Hiroaki Sato reveals how the radical brevity of the haiku genre contains worlds within worlds. This is a book to cherish, and which nurtures in return.
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Hiroaki Sato reveals how the radical brevity of the haiku genre contains worlds within worlds. This is a book to cherish, and which nurtures in return.
In celebration of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games, some summer sports haiku.
Books on Asia is live in Japan to kick off the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games! In these unusual times, we offer you an unusual take on a book review, written by Michael Dylan Welch. No more delays, let’s go for the Gold! “Hello, everyone, and welcome to Haiku Playmakers and today’s episode of the More…
With the cherry blossoms in mankai (full bloom) now in Japan, we take some time to contemplate their beauty through poetry. The following are two excerpts from the just released Well-Versed: Exploring Modern Japanese Haiku (Japan Library/JPIC March 23, 2021) with commentary by Japanese haiku poet and critic Osawa Minoru (translated by Janine Beichman). The More…
Japanese Buddhist literature is filled with the struggle to overcome the pain of transience.
The Hōjōki, written in 1212 by the Buddhist monk Kamo no Chōmei, is one of the most beloved works of medieval literature in Japan.
An invaluable book for anyone interested in Japanese culture as well as poetry. — Amy Chavez
Japanese Death Poems is one of those invaluable books for anyone interested in Japanese culture as well as poetry. The lengthy introduction alone is important for the plethora of information on the history of Japanese poetry and in particular, the death poem. From tanka to haiku, written by princes, court nobles, samurai, Buddhist monks and More…
Three Poems from Robert MacLean’s new book Waking to Snow (Isobar Press, Oct. 2020) My First Guide to Kyoto Next-door neighbour’s pug-nosed Sakura tied up all day whimpering beneath the stairwell: no way to treat the earliest cherry blossoms in Kyoto. So I take him for a walk – rather he takes me, charging More…
Interested in Japanese poetry? Author and translator Roger Pulvers offers a few minutes of poetry on his YouTube channel each update. His recitation of Masaoka Shiki above is typical of his offerings where he reads haiku and tanka. He introduces the poet, recites some of their well-known verses (that he translated into English himself) and More…
(“Tree” photo credit: gratisography) Translation by Hiroaki Sato (For Sumiko’s birthday) God is, even if He is not. Also He is humorous enough to resemble some kind of man. This time with a gigantic phallus over the horizon of my dream He came on a picnic. Incidentally I regret that I did nothing for Sumiko More…
Twentieth Century Surrealism Tempered by Literary Discipline Beneath the Sleepless Tossing of the Planets: Selected Poems by Makoto Ōoka translated by Janine Beichman (Kurodahan Press, 2019) Review by Christopher Blasdel The title of this magnificently translated volume of poetry by the recently deceased Japanese poet Makoto Ōoka immediately conjures a sense of the surreal. Even More…
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