by Yo Aoyama

It's been a while!  This is Yo Aoyama with an article from hot Japan, where we are still experiencing a truly Endless Summer.

This may seem a bit out of the blue, but have you heard of tanka? Tanka is a traditional Japanese form of poetry first committed to writing in the Manyoshu collection of the Nara period. This 1200 year form uses a fixed 31-syllable (mora) format of 5-7-5-7-7.
　
I started making my own tanka a few years ago while composing lyrics and music, and it's something I study to this day. Nevetherless, I am still no expert, so please forgive me if my analysis is not 100% accurate. And bear with me—while the connection to science fiction and fantasy may not be immediately obvious, there is a revolution underway in the form that suggests a more fantastic future may be arriving soon…
　
In the modern era, tanka has focused on realism and been dominated by compositions about everyday life. Up to the 1950s, Tanka poems universally had a strong personal quality. That is, they have been considered as first-person literature, and the author has been considered as the main character in the poem, and the contents of the poems have often been based on reality. But since the 1950s, an "avant-garde Tanka movement" has emerged that seeks new forms of expression. Avant-garde Tanka is characterized by the use of symbols and metaphors, as well as the use of fiction. This has opened up the possibilities of Tanka poems.

The exciting potential of the new tanka can readily be seen in the following three recent works (rendered in Japanese first to demonstrate the rhythm, then translated into English).

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1. 革命歌作詞家に凭りかかられてすこしづつ液化してゆくピアノ(塚本邦雄『水葬物語』,1951)

Kakumei ka sakushi-ka ni yorikakararete sukoshi dzutsu ekika shite yuku piano.

A piano that gradually liquefies, leaned upon by a revolutionary songwriter

Kunio Tsukamoto is representative of avant-garde tanka. The image of the liquefying piano is reminiscent of surrealist works such as Dali's "The Persistence of Memory". A revolutionary songwriter can be said to be someone who uses music as a political tool rather than as art. The sight of the piano liquefying under the influence of the songwriter can be thought of as representing the danger of art being absorbed into the political or practical world. Perhaps he had in mind the fact that the art form of tanka itself was in danger of disappearing due to its association with the nation and the Emperor System during World War II.

Kunio Tsukamoto, 1951

"Water Burial Story" is the opening poem of his first collection of tanka poems, Water Burial Story, and can be considered one of his masterpieces. His latest collection of tanka poems, "Kangenraku," was released on September 9 this year, and is also attracting attention.

Water Burial Story, by Kunio Tsukamoto, 1951

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2. 晩夏光おとろへし夕　酢は立てり一本の瓶の中にて(葛原妙子『葡萄木立』,1963)

Bankakou o toro e shi yū; su wa tateri ip-pon no bin no naka nite

Late summer light fades in the evening; vinegar stands up in a single bottle

This next work, by Taeko Kuzuhara, caused Kunio Tsukamoto to dub her the "Queen of Visions." This is a poem (from the collection Budoukidachi) with a rather unique rhyme scheme and no third line. It is a casual poem about an evening in late summer when the strong sunlight has weakened, and vinegar stands up in a bottle, but readers will find it strange that she says that the vinegar stands up instead of saying that the bottle of vinegar stands up. Combined with the absence of a third line, a tranquil yet dignified atmosphere flows throughout the poem.

In this way, Kuzuhara's poems reinterpret reality by injecting a touch of fantasy into daily life.

Taeko Kuzuhara

Budoukidachi, by Taeko Kuzuhara, 1963

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3. かくれんぼの鬼とかれざるまま老いて誰をさがしにくる村祭(寺山修司『田園に死す』,1965)

Kakurenbo no oni tokarezaru mama oite dare o sagashi ni kuru mura-sai

The village festival where the hide-and-seek demon, grown old, has come looking for someone

This last tanka is from the latest collection of poems, Dies in the Countryside, by Shuji Terayama, who is active in a wide range of fields, including as a poet, playwright, and scriptwriter. What distinguishes this tanka is the oblique subject. Who is the "someone" who will be the victim of the aged demon? Why is it there? The creepiness, like the plot of a horror movie, is amplified by the lack of a subject, which obscures the faces of the characters, and the magical atmosphere of the village festival, which has been fixed in reality.

Dies in the Countryside, by Shuji Terayama, 1965

Terayama is skilled at creating fiction, and his skills are fully demonstrated in his tanka. The anthology "Die in the Countryside," from which this poem is taken, has some autobiographical aspects, but also includes songs about a fictitious younger brother and his late mother (Terayama's actual mother is still alive), and shows a deliberate attempt to exclude or shift the personal.

Shuji Terayama

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What did you think? Poets continue to write poems that attempt to capture profound thoughts, unforgettable scenes, and compelling stories in the very short 31-syllable form of poetry. Thanks to the modern revolutionaries, tanka is now open to infinite possibilities. Perhaps in the future we will see the birth of science fiction and fantasy tanka with even more narrative qualities. The ever-evolving trends of tanka will be something to keep an eye on—especially for those on this Galactic Journey!

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