Tag - poetry

 
 

POETRY

Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 22, 2014
Flux
Flux, the new collection of poems by Japan-based poet Jane Joritz-Nakagawa, reveals a myriad of fluctuations and transitions in style and theme. From the poet's diverse choice of form to her penetrating eye on the collection's wide range of subject matter, the poems here reveal the constant change in the stream of time. Particularly effective are Joritz-Nakagawa's prose poems. These stream-of-conscience social commentaries condense one women's lifetime of sexual experiences to their very essence, with Joritz-Nakagawa constantly crossing the boundary between prose and poetry. Her poems reference modern racial tensions and the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, while quoting the disparate words of the singer Morrissey and Albert Einstein, in a shifting perspective of form and fancy.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Nov 1, 2013
Writer, translator, yoga instructor finds inspiration in 'the voices that history silences'
Leza Lowitz has shared the worlds of kamikaze pilots and their last letters to their families, published lesbian writings by contemporary Japanese poets, specifically sought out Ainu writers, and journeyed into the mind of Japan's foremost modernist poet, Nobuo Ayukawa.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 11, 2013
Wales set to restore Dylan Thomas' faded reputation as centenary nears
The little park where he played as a boy in Swansea, on Wales' south-west coast, has had a facelift, and a bronze statue is to be erected outside his childhood home. Manuscripts and rare photographs have been borrowed from an archive in New York, and his quotations have been liberally applied to council vehicles. Wales is preparing to embrace once again Dylan Thomas, its errant son, 100 years after his birth. Next year the poet who was too "English for the Welsh and too Welsh for the English" is finally to receive the full accolades many feel he has long deserved.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Sep 26, 2013
Poetry event to tap into global discussion
Think global; act local. Kyoto residents have a chance this weekend to act on this aphorism, joining a global cultural event without even leaving Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 28, 2013
'Takeuchi Seiho: The Master of Modern Nihonga'
As a founder of nihonga (Japanese-style painting), Takeuchi Seiho (1864-1942)was a pioneer in modernizing traditional Kyoto art. His works were a major influence on many of his younger peers, including Tsuchida Bakusen (1887-1936), and continue to inspire today.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jul 13, 2013
Illuminating the interplay between Japanese poetry and pictures
This cleverly titled book combines two subjects, for the "art" that it describes is not just the art of haiku composition but that of the pictures that frequently accompany the poems, often by the same person. "If haiku is a worldwide phenomenon, haiga (haiku painting) is almost unknown," says the author.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 2, 2013
Wit and wisdom endures in poetry
In considering the collected poems of Nanao Sakaki, one has to deal with a problem: his life. That life, by all accounts a marvelous adventure, threatens even now, more than four years after the adventure's end, to overshadow his work.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 3, 2013
Sensual poetry on love, marriage
ONNA NI, by Shuntaro Tanikawa, with etchings by Yoko Sano, translated by William I. Elliott and Kazuo Kawamura. Shueisha, 2012, 80 pp., ¥1,470 (paperback)
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 24, 2013
A compelling entry point for discovering Japanese poets from the postwar era
101 MODERN JAPANESE POEMS, compiled by Makoto Ooka, translated by Paul McCarthy, edited by Janine Beichman. Thames River Press, 2012, 144 pp., $45.00 (hardcover)
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Dec 30, 2012
The wonderful worlds of 100 waka
The scene: England, Boxing Day 2012. The archetypical Carters are relaxing after a cold turkey lunch (with bread sauce) and are watching the Royal Family's latest sonnets being read on the goggle-box. Time for a game!

Longform

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.
Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree