Pathway to Japanese Literature

Folk songs are the sole local poetry a people possesses.
There can be no folk songs without local poetry.
Folk songs are sung by grassroots poets; they are pure emotional art.

This book, “Karekusa” (First published in Meiji 38 [1905]), brought together one hundred works—selected from my subsequent minor publications and including previously unpublished pieces—though it was not strictly a self-anthology; rather, it documented the path I had traced over more than two decades.

Moreover, I included works deviating from standard verse form in one or two sections because I had particular considerations.

June 1924 [Taishō 13]

Author

Scarlet Dragonfly

Wondering if a dragonfly would come

Going out back to look—

A dragonfly comes flying—

Perches on the well bucket

What a cute dragonfly

Scarlet Dragonfly

With a red sash tied neatly,

They came tying it.

On the bridge.

From atop the bridge,

They threw a pebble.

They wondered if the pebble would float,

They looked downstream—
The pebble sank,
flowed away.
Discarded green onion.

They discarded the green onion.

Wilted and withered.
Even the discarded green onion
wilts and withers.
Lord Sun looks on—
I wept.

I wept

The Twenty-Third Night

O Twenty-Third Night

The moon had not yet risen.

The wheat pot in the irori

It's foaming.

Simmering... thickening up.

Sleepiness has come.

At Moji

If one crosses to Moji,
Soil of Kyushu, O—
even the soil's hue
lingers in a hazy moonlit night.
The soil too is bright.
O bright soil!
People too are bright.
O bright faces!
Distant Hitachi—
my hometown—
why so dark?
O soil of my homeland!

Even dark soil—
Hitachi—how I yearn

Bamboo grove

At the backdoor bamboo grove
They were cutting bamboo.

Sparrows came flying—

Chirped and fluttered about.

Yoitomake Song (Call-and-Response Song)

Song Leader: “Yoitomaki suriya”

Laborers: “The length of this day”

Song Leader: “I’ve made my request!”

Laborers: “Mr. Song Leader!”
Song Leader: “If the song breaks off,”

“Keep that song going!”

Song Leader: “You think you can live by sleeping? Do you now?”

“But you shouldn’t think like that…”
“The length of the stakes!”
“Dear Sun above!”
“Pull with the rhythm of the song!”
“It won’t yield one bit!”

Dawn star

O Morning Star of Dawn

A single reed

O star that emerged at dusk
Where did it go

Did it ascend to the sky?
Did it sink?

Pondweed

Because frogs croaked
They went to the marsh to see—

In the marsh—the pondweed's
In full bloom

In the marsh—the pondweed's
In full bloom

Frogs—the pondweed's
In the shade they croaked

Morning mist

Dawn plovers—
That crying voice—

Return, I pray
Please return

In the river’s shallows—

Morning mist lifting—

Mist in the shallows—

Mist rose in the shallows—
Blue pampas grass
On the blue pampas grass,
Fireflies—
Night's narrow paths—night's narrow paths—came through.
Slender pampas grass'
How cute its form
Slender form
The yearning firefly.

Summer’s brief
Nights dawn easy
Until around dawn—until around dawn—they come through.

Miller's Buddhist Prayer

The children who danced "Komaya Nenbutsu"

They returned

The young women—

They still haven't returned

Stacora sa

*Stacora sa*

The moon too, to the dawn—

The moon returns to the mountain edge.

If it's a drowsy moon

It won't return

*Stacora sa*

*Stacora sa*

Habu Port—

Cormorant birds of the rocky shore—

Cormorants return at dusk.

Habu Port—
Sunset’s afterglow—
Tomorrow’s weather—
Well now—whether the wind howls or the sea calms—
The ships too were hastened—

Departure preparations—

Island girls—

Barracks living—

With what manner of heart—

Well now—what manner of heart do they truly bear?

The distant sea

On an island far out at sea

The dear little bird's song could be heard.

Even when gazing daily at the distant sea,

No islands were visible, no small birds present.

No islands visible, no small birds present—

Yet still the dear little bird's song could be heard.

On a distant island unknown to anyone

The dear little bird sang its dear song.

After the Flood

In the flood's wake

Cosmos bloomed

A red dragonfly

Perched.

O red dragonfly—

The travelers—

How far have they gone

Mystery

I am ashamed.

Kizō-san's mystery

Nothing but the mystery of weeping willows

It hung.

"Solve it," they said—but

"Can it be solved—this mystery?"

“Hey, Kizō-san.”
“Don’t hang it up.”
Stray crow—
Because the crow cries—
“It won’t come out even if you try.”
“Mother—”
“Me and the crow—”
Tricked.
Tricked.
“It’s a stray crow.”
Deceived—the crow.

“Mother,
even if it crows—
it won't show itself again.
it won't show itself again.”

Window

When night fell—the Moon

The moon came to the window.
Softly from the window,
The moon peered in.
The dear moon stayed away for some time.
The dear moon had stopped coming.

Dark nights—nothing but nights.

They continued.

This morning when I looked—the dear moon
had appeared suddenly
The dear moon became the dawn moon.
It transformed.

The long days of spring
They questioned the soil.
In the soil of the field,
The soil spoke.
The soil of the field,
Digging through Nichinan,
Said, "I was there."

Tea Master

Japanese quince flowers bloom.

Fair weather continues.

The tea master's coming too,

There's not much time left now.

The back field's

They look at the tea plants.

Sparrows line up

They are perched.

Ōarai Offshore

Across Kashimanada—

Ship Guardian Deity—

アレサ マア

Ōarai Offshore of

アレサ マア

The Hidden Sacred Reef’s

The surf roars.

Grass-Cutting Maiden

I am of the countryside—

Grass-Cutting Maiden

The grass—a thousand loads
They must cut
Chop-chop
Chop-chop

The grass's thousand loads
The dawn star
I never imagined
No day to spare

Chop-chop chop-chop
Chop-chop

Scotch Broom

When the Scotch broom flowers bloom

The lesser cuckoo sings.

The lesser cuckoo sings.
In the hometown forest too,
now the Scotch broom's
time when flowers blooms?
The lesser cuckoo sings.

The lesser cuckoo sings.

The sound of wind.

I

I peer through the back door

I whistle

My mind won't rest

I can't stay

If I could meet you—

I should go out to meet you—

My former self's

This is not my former self.

II

I go knocking on the threshold.

I go calling in a whisper.

I can't rest my mind at all.

I can't remain.

Even the stars in the sky
if there's no bond, they drift away
A thin bond—
Realize

III

I throw the stone

The stone hits the storm shutter.

My mind won't rest at all now

I can't remain.

Because they tell me to leave this house

Shall I throw stones?

Letting the stone speak for me
Shall I come?

IV

‘Go away!’
I don’t throw stones
It’s just the wind’s sound—
Tell yourself that

It's just the sound of the wind.

They had the nerve to say that.

Leaning against the window

I cried out

In the field

(A Variation of a Farmer’s Song)

'Twas broad daylight.

In the field, a field mouse,

Dug up by the spotted dog—

Oh dear—

All curled up it stayed there.

"The soil of this field—has it been black since creation?

What manner of thing?"

In truth, one ought to ask the crow.

In the field, under heaven's blue sky—no mystery here.

Croaked: Caw, caw, caw

A chicken ran.

This was quite something—they watched in utter astonishment.

A dragonfly.
The chicken gave chase, pecking away and pecking away.
It burst into flight—flew oh flew!
The dragonfly was blessed by fortune.
The landlord's only daughter—
For the daughter, two kinds—where might they be?
In this tightest bind—
Ahem—
Ended up a pregnant woman.
What kinda thing are these bean flowers in the field?
From crack of dawn, without uttering a word about anything,
Bursting into bloom they bloomed away.

Dōraku Yakushi

They made their plea.

To Lord Yoneyama

Bind the bonds

they pleaded for it to be granted

No matter what comes after,

O Yakushi-sama,

They were driven to the brink.

Bind them for us

Even tied with a sash,

Bonds that break will break

Anyway, Yoneyama too—

O-Dōraku Yakushi

Even before they snap

Bind them for us

Mosquito-eating bird
Is spring already nearing its end?
Cherry leaves'
In the shade they have come.
Mosquito-eating bird
How I miss my friends
Today too,
In the shade of cherry blossoms
Fades into dusk.
Cherry blossom shade
Twilight.
Why so nostalgic?

Mosquito-eating bird

Come again, swallow
The passing of days and months
Swallow,
How swiftly it passes

Believe it so

The south wind blows

Come again, swallow

When the cherry blossoms bloom

Come, swallow

The south wind blows

O swallow bird

I will wait,

Believe it so

Chiyo no Matsubara

Chiyo no Matsubara

O spindly pines
Scattered pine needles'
As for me—
Did you come to meet?
Did you come to make us weep?
If you came to meet,
Then come forth and let us meet
If you bid us weep,
Then we shall weep
Let it flow with song

Passed through the alleyway.

Sedoyama

Foxes at Sedoyama

They came crying sharply.

The pine-covered hill of Sedo

They cut pine trees at their base.

Foxes at Sedoyama

They stopped coming.

In Hida

In the mountains,

Every day, the cold wind blows,

Takayama in Hida—
Migratory birds—
cross over,
migrate forth.

In Toyama's mountains—
Even though the wind blows

Still no snow—

hasn't fallen

Yoneyama Kouta

We've made up our minds

Yoneyama-sama,

We'll live on—

To die on love's path—

Our hearts too,

So this is darkness—

Wherever the sun shines—
The sun shines the same—
We've abandoned even our hometown!
We're leaving this land!
Even as travelers—
Even as travelers—
Even so—
Tomorrow we part—
Do you mean to go?
They said to come visit—
Even so—
Part like this—
Do you mean to go?
Wait for me, they said—
Even so—

No matter what, we'll part—
Do we mean to go?

Komoro Kouta

□

Overlooking Jōshū

Mount Asama,

In the chest smolders

A fire they kindle

□

No second sun exists

Mount Asama—

My prayer

How will you answer?

Departing Ship

Offshore—winter rain.

Shore—rain.

Is the ship departing?

Is it high tide?

The tide is high tide

O ships of the harbor

Intermittent winter rain showers mix with the wind

The wind blows

Pillow of Waves

Last night too, from you

Tidings Received

Hakata Kojorō,

Pillow of Waves

I too, Hakata's

Pillow of Waves

Please forgive me,

Tidings told
River spray
Let’s be off promptly
Cross that mountain
Flowers bloom yet
Hometown’s
Moon hangs hazy

River spray
Let us be off promptly
Cross that river
Though flowers scatter
Hometown's
Moon stays dear

River spray.
Hibiscus flowers.
Hibiscus flowers'—
When they bloomed—
Hibiscus crimson.
Flowers bloomed.
Sparrows too returned to their nests.
At the hour of return—
Sparrows' nests too.

The day ends

I too, like this—

While I remained here—
I too was overtaken by dusk—
I too would likely fade away—

Cricket eternal—
A blue moonlit night—

O cricket—
The riverbank mugwort
Withered from its tip—
The blue moonlit night too—
How long would it persist—

Don't sing for me
O cricket
Thousand Crows
My birthplace's

O dear father and mother

Today too I

While spinning thread

I said "father"

I said "mother"

Thousand Crows’

O caw-caw voice

I miss father.
Mother feels nostalgic.
Even rose blossoms.

I

Even the rose flowers

crimson they bloom,

Never to return

O departed love

Is it a dream? Is it tears?

Is it flowing water?

How bitter I am
Were you cast aside—O Love?
II

Even the rose flowers
crimson in bloom,
please return
O departed love

Dreams too, tears too
flowing water too
how bitter I am
O unreturning love

III

Even the rose flowers

crimson they bloom,

Unforgettable

O heartrending love

Dreams and tears

Through winds of this fleeting world

How bitter I am

O withered love

I and the black cat

I

I and the black cat

Dark nights are dear

To cold Roshiya

Should I cross over? Should I go?

Should I go? To Russia’s

To the snow-falling country

Down to my very self was I sold.

I and the black cat—

II

The wind blows and blows

Offshore from the port

cold Roshiya's

Oh wind that blows through the land

Let us go tomorrow—

To the country of Roshiya

In the end I was sold

I and the black cat—

III

Birds flew through the sky

O sky-flying birds

Won't you take me along?

To Roshiya's land

Roshiya fills me with longing

A fire-breathing country?

News comes seldom.

I and the black cat—

If it's the same country

If it's the same country

Those from my hometown?

Even just hearing

How nostalgic it feels

Now—just until now

I had forgotten

As a village girl

Back when I was—

Now I remember!

Seeds of tears

Stormy Night
Drink up, cocktail!
Sing songs of the future!
Crimson and festering
Two hearts
Play the balalaika

Roshiya's song

The sky was a dark night.

Not even stars were visible.
A knock at the window.
O Tempest, O Rain.

Tomorrow's dawn

Dawn cannot endure waiting.

Tajima Yamakuni

Tajima Yamakuni

O Crescent Moon too
From mountain shadow
Retreats into shade
Ah—the mountain’s shadow?

O Crescent Moon

Tajima Yamakuni

A starry moonlit night of love
Snow falling in spring
What could be strange?
Snow falling in spring—yo
Even the mountain peaks

Melts in one night

My sash too—

Is it snow falling in spring—yo?

On the night arriving in Ina

Melted mysteriously

Ina’s Tatsugaoka

Ina’s Tatsugaoka

Peach blossoms in full bloom

Shall we sweep the spring silkworms?
Shall we dry the basket frames?
The spring silkworms became hairy larvae.
The weather stood fair.
We beat the silkworm frames—
O Mulberry-Picking Song!

From Kirigatake

From Kirigatake
O morning fog that rises
Even upon seeing the fog
Father and Mother
Are remembered
It cannot be endured
The hometown is longed for

The shadow of that mountain
Even when the fog had vanished
Father and Mother
Would come back to me
It was truly unbearable

The sorrowful sea
Crashing wave after crashing wave
The sea of Echigo
A sea of love, you say?

O brown-eared bulbuls!
Scattered apart
Waves, do not crash

Even the same sea—

The sea of Echigo

Crashing wave after crashing wave

Is it a sorrowful sea?

Scattered apart

Waves, do not crash

Eggplant field

Had the eggplants ripened?
Peered into the field—
The eggplants hadn't ripened;
The flowers were still in full bloom.
A sudden stir among the eggplants—
They looked beneath the tree:
The ant procession—ah—
It continued.

Undō Odori (Song of the Four Seasons)

Spring

Are these spring flowers?

Cherry blossoms—

They're spring flowers.

Those flowers

Chyachyarachya Yattsusa

Summer

Is this the summer sky?

The evening shower clouds

It's the summer sky.

Those clouds

Chyachyarachya Yattsusa

Autumn
Is this the autumn moon?
Upon the pampas grass
It's the autumn moon.
That moon—

Chyachyarachya Yattsusa

Winter

Is this the winter wind?

The mountain-blowing wind—

It's the winter wind.

That wind—

Chyachyarachya Yattsusa

Miyagino Kouta

□
The pattering late-autumn rain,
Since nightfall,
Kept falling
To the withered seed heads of kaya grass came
Kept falling
□
Salt's salt cauldron
Stone cauldron
Desired one
A rusty iron cauldron.
The salt wouldn't boil.
Swallow
How many years had it been since I came to Hamacho?
The drying platform's
Swallow
"You're a migratory bird too, aren't you."
Until yesterday I hadn't said anything, but
"I too am a migratory..."
"I'm a bird, you know."

Now I'm off to a distant place—

I'm leaving now.

The drying platform's

Swallow

Today we part.

Won't you cry?

Otsuyu

When Otsuyu was in the bath,

A young man

He came to deceive.

He was deceiving her in a quiet voice.

When Otsuyu splashed him with bathwater,

The man paced restlessly, but

From behind,

He slipped smoothly away.

The horse was in the stable.

The horse stall bar—
The horse kept clanging it noisily.

The Milky Way flowed from north to west.

Migratory birds

Spring rain in the mountains

In the field, thatch grass flowers

The shadow of flowers—

Swallow

Last year Hitachi's

Hometown's

Even came to Hitachi's mountains

Swallow

Though the rain falls

Swallows

In flowers they do not sleep

Migratory birds

In both fields and mountains
Spring day's
The rain falls finer than thread
Falls thinly.

Dwarf bamboo thicket

O snail,
Rotted in silence,
O snail,
O snail coiling in a spiral,
What do you long for?

In the dwarf bamboo thicket
Rustling, pattering, the rain falls.
In a dreamlike reality
I lived
O snail,
Of cosmos flowers sad unto themselves—
Rain falls on flower after flower.
Now my house reaches its end.
The house reaches its end.

O snail,
You needed no rice fields.
You needed no fields.
In the dwarf bamboo thicket

Rustling, pattering, the rain fell.

Pampas grass flowers—

For whom did they bloom?

Hair tied.

On the western mountain,

pampas grass flowers—

For whom did they loosen?

Obi tightened.

On the eastern mountain too,

pampas grass flowers—

On dried pampas leaves

Deceived.

Lady Otsuna...

A jay calls out.
Wren

My older sister
In the dwarf bamboo thicket
Backyard's rustle

Wren,
without telling anyone,
stay here for me.

At the end of last year too,
in the dwarf bamboo thicket—
rustle backyard’s
wren—

without telling anyone,
stay here for me.

Blown by the wind,
blown by the wind—
rustling softly—

the mountain’s dead leaves
all had fallen.

In Kiso, the Japanese nutmeg-yew’s
fruit bore abundantly.

Return to Shinano,
traveling crow—

in the tea tree field
ate beans.

The dove in the field—
Where does it cry?

Wasteland

All flowers that bear the name bloom,
That which is called a wife—
Flowers do not bloom

Oh loneliness

At the edge of the wilderness
Blooming flowers—
Is she to be called a wife?

Oh loneliness

Clouds blown by the wind soar
The wasteland's end the field's end—
Why toward me
They must long

Cowrie Shell

Shore of the shore
Cowrie Shell

Waves pound and pound

Waves pound and pound

Cowrie Shell

From today, the two of us
Let us live together as two.
You too
Me too
Cowrie Shell
A solitary house
The older sister was deceived by a man
Of the solitary house in the fields
Cricket

She was sold to the weaving mill

Younger sister,
Clatter-clang, clatter-clang,
she lived.
The older sister by a man
was deceived.

Of the solitary house in the fields
Cricket.
On blue pampas grass
The falling rain—
Tinkle-tinkle, chime-chime
The rain fell.
Dew-White Insect
Mayfly’s
A tomorrowless life.
A message came, but
What to do.
One for this, another for that
Faintly white
Would it be a flower?
Forlornly, another for that
It bloomed forlornly.
Would it be a flower?
Sadly too, in two parts
Bloomed in tears
Would it be a flower?

Mayfly’s
A life thinner than thread
A message came, but

What to do.

Wild geese

This morning too, southward.

Of Shimousa

The wild geese cried and cried as they departed.

Farewell, farewell,

Of Shimousa
They departed in the blowing wind.
They parted from parents.
Hometown's
Would it be the wild geese gazing at the hometown's sky?
Being travelers
Of Shimousa

They departed in the blowing wind.

Drenched swallows

Won't we meet again?

At Uppurui

Of Itako Dejima

At the drenched swallows

Itako Dejima’s

The drenched swallows

Always coming in spring
They returned in autumn.
Birds flying through the sky
The red of the temple's
Crape myrtle
White were the field’s
Buckwheat flowers
Since they were birds that flew the skies
Longing for nests
Because of the child they parted from

Longing for the child

Quince flowers bloomed

Hometown's

If I return to the homeland,

Everything becomes dear

Withered Mountain Song

Itako Dejima's

May rains—

Through what night's passage

Do they fall?

Wither completely

The withered mountain's wind—

How many days

Has it blown?

Hitachi Kashima's
At the sacred mountain
My own tears'
Let the rain fall.

The earthen storehouse wall

My chest’s

The fire of love—
When would it ever
Go out?

The hearth's clay
Birch-colored
Burned with birch-colored flames.

You were truly
Dusk's
Dew on field-blossoming flowers.

On the earthen storehouse wall
The shared
Umbrella bore this inscription.

Fleeting Days

Word from you—

From the day it arrived

A sorrowful rumor arose.

"Wash it away with water," it pleaded

To deem it a dream—

A riddle perhaps?

Though hastily scrawled,

in kana characters

"Tears" was inscribed.

"Wash it away with water," it pleaded.

Hot tears'—

What were these hot tears—who knew?

Gion-chō

Yuzen's blazing crimson

Gion-chō

Silver threads of

The rain fell slantwise in sheets.

Persimmon-dyed brown snake-eye-patterned umbrella
The falling rain too
It poured down incessantly—falling up and down.
At the dry riverbed of the Kamo River, they cried—
River plovers
At the crossroads where I parted with you
The rain fell incessantly
Oito

The mixed grove's
The woodpecker—
The dead cedar tree
Pecked at and cried by the woodpecker
The dead cedar tree
The woodpecker—

Inexplicably, wildly,

The woodpecker pecked and cried.

Her draped tasuki sash

Unaware it had come undone,
With tears afloat,
Oito watched.

Frost-withered,
In the back paddy field,
A snipe cried at dusk.

Even on stormy nights in the cowpea field,
You came sneaking to meet,
Did this for me.

In the back paddy field,
A snipe cried at dusk.

Though snipe and field lay frost-withered,
You came again tonight to meet,
Would come again tonight for me.

Firefly grass
Outside the fence
Comes only to weep.

Hometown's
Beloved song enthralling,
Comes only to weep.

Outside the fence,
she came only to weep
at the Shimotsuke weaving mill.

Withering firefly grass
outside the fence—
hometown’s
beloved song of home—
she listened and wept—
Komuro’s Kozasa—
peering through the back door from behind—
returned—
a navy apron
hemp-soled straw sandals—
“To you alone
I’ll pledge my heart—”

She wept and parted from Komuro's
Kozasa

Peering through the back door from behind

She returned.

A navy apron, hemp-soled straw sandals.

Pampas grass leaves.

“Should we die, we die together,”

Shin'kichi-san

With Otama-bō from behind

They wept in the field.

Oh, Shin'kichi-san

The tip of his little finger

Slender pampas grass

He cut it with a leaf.

Otama-bō from behind too

Weeping and weeping over her finger

Together with pampas grass

She cut it with a leaf.

A Day for Love

The lingering traces of spring

At day's fading light

Even the crimson flowers

Are cherished.

Evening in the field
My lover -
I waited
Now all was long ago
At summer's end
Dayflower's
Even the white flowers
Were lamented
At the riverbank's edge
With my lover
I wept
Now all was long ago
Watermelon Field
Watermelon field
The moon had risen
Softly, softly
The moon had risen
When the soil was struck
It thudded deeply
Both older sister and younger sister

Farewell, farewell

To live as a traveler—

To live as a traveler—
Chino's
Even the rain
Softly, softly
Seeps in
Softly, softly
Chino's
The rain—
Softly, softly
Seeps in

Grains of Sand

The ballads heard at Shioharehama—
they were all sorrowful,
they were nothing but sorrowful ballads.

Even if I count them as countless as grains of sand
The one who left

Did not return.

I grew tearful,

I won't cry, I won't cry

How can I stay?

Moon of old

I met you.

In Musashino

The pale ancient moon appeared.

You saw it too, didn't you?

Musashino's

A house stands in the middle of the field.

Evening skylark in the middle of the field

Now I—
I'm returning to my hometown.

The one who does not return

On the other side of the river
A water rail cried.

Come back home

Come back home
The moon hangs dim
They emerge at the riverbank

Come back home

Come back home

You must have forgotten

I'm still here.

Unrequited Love

Longing,

When I went out back and looked

The blue sky—

Fleeting.

My

Unrequited love,

Fleeting.

Me—

Why did you do this?

Like a stormy sea

In the heart

Why did you do it?

Tobacco flowers

Otsuta Madam Bride

The tobacco flowers bloomed in the former man's field.

Otsuta Madam Bride

She had given up.

She had resigned herself to having no ties at all.

Through the torn shoji's

hole,

she sat with her back turned, spinning thread.

Stone Jizo

"Oh schoolteacher,"

the stone Jizo-sama too

wore a red bib.

The crows coveted it,

the crows gazed at the bib.

“Oh schoolteacher,”
“What’re you gonna do?”
Comb

By the back riverbank

Rustling mugwort
Looked back—
No will to look?
This morning too at the back door
A comb had fallen
Did they come through here?
How pitiful

Katsushika Summer

Deutzia flowers scatter.

A cuckoo calls.

In the swamp's depths

Iris flowers are also blooming.

In the swamp's depths
Iris flowers!

In Katsushika

Now I had wanted to stay even two months more.

No house, no mansion—I

Last summer in Tokyo—
This year now in Katsushika—
The time has come when I must part.
This dwelling grown familiar
Katsushika's

Iris flowers!
We'll meet again

Port Shower

On the snake-eye umbrella,
As showers fell,
Counting days and months,
They gazed at the port.

Waiting must be painful.

Being awaited—

Fushiki Port’s

Boatmen,

Withered Reed Song

When the reeds wither

Where shall we meet?

The riverbank ahead

Even the stones wither,

When the reeds wither

Where shall we meet?

The back field—
Even the soil withers,
When the reeds wither
Where shall we meet?
In the shade of withered reed leaves
In the shade shall we meet

Mole Cricket Song

Of the mole cricket's song

In loneliness

Leaning against the window

Sobbed.
Phantom grass too,
Cosmos too,
The flowers of old
bloomed unchanged.
Of the mole cricket's song
In loneliness
On the tatami mat

Lie prostrate and weep
Thrush
Today too the thrush
came to the hill and cried
I too want to weep, thrush bird!

The sky turned milky

Dusk fell again.

Not being one parted by death,

Trying to forget—could she ever?

Rust.

She leaned against the window lattice.

“When will you come again?”

Crying woman.

The rusty kitchen knife’s sorrowful—

“I’m such a fleeting being,” she said.

Who could say?

Just the luminous summer night—

The town was bright.

Blue bamboo blind.

No matter how much she polished and polished, the kitchen knife’s—

The rust remained even when polished.

Who could say?

Evening moon.

“Middle Sister”

In the midst of the field

Swish-swish

They trod the barley.

The geese returned,
The evening moon
From above Kairin
Rose.
It was so dreary,
She voiced through tears.

Middle Sister

She had a round face, didn't she?

Swee-chee-yo

Swee-chee-yo, swee-chee-yo,

Osaka's

At the edge of town, the Swee-chee-yo sings.

Sister—Chikushi’s

to Nagasaki

Younger sister too—Chikushi’s

to Nagasaki

Swee-chee-yo, swee-chee-yo,

Ivy leaves

The Swee-chee-yo perches atop and sings.

Mole crickets

The plasterer, the plasterer
They built a storehouse.

Three mole crickets
They emerged and sang.

The carpenters, the carpenters
They built a house.
Ms. Moon vacantly
She gazed.
Factory Women's Song
On rainy days
Raindrops drip-drip
gentle drips
I don't yearn for anything at all—
How I long for days off
Empty lunchbox
Raindrops drip-drip
gentle drips
Whenever my stomach growls empty

I think of my parents back home
That nasty foreman
Raindrops drip-drip
gentle drips
I don't yearn for anything at all—
How I long for days off
Spinning spinning

The motor spins.

Will nothing ever catch?

Raindrops drip-drip

gentle drips

In Busan

From Maki Island

Tsushima comes into view

Now Tsushima too—

It must be spring,

Upon the sea—sea fog
Sea fog had hung since morning
Don't look at Tsushima

fog and such

weasel

Because the weasel made noise
they went out back to check—
a crow at the riverbed

A crow was bathing there.
At the mountain's summit—ah,
Thin clouds hang—
Tonight from the mountain—

Will rain fall?

The Young Woman and Mr. Liu

Ⅰ

The Young Woman

“Mr. Liu.”

“What should we do if a baby is born?”

“Where should we ask someone to raise it?”

“Mr. Liu...”

“I don’t know — you decide.”

The Young Woman
“Let’s send it to Aunt’s place in Yokohama.”
“Let’s dress it in a new set of clothes too.”

Ⅱ

The young woman
“What should we do if Aunt refuses?”

“Liu.”

“I—country—can’t—”

The Young Woman

"It's sad, but let's abandon it."

A night of impenetrable darkness where faces remained unseen.

“Let’s have it suckle the milk tube—then abandon it on a park bench.”

Ⅲ

“What should we do if it were a moonlit night?”

“What should we do if moonlit nights continue?”

Should we raise it or abandon it?

“Liu.”

“I’m leaving Japan—you I beg.”

The young woman

"Heartless... heartless Mr. Liu!"

"Let's steel ourselves—though it's heartbreaking, let's abandon it."

If the cold blue moon shone down on the bench, it would cry.

It would surely gaze at my face and cry.

Mr. Liu

Mr. Liu.

What would my heart be like at that time?