Japan - after the BIG earthquake: . . . HAIKU

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. WKD : Earthquake (jishin 地震) 　

earthquake night -
the stars are as silent
as ever

God of earthquakes -
what does it take
to keep you quiet ?

tsunami victims -
their souls wash ashore
with every wave

. . . . .

planting hope
for Fukushima -
planting sunflowers

. Monday, May 30, 2011

a tiny light
in the darkness of Japan -
first firefly
Monday, June 20, 2011

radioactive grass
on the pastures of Fukushima -
kill the horses
July 5, 2011

spreading rumors -
the good ones, the bad ones,
the unfounded ones
September 1, 2011

full moon night -
all the empty beaches
of Tohoku
September 13, 2011

There are many haiku in my daily reports,
and more in the comments to it.

. Earthquake Haiku from this BLOG 　

. Shiogama town and KIGO 塩釜 .

. Invitation to a linked verse for 2012 .

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March eleven -
I turn the calendar leaf
with a heavy heart 　　

March 11, 2012
. Poetry Collection for March 11 .

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Poetic contributions to Japanese Culture

. Joys of Japan .

Join us here

. Joys of Japan - Poetry - facebook .

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桃の日の母に津波の記憶あり　
momo no hi no haha ni tsunami no kioku ari

mother still remembers
the great tsunami
on the Peach Blossom Festival

Obara Takuyo (Ohara Takuyo) 小原啄葉
source : www.bousaihaku.com

This refers to the great Sanriku Tsunami in the Meiji period, which happened on May 5, the day of the Boy's Festival, or Peach blossom Festival. The mother of the author has still memories of this event. And every year his mother would pray for the souls of the victims.
明治三陸地震津波

The 1896 Meiji-Sanriku earthquake of M 8.2 on June 15, 1896 was highly destructive, generating one of the most devastating tsunamis in Japanese history, destroying about 9,000 homes and causing at least 22,000 deaths ...
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

(The two dates are different.)

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Japanese poets
from the NHK haiku program
. source: 　maruta.be

春月や灯ることなき震災地
shungetsu ya tomoru koto naki shinsaichi

spring moon -
there is no lamplight
in the devastated village

Ozawa Koyo (Kooyoo)　小澤光洋
Looking at a village devastated from the tsunami, the author is feeling the helplessness of human beings in this situation.

. . . . .

地震過ぎて一湾の輝り蝶生る
nai sugite ichiwan no teri cho umaru

after the earthquake
the bay is glistening quietly -
a butterfly is born

Kagiwada Yuuko 鍵和田秞子
Two weeks after the earthquake.

. . . . .

蝶に問う無事に越えたか黒い波
choo ni tou buji ni koeta ka kuroi nami

I ask the butterfly:
did you cross it safely,
this black wave?

Ishida Ira 石田衣良 (1960 - )

. . . . .

大揺れの地に黄水仙ぞくぞくと
ooyure no chi ni kizuisen zokuzoku to

on the badly shaken ground
yellow narcissus
one after the other

Matsumoto Keiko　松本佳子 from Miyagi

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More than a hundred poets from 40 countries have already submitted haiku and other Japanese form poetry and art for the book
"Prayer for Japan"

Origa Olga Hooper
Kankodori Press

Origa translates all haiku to Russian

tsunami victims --
their souls wash ashore
with every wave

жертвы цунами --
выбрасывают на берег души
волна за волной

source : origa.livejournal.com

. Prayer for Japan. -- Молитва о Японии.
Started March 13

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cherry trees bloom -
their petals fall like tears
upon the ravaged earth

. Lisette Root, April 21 .

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Yesterday we have a Solidarity Day for Japan.
You can see here burgomaster of Zagreb Milan Bandić and Japanese ambassador in Croatia his excellency Mr. Yohio Tamura sharing the fish to the citizens.

My haiku was as "a logo" on the poster.

Ni crni val
ne može zaustaviti
trešnjine cvjetove

. wmd.hr/portal/index-vijesti/..humanitarnu-akciju-za-japan/

Tomislav Maretić, Croatia, April 19

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haru no mizu: waters of spring

Fukushima
waters of spring!
in the hells we humans make
you too must suffer!

From Japanese Death Poems:

hito-iki ni kono ajiwai zo haru no mizu

One gulp,
a taste of nectar!
Water in the spring.

--Kimpu, trans. Yoel Hoffman

Hoffman comments:
"Water in the [season of] spring" ('haru no mizu') is a seasonal image in haiku,
yet it hints as well at 'shinimizu', the water given to a dying person."

water of spring,
good to the last drop?
Fukushima

Larry Bole

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Japan tsunami--
a floating car overtakes
a boat 　

. Haiku sequence by Caleb Mutua . 　
Kenya Saijiki

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Haiku in English Tsunami Special
Selected by Isamu Hashimoto

Earthquake in Japan-
its shock wave surrounded
the whole world

-- Vasile Moldovan (Bucharest, Romania)

source : Mainichi Shinbun

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博多人形一歩せり出す春の地震
Hakata ningyoo ippo seridasu haru no nai

this Hakata doll
is taking one step forward -
earthquake in spring

Kimura Mikan 木村みかん
source : www.haisi.com
100 haiku about earthquake 春の地震 : はるのなゐ

nai no kami　なゐの神 god of earthquakes

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Haiku by Minami Takeshita (Nara Japan)

地震知らぬベビー誕生細き指

A baby was born
being innocent in the earthquake.
What thin fingers it has!

More haiku in Earth Language :
source : www.earthlanguage.org

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A sequence by Serge Tome

Ceux de Fukushima...
Those of Fukushima ...

image floue --
le liquidateur et sa lampe
dans la salle de contrôle

blurred image --
the liquidator and his flashlight
in the control room

Fukushima, 23 mars 2011

de l'homme
seulement le masque
dans le noir de la salle

of the man
only the mask
in the darkness

Fukushima, 23 mars 2011

salle de contrôle --
liquidateurs en tenue de couleurs
dans le noir et blanc

control room --
liquidators in white uniforms
in black and white

Fukushima, le 23 mars 2011

noir --
des hommes en tenue blanche
les pieds dans l'eau radioactive

blackness --
men in white uniforms
feet in radioactive water

1 Sievert/heure
en 30 minutes
une vie

1 Sievert/hour
in 30 minutes
a life

derrière la bâche bleue ...
ils cachent trois hommes
qui marchent encore

behind the blue canvas sheet ...
they hide three men
still walking

casque, bottes, gants --
l'homme déchiffre dans la noir
les notes d'avant

hard helmet, wellingtons, gloves --
the man decyphers in the dark
the notes of before

Fukushima, salle de contrôle d'un réacteur, 23 mars 2011.

le plafond est tombé --
dans la salle de contrôle
abandonnée

Fukushima, salle de contrôle du réacteur 1, le 23 mars 2011.

crépitements --
l'homme patauge dans l'eau
radioactive

cracklings --
the man squelchs in the water
radioactivity

beau temps --
un petit nuage blanc
sort du réacteur 3

nice weather --
a little white cloud
leaks from reactor 3

Réacteur n°3, centrale de Fukushima Daiichi, le 16 mars 2011

l'hélicoptère
puise de l'eau de mer
une fois de plus

the helicopter
pours seawater
one more time

Fukushima, le 17 mars 2011.

tablettes d'iode --
l'homme hésite
en ouvrant la caisse

iodine tablets --
the man hesitates
opening the crate

Zone de Fukushima, le 17 mars 2011.

ferrailles fumantes --
une flèche rouge indique
le réacteur

smoldering scraps --
a red arrow points out
the reactor

Fukushima 16 mars 2011

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More Haiku and Earthquake
external LINKS, in no special order

Hiruta Hidenori Sensei
and his haiku friends from AKITA

. Akita Haiku Network

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Red Dragonfly writes:
here are a few places you might want to drop by for earthquake news and art:

1. Gabi Greve’s earthquake blog, Japan — After the Big Earthquake. It’s very Gabi-like, meaning insanely comprehensive and completely fascinating.
Mostly it’s full of Japanese news reports about all the details of the earthquake/tsunami aftermath and of the ongoing nuclear disaster saga, but there are also lots of Gabi-style notes about Japanese earthquake folklore and plenty of earthquake haiku from all over the world.

tsunami
pieces of future days
wash away

— Mark Brooks

source : Red Dragonfly, Melissa

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haibun: Today We are All Japanese
March 18

As a Californian, I have often told Americans and Europeans that we feel more deeply connected to Asia than to Europe. We face west, we share an ocean, and a great many Californians trace their heritage to Asia. So much of what makes California what it is came originally from Asia, and a great deal of what makes my California comes from Japan. The tsunami touched Santa Cruz, another link in the pattern that connects California to Japan. It feels so close, that country on the other side of our ocean.

hakone garden
spring rain falls lightly
on the maples

Read it all HERE
source : Heather Madrone

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Submit Haikus inspired by Japan’s ‘sense of place’ to support Japan
All the proceeds from the sale of the art cards and the admission to the events will go towards Japanese rebuilding efforts.
source : Laurie Halsey Brown

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Ban'ya Natsuishi 夏石番矢, World Haiku Association
地震俳句集まる
Haiku for the Giant Earthquake 11 March
source : banyahaiku

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Origami-Kraniche falten, Worte verweben

Nachbeben –
ich versuche
Papierkraniche zu falten

... die Welt hält den Atem an, Schweigeminuten - rund um den Erdball, eine Woche nach den verheerenden Naturkatastrophen im Heimatland des Haiku.

Ich möchte Origami-Kraniche in Form von Haiku sammeln

Ramona Linke

source : Deutsche Haiku Gesellschaft DHG

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"Kokoro: The Heart of Japan” Public Symposium and Concert

Madoka Mayuzumi, one of Japan’s leading contemporary haiku poets, will introduce poems composed by the survivors themselves. She will elucidate what the haiku form reveals about their perceptions of the unprecedented disaster and the values that permeate and underlie Japan’s culture.

Mayuzumi will later be joined by a panel of Japan scholars from Columbia University—film expert Paul Anderer, professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures; Chris Hill, associate professor of Japanese literature; and Kay Shimizu, assistant professor in the Department of Political Science—as well as haiku poet and translator Hiroaki Sato and art education expert Raja Adal, assistant professor of Japanese history at Oberlin College, to discuss both the unique and universal aspects of Japanese society.

source : www.tokyofoundation.org

. WKD : Mayuzumi Madoka 黛まどか .

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October 1, 2011

虚数の雨雲の下黙々と怪物と戦う　
kyosuu no amagumo no shita
mokumoku to kaibutsu to tatakau

under the clouds of imaginary numbers
fighting silently
against a monster

Natsuishi Banya 夏石番矢
source : banyahaiku.at.webry.

Tr. Ban'ya Natsusihi and Jim Kacian

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We Are All Japan Anthology
Authored by Sasa Vazic
Authored by The World Edited by Robert D. Wilson, Sasa Vazic

Sasa Vazic of Serbia and Robert D. Wilson of the Philippines, both noted poets, writers, and editors, want the people of Japan to know they aren't alone in dealing with the aftermath of the tsunami, earthquake, and resultant nuclear disaster that occurred on March 11, 2011. This course of events rocked the security and prosperity of one of the world's richest nations. Previously the victim of two nuclear bomb explosions during World War Two, Japan once again was on the receiving end of a wake of destruction left by man, a Gojira trampling the existence of a people who want what every person wants: security, peace of mind, and self-sustenance.

Vazic and Wilson are deeply involved in the English-language Japanese short form poetry world, and thusly, feel a debt of gratitude to the culture that gave the world haiku and like genres: Japan. What happened to Japan could have happened to any nation. And what happened is affecting nations on the other side of the ocean.

This anthology, WE ARE ALL JAPAN, is a gift to Japan, and printed copies have been distributed free of charge to the schools and libraries in the areas hardest hit by this train of disasters. Copies are for sale as well, and all proceeds will go to the Japanese Red Cross and to the Salvation Army. Vazic and Wilson have donated their services as have others involved in bringing this gift to the Japanese people.

"WE STAND BESIDE YOU, PEOPLE OF JAPAN. WE PRAY, MEDITATE, AND REACH OUT, UNCONDITIONALLY."
source : www.createspace.com

The World (Author)
Robert D. Wilson (Editor), Sasa Vazic (Editor)
Out of Print -- Limited Availability.
source :　www.amazon.com

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- - - - - Spring 2012 - - - - -

kigo for mid-winter

haru matsu 春待つ (はるまつ) waiting for spring
..... haru o matsu 春を待つ（はるをまつ）
..... taishun 待春（たいしゅん）
The daily cold is still a reality, but the human feeling is already in the near future.

In the year 2012, this feeling is mixed with the memories of March 11, 2011

. Japan after the BIG earthquake March 11, 2011　.

地震津波春に遭ひしも春を待つ
nai tsunami haru ni aishi mo haru o matsu

even if we remember in spring
the earthquake and the tsunami -
waiting for spring
Matsunaga Sakufuu 松永朔風
Kanagawa

春待つや津波を記憶せし土も
haru o matsu tsunami o kioku seshi tsuchi mo

waiting for spring -
even the earth with it's memories
of the tsunami

source :　princeetlapine

Fukuda Yumi 福田由美
Miyagi

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One year later

. Japanese Literature in the Post-3/11 Era .
Is the “Future’s Door” About to Open?"
by Numano Mitsuyoshi 沼野充義

featuring poets Wagō Ryōichi, Hasegawa Kai, Henmi Yō,

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H☢T rain*...
twice the first element embeds
in a drop

the bamboo ladle
cleans away my dust

*this phrase, swiped (with permission from Alexandra Kathleen) the ☢ icon a universal symbol warning for radioactive material, where as H is for hydrogen and dust a metaphorical word in this poem.

- Shared by Dennis Chibi -
Joys of Japan, 2012

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色もたぬ原子炉の火やしまく雪　
iro motanu genshiro no hi ya shimaku yuki

a flame at a nuclear plant
without colors—
snow blizzard

Fukaya Yoshinori 　深谷義紀
Tr. Fay Aoyagi

廃炉申し渡すに陽炎を脱げ
hairo mooshiwatasu ni kageroo o nuge

I hereby issue
decommissioning
take off your heat shimmer

Sanuka Masami 佐怒賀正美
Tr. Fay Aoyagi

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私達のふるさと、福島(１） Fukushima

たいていの日本人は、毎年夏になると故郷の町に帰り、先祖の墓の前で、両手を合わせる。そして御先祖様の霊を慰めたり、また自分の近況を報告したりする。私もその大多数の日本人の一人として、毎年、お盆になると生まれ故郷に帰り、亡くなった両親の墓に両手を合わせていた。　しかしことしのお盆は、帰ろうかどうしようか、私は迷った。その理由は三月十一日に私のふるさと福島で、原子力発電所が地震と津波の影響で爆発し、セシウムという放射能が周辺に流れ出たからだ。そのセシウムは風や雨に流され、福島県全体を、いやその近くの県から東日本全体へと広範囲に流れ出した。二、三日よく考えて、セシウムは乳幼児や子供の将来に悪影響を与えるが、初老の年齢に差し掛かった自分には悪影響はないと私は信じた。
そしてお盆の前日、新宿駅から深夜高速バスに乗り込むと、仮眠をしながら、朝早く、わがふるさとに降りた。寝ぼけまなこには、今までと何も変わらない、朝の田園風景が果てしなく広がっている。　

こんなに爽やかに
こんなに輝いているのに
福島の水田が
ほんとうに
汚れてしまったのか

Our hometown, Fukushima（１）

Most Japanese people return to their hometowns and pray for their ancestors before their tombs every summer. This Buddhist tradition is called " Obon(お盆）" in Japanese. Following the tradition, I went back to my hometown, Fukushima, to pray for my late parents last summer. But this time in 2011, I hesitated to return due to the contamination caused by the nuclear leak at Fukushima Atomic Power Plant on March 11, 2011. The wind has spread cesium from the plant all across the prefecture. It is said to be a cause of cancer for children and babies in the future. After hesitating for a few days, I decided to go back there in spite of this, for I believed I was too old to contract cancer from the fall-out.
I went there by express bus in August. When I got off, the fields spread out before me as far as the eye could see.

I can't believe
they have been contaminated
by cesium winds,
standing before the green, green,
brilliant rice fields.

- Shared by Taro Aizu -
Joys of Japan, June 2012

The ”Fuku” in Fukushima means “happy”
and “shima” means“island”. So Fukushima
equals “happy island” in Japanese.

We can build
Lots of “ happy islands”
In Fukushima.

We have handed genetic information
from our ancestors to our descendants
for millions of years.

Genetic information
Not polluted yet by cesium.
It’s my legacy.

May my Fukushima
Come back, come back
Some day.

May Takizakura
Live a thousand years more
In Fukushima

- Shared by Taro Aizu -
Joys of Japan, October 2012

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