Tanka Master Goes Acrostic!
In my book The Japanese Samurai Code—Classic Strategies for Success (Tuttle Publishing) on the strategies and tactics of Japan’s samurai warriors I refer to present-day tanka poet Mutsuo Shukuya as “The fastest poet in the East”—a take-off on the “Fastest gun in the West” lore made famous by Hollywood movies.
My reference to tanka master Shukuya was inspired by the legacy of poetry left by Japan’s famed class of warriors and his own samurai-like dedication to the art of poetry. Like his early predecessors who engaged in “poetry tournaments” during which they composed poetry non-stop for two or more days, Shukuya is able to dash off a 31-syllable tanka poem in two minutes or less, often relating the content of the poem to a particular occasion or friend.
Now, Shukuya has added to his poetic repertoire by inventing what noted British poet James Kirkup describes as “tankacrostics”—in other words, a tanka poem structured as an acrostic. For those who are not familiar with the term acrostic, it refers to a poem or series of lines in which certain letters, usually the first in each line, form a name, motto or message when read in sequence—a form first used in ancient times by Greek and Roman writers, and in more recent times by European composers and writers.
The composition of tanka as acrostics is no easy task. But like puzzles and codes it has a challenge and a charm of its own. Shukuya’s tankacrostics are not meant to replace classic tanka. They are, I believe, meant to challenge the tanka poet to add a new dimension to the classic form; to transform it into a personal message of goodwill and respect.
As a tireless advocate and teacher of tanka, Shukuya now presents his many friends and students with a new challenge that does, indeed, add a new dimension to the intellectual pleasures of life.
______________________________________
Shukuya’s recently published book of tankacrostic poetry, 100 Tanka Poems for 100 People, is available from Amazon.com.
短歌の達人が折句に取り組む！
ボイェ・ラファイエット・デイ・メンテ
日本の武士の戦略と戦術に関する拙著の一つで、私は当代歌人・宿谷睦夫氏を---ハリウッド映画で有名になった伝説の「西部一の早撃」に準えて---「東洋一の即興詩人」として触れた。
その本で私が短歌の達人・宿谷氏に触れたのは、日本の有名な武士階級が残した歌の遺産や彼の詩歌芸術への侍のような献身さに触発されたからである。二日も三日も掛けて休まずに歌を作り続ける「歌合」に参加した歌の先達と同じように、宿谷氏は、三十一文字の短歌をある特別の祝いや友人の名前と関連付けながら、数分もかからずに詠み上げてしまうのだ。
さて、その宿谷氏であるが、彼は詩のレパートリーに「短歌折句」という新たな分野を開拓した。これは著名な英国詩人・ジェイムズ・カーカップ氏が命名したものであるが、要するに、宿谷氏は短歌の分野に新しいジャンルを築いたことになるのだ。
折句という言葉に馴染みの無い人の為にご説明すると、通常詩歌の各行の先頭の文字を辿って行くと、ある文字が人名や標語や伝言になる詩歌や連語のことである。これは最初、古代のギリシャ・ローマの作家が試み、近年ではヨーロッパの詩人や作家も試みているものである。
折句としての短歌の創作（あるいは短歌としての折句の創作）は生易しいものではない。しかし、パズルや暗号のように、それはそれ自身魅力があり、手ごたえのあるものだ。しかも、それが上手に出来上がった場合にはまた特別なものである。
宿谷氏の考案した「短歌折句」は古典短歌に取って代わるものではない。むしろ、それは歌人にとって古典形式に新たな一面を刷新したことになるのだと思う。つまり、「短歌折句」は短歌を善意や尊敬といった意味を一層強調して詠むものに変換したことになる。
宿谷氏が「歌の贈り物」と命名した最初のこの短歌折句集は、ほとんど個人的な友人や彼が尊敬する人物に関連して創作したものであるが、その表題はかなり上手にその内容を言い表しているものになっている。
短歌の師範であり、疲れを知らない唱導者でもある宿谷氏は今や友人や子弟に新たな試みを投げかけながら、人生の知的喜びに新しい一面を付け加えようとしている。
Shukuya Resumé
Born in 1943 in Ome, a satellite city of Tokyo, Japan, Mutsuo Shukuya graduated from Toyo University, where he studied American and English literature. He is now one of the few tanka scholars, educators, translators and poets who knows the correct tanka form, and practices it daily as an English instructor at Chiba Nichidai Ichiko Senior High School.
In 1993 Shukuya, along with the famous Reizei “tanka family,” was invited to visit Paris where they participated in a Japanese Cultural Festival sponsored by the Gime Museum. There he composed impromptu tanka at the traditional Star-Festival called “Kikkou-Ten.” He later visited Hawaii and San Francisco to survey the condition of tanka writing, sponsored by Nihon Poets Club as vice-president.
In 1995 Shukuya won the prize given by the Governor of Kyoto Prefecture in a Tanka Contest sponsored by The Sankei Newspaper. In 1998 he was invited to the annual New Year’s Poetry Party in the Imperial Palace and had an audience with the Emperor and Empress.
Since 1999 Shukuya has been writing a column on tanka, “What is Tanka & How to Compose It,” in the bilingual magazine Plaza-Plaza. Since 2002 he has been translating a book, “New Japanology,” written by Dr. Michinobu Kato, retired professor of Aichi University, that is also published in Plaza-Plaza.
Since 2005 Shukuya has been publishing spontaneously composed choka (long poems), and tanka-acrostic poems twice a month in Plaza-Plaza’s blog.
An Introduction to Tanka
Tanka (tahn-kah), which literally means “short poem,” refers to a form of Japanese poetry that consists of 31 syllables in a precise 5-7-5-7-7 order.
During the 6th and 7th centuries, tanka was written as separate poems as well as “attached” to longer poems called choka (choh-kah) or nagauta (nah-gah-uu-tah)—both of which literally mens “long poetry”—that were modeled after Chinese poetry of that age.
The nagauta form of poetry came to be known as waka (wah-kah) or “Japanese poetry,” to distinguish it from the Chinese poetry that was popular at the Imperial Court and among students and scholars of Chinese culture.
By the end of the 8th century, tanka had replaced nagauta as the most popular form of poetry in Japan, and as time passed it also claimed the title of waka, which in effect made it the official poetry of Japan.
During the 17th and 18th centuries Japanese scholar-poets began to gradually distance themselves from the formal, conservative Chinese-influenced standards and rules of the past.
Following the downfall of Japan’s last great feudal dynasty (the Tokugawa Shogunate) in 1867, young Japanese poets began to introduce a new tone of freedom, spontaneity, realism, personalism and modernity into their poems, and by 1900 they began referring to their work as tanka to distinguish it from the staid form of earlier times.
Today, hundreds of thousands of Japanese of all ages write tanka as a medium of expressing their innermost feelings. No topic is taboo, and considerable license is taken with the 31-syllable format. Poetry readings are held weekly and monthly in bookstores, coffee shops, cafes and other venues throughout the country.
Schools, on an elementary as well as university level, sponsor poetry clubs and classroom recitals. Some schools sponsor annual “poetry tournaments.” Some of the poetry readings are competitive, and are known as “poetry boxing.”
Here are examples of tanka poetry by Mutsuo Shukuya and others:
Mutsuo Shukuya
(1943 - )
Mateba haya
tsuki wa minami ni
tanabata no
kagami no oke ni
kogaru nagakage
While I long for you
watching the moon in the south,
I find Altair’s stars
on the surface of the pail
instead of you whom I love.*
*This poem was written for Takako Matsu, famous movie actress and daughter of kabuki star Koshiro Matsumoto.
Mutsuo Shukuya
(1943 - )
Asa mireba
sakisomu hanaya
iro ni wo fu
toheba kaze ni zo
urumu asagao
I wake up to find
the morning glories abloom
fluttering in the
breeze which comes from somewhere
and brings with it such coolness.*
*This poem was written for Asami Saitō (described as a “pretty lady”), whom the poet obviously admires.
Emperor Tenchi
(626-671)
Aki no ta no
kari no io no
toma o arami.
Waga koromode wa
tsuyu ni nure tsutsu
A coarse straw roof
covered the harvest hut
in the autumn rice field.
But my sleeves became wet
from the moisture dripping through.
Monk Sojo Henjo
(816-890)
Amatsu kaze
kumo no kayoiji
fuki toji yo.
Otome no sugata
shibashi todomen.
The winds of heaven
blow through paths among the clouds
closing the gates.
But for a while I can detain
these heavenly messengers.
Ki no Tomonori
(Early 10th century)
Hisakata no
hikari no dokeki
haru no hi ni,
shizu-gokoro naku
hana no chiruran.
On a spring day
in the tranquil light
of the shining sun
why do the cherry blossoms
fly away like restless thoughts?
Taira no Kanemori
(? – 990)
Shinoburedo
iro ni ide ni keri
waga koi wa
mono ya omou to,
hito no tou made.
Although I try
to hide it my face reveals
my secret love
and yet he asks me,
“Is something wrong?”
Michihiro Matsumoto
(1940 - )
Tawamure ni
waga haha no kata wo
tatakaseru
yorokobu kobushi ni
se de namida suru.
My dying mother
rose from her death-bed
joyfully patting me on the back
bringing tears to my eyes.
Shichiro Ohshima
(1927 - )
Machi machi shi
Fuji no shira yuki
kesa mano atari
naki chichi haha mo
narabi yorokobu.
I waited and waited
for Mt. Fuji’s crown
to turn white with snow
before my eyes, my parents in heaven
hand-in-hand, also smiling.
