-assisted English translation of the prose; quoted poems remain in Japanese. The Japanese original remains authoritative.
Originally published: 31 May 2025.
Japan Romantic Poetry Forum: Spring, Satsuki
31 May 2025
Record and commentary: 河内裕二, Japan Romanticism Society
May is called Satsuki in the traditional Japanese month names. Looking into its origin reveals several theories. Connections with rice planting are prominent: the Nihon Kokugo Daijiten gives derivations from sanaezuki, the month of planting young rice; sa, an archaic word for cultivation, making “sa-month”; and 挿月, meaning the planting of seedlings. More unusual theories connect it with hunting: 幸月 because May is good for hunting, or satsutsuki, the hunting month, because medicinal hunting took place then. Even if its origin remains unclear, the sound “satsuki” and the image of brightly colored satsuki azaleas make it one of the most attractive month names, a word one wants to use in a poem.
The gathering took place on 31 May at Miura City Workers’ Civic Center; the source states a starting time of 01:30. Present were 三宅尚道, president of the Miura Tanka Association, 加藤由良子, 嘉山光枝, 清水和子, 羽床員子, Seishu Hamano, president of the Japan Romanticism Society, Jun Hayama, and 河内裕二. 安田喜子 joined for the first time. 嶋田弘子, absent that day, also sent poems.
去年（こぞ）の秋二度ころびたる友人の
「元気になった」と電話かけくる 由良子
The poet is 加藤由良子. A small everyday scene quietly depicts friendship and concern for a friend. Mentioning two falls expresses worries about strength and age. The poet’s relief at the news of recovery is conveyed indirectly through the friend’s action of telephoning, rather than by stating an emotion. Restrained language presents a warm human relationship.
本整理いるいらないの手を止めて
読み返すでは作業進まず 光枝
The poet is 嘉山光枝. This too takes an ordinary daily scene, with humor and a situation readers may recognize from their own lives. The colloquial いるいらない, deciding what to keep or discard, creates familiarity. The ending says that the task makes no progress, yet feels like an endearingly resigned acceptance. The poem reflects the poet’s warm view of daily life.
来年も一緒に居たいと赤色の
カーネーションに願う母の日 潤
A work by Jun Hayama, quietly expressing tenderness toward a mother. The red carnation symbolizes Mother’s Day and gratitude and affection for a living mother. Its color visually impresses the strength and warmth of feeling, yet the overall tone is restrained. The single phrase “next year too” contains anxiety about age and health, and the preciousness of the time they share now. Strong feeling set to a calm cadence resonates all the more gently in the reader’s heart.
霧立ちて橋もマストも消え去りぬ
病む目に残る半島の朝 和子
A poem by 清水和子. Does it show an inner landscape? Uncertain vision in a diseased eye overlaps the poor visibility of dense fog, impressing a helpless sense of loss. The “peninsula morning” burned into the eyes acquires fragility and beauty. One also senses the urgent fear that this morning scene might be the last thing seen. It leaves a strong impression and resonance.
ますらをは無言で聞きゐて黙々と
後の心を誠意で示す 成秋
The poet is President Seishu Hamano. What should a man be? The poem states his view. Repeating the ideas of listening without words and remaining silent conveys the weight of silence concealing strong feeling and resolve. It shows the importance of expressing one’s thoughts through actions rather than speech. Perhaps it restates Japanese values and aesthetics that now seem forgotten. Today, statements beginning “men should” or “women should” are often regarded as inappropriate and cannot be used lightly. Employing the archaic ますらを avoids this and enters a more essential dimension—an accomplished choice.
葉影より赤き実見せて桑の木は
光をゆらしてぐんと伸びゆく 喜子
A work by 安田喜子, vivid in color and full of movement. 葉影より expresses the surprise and pleasure of something hidden appearing. What emerges is striking red fruit. The light-filled scene strongly conveys plant vitality and the season’s radiance. The mimetic ぐんと伸びゆく emphasizes the force and vigor of growth. The poet’s eye for nature is keen.
鳥居より本殿までを埋め尽くす
群衆の如き雛と目合わす 員子
A work by 羽床員子. During the Doll Festival season, many hina dolls are displayed in the grounds of Kainan Shrine in Miura. This describes that scene, but the ending, meeting the dolls’ eyes, makes it poetry rather than mere explanation. The dolls are brought from many households and number in the hundreds. Meeting their eyes might even inspire fear. Considered calmly, a shrine filled with dolls is an uncanny sight.
つばくらめ早苗田（さなえだ）撫でて飛びゆけば
ゆらぐ水面に空の彩り 裕二
My own poem, sketching a May landscape. The subject is ordinary, but careful word choice gives it poetic expression. Rising rice prices have recently brought frequent discussion of rice in the news. I normally pay little attention, but looking afresh at flooded fields, I feel an aptness that makes them a Japanese landscape. Nearby paddies are being filled one after another for housing. It feels regrettable.
裏畑の胡瓜とトマト昨日の
風雨に耐えて黄花をつける 尚道
The poet is 三宅尚道. A corner of a kitchen garden is nature too. Familiar cucumbers and tomatoes express plant vitality and the strength of natural processes. It may seem merely factual, but what is truly expressed is the poet’s attentive gaze toward small-scale nature. One could not compose this without recognizing oneself as part of nature.
吾子の逆境に寄り添う夫の目に
親娘のしこり解けゆくをみる 弘子
The poet is 嶋田弘子. She captures a moment of reconciliation between a parent and child in conflict, seeing their relationship deepen. The expression “my husband’s eyes as he stands beside our child” conveys kindness through a gaze rather than words, creating deep feeling. The poet is also a parent, but by quietly observing as a third person she sends both of them strong, deep love in the same manner as her husband.
Unlike haiku, tanka need not contain a seasonal word. Yet weaving in the seasons and changes in nature gives depth and resonance. In Japan, with its four seasons, people’s lives have long been closely connected to seasonal change. Words with seasonal feeling can therefore appeal strongly to readers’ sensibilities. Since tanka has only thirty-one syllables, choosing such words is an important means of heightening poetry. Finding seasonal expressions that are not worn out is difficult, but enjoyable too.
Original wording, author credits, notes and source materials are preserved there.