Three Contemporary Japanese Poets

Another title published from London Magazine Editions, Three Contemporary Japanese Poets appeared in 1972, focusing on poems of the three poets, Anzai Hitoshi, Shiraishi Kazuko and Tanikawa Shuntaro, the translations are by Graeme Wilson and Atsumi Ikuko. Both Shiraishi and Tanikawa have several books in English translation, the latest by Tanikawa is the collection The Art of Being Alone, a selection of poems translated by Takako Lento that span the years 1952-2009, published as part of Cornell University's East Asia Series, a book that I've earmarked to be read in the new year. Takako Lento has also recently translated a selection of poems by Heiichi Sugiyama for Poetry International Web, Last Words and Water being two which seem to remain with me at the moment. Canadian born Shiraishi Kazuko has appeared in translation, notably in the three collections published by New Directions, Seasons of Sacred Lust, Let Those Who Appear, and most recently, My Floating Mother, City, although in this volume only ten pages are given in examining her background and poems, it still remains an informative piece, the poems are interspersed through a brief bibliography and biography, featuring poems from her first collection The Town Where Eggs Are Falling. Anzai Hitoshi is explored a little more indepthly though, Anzai is a poet not much translated in English,  the selection here includes twenty translated poems and an informative piece on Anzai, born 1919 in Fukuoka Prefecture, first trained as a teacher but dropped these studies to become an editor for poetry magazine Sanga, he spent some time editing at the Asahi Shimbun. Interested in classical Japanese Literature and French poetry;  Francois Villon and Jacques Prevert in particular, although his poetry breaks from traditional styles, Wilson observes though that he hasn't taken the route of the then very contemporary Concrete Poets, which you get the impression that maybe  Wilson was none too impressed with. Anzai's poetry captures the fleeting moment, in the poem Snow, Anzai presents a picture of mourning, the poem ends with a reminder that even after people and things have passed, to those that remain fate remains an undecided factor in the equation. Although the traditional seems to be at the periphery of Anzai's poems much of the language used in them reflects the modern, as in the thematically linked poem Disused Railway Station and in the the poem My Eyes, which envisions aspects of the contemporary world viewed around but ends with a glance at the approach and passing of time.

My eyes are the driving-mirror

In the cab of an all-night truck:

They watch time's headlights

Crowding up behind me.

The thirteen poems by Shunatro Tanikawa include the seven part poem A Syllable of Seeing (Portraits of Womankind), the  bibliographical and biographical piece describes Tanikawa's upbringing within an intellectual environment, his father was the philosopher Tanikawa Tetsuzo which instilled an aversion to academical life. As a young poet he was sponsored by the poet Miyoshi Tatsuji, and Wilson looks at the period when he wrote his first two books Solitude of Two Million Years (1952) and 62 Sonnets and his joining of poetry group Kai(Oar). The bibliography in this piece is really good including descriptive passages on Tanikawa's, Ehon, (Picture Book), from 1956, and his book from 1968, Tabi (Travel), some from Tabi are included here. A Syllabary of Seeing, (Portraits of Womankind) contains seven syllable each focusing on different women, the first is of a woman, perhaps a first love, the poem subtly captures the first moments of the recognition of attraction, the second which begins by an observation of a grand- mother's eyes and then the following stanzas explore landscapes which although at a first reading don't appear to be linked, the poem goes onto form a cohesive image of slight decay. The third starts by examining a past lover, the poem then goes on to explore an emotional world that is both discarded but at the same time has a distant familiarity to it. The fourth is a poem which has an air of a measured reconciliation contrasted with images of a mixture of emotions that have either escaped or are unattained. The fifth begins with an observation of a daughter and is a meditation on a world of possibilities, the sixth is a retrospective glance of the narrator's mother, and memories from childhood, reaching the seventh syllable we discover that the narrator of the syllables is that of a woman, which by turns forces the reader to reconsider the perspectives of the preceding pieces, the last syllable is a self portrait. This is an interesting introductory book to these three very different poets which will be of interest to those both familiar and new to the poets it looks at.

           

A SYLLABARY OF SEEING
(Portraits of Womankind)


THE SECOND SYLLABLE


I look at a woman,
My mother's mother. I look at the huge,
Serenely black

Eyes of the gentle
Reptiles whom the earth wiped out
Millennia back.

I look at a sinking
Sailing-dinghy whose jib-sail flickers
In the running tide.

At a line of beach-guards
Drawn up stiff, like singing skeletons,
Side by side.

I look at a tilled
But stony hill. To that stoniness
My eyes return,

To a hillside seared
With the marks of flame, with the ulceration
Of after-burn.

At cheeks inflamed
By imminent flesh, by the body's mantle
About to fall.

And I look at Medusa's
Head observed in the hustle and bustle
Of carnival.  

   

1Q84 Book Three

One of the first differences to Book Three is that of a third narrative being added to Tengo's and Aomame's, that of Ushikawa's, some of the details to his character are sketched in and explained further, Murakami devotes a lot of pages to exploring this character and illustrating his background. Tengo's situation at first doesn't change a great deal, he revisits his father who is still in a comatose state in the sanatorium in what Tengo has named the cat town. Aomame's fate alters from where we thought it was heading at the end of Book Two. Fuka-Eri, (still hiding out in Tengo's apartment at first but then disappears again),  Aomame and Ushikawa receive a visit by a persistent NHK fee collector,  knocking on their doors to collect their subscription fees, the true identity of this collector remains one of the novels enigmas, along with the fate of Fuka-Eri, Murakami's main narrative in the third book is following Tengo and Aomame's story, at the end of reading  Book Three  Murakami has left a lot of unexplored territory to cover if he were to return to write additional Books to 1Q84. Another difference to Book Three is that the pacing  slows markedly in comparison to Books One and Two giving Book Three an altogether different slightly more measured tone to the previous Books, in hindsight it felt like it could be said that the main character of a good portion of Book Three is Ushikawa,  the feeling that you're sat with him in the apartment looking watch over Tengo's apartment is palpable. There are large passages of descriptive text in the book, and much of it witnesses the character's circumspection of both unestablished and established aspects of the plot but there are also some vivid passages too, and for me these were amongst my favourite parts of the book, with this in mind it's difficult to contemplate 1Q84 as a whole entity, it dips and peaks, the chapter, 'Occam's Razor', seemed like one of the most hurriedly constructed chapters that I've read in a novel in a long time, for Ushikawa to connect so many threads together in such a short space left me slightly reeling, but I enjoyed how Book Three carves out its own spacious world.

Several stand out scenes for me in Book Three included the description of Aomame's dreams, three of them to begin with, in one Aomame appears to become transparent, where she can still see her vital organs and bones beneath her skin, this depiction of identity loss is echoed with Tengo's father's statement after Tengo asks him about his place in regard to his parentage, You're nothing, Tengo's father replies, which leads me to another passage that I thought  was  another of the novel's peaks, the description of the contents of the envelope that Tengo's father leaves him, Tengo's certificates and the description of the family photograph, the death of Tengo's surrogate father from a condition the doctors couldn't clarify, could have been the result of exhaustion from a life spent working, his cradle to the grave work life ended with him being buried in his uniform had a crushingly understated sadness to it, it almost appeared like something from a 19th century novel depicting life in the work houses. At times it seemed that not a great deal happens in a proportion of Book Three, but then again it does, Tengo's episode with hashish with nurse Kumi Adachi seemed to almost slip unnoticed amongst the subdued vividness of Murakami's prose, the translation of Book Three is by Philip Gabriel, I've read that the translation was split between the two translators to ensure the publication of the English translation came out as quick as possible. The breadth of Murakami's imagination is always something to be in awe of, and after reading the three books you get the impression that perhaps this is the first dropping of the pebble into the water in regards to how much of the story has been left but could be explored further, but perhaps this will not be the case, maybe Book Three will be the last Book of 1Q84, we'll have to wait and see, maybe a Book 4 will be a much slimmer volume, I've been thinking that maybe Book Three will not be the last to 1Q84.

White and Purple

Keijo - Image from wiki Commons

White and Purple/Shiro to Murasaki, a short story by Sata Ineko was originally written in 1950, (the same year that the Korean War broke out), Sata Ineko is an author not widely translated into English so it was an insightful and in many ways a revelatory experience  to read this story translated by Samuel Perry. A novel I was reminded of whilst reading was Hayashi Fumiko's novel from 1951, Ukigumo/Floating Clouds, both narratives feature female characters recollecting their lives whilst living abroad in Japanese occupied territories, the stories in each of their own perspectives examine both colonialism and to a degree the post colonial conscience. White and Purple's main narrator, Osawa Yoshiko, has these memories prompted by hearing the name of a town  mentioned on a radio broadcast, the narration begins with observations of Yoshiko's appearance and physical mannerisms from the nameless person that Yoshiko  recounts her experiences to. Yoshiko recalls Suwon, a place whose ancient splendour is still conveyed in the ruins of an ancient palace, she evokes the tranquility of the place with herons, children playing and shockingly singing a Japanese song about the signing of a treaty at Port Arthur and of the famous General Nogi, she describes her passage from Kyushu to Keijo, (the Japanese name of occupied Seoul), and finding a job at the Railway Bureau of the Governor General. Yoshiko describes the attitudes of the Japanese community, with an exaggerated sense of self importance which soon turns to feelings of superiority of the Koreans. As the story progresses the relationship with a Korean colleague, Den Teiki and Yoshiko could be seen as mirroring and encapsulating the events occurring around them as Japan imposes the name order and begins to tighten it's control over the country, both geographically and culturally. But Yoshiko is an astute observer of these events occurring around them and these instances of cultural intrusion don't escape her eye, but we are left wondering to how much to a degree this effects the image she  has  of her own identity, she sees the beauty in the Korean people and landscape, but still seems to be rooted in a sense of superiority that she herself is unaware of, Yoshiko is a finely drawn character. Den Teiki, (who Yoshiko describes as a true intellectual), has studied in Japan and is a devotee of Japanese literature asking Yoshiko about the nuances of reading Murasaki and Sei Shonagon, and a particular Shimazaki Toson short story, together they go a trip to Mt Kumgang, during the trip another subject of contention arises when Den Teiki observes that, 'all Koreans want to visit Mt Kumgang before they die', the fact that so many Japanese tourists do so reasserts their dominance on the peninsula they now regard as their own. During their conversation Den Teiki also confesses that she is working on a novel but is uncertain which language to write it in, the talk sees Yoshiko hint at the linguistic superiority of her language, the relationship between the two women is a precariouly balanced one.  The translation of this story won Samuel Perry the 2010 William F. Sibley Memorial Translation Prize organised through The University of Chicago, this story and an introduction to the text by Samuel Perry, and also the other winners, including translations of Nakajima Atsushi, Kim Saryang and Chikamatsu Monzaemon are available to read online via the Prize's webpage.

Sata Ineko at Wikipedia

William F. Sibley Prize at The University of Chicago

Japanese Literature: Online Translations Part 2

Ozaki Koyo 1868 - 1903

After having a number of links to online translations to read mounting up in my favourites I thought I'd put them all in one place and also make a post out of them. These are mostly stories and poems to read online again but I thought I'd share them here, hope you find something of interest. Recently published by Kurodahan Press is a collection of short stories, Phantom Lights and Other Stories, by Miyamoto Teru, translated by Roger K. Thomas, if you follow their page about the book theres a link to read a sample story, A Tale of Tomatoes at Japan Focus. Another novel recently found over at Hathi Trust.org is Tokutomi Kenjiro's novel Nami-Ko - A Realistic Novel, from 1898 which I read a while ago, I'm not too sure if this is available to download whole as a PDF, but it maybe of interest if you're interested in reading a Meiji era novel. Another Meiji period novel available to read and download is Ozaki Koyo's, Gold Demon/Konjiki Yasha, first published in 1887, which is available at Archive.Org, this is not a straight translation of the story but a realization of it into English by Arthur Lloyd, and if you're a reader in Japanese they also have Ozaki's Zenshu, (collected works), to read there as well. One of Ozaki's pupils was Izumi Kyoka famous for writing in a Gothic style, you can read and download  the story, The Saint of Mt.Koya, translated by Stephen W. Kohl at Intangible.org, (thanks to the blog Pais de neu for highlighting this story). A more recent book to read is On A Small Bridge in Iraq an account of a visit to Iraq by Akutagwa Prize winning author Natsuki Ikezawa and photographer Seiichi Motohashi, translated by Alfred Birnbaum the book can be read and downloaded  for  free at the publisher, Impala's website. It's great to read about Gunzo's links with the London based literary magazine, Granta, there's lots of stories available to read via the Granta Online Only website but I'd thought I'd highlight some pieces available from Japanese authors, In Goat's Eyes is the Sky Blue?, a short story by Natsuo Kirino, (author of Out), is translated by Philip Gabriel, there's also extracts from two novels by Yang Sok-Il, Taxi Rhapsody and Taxi Driver Diary translated by Alfred Birnbaum under the title In Shinjuku, and thanks to Junbungaku blog for highlighting a story from Hiromi Kawakami called,  God Bless You, 2011, an older story rewritten after the events in March, the poem Yakisoba from Hiromi Ito translated by Jeffrey Angles is also available to read. Here's hoping that the links between these two great magazines continue to grow. Bit of a mixture of things, but hope you find something of interest amongst them.

For - Japanese Literature: Online Translations Part 1.

    

Eden - It's an Endless World

For quite a while I've wanted to start reading more manga but haven't been too sure which titles to begin with, manga appears to have so many different genres and sub genres  within it that it's quite easy to become overwhelmed by choice. I've only read two books of manga before reading the first volume of Eden - It's an Endless World, I've read the first volume of Welcome to the N.H.K by Tatsuhiko Takimoto, (a story whose central character is a hikkikomori), and also Abandon the Old in Tokyo by Yoshihiro Tatsumi, I enjoyed reading both of these books, I guess with manga it's simply a case of diving in and discovering what titles you like and those which you don't, although I'm not too interested in checking out the well known ones. This overwhelming choice of manga is something that Hiroki Endo discusses in an afterword to Eden, he talks also about finding the perfect CD amongst the huge choice to be had, the one manga, song or film that you can relate completely to, for him it was Evangelion but he finds that it's magic begins to wear off, or perhaps that you change, his afterword addresses this constantly changing relationship between who we are and why we become attracted to certain books, music, films.

 

Eden - It's An Endless World was published in Japan by Kodansha, translated into English by Kumar Sivasubramanian and published by Dark Horse Comics and Titan Books. The first volume of Eden opens in a post apocalyptic world, to begin with there are three principal characters who we get the impression could be the only survivors of an undefined ending of the world; Enoah and Hannah, two junior high school age kids, and also the older, Layne, a wheel chair bound scientist who we discover quite early on in the story is gay. They discuss facets of the bible, and Enoah asks Layne about his father, Enoah only has sparse memories of him. The story begins to be told through flash back sections which are marked throughout the book with the page backgrounds being in black, Layne recollects growing up with Enoah's father, Chris, in the small town where they grew up Layne was beaten up for being gay, Chris never broke off their friendship, an undercurrent to the relationship between Layne and Chris is that possibly Layne holds an unrequited love for Chris, the two men studied science together and the narrative jumps to them working in a purpose built secret military laboratory base trying to find the antidote and cause of a mysterious bio-hazzardous  virus which attacks the body, causing the outer skin to harden and the central organs to liquefy. Chris becomes frustrated with the authorities and begins to pass information onto an illegitimate organization, Propater. Hannah and Enoah seem to be special cases as they have DNA which is immune to the virus, Layne at some point has contracted the disease and his condition seems to be worsening. Walking around the now deserted compound Enoah comes across the pieces of a robot called Cherubim which he reassembles.

As chapter one ends helicopters arrive at the base which Enoah refers to as their Eden, and unknown to him his father is amongst the masked men that land and have begun to take control of the base under the guise of rescuing them, tracking down Layne, Chris states he's come for his revenge, a fully functional Cherubim begins to open fire on the men and helicopters, wiping them all out. Chapter two is set twenty years after these events and follows a youth, accompanied by Cherubim, as he explores a city scape now overrun with vegetation and plant life, perplexingly he comes across a body which is being mauled by dogs, inside the ribcage he finds a set of computer discs. The next morning the youth is awakened by a group of bandits that take him hostage, whose leader, Sophia, has hacked into Cherubim and discovered that the youth's name is Elijah and also his father's identity. Eden is a series I think that I could quite easily read in it's entirety, the drawing is a great balance between simplicity and detailed study, the whole tone is one that could be labelled as being speculative,  the cover states that it's for mature readers, the first volume is in fact quite mild, although I think as the series goes on, I gather things become more explicit, the volumes that come after this one look in turn at the histories of the central characters, although I think before I take them up I may turn to Endo Hiroki's two volume collection Tanpenshu.          

Eden - It's an Endless World at Dark Horse and at Titan Books

Eden - It's an Endless World at Wikipedia