つなげれば乙女となりし春の星 田中公子
tsunagereba otome to narishi haru no hoshi
connecting dots
spring stars become
a maiden
Kimiko Tanaka
from ‘Haiku,’ a monthly haiku magazine, January 2015 Issue, Kabushiki Kaisha Kadokawa, Tokyo
つなげれば乙女となりし春の星 田中公子
tsunagereba otome to narishi haru no hoshi
connecting dots
spring stars become
a maiden
Kimiko Tanaka
from ‘Haiku,’ a monthly haiku magazine, January 2015 Issue, Kabushiki Kaisha Kadokawa, Tokyo
Posted in Haiku, Haiku Translation: Today's Haiku
Tagged Tanka translation, Today's Haiku
In January 2009, I started translating tanka from “Gendai Tanka no Kansho 101” (Apreciation of Modern Tanka 101), an anthology written and edited by Ken Kodaka. It took longer than I thought, but I am happy to announce that the mission was completed at last!
Since I do not write tanka and some poets use classic Japanese, I found tanka translation more difficult than haiku translation. From now on (at least for a while), this blog will concentrate on haiku.
I appreciate your support and encouragement in the past 3 years!
Fay Aoyagi
November 30, 2011, San Francisco
100 Samio Maekawa(前川佐美雄)
ぞろぞろと鳥けだものをひきつれて秋晴の街にあそび行きたし
zorozoro to tori kedamono o hikitsurete akibare no machi ni asobiyukitashi
with my entourage
of birds and animals
I would like to enjoy the city
on a day with autumn clear sky
野にかへり野に爬虫類をやしなふはつひに復讐にそなへむがため
no ni kaeri no ni hachûrui o yashinau wa tsui ni fukushû ni sonaen ga tame
going back to the fields
and raising a reptile
finally I’m ready to prepare
for a revenge
夕焼のにじむ白壁に声絶えてほろびうせたるものの爪あと
yûyake no nijimu shirakabe ni koe taete horobi usetaru mono no tsumeato
white wall blurred by sunset
no more voice
but the scars left
by the extinct
from “Gendai Tanka No Kansho 101” (Appreciation of Contemporary Tanka 101) edited by Ken Kodaka, Shinshokan, 1999, Tokyo, Japan
99 Minoru Shibauta(柴生田 稔)
いたく静かに兵(へい)載せし汽車は過ぎ行けりこの思ひわが何と言はむかも
itaku shizukani hei noseshi kisha wa sugiyukeri kono omoi waga nan to iwankamo
so quietly, a train loaded
with soldiers passed…
how can I describe
this feeling
列につきて行く常識にわれひとり背(そむ)きて済むと思ふにあらず
retsu ni tsukite yuku jôshik ni ware hitori somukite sumu to omou ni arazu
rebelling alone against
the common sense of following a line
I should not think
that will be enough
最終講義と称するものも無くならむ無くなるべきものは幾らでもある
saishûkôgi to shôsuru mono mo nakunaran nakunarubeki mono wa ikurademo aru
there is still a ceremonial last lecture
by a tenured professor
there are many things
which should be given up
from “Gendai Tanka No Kansho 101” (Appreciation of Contemporary Tanka 101) edited by Ken Kodaka, Shinshokan, 1999, Tokyo, Japan
98 Osamu Kimata(木俣 修)
車輌ひく馬に沿ひ歩む兵隊が寒夜(さむよ)の舗道(ほだう)に歌ひだしたり
sharyô hiku uma ni soi ayumu heitai ga samuyo no hodô ni utaidashitari
a soldier walks along
a horse pulling a cart
he starts singing on the pavement
of a cold night
行春(ゆくはる)をかなしみあへず若きらは黒き帽子を空に投げあぐ
yuku haru o kanashimiaezu wakakira wa kuroki bôshi o sora ni nageagu
failing to share
sorrow of a departing spring
my young students throw
their black caps to the sky
起ちても涛(なみ)かがみても涛どうしやうもなくて見てゐる高志(こし)の冬涛
tachitemo nami kagamitemo nami dôshiyômonakute miteiru koshi no fuyu-nami
waves… when I stand up
waves… when I bend down
with no choice I watch
winter waves in Niigata
from “Gendai Tanka No Kansho 101” (Appreciation of Contemporary Tanka 101) edited by Ken Kodaka, Shinshokan, 1999, Tokyo, Japan