2. Voices from Japan
Ricketson Theater Lobby
The American School in Japan
1-1-1 Nomizu
Chofu-shiTokyo 182-0031
March 4 — March 16, 2013
3. It is said that the island of Honshu shifted eight feet to the east
and that the Earth shifted on its axis by about ten inches —
roughly the length of a pencil. We have all been moved by the
events of March 11, 2011. Remarkably the movement continues
— not geographically but in this case poetically. When we first
encountered the Voices from Japan collection of tanka, we were
moved by the searing images and honesty. When we interviewed
the poets, and during the weeks that followed while preparing for
the exhibit, we often heard that Japanese people do not like to
show emotion. This paradox moves us.
In our work with the Tsujimotos, the students, the poetry, the
photographs, and most importantly with the poets, we have
revisited our own experience of the crisis and rekindled our
interest in and commitment to the reconstruction of spaces and
lives that were changed on March 11. Perhaps the exhibit will also
form a new community of those who can move Japan forward —
together.
March 2013
Kyoko Inahara, Kathy Krauth, Karen Noll, Sarah Sutter
The American School in Japan
私たちが最初にVoices from Japanの短歌を読んだとき、その真摯で痛ましい
思いにうたれました。それから私たちは短歌の作者にインタビューに行き、
日本人は感情をあまり出さないということばを繰り返し耳にしたものの、
この短歌がもたらす感動は間違いなく私たちの心の琴線に触れたのです。
文化交流工房の辻本ご夫妻、生徒、短歌、写真、そして特に短歌を書かれた人々
を通して、私たちは自身の3月11日の震災体験を振り返り、震災復興支援へ
の決意をかきたてられました。この展覧会で、日本を新たな方向へ導く新
しいコミュニティー、きずなができることを願います。一緒に進みましょう。
4. 4
Since the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake & Tsunami on 3/11 in
2011, and the subsequent nuclear disasters, many affected people
in Tohoku and other concerned Japanese started writing poems.
Many painful but beautiful tanka, a traditional poetic form of only
31 syllables, have been published every week in newspapers in
Japan.
Why do the Japanese write poems during a time of crisis? Voices
from Japan are usually not very audible in the world. But when
Japanese voices are composed as tanka, amazingly, one can hear
them as a common world language.
The Studio for Cultural Exchange (SCE) presented an exhibition,
Voices from Japan, in New York at the Cathedral of St. John the
Divine in the summer of 2012. It featured 75 tanka, which were
assembled mainly from the poetry section of Asahi Shimbun
newspaper. We are grateful that three American scholars on
Japanese literature volunteered contributing their expertise in the
English translations.
Inspired by the New York exhibition, this exhibition at The
American School in Japan (ASIJ) is the fruit of a collaboration
between teachers and students. Presented here are the records of
interviews with some of the poets and photos taken by the students
and teachers, in addition to this 100-tanka anthology which has
been reassembled. The voices and images of Japanese people after
the disasters are now being heard and seen in an intimate way.
The people at ASIJ have listened carefully to these voices from
Japan and have made a wonderful effort offering their voices back
to Japan. This project has gone beyond a mere exhibition and has
evolved into an educational project for understanding more about
humanity. We at SCE share the same goal and are honored to work
on the project. We are grateful for the cooperation from ASIJ,
the poets, the three translators, the calligrapher, and many others
who willingly participated in this extraordinary journey of cultural
exchange.
March 2013
Isao & Kyoko Tsujimoto
Studio for Cultural Exchange
6. 6
This 100-tanka collection in Voices from Japan was compiled by Studio for
Cultural Exchange with the cooperation of the Asahi Shimbun newspaper.
The tanka in Voices from Japan were translated by Laurel R. Rodd, Professor
of Japanese at the University of Colorado, Boulder; Amy V. Heinrich, former
Director of C.V. Starr East Asian Library at Columbia University; and Joan E.
Ericson, Professor of Japanese at Colorado College.
The anthology consists of two parts:
First Collection (tanka 1 to 75) compiled in the spring of 2012
Second Collection (tanka 76 to 100) compiled in the winter of 2012
The tanka in both collections have been arranged in chronological order
according to when they were written. An asterisk* by the tanka number
denotes background information in the notes on pp.57-59.
The interviews with the poets took place in Tokyo on November 7, 2012
and January 19, 2013; in Miyagi on November 11, 2012; and in Iwate on
December 2, 2012. The interview texts in the exhibit and the anthology
were translated by a community of people who are acknowledged on p.62.
The photographs were taken by students and teachers from ASIJ.
Mr. Kanji Chiba of Kesen-numa did the calligraphy for the exhibit and the
anthology.
ここに紹介する100首の短歌集は、朝日新聞社の協力のもと、文化交流工房が朝日歌
壇掲載作品を中心に編纂しました。
短歌の英語翻訳は、アメリカの日本文学研究者3名の共同作業によるものです：
コロラド大学教授ローレル･ロッド、前コロンビア大学東アジア図書館長エミー･ハイ
ンリック、コロラド･カレッジ教授ジョーン･エリクソン
短歌集は二部に分かれています：第一集（歌番号1-75）・第二集（歌番号76-100）。
両歌集とも、それぞれの短歌が詠まれた月の順に紹介されています。歌番号に
*印
がついている作品には背景説明が付されています。57-59ページ「短歌注釈」を参照
ください。
歌人とのインタビューと写真撮影は、アメリカン･スクール･イン･ジャパン（ASIJ）の
教師と生徒により2012年11月から2013年1月にかけて岩手県、宮城県そして東京都
で行われました。インタビュー記録の翻訳も多くの教師と生徒が協力しました。
毛筆書は千葉かん二氏（気仙沼）に揮毫いただきました。
7.
8. 8 Tanka 1st Collection
* 1. in broad daylight
the sea rose up and attacked –
a great tsunami
unimaginable
in this world
Nobuko Kato, Iwate March 2011
真昼間の 海盛り上がり 襲い来る 大津波この世のものと思えず
加藤 信子（岩手県 2011年3月）
2. after the tsunami has receded
the sun begins to set
over the high ground
where family members
call out each other’s names
Nobuko Kato, Iwate March 2011
津波引け 日は暮れかかる 高台に 家族の名をば 呼び合う光景
加藤 信子（岩手県 2011年3月）
3. if my wailing
could return everything
to what it once was
I'd weep until
my eyes were swollen shut
Nobuko Kato, Iwate March 2011
号泣して 元の形に もどるなら 眼
まなこ
つぶれる までを泣きます
加藤 信子（岩手県 2011年3月）
Tanka 1st Collection
短歌 第一集
9. 9短歌 第一集
* 4. after seismic tremors greater than six
at my parents’ place,
I call my father and mother;
it rings ten times … eleven times …
terror at no response
Yo Kikuchi, Iwate March 2011
震度６強の実家に 父母はいる 呼び出し音十回十一回 応えぬ恐怖
菊池 陽（岩手県 2011年3月）
5. the sky I gaze at
from near my window
is the Fukushima sky
that is unchanged
from how it looked last week
Rieko Hatakeyama, Fukushima March 2011
窓辺から 見ている空は 福島の 先週までと 変わらない空
畠山 理恵子（福島県 2011年3月）
6. picking up
a newspaper dated
the tenth of March
heart breaking, that it was
before the great earthquake
Tomoko Nakamura, Saitama April 2011
三月の 十日の新聞 手に取れば 切なきまでに 震災前なり
中村 偕子（埼玉県 2011年4月）
10. 10 Tanka 1st Collection
* 7. to the mother who
birthed her baby
in the midst of the earthquake
I want to deliver
some nice hot stew
Wako Matsuda, Toyama April 2011
地震の中で 赤ちゃん産んだ お母さん 温かいシチュー 届けてあげたい
松田 わこ（富山県 2011年4月）
* 8. the Muslim kids
walk around
with “Support Japan”
stickers pasted
on their backpacks
Etsuko Dunbar, New York April 2011
モスレムの 子供が歩く カバンには 日
サ ポ ー ト ジ ャ パ ン
本に援助をと 張り紙つけて
悦子 ダンバー（アメリカ•ニューヨーク州 2011年4月）
* 9. my town
has become
Chernobyl,
and we have become refugees
with no hope of return
Keiko Hangui, Fukushima April 2011
わが町は チェルノブイリと なり果てし 帰るあてなき 避難民となる
半杭 螢子（福島県 2011年4月）
11. 11短歌 第一集
10. in the evacuation center,
for my breakfast of
a single ball of rice,
I too joined
the snake-like line
Keiko Hangui, Fukushima April 2011
避難所の おにぎり一つの 朝食に 我も加わる 長蛇の列に
半杭 螢子（福島県 2011年4月）
11. one who is able
to respond calmly
to a rude query
is a person whose father and mother
have been washed away by the waves
Kimiko Kawano, Gunma April 2011
ぶしつけな 問いにも静かに 答えるは 父母を波に さらわれし人
川野 公子（群馬県 2011年4月）
* 12. a boy, circling around
the evacuation center
holding up his mother’s and
his father’s names,
is about nine years old
Miyuki Azuma, Fukuoka April 2011
父母の名を かざしひとりで 避難所を 回る男
お
の子
こ
は 九歳という
東 深雪（福岡県 2011年4月）
12. 12 Tanka 1st Collection
* 13. waiting for water
five hours in a row
under snowy skies
with unknown companions…
holding our umbrellas aloft
Tokuo Omiya, Miyagi April 2011
水求め 五時間並ぶ 雪の空 見知らぬ同士で 傘さしかけつつ
大宮 徳男（宮城県 2011年4月）
14. praying that my
friend’s name is not there,
I search the names
in the newspaper column
listing the victims
Satoshi Ito, Niigata April 2011
友の名の ないこと祈り 新聞の 犠牲者欄に その名を探す
伊藤 敏（新潟県 2011年4月）
* 15. I worry for those
like me who wear
artificial legs –
how could they possibly have escaped
the rushing tsunami ?
Shogo Endo, Niigata April 2011
われの身と 同じ義足つけし ひと想ふ 早き津波を いかに避けしや
遠藤 勝悟（新潟県 2011年4月）
13. 13短歌 第一集
16. during a business trip
he was overwhelmed
by the tsunami,
and silently returned,
to keep a vigil on a cold clear night
Masanori Fujibayashi, Hokkaido April 2011
出張中に 津波に呑まれ 無言にて 戻りし人の 通夜冴え返る
藤林 正則（北海道 2011年4月）
* 17. because I have to
go on living
even on the day
of the atomic explosion
I am polishing rice
Toko Mihara, Fukushima April 2011
生きてゆかねばならぬから 原発の 爆発の日も 米を研ぎおり
美原 凍子（福島県 2011年4月）
18. holding still
breathing softly
at my window
where black rain falls
O the sadness of my home town
Toko Mihara, Fukushima April 2011
ただじっと 息をひそめて いる窓に 黒い雨ふる ふるさと悲し
美原 凍子（福島県 2011年4月）
14. 14 Tanka 1st Collection
19. the rice paddies and the fields
are left to lie fallow
in my home town
where wind blows in a heavy
nuclear power plant sky
Toko Mihara, Fukushima April 2011
田も畑も 黙り込んでる ふるさとの 風が重たい 原発の空
美原 凍子（福島県 2011年4月）
20. no place to go but here –
in my home town
where the sky above
the nuclear plants begins,
I drink some water
Toko Mihara, Fukushima April 2011
原発の 空のしかかる ふるさとの ここにいるしかなくて水飲む
美原 凍子（福島県 2011年4月）
21. it hurts to hear about both
the one who left his dog
tied up when he evacuated,
and the one who reproached him –
the nuclear power leak tragedy
Miyo Kitamura, Fukushima April 2011
犬つなぎ 避難せし人 責める人 聞くもつらしや 原子漏れ事故
北村 ミヨ（福島県 2011年4月）
15. 15短歌 第一集
* 22. as we air the bedding
I wonder, “could I protect you
at such a time ?” –
my child who turned off
the news in fear
Yuka Sato, Niigata April 2011
怖がって ニュース消す子と ふとん干す その時あなたを 守れるだろうか
佐藤 由佳（新潟県 2011年4月）
* 23. somehow or other
everyone has become
kindhearted
on the crowded streets
as the aftershocks continue
Mikio Fukuhara, Miyagi May 2011
なんとなく 皆がやさしく なりにけり 余震が続く 雑踏の街
福原 幹夫（宮城県 2011年5月）
24. still, after all,
spring has come again –
dimly shrouded
blossoms of Fukushima:
plum, peach, cherry
Toko Mihara, Fukushima May 2011
それでも春は巡り来て けぶるがに 咲くふくしまの うめももさくら
美原 凍子（福島県 2011年5月）
16. 16 Tanka 1st Collection
25. building these
coffins filled with sorrow
for infants
for one-year-olds –
how tiny they are!
Shojin Tamura, Tokyo May 2011
零歳も 一歳もある 悲しさの 棺を作れば 如何に小さき
田村 精進（東京都 2011年5月）
26. though cherry blossoms
in the skies of Tokyo
bloom in profusion
sorrow abounds within the
ten-kilometer radius of my home
Keiko Hangui, Fukushima May 2011
東京の 空に桜の 満ち満てど 十キロ圏の わが里哀し
半杭 螢子（福島県 2011年5月）
27. my home place
has become a town
without voices, without humans
it is as distant
as the end of the earth
Keiko Hangui, Fukushima May 2011
ふるさとは 無音無人の 町になり 地の果てのごとく 遠くなりたり
半杭 螢子（福島県 2011年5月）
17. 17短歌 第一集
28. “I’m home,” I cry
as I enter
the empty house –
my voice responding
to the familiar smells
Keiko Hangui, Fukushima May 2011
「ただいま」と 主
あるじ
なき家に 声かける 懐かしき匂いに 声あげて泣く
半杭 螢子（福島県 2011年5月）
29. grazing on grass
contaminated by fallout
in an empty field
cows
left behind to roam
Shoji Uehara, Gunma May 2011
原発に 汚染されたる 草を食む 人なき野辺に 放たれし牛
植原 昭士（群馬県 2011年5月）
30. “so my cows and I
are going to die ?”
the dairy farmer
within the fallout area
wails
Isao Funabe, Fukushima May 2011
俺も牛も 死ねというのか 原発の 警戒区域の 酪農家哭く
舟部 勲（福島県 2011年5月）
18. 18 Tanka 1st Collection
31. time and again
coverups
of the nuclear accidents
I shall not accept
that this was unimaginable
Yukiko Endo, Fukushima May 2011
たびたびの 事故隠したる 原発を 想定外と 吾は認めぬ
遠藤 幸子（福島県 2011年5月）
32. among pupils, a low voice responds
to the roll call
at the entrance ceremony,
the voice of a mother
holding a photo of the deceased
Toru Momose, Nagano May 2011
入学式の 返事の中に 低い声 遺影を抱いた 母親の声
百瀬 享（長野県 2011年5月）
33. clutching photos of the deceased
at the entrance ceremony,
especially sorrowful –
voices respond with “here”
when roll is called
Minoru Kitaoka, Osaka May 2011
遺影抱く 入学式こそ 悲しけれ 呼ばれし名前 「はい」という声
北岡 稔（大阪府 2011年5月）
19. 19短歌 第一集
34. standing behind the children
lined up at the school’s
entrance ceremony,
two mothers, holding
photos of the deceased
Itsu Kato, Chiba May 2011
起立する 子等のうしろに 遺影抱く 入学式に 二人の母よ
加藤 伊津（千葉県 2011年5月）
* 35. panting as I climbed up the incline
I sighted
my mother's back
in the hallway
of the relocation center
Takeko Mifune, Iwate May 2011
喘ぎつつ 坂登り来て 避難所の 廊下に見つけし 母の後
うし
ろ姿
で
三船 武子（岩手県 2011年5月）
36. left for a month
in a gymnasium
three hundred unidentified corpses
have finally been
carried away
Takeko Mifune, Iwate May 2011
ひと月を 体育館に 過ごしたる 亡
なきがら
骸三百体 運ばれゆきぬ
三船 武子（岩手県 2011年5月）
20. 20 Tanka 1st Collection
37. while it is still light
I eat a rice ball and
pass the long night
wrapped up in a blanket –
a single candle
Rokuya Suzuki, Iwate May 2011
明るい内に おにぎり食べて ローソク一本 毛布にくるまり 長き夜を過ごす
鈴木 六也（岩手県 2011年5月）
38. embracing
a corpse still shouldering
its book bag –
a member of the Self Defense Force
in the muddy bog
Miyoko Shiraishi, Chiba May 2011
ランドセル 負いたる遺体 抱きしめて 自衛隊員 泥沼の中
白石 美代子（千葉県 2011年5月）
39. at the repeated sound
of the helicopters
heading north
I think of the devastated area
and my tears don’t stop
Eisaku Kanari, Fukushima May 2011
北へ向かふ ヘリコプターの 音頻
しき
り 被災地思ひ 涙止まらず
金成 榮策（福島県 2011年5月）
21. 21短歌 第一集
40. unkempt and unshaven
the town mayor
encourages his staff
“we can do it !”
all the while crying
Yoshihiro Yamauchi, Iwate May 2011
ぼうぼうの 髭面市長 泣きながら 「がんばろうな」と 部下を励ます
山内 義廣（岩手県 2011年5月）
41. reunited with
their only daughter
laid to rest in the morgue –
lamenting parents
parents with unheard prayers
Isao Yamanaka, Tokyo May 2011
安置所で ひとり娘と 再会し 号泣する親 叶わずにいる親
山中 功夫（東京都 2011年5月）
42. my son
toiling
in a nuclear plant
nibbling on hard crackers and
catnapping on a blue tarp
Teruko Yamana, Tokyo May 2011
原発の 中で働く わが息子 カンパン齧り シートでごろ寝
山名 輝子（東京都 2011年5月）
22. 22 Tanka 1st Collection
43. the nuclear plant worker
with only his lower limbs
on camera
talks hesitantly
of recovery
Etsuko Shibuma, Yamagata May 2011
下肢のみが 映る 原発作業員 躊
ためら
躇いがちに 復旧語る
渋間 悦子（山形県 2011年5月）
44. he hangs up
saying “you don’t have to worry” –
my strong-minded child
staying behind
in Fukushima
Mutsuko Sawada, Kanagawa May 2011
心配しなくていいよと 電話切る 福島に残る 意志堅き子は
澤田 睦子（神奈川県 2011年5月）
45. in the morning
it's still a hole,
just dug up –
with the coffin laid to rest
in the evening it's quiet
Michiko Muraoka, Miyagi May 2011
朝はまだ 掘られしままの 穴なるも 棺
ひつぎ
納めて 夕に静もる
村岡 美知子（宮城県 2011年5月）
23. 23短歌 第一集
46. “there's no malice
in this ocean”
the disaster-stricken area
fisherman relates
into the microphone
Kazuyo Nishide, Tokyo May 2011
この海に 恨みはないと 被災地の 漁師は語る マイクの前で
西出 和代（東京都 2011年5月）
47. how unfeeling
to ask of an old person
lingering alone
with nothing at all –
is there anything you want now?
Kaneyo Yamakawa, Miyagi May 2011
何もない 一人佇む 老人に 今何がほしいと 聴く無神経
山川 かねよ（宮城県 2011年5月）
48. fishing prohibited
along the shore
in white fish season,
the fisherman’s fire lure
lights up my distant dream
Hisao Suzuki, Miyagi May 2011
漁止めの 浜は白魚 寄せる頃 漁
いさりび
火はるか 夢に灯りぬ
鈴木 久雄（宮城県 2011年5月）
24. 24 Tanka 1st Collection
49. “since that day”
has become
my favorite phrase –
although time has
stopped completely
Rei Sakurai, Miyagi May 2011
口ぐせに なりしことばの 「あの日から」 時間はずっと 止まれるものを
桜井 レイ（宮城県 2011年5月）
* 50. from the muddy stream
he saved three children for us –
a diver
with eyes wild and bloodshot
like a wandering samurai
Fujiko Suda, Miyagi June 2011
濁流に 三人の子らを 救ひたまふ 野武士のごとき 目の潜水士
須田 富士子（宮城県 2011年6月）
51. even though I turn sharply
at curves in the mountains
I never reach
familiar towns
in Sanriku
Yoko Yamada, Miyagi June 2011
山なりに カーブを切れど 三陸の 見なれた町の どこにも着かない
山田 洋子（宮城県 2011年6月）
25. 25短歌 第一集
52. for those in heaven
may the faint purple
paulownia flowers
already have
blossomed!
Toko Mihara, Fukushima June 2011
天上の 人らのために 花桐の うすむらさきは 咲きにけるかも
美原 凍子（福島県 2011年6月）
* 53. when the rescue vehicles file by,
with tears brimming
I pray
with palms together –
he salutes in return
Etsuko Asano, Miyagi June 2011
救援の 車列に涙 こみあげて 合掌すれば 敬礼返る
浅野 悦子（宮城県 2011年6月）
* 54. my daughter returning
from volunteering
in the disaster zone
eating warm rice
with few words
Etsuko Shibuma, Yamagata June 2011
被災地で ボランティアせる子 帰り来て 熱き飯食う 言葉少なく
渋間 悦子（山形県 2011年6月）
continued on page 41
26. 26 Interview
Nobuko Kato
加藤 信子
I was watching television on March 11 when the earthquake hit.This one is
different, I thought. But while my husband and son and I were running for our
lives, other people in town were just standing around. “A tsunami is coming!
You’ve got to get out of here!” I yelled at them. I was the first one to make it to
high ground.Twenty minutes after I got to the evacuation center, a huge tsunami
surged over the first seawall. I couldn’t believe it.The pine trees were scattering,
falling like dominoes. It was surreal. I thought I must be watching anime. Can this
be real? It felt like I was in a dream. Even though two years have gone by, it still
feels like it was all just a dream. Sometimes I wish it had been a dream. Even now,
there are moments when I feel I could drive half an hour and my house would still
be there.That’s why I try to avoid that area as much as possible — the place I used
to live, I mean, before it was washed away.
Everyone at the evacuation center was in the same situation. Everyone was thinking
about how they’d lost their homes. If I had been the only one whose home had
been washed away, I would have been crying my eyes out, but everyone’s situation
was the same, and we Japanese don’t show our emotions (tanka 3). There was
nothing to do at the evacuation center. I was sad but I had a lot of free time. So I
thought about writing tanka. “If I only had a pencil and paper,” I thought. More
than food, I wanted pencil and paper, and finally about a week later, I was able to
get them.
After the disaster, my husband was hospitalized for a month, and I was left alone.
While I was thinking about how sad and lonely I was feeling having come to this
unfamiliar place, I heard a Japanese bush warbler singing. It was so healing to hear
a bird of spring. I thought now that spring has come, I should try to hang on. I had
survived, so I should live together with my husband. It’s better to have someone
to talk to, someone to share your thoughts and feelings with when you get home.
Even if we argue sometimes, two is better than one.
What I wish for most is a final place to rest before I die; I want to be settled in my
final home.This place is called “quasi-temporary housing,” so I should be happy
compared to those people who have to live in places where you can hear your
neighbors’ voices through walls, but I just can’t settle in. It still feels like “temporary
lodging.” I just want someplace where I can die in peace, and there I want to die.
28. 28 Interview
Yo Kikuchi
菊池 陽
At the time of the earthquake, I was at home in Kitakami. It’s about an hour away
from Morioka. My parents’ home is in a village in the mountains, a little to the
east of Kitakami.They are 84 or 85 years old and live there together, just the two
of them (tanka 4). I couldn’t get to my parents for three days because the roads were
impassable.They were fine. I started to cry as soon as I saw them, and they did
too.As the horrific news of the disasters reached us, I was happy just knowing
that they were alive. My children are inTokyo. I couldn’t reach either of them by
phone.These days, when we just assume that we can get through by phone at any
time, it’s scary when we can’t. If you can’t get through to someone, you think that
something must be wrong.
I began writing tanka in elementary school.Actually, my parents composed tanka,
and so I wanted to try it.When I submitted a tanka to a magazine and got a prize,
I thought “this is fun.” When I read the feedback from the ASIJ students who had
read my tanka, I was so happy that I had been able to reach them through my
poems.The great thing about tanka is its ability, with only thirty-one syllables, to
express the feelings of the author at that time in a way that people can relate to,
even if they weren’t there.The quality of communication suffers if too many words
are used.To convey something in so few words, all excess must be cut. It’s essential
to have a means to express yourself, whether it’s tanka, or poetry, or even prose.
When something moves you, or you feel sadness or pain, if you don’t express
those feelings of the moment, they will vanish. I have my high school students
compose tanka.When you go on a school trip, usually you just come back and
that’s it. But if you write a tanka, your feelings at the time are shaped into a form
that really comes through.
Because, inTohoku after the disaster, even though people lost everything, just to
start over again is something. If people start over again, they will begin to look
ahead to the future, and things will start moving. I think people have done an
amazing job to have survived those hellish circumstances.We just have to keep
on living, and for me I want to go on with life while keeping in mind that both
wonderful things and sadness can arise out of all kinds of situations. Right now I’m
feeling happy about having composed these tanka about the disaster, as writing
them has given me the opportunity to meet all of you.
30. 30 Interview
The diver that I wrote about in my tanka (tanka 50) saved three elementary school
children who had been swept away by the tsunami nearYuriage Ohashi bridge.
Later, he saved a man who was stranded up in a tree near the elementary school.
This diver lost his home inYuriage and so was living at the evacuation center. I was
looking after the evacuees there.The tanka came to me suddenly at night when I
was sleeping at the evacuation center. I like writing tanka but I don’t write them
all the time. But when I submitted my tanka for publication, it felt like a normal
thing to do.
At the evacuation center I was very scared and shaken by my experiences. But I
didn’t want to upset the other people there, so I put on a brave face and said things
like,“It’s OK…the tremors are getting smaller,” but in reality, I was terrified.The
evacuation center was located five kilometers inland, but we frequently heard
the sounds of the earth rumbling coming from the direction of the sea as the
aftershocks continued — it was unnerving.
I work excavating archeological sites.As an archeologist and a geologist, what I
can do for society is conduct research and write reports.We are extremely careful
now when excavating the sites of ancient earthquakes or tsunami, and we have to
document everything. Because archeology is in the field of humanities, tsunami of
the past weren’t documented. My specialization is geology, so I now advise young
staff members in various localities who are in charge of this documentation. On
the coastline, we’ve found evidence of the occurrence of about eight tsunami over
the past 2,500 years or so, so they seem to come about once every 300 years, but
yet no artifacts or records of these events remain.After a tsunami occurred, the
people probably moved away, but then it’s forgotten, and people start to live there
again. I was at an excavation site on 3/11, and the quake occurred just after I had
found traces of a tsunami.
I went to the opening of the exhibit in NewYork in June 2012, and at the cathedral
where it was held, everyone was so attentive and kind; I was very much moved.
Their empathetic attitude and willingness to share in our suffering made a big
impression on me. In November that year, a hurricane hit the U.S. and over a
hundred people lost their lives.When I watched the news of the disaster that
hit NewYork, I worried about the safety of all those people who showed such
sympathy to us.As a victim of disaster myself, I know exactly what it’s like to have
been in that position, so I can sympathize.
Fujiko Suda
須田 富士子
32. 32 Interview
Keiko Hangui
半杭 螢子
I started writing tanka fifteen years ago when my mother died. I’ve written so
many tanka about the sadness I felt when she passed away. I can only write tanka
when I feel pain or sadness and despair; it’s at those times that the words flow
naturally from the heart. I can’t write when I’m feeling happy.What I wanted to
convey through these tanka was the overwhelming sense of loss that I felt after
losing my hometown due to the nuclear accident. I used tanka to express these
emotions, so that people would understand how it feels.
It is now the second winter since the disaster, and I thought the sadness would
have lessened by now, but it hasn’t gotten better – it’s actually gotten worse.
Writing tanka to express my feelings of hopelessness somehow rescues me from
despair. It is healing to write when I feel sad or lonely or deeply depressed, and so
I write. Sometimes the Asahi newspaper selects my tanka for publication so that
everyone can read them.And people have responded to my tanka, which has been
really encouraging.
As it happened, Mr.Tsujimoto of the Studio for Cultural Exchange was moved by
my tanka, and the Voices from Japan project was begun. I was honored to attend
the opening of the exhibit in NewYork and read my tanka in the Cathedral of St.
John the Divine. I met Americans there who were also moved by my tanka. I had
never dreamed that composing tanka would allow me to have such a wonderful
experience. I’m also thrilled that students at ASIJ have become interested in these
tanka.
I wrote the tanka about the narcissus (tanka 75) when I was allowed to return to
my home one year later. I love narcissus and had about 100 bulbs planted in my
garden. During the brief time that I was allowed to return home, there they were
in my abandoned and ruined garden, blooming so innocently…no, I didn’t realize
that traditionally narcissus means “come back to me.” Narcissus bloom with such
dignity and courage; that's what I like about them.
34. 34 Interview
Etsuko Asano
浅野 悦子
My parents’ home was washed away in the disaster, and my home was a ruined
mess...it was under those circumstances that I encountered the line of vehicles
that I wrote about in this tanka (tanka 53). I was so moved that I clasped my hands
together like I was praying.Tears came to my eyes; it was such a spectacular sight.
The trucks had come from Kansai: from Osaka and Nara, Kyoto and Kobe, Hirakata
and Sakai — the names were written in big characters on the tops of their fire
trucks.
We received supplies from all over the country, and volunteers and members
of the Self-Defense Forces also came. I was so moved by this help that everyone
was providing, I decided to submit my tanka to a newspaper that was published
nationwide.
Having the opportunity to participate in this interview with you has been the most
significant day of my life. I am so grateful that just one verse of tanka could make
it possible to have this wonderful opportunity to meet all of you. It just shows how
powerful the pen really is.
36. 36 Interview
I'm from Okayama in western Japan, but people fromTohoku are known for their
perseverance. People would form long lines and wait patiently in the freezing cold.
They lined up to go to the public bath because there was no gas to bathe at home.
They were handling this so well that I was moved, and that is why I composed this
tanka (tanka 23).
I write tanka as if I were keeping a diary. I write about twenty a month.When
I’m moved, when I’m sad, when I’m happy, that’s when I can write. I always feel a
need to record my feelings, and writing tanka provides a release.
The disaster area must be rebuilt quickly. I’m a researcher so all I can do is
conduct research. Now I’m working on the development of a new type of battery.
Eventually, we hope to get rid of power lines and create electric power plants
which supply electricity that originates from lightning.
Mikio Fukuhara
福原 幹夫
Every week the Asahi shimbun newspaper carries a poetry page.
38. 38 Interview
We lost power the day of the earthquake and that night the stars were beautiful.
And it was cold (tanka 77).
I live in Kuji now, but I was born in Sumita-cho in the southern part of Iwate. My
mother lives in Rikuzen-takata which is near there.After the disaster, there was no
way to get ahold of my mother, and news came over the internet that the facility
where she was staying had been completely cut off. I was finally able to contact her
on March 19. I went there by bus, although there were only a few available. Many
people had died in Rikuzen-takata, and many people on the bus were on their way
to search for bodies. Everyone was quiet on the bus; no one spoke.
The river near Rikuzen-takata was so filled with debris you couldn’t see the water.
It was shocking.After walking an hour from the edge of town, I climbed up a
hill and finally arrived at the evacuation center.The place my mother had been
evacuated to was a hospital. In it was a large hall as big as a gymnasium, which
was overflowing with people. I saw my mother as soon as I entered. She was facing
away from me, but I recognized her by the clothes she was wearing — it was such
a relief to find her alive (tanka 35).
In that town, my cousin and his wife and son, the three of them, all died. I saw the
car that my cousin used to drive on the side of the road. It was an old car called a
“Lagoon” and hanging inside was a charm that I recognized.When I saw it, I knew
there was no chance they were still alive. I went there many times after the disaster
to try and identify my cousin’s body. On the other side of the town of Rikuzen-
takata, which is no longer there, was the sea, and it was so beautiful (tanka 78).
Takeko Mifune
三船 武子
Rikuzen-takata
40. 40 Interview
I’ve been writing tanka for a long time, but when you are in shock, the words
just don’t come. During this time, a tanka poet whom I admire told me,“Don’t
worry about it, just write.Anything is OK.”When I tried this, amazingly the words
naturally fell into five- and seven-syllable patterns to form tanka. It must be in the
DNA of Japanese people. I realized that the act of writing, writing by hand, moves
the heart.
These tanka were written quite a while afterwards. I don’t think that creating
something after you’ve suffered a shock is an instant cure, but it does have the
power to gradually lift your spirits. It is really hard to reread the tanka from that
time, because the memories of the things that happened then keep coming back.
It is painful to remember those things that I’d like to forget, but I also feel that
I shouldn’t forget them. I would be delighted if a verse of tanka I’ve composed
would live on for a long time.
Composing tanka about happy themes or beautiful things is more difficult. People
can immediately relate to sadness, but it is hard to write about bright and sunny
things.
When this exhibit opened in NewYork, the first thing I thought was that maybe
this would comfort the spirits of the dead.The cathedral where it was held is
a famous place, and my friends who went to NewYork told me that it was a
spectacular scene. I thought it would end with that event, but that you’ve come to
see me now makes me even happier. I think it is wonderful that these things are
being passed on to the next generation.
読み返すとつらいです。やっぱりその時のことが浮かんでき
ますのでね。忘れようと思っていることが出てくるのでつら
いですけど、忘れてはいけないという気持ちになります。短歌
を詠んでできるだけ長生きする一首を残したいと思うんです。
短歌はうれしいこと、美しいことを読む方が難しいんです。
悲しいことは皆さんとすぐ共感できるけれども、晴れやかな
ことを読むというのはとても難しいです。
今回ニューヨークで展覧会が開催され、一番は亡くなった人
たちも「浮かばれる」、魂が安らぐ状態になるんじゃないかな
と思いました。会場の大聖堂は有名な所で、ニューヨークに
行って来た友達が「素晴らしいところだよ」って教えてくれま
した。それで終わったと思っていたのですけど、皆さんがこ
うして来てくださって、ますます私もうれしいですし、こう
いうものがつぎの世に伝わっていくことはすばらしいことだ
と思います。
41. 41短歌 第一集
* 55. fear of radioactivity
shared by
one and all –
they’ve come to understand us now,
we survivors of the atomic bomb
Kikuko Otake, California July 2011
放射能の 恐怖が皆の ものとなり 分かってもらえた 被爆者我等の
大竹 幾久子（アメリカ•カリフォルニア州 2011年7月）
56. how sorrowful
to have been born
in this beautiful country
children who are made to carry
Geiger counters
Toko Mihara, Fukushima July 2011
美しき 国に生まれて あはれなり 線量計を 持たさるる子ら
美原 凍子（福島県 2011年7月）
57. a mother embraces
a child who clings tight
to his father’s photograph –
within the twenty kilometer radius
not even a burial is possible
Yoshiko Ishijima, Tochigi August 2011
父の遺影 抱きしめる子を 母が抱く 埋葬も出来ぬ 二十キロ圏
石島 佳子（栃木県 2011年8月）
continued from page 25
42. 42 Tanka 1st Collection
* 58. in the disaster area
that trumpet
sounds again –
perhaps just my imagination –
but today again I pray
Yoko Nojiri, Gunma August 2011
被災地の あのトランペットが 聞こえきて 空耳なれど 今日も祈れり
野尻 ようこ（群馬県 2011年8月）
59. as aftershocks continued
they fled their islands –
black-tailed gulls
seem to sleep each night
rocked by the waves
Yoichi Yamamura, Aomori August 2011
余震続く 島を離れし 海猫ら 波に揺れつつ 夜は眠るらし
山村 陽一（青森県 2011年8月）
60. these men
who sift through the rubble
of the ocean floor –
with each passing day
they’ve returned to being fishermen
Yoko Yamada, Miyagi September 2011
海底の ガレキをすくう 男たち 日ましに漁夫の 顔に戻りぬ
山田 洋子（宮城県 2011年9月）
43. 43短歌 第一集
61. even though the ocean
is right in front of me
my GPS never wavers,
directing me
to keep going straight
Yoko Yamada, Miyagi September 2011
目の前は 海であるのに カーナビは 迷うことなく ゆけと指示する
山田 洋子（宮城県 2011年9月）
62. since that day
neither trains nor people
visit the station –
a sunflower taller than I am
blooms here now
Yoko Yamada, Miyagi September 2011
あの日から 電車も人も 来ない駅 吾より大きな 向日葵の咲く
山田 洋子（宮城県 2011年9月）
63. sunflowers
now have become
flowers of sorrow –
so many are blooming
on polluted land
Toko Mihara, Fukushima September 2011
ヒマワリは かなしき花と なりにけり 汚染の土地に あまた咲きいて
美原 凍子（福島県 2011年9月）
44. 44 Tanka 1st Collection
64. infants
extend both hands
grasping at hope
as their degree of internal radiation
exposure is assessed
Chiaki Saito, Tokyo September 2011
幼子ら 希望を掴む 両手出し 体内被曝量測らるる
斎藤 千秋（東京都 2011年9月）
* 65. dispatched to build
temporary lodgings
my son returns
with eyes that now take in
much more than in the past
Miyako Tsuchiya, Kanagawa September 2011
仮設住宅 建設に就きし 子が帰る 前よりずっと 深き目をして
土屋 美弥子（神奈川県 2011年9月）
* 66. the souls of the dead
sheltering in the moon
descend to the lone pine
in Rikuzen-takata
autumn comes round again
Shoichi Hirai, Saitama October 2011
精霊は 月に宿りて 松に降る 陸前高田 秋巡り来て
平井 正一（埼玉県 2011年10月）
45. 45短歌 第一集
67. the full moon
climbs up over
the mountain of rubble
like a silent
requiem
Saburo Shinohara, Shizuoka October 2011
満月が 瓦礫の山を 上りゆく 閑かなること レクイエムのごと
篠原 三郎（静岡県 2011年10月）
68. moon of a thousand years
quietly shedding its light
on one temporary roof
after another
ushering in autumn
Toko Mihara, Fukushima October 2011
千年の 月が仮設の 屋根屋根を ひそと照らして 秋を降らせり
美原 凍子（福島県 2011年10月）
69. I pushed through
the wild grass to my house –
had a premonition
I never would return
the brief time I was allowed home
Keiko Hangui, Fukushima November 2011
荒草を 分け入る我が家 戻れざる ことを予感す 一時帰宅に
半杭 螢子（福島県 2011年11月）
46. 46 Tanka 1st Collection
70. my old home
now a deserted ruin –
the sadness of a town
where Cesium rains down
without a sound
Keiko Hangui, Fukushima November 2011
わが里は 荒れ寂びにけり 音もなく セシウムのふる 町のかなしさ
半杭 螢子（福島県 2011年11月）
71. In the bath, my child
stills her voice
and weeps
longing to see her father
who stayed behind in Fukushima
Yuki Kabuki, Kanagawa December 2011
お風呂場で 声を殺して 泣く我が子 福島に残る パパ恋しくて
蕪木 由紀（神奈川県 2011年12月）
72. her husband still
missing after ten months
my young cousin
acknowledged his death
and left her home town
Takeko Mifune, Iwate February 2012
十月経て いまだ不明の 夫
つま
を死と 認めて従妹 ふるさとを去る
三船 武子（ 岩手県 2012年2月）
47. 47短歌 第一集
73. sixty thousand
people have left
Fukushima
will-o-the-wisp of a spring
when mountains and rivers are sad
Toko Mihara, Fukushima March 2012
六万の 人ら去りたる 福島の 山河さみしき 春の陽炎
美原 凍子（福島県 2012年3月）
74. there is no end
and also no beginning
Fukushima
the pain is profound
and unceasing
Ryoko Watanabe, Fukushima March 2012
終わりなく 始まりもなく フクシマは 苦しみ深し これからもまた
渡辺 良子（福島県 2012年3月）
75. in one glance –
landscape
reduced to a blotted wasteland,
narcissus blooming heroically
in a garden
Keiko Hangui, Fukushima March 2012
一望の 荒地と化しし 汚染の地の 庭にけなげに 水仙の咲く
半杭 螢子（福島県 2012年3月）
48. 48 Tanka 2nd Collection
76. in the advancing
tsunami
the whole village
was swallowed up
without a scream
Kenjiro Yamamoto, Tottori March 2011
襲いくる 津波の中に 町一つ 悲鳴聞こえず 呑まれてゆけり
山本 憲二郎（鳥取県 2011年3月）
77. until the dawning
of that one lovely
starry night
we never envisioned
the tragedy of a tsunami
Takeko Mifune, Iwate March, 2011
美しき 星の一夜の 明くるまで 津波の惨事 思いもみざる
三船 武子（岩手県 2011年3月）
78. the swelling tide of
the sea rises
sparkling
beyond the rubble
a blue that pierces the eyes
Takeko Mifune, Iwate April 2011
大潮の 海きららかに 盛り上がり 瓦礫のむこうは 目に沁む青さ
三船 武子（岩手県 2011年4月）
Tanka 2nd Collection
短歌 第二集
49. 49短歌 第二集
79. a week, ten days
passed by, and yet
black surging waves –
dreams of the tsunami
stop my breath
Yo Kikuchi, Iwate April 2011
一週間 十日経っても 黒
くろどとう
怒濤 津波が夢で 呼吸を止める
菊池 陽（岩手県 2011年4月）
80. a solitary survivor
said
I was left behind
just so I
would weep
Yo Kikuchi, Iwate April 2011
一人だけ 生き残りたる 人が言う 「泣くために残されたなんて」と
菊池 陽（岩手県 2011年4月）
* 81. that time –
whenever I think of it,
whenever I talk of it,
somehow my whole body
starts trembling
Yoko Yamada, Miyagi May 2011
あの時を 思い出すたび 話すたび 体の何処か 震えはじめる
山田 洋子（宮城県 2011年5月）
50. 50 Tanka 2nd Collection
82. caught
in the sparse branches
of the pines at Yuriage
the waning moon passing over
the Pure Land
Fujiko Suda, Miyagi May 2011
まばらなる 閖
ゆりあげ
上の松に かかりたる 二十日月行く 浄土の上を
須田 富士子（宮城県 2011年5月）
83. after changing
evacuation centers time
and time again,
at ninety-three she wrote “I’ll find
refuge in the grave,” and died
Yukinori Negishi, Saitama August 2011
避難所を 転々とせし 九十三 墓に避難すと 書きのこし逝く
根岸 敬矩（埼玉県 2011年8月）
84. unable to proclaim that
you work for Tokyo Electric –
yet I, your mother,
am watching you and I know
how hard you work day and night
Yoko Suzuki, Tokyo August 2011
声高に 東電にいるとは 言えねども 母は見てるよ 昼夜働く君を
鈴木 陽子 (東京都 2011年8月)
51. 51短歌 第二集
* 85. wiping away the mud
of the sea with a soft brush
to keep from ruining
the smiling faces
in the photograph
Atsuko Kobayashi, Saitama September 2011
やはらかき 筆にて 海の泥ぬぐふ 写真の笑顔 こはさぬやうに
小林 淳子（埼玉県 2011年9月）
86. a lifetime
of being checked over,
the heart’s exposure to radiation
cannot
be measured
Yo Kikuchi, Iwate November 2011
一生の 間検査を 受けること 心の被曝は はかることなく
菊池 陽（岩手県 2011年11月）
87. this one year
in one thousand
in Fukushima
just slips by
in silence
Toko Mihara, Fukushima December 2011
千年に 一度の年を フクシマに ただ声もなく 終えてゆくなり
美原凍子（福島県 2011年12月）
52. 52 Tanka 2nd Collection
88. I call it radiation –
what even the rain
cannot wash away –
the unrelenting sound
of the winter rain
Toko Mihara, Fukushima December 2011
降る雨も 流せぬものを 放射能と 呼べば止まざる 冬の雨音
美原 凍子（福島県 2011年12月）
* 89. not knowing how long I can live,
with not much time remaining,
dreaming of
a safe, final resting place
I sleep
Nobuko Kato, Iwate December 2011
あてど無き 余生なりせど 安住の 終
つい
の住
す み か
処を 夢見て眠る
加藤 信子（岩手県 2011年12月）
90. locally grown
vegetables
hardly sell –
I eat my heart out
this evening
Toko Mihara, Fukushima June 2012
地元産の 野菜小さく 売られいて そのかなしみを 買いし夕暮れ
美原 凍子（福島県 2012年6月）
53. 53短歌 第二集
* 91. on music stands,
our poems about the earthquake
are arranged and
the great cathedral
begins to breathe
Etsuko Dunbar, New York June 2012
譜面台に 震災詠が 並べられ 大聖堂は 呼吸を始める
悦子 ダンバー（アメリカ・ニューヨーク州 2012年6月）
* 92. my poem
from the 3/11 nuclear evacuation –
I read it aloud
in the cathedral
in New York
Keiko Hangui, Fukushima June 2012
3.11の 原発避難の われの短
う た
歌 ニューヨークの大聖堂に 声あげて読む
半杭 螢子（福島県 2012年6月）
* 93. in the cathedral
one woman alone
drew close to me
and praised me
using only gestures
Keiko Hangui, Fukushima June 2012
大聖堂に ひとりの婦人 近よりて 身ぶり手ぶりに われを讃へし
半杭 螢子（福島県 2012年6月）
54. 54 Tanka 2nd Collection
* 94. oh, the warmth
of the woman who read aloud
my translated poem
in the great cathedral,
and then gave me a hug
Keiko Hangui, Fukushima June 2012
英訳の 短
う た
歌を 大聖堂に 詠みあげて われをハグする 女
ひと
のぬくもり
半杭 螢子（福島県 2012年6月）
* 95. as I look up to read
the brilliant brush calligraphy
of our poems of disaster,
a man with a cane comes by
and asks me about them
Fujiko Suda, Miyagi June 2012
見上げれば 墨痕しるき 震災歌 杖突く人に 尋ねられけり
須田 富士子（宮城県 2012年6月）
* 96. Ms. Joan
walking along
the town that used to be
Yuriage,
speechless
Fujiko Suda, Miyagi August 2012
Ms.ジョーンは 一人歩めり 閖
ゆりあげ
上の かつての町を 無言のままで
須田 富士子（宮城県 2012年8月）
55. 55短歌 第二集
* 97. no reason to make a fuss
over such trivial an explosion
I shouldn't say this,
me, an atomic bomb
survivor
Kikuko Otake, California August 2012
あれしきの 被爆で何を 騒ぐかと 言ってはならぬ 我は被爆者
大竹 幾久子（アメリカ・カリフォルニア州 2012年8月）
98. when I said my
photographs were washed away,
an acquaintance
gave me a young father,
one I had never seen
Nobuko Kato, Iwate August 2012
写真流れしと 言えば知人は 若き日の 見たこともなき「父」をば呉れし
加藤 信子（岩手県 2012年8月）
99. beautiful and
beloved is that village
where autumn has come
without the rustle of golden waves
of ripening grain
Keiko Hangui, Fukushima September 2012
美しき 愛しき里に 秋来れど 黄金の穂波の そよぐことなし
半杭 螢子（福島県 2012年9月）
56. 56 Tanka 2nd Collection
* 100. the first time
for me to receive
so many guests
at my temporary dwelling –
like family
Nobuko Kato, Iwate December 2012
わが仮家 これほど客を 迎えしは 初めての事 家族の如し
加藤 信子（岩手県 2012年12月）
57. 57短歌注釈
1. Ms. Kato lost her house where she had lived for a long time in the Taro area of Miyako City, Iwate.
See her interview on pp.26-27.
作者は津波で長く暮らしていた岩手県宮古市田老地区の自宅を流された。P26-27のインタビューを参照。
4. Mr. Kikuchi lives in Kitakami in the central part of Iwate. It took him three days travel to see his
parents who live in a village in the mountains. See his interview on pp.28-29.
菊池氏は岩手県中心部の北上市在住。震災後、北上山地近くに住む両親のもとに駆けつけるまで3日を要したという。
P28―29のインタビューを参照。
7. Wako was ten years old when she wrote this poem. She lives in Toyama, far away from the disaster
area.
この短歌を作ったとき作者松田わこさんは10歳。被災地に遠い富山県から被災者を想って詠んだ作品。
8. Ms. Dunbar contributed this poem from Queens, New York. She has lived in the US since 1983.
作者は1983年からアメリカ在住。ニューヨーク市クイーンズからこの作品を投稿した。
9. Ms. Hangui evacuated from her home town of Tomioka, within the 10-kilometer range of the
Fukushima nuclear plant. She now lives in Tokyo as an evacuee. Since then, she has visited her
home only a few times. See her interview on pp.32-33.
作者の故郷は福島第一原発から10キロ圏内の福島県富岡町。現在は東京で避難生活を送る。故郷には避難後数回
訪れただけという。P32‒33のインタビューを参照。
12. After the disasters, it was widely reported that there was a nine-year-old boy looking for his parents
in Ishino-maki, Miyagi. He came to the evacuation centers everyday with signs that read, “Please
wait for me, I will come back again tomorrow.”
震災後、宮城県石巻市で家族が行方不明になった9歳の少年が毎日、避難所から避難所を家族の名前を書いたカー
ドを持って尋ねまわっていると報道された。カードには、「待っててね。明日もくるからね」などと書かれていた。
13. Mr. Omiya wrote: “This poem reflects reality. Such events continued for a week. Lining up every
day, I thought of the warmth of human hearts and of what kind of people the Japanese are. We
knew that the water delivery trucks were here to help us from all over Japan.”
大宮徳男氏の手紙から：「この歌は現実そのままです。この行為が一週間続きました。毎日並びながら、人の心の温
かさや日本人という民族を考えたりしました。給水車は日本中各地からかけつけてくれました。」
15. Mr. Endo wrote: “I was working for the national railway in 1943 when I was seventeen and was
injured at work near a station. The lower part of my left leg was amputated. I had a frightening
experience in 1964, when the Niigata Earthquake occurred. That night, I tried to attach my artificial
leg, which in an emergency takes time. Once the shaking quieted down, I was finally able to
escape. From this experience, the thought immediately came to me whether people who used
artificial legs were able to avoid that fast tsunami and were safe, and my thought became a tanka.”
遠藤勝悟氏の手紙から：「私は国鉄に勤務していた1943年17歳のとき、駅構内で作業中に受傷し、左下腿の足の下
部を切断しました。1964年に新潟地震が発生したとき、とっさに義足を付けようとしても時間がかかり、一旦揺れの
静まった頃、やっと脱出することができた体験があります。私の過去の体験から、あの早い津波を義足着用されてい
る皆さんが、避けることができて無事であったであろうかとする思いが、すぐに浮かびそれが短歌となったのです。」
17. Ms. Mihara remarked in November 2011: “I have been swallowed up in the unending flow of time,
even in this particularly cruel year, and tomorrow will bring December, year’s end. Even so,
people go on “pounding their own stakes” in order to keep on living here.” She also mentioned:
“In the poems of mine that were translated to English, it seems one can see the barren trunks and
branches of trees of winter.”
美原凍子氏の手紙と談話から（2011年11月）：「明日から師走、過酷だった一年も、とどまらぬ時の流れに呑み込まれ
てゆくのですね。それでも人は、自分の杭を打ちつづけてゆく、今、この場所で生きてゆくために･･･。英訳された自
分の歌は、花や葉が散って幹と枝だけになった冬の木を見るようです。」
NOTES ON TANKA
短歌注釈
58. 58 NOTES ON TANKA
22. On a spring day after the disasters, Ms. Sato, who lives in Niigata Prefecture, felt the need to show
her frightened ten-year-old son as much as possible that she was doing everyday things just as
usual. The weather that day was particularly fine, so she decided to air out the futons with her
son. On the other side of the snow-capped mountains, she could see in the distance Fukushima
Prefecture.
震災後の春の1日、新潟県に住む作者はおびえた様子の10歳の息子に、できるだけ日常の普段通りの姿を見せること
が必要だと感じたという。そこで天気の良いある日、息子とともに布団を干した。はるか遠くに見える雪をかぶった
山の向こうは福島県である。
23. Dr. Fukuhara lives in Sendai, Miyagi as a researcher on metallic materials. See his interview on
pp.36-37.
作者福原幹夫氏は金属材料の研究者で仙台在住。P36‒37のインタビュー参照。
35. Soon after the disaster, Ms. Mifune, resident of Kuji, Iwate, searched frantically for her 95-year-old
mother, who lived in Rikuzen-takata, in southern Iwate. She found her mother nine days later at
the evacuation center. See her interview on pp.38-40.
震災後、岩手県久慈市在住の作者は同県南部陸前高田に住む95歳の母親の行方を必死に探した。避難所で見つけ
たのは9日後だった。P38‒40のインタビューを参照。
50. Dr. Suda, archeologist and geologist, met the diver in this poem at the shelter where she was
helping. She noted the expression in his eyes was grim, and they were the eyes of a soldier on the
battlefield, eyes that had seen hell. See her interview on pp.30-31.
考古学者であり地質学者の作者は震災直後、手伝っていた避難所でこの歌の潜水士に出会った。戦場の兵士の目、
地獄を見たような目をしていたという。P30‒31のインタビューを参照。
53. On the third evening after the disaster, when Ms. Asano was driving in Sendai and stopped at the
red light, she saw a rescue party of 50 to 100 vehicles from all over the country approaching from
afar. See her interview on pp.34-35.
震災3日後の夕方、仙台市内で車を運転していた作者が赤信号で停車していると、全国から50台から100台もの車の
救援隊が遠くからやってきた。P34‒35のインタビューを参照。
54. Ms. Shibuma's 26-year-old daughter volunteered to work in Ishino-maki, one of the worst stricken
areas, where her best friend worked as a teacher in a junior high school and became a victim. It
was not until ten days later that an email message arrived from her friend.
作者の26歳の娘は、石巻で救援ボランティアとして働いて帰宅した。石巻の中学校に勤務していた娘の親友が被災
していたからだ。震災直後は連絡が取れず、10日程してようやく親友からメールが届いた。
55. Ms. Otake was exposed to the atomic bomb in Hiroshima when she was five years old. She has
lived in the United States since 1968 and published the book Masako’s Story: Surviving the Atomic
Bombing of Hiroshima. Also see tanka 97.
作者は5歳の時に広島で被爆し、1968年から米国で暮らす。「Masako’s Story: Surviving the Atomic Bombing of
Hiroshima」の著者。歌番号97の作品参照。
58. The poem is inspired by a photo of a young girl playing the trumpet as she stood facing the ocean
near the terribly destroyed Rikuzen-takata, which the Asahi Shimbun newspaper carried one
month after the disaster. She lost both her mother and her grandmother in the tsunami. After the
cremations took place on March 29, 2011, she played her mother a song she had loved.
震災後1か月がたち、陸前高田の海に向かってトランペットを吹く女子高校生の写真が朝日新聞に掲載された。彼女
は津波で母と祖母を亡くしていた。2人の火葬が2011年3月29日に行われた後、母の好きな歌を演奏したのだった。
65. Ms. Tsuchiya wrote: “The son described in this poem is my own son, who seems to have come to
feel his own responsibility to go on living after having been shocked by seeing with his own eyes
the wastelands where the disasters occurred and after interacting with the people who suffered
these horrible events. Eight months after my son was born, his father was killed in an accident
during the winter on Mt. Fuji. I had to work desperately to raise my three children, so time to talk
with them was lacking, and, particularly with this son, who is now 42, and who still does not talk
very much to me. When I do see him, I read his state of mind by his expression and the look in
his eyes.”
土屋美弥子氏の手紙より：「この子は私の息子で、荒れ果てた被災地を実際にみて衝撃をうけ、また、被災された方々との
触れ合いを通じて、生きてゆく自身の責任を感じ取ったようなのです。この息子が生後８カ月のとき、父親は冬の富士山
で遭難死しました。この子をふくめ3人の子を育てるため必死で働いた私は、子供たちとの対話に欠け、特に息子は42歳
になった今もあまりしゃべりません。私はたまに会った時に彼の表情や目の色などで元気かどうか推し量っています。」
59. 59短歌注釈
66. In Rikuzen-takata the scenic Takata Pine Forest that grew along the coast also took the impact of
the destructive tsunami. Almost all of the seventy thousand pines that grew there were mown
down, and only a single pine remained. It was called “the miracle pine” and became a symbol of
the post-disaster revival. This poem is based on the photograph of this pine and the harvest moon
above it carried by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper about six months after the disaster.
陸前高田では名勝「高田松原」の7万本の松も津波でなぎ倒され、1本だけが倒れずに残っていた。この松は「奇跡の
一本松」と称され、震災後の復興のシンボルとなった。この歌は震災から半年後、朝日新聞が掲載した中秋の名月を
照らす一本松の写真にちなむ作品。
81. Two months after the disasters, Ms. Yamada wrote 430 tanka within 5 days, starting with this piece.
According to her, this same state of mind still continues on even today.
震災の2か月後、作者はこの作品を筆頭に5日間で430首の短歌を詠んだ。今も心の状態はこの短歌と同じという。
85. This poem is based on Ms. Kobayashi’s own experiences working as a volunteer, trying to restore
damaged photos in afflicted areas.
作者は津波の被害を受けた写真の保存・修復のためにボランティアとして働いた経験を歌にした。
89. See Ms. Kato’s interview on pp.26-27.
P26-27のインタビューを参照
91. This poem is about the Voices from Japan exhibition in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New
York in the summer of 2012, which Ms. Dunbar attended. The poems were displayed on music
stands.
作者は2012年夏、ニューヨークの聖ジョン大聖堂で開催されたVoices from Japan 展覧会のオープニングに出席した。
短歌は譜面台に並べられていた。
92. Ms. Hangui also attended the opening of the Voices from Japan exhibition in New York and read her
poems (tanka 9 27) at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
作者もVoices from Japan展覧会オープニングで自作の短歌（歌番号9, 27）を詠みあげた。
93. Also, at the exhibition opening in New York, an American woman who was apparently moved by
her poem approached her.
展覧会のオープニングで、感動したアメリカ人女性が作者に近づいてきた。
94. Dr. Amy Heinrich, one of three translators of this anthology, read her poems in English at the
opening.
短歌の翻訳者エイミー・ハインリック博士が半杭氏の作品を英語で詠みあげた。
95. An elderly American man with a cane approached Ms. Suda at the exhibition in New York in front of
the brush calligraphy works of some of the tanka.
ニューヨークの展覧会の会場には展示作品の短歌を書いた書も展示された。オープニングに参加した作者と観客の
交流風景。
96. Professor Joan Ericson of Colorado College, also one of the translators, visited the Yuriage area of
Natori City in Miyagi prefecture with the poet. The area was heavily damaged by the tsunami. See
Suda’s tanka 50 and 82.
翻訳者の一人でコロラド・カレッジのジョーン・エリクソン教授が、作者の案内で被災地の宮城県名取市閖上を訪
ねた。歌番号50、82を参照。
97. See tanka 55.
歌番号55参照
100. In December 2012, ASIJ students and teachers visited Ms. Kato at her temporary apartment.
2012年12月、ASIJの生徒と教師が作者を仮住まいの住宅に訪問したことを詠った作品。
62. Voices from Japan has been made possible by The American School in Japan
(ASIJ) in collaboration with Studio for Cultural Exchange (SCE) who first
initiated this project in New York in the summer of 2012.
We acknowledge invaluable cooperation from:
Drs. Laurel R. Rodd, Amy V. Heinrich, Joan E. Ericson (tanka translation);
Asahi Shimbun (tanka collection); Mr. Kanji Chiba (calligraphy), Mr.
Mrs. Yoshihito Saori Sasaguchi (damaged photo collages); Mr. Michihiro
Ishizaki (canvas art); Mr. Kijuro Yahagi (logo design) and 54 poets.
Voices from Japan（日本からの声）はアメリカン･スクール･イン･ジャパンと文化交
流工房の提携により実現しました。
下記の皆様のご協力に感謝いたします：
ローレル・ロッド、エミー・ハインリック、ジョーン・エリクソン（短歌翻訳）；
朝日新聞社（短歌編纂協力）; 千葉かん二（毛筆書）；
笹口悦民・さおり（被災写真コラージュ）、イシザキ・ミチヒロ（キャンバス・アートディ
レクション）、矢萩喜從郎（ロゴデザイン）、そして54人の歌人の方々。
We are grateful for the translation, photography and design work of the
following ASIJ students and teachers:
Book designed and printed by: Murooka Printing, Tokyo
Thank you to the students in the Web Design course who made the audio of
the poets' interviews available for the exhibit, as well as to the Painting and AP
Art students who drew and painted the portraits of children in the ASIJ English
Playground Program exhibited upstairs in the RT Lobby.
Ayumi Akiyama
Keiko Auckerman
Jo Ash
Leslie Birkland
Micaela Brinsley
Andrew Deck
Risa Endo
Tamara Fou
Evan Gordenker
Yuri Goto
Andriana Honda
Kyoko Inahara
Sarah Ishibashi
Mariko Kanai
Kazuki Kobayashi
Greg Krauth
Kathy Krauth
Katie Latimore
Eri Matsukawa
Noriko Matsumoto
Mina McClure
Kai McGuire
JiHee Nam
Michelle N. Sasao
Ellie Nishikawa-Fu
Karen Noll
Yoshitaka Onozaka
Satoe Onizuka
Yoshitaka Saji
Rebecca Sentgeorge
Abby Sneider
Angela Squilacioti
Ellison Stanley
Sarah Sutter
Ricky Suzuki
Saki Uwagawa
Greg Vikse
Anju Watanabe
Melanie Xu
Erina Yoh
63.
64. A haiku offers a moment of inspiration. But a tanka is
like a sigh. People in Japan write tanka when they
love, mourn and even when facing death, as if making
a deep sigh to express an emotion from within the
heart.
Isao Tsujimoto, Studio for Cultural Exchange
