Japanese Women Poets: An Anthology

by Hiroaki Sato

Throughout history, Japanese women have excelled in poetry - from the folk songs of the Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters) compiled in 712 and the court poetry of the 9th to the 14th centuries, on through the age of haikai and kanshi to the 19th century, into the contemporary period when books of women's poems have created a sensation.This anthology presents examples of the work of more than 100 Japanese women poets, arranged chronologically, and of all the major verse forms: choka, tanka, haikai (haiku), kanshi (verse written in Chinese), and free verse. The poems describe not just seasonal changes and the vagaries of love - which form the thematic core of traditional Japanese poetry - but also the devastations of war, childbirth, conflicts between child-rearing and work, experiences as refugees, experiences as non-Japanese residents in Japan, and more.Sections of poetry open with headnotes, and the editor has provided explanations of terms and references for those unfamiliar with the Japanese language. Other useful tools include a glossary of poetic terms, a chronology, and a bibliography that points the reader toward other works by and about these poets. There is no comparable collection available in English.Students and anyone who appreciates poetry and Japanese culture will treasure this magnificent anthology. Editor and translator Hiroaki Sato is a past winner of the PEN America translator prize and the Japan-United States Friendship Commission's 1999 literary translation award.

Genres: Poetry, Japan, Anthologies, Japanese Literature

592 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Hiroaki Sato (佐藤 紘彰) born 1942, is a Japanese poet and prolific translator who writes frequently for The Japan Times. He has been called (by Gary Snyder) "perhaps the finest translator of contemporary Japanese poetry into American English."

Reviews

[Roxana Chirilă · Rating 1 out of 5]

Some time ago, I fell in love with Murasaki Shikibu's "The Tale of Genji", which is an absolutely beautiful novel written one thousand years ago at the imperial court of Japan, where elegance was of utmost importance, and aristocrats exchanged poetry on any and all occasions.

This winter, I felt like discovering more of that beauty and opened this anthology because it contains a chronological collection of poetry from the oldest available poems up until modern times. I just love seeing things evolve, and I wanted to see how the Japanese poetic style changed in time, so it seemed like a perfect fit - especially when I saw that the translator was called "perhaps the finest translator of contemporary Japanese poetry into American English."

And dear lord. I tried. But this is... it's... I mean. Look, I get it. It's hard to translate poetry and a lot of old Japanese poetry is filled with allusions and double meanings, which makes it *hell* to work with and you need to decide what to do. Do you try to preserve the double meanings? Do you spell out both meanings? What do you do?

In "Japanese Women Poets: An Anthology", Hiroaki Sato decided to stay as close to the source as possible, which means there are about a billion footnotes. Which is fine. What isn't fine is that some of the translations are clunky:

"While my breast-sagging parent is alive, I hope to let her know, with her child’s child, she’s lived long."

Well, that's a distasteful way to refer to your own mother. Maybe it sounds better and less insulting in Japanese?

Then there are forced-vagueness poems:

"My body has been traded for love; it’s just that you couldn’t see it clearly like a summer bug."

How was her body "traded" for love? Is she a slave? Has she slept with someone to get their love? Is it that the lover couldn't see her trading her body for love, or that her lover couldn't see her body at all? Is her lover as blind as a summer bug? Or does her lover see summer bugs, but not her (trading her) body (for love)? WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?!

Then there are poems that sound like they might make sense and then, somehow, they don't.

"Night deep, the sound of water trickling among rocks lucid, it becomes cool where I sleep light."

Or the ones that plainly don't make sense.

"Frozen, sleepless, should my sleeves turn color, dew-forming, tree-searer over the peaks?"

I assume she's frozen and sleepless, but I have no idea what's up with the sleeves that turn color, form dew and sear trees over the peaks.

I give up at page 93/548. Some poems are alright, but the overall feel is a very far cry from the elegant, pleasant atmosphere I was hoping for - it's more of a "grit your teeth and try to guess what the original tried to say" experience.

[Helen Praspro · Rating 5 out of 5]

ترجمه ای ظریف از شعرهای ظریفتر. مقدمه اش برای اماده کردنتون برای خوندن بین سطور مبهمو زیبای هایکو و لذت بردن ازش خیلی کمک می‌کنه. در کل عالی.

برای دیدنت، برای دیدنت
روی یخ نازک
قدم میزنم
-مائوزومی مادوکا-

[Zahra Saedi · Rating 3 out of 5]

هایکو جزو فرم‌های ادبی موردعلاقه‌ی من است و از ایجاز و اختصارش خوشم می‌آید. در این کتاب هم هایکوهایی که انگار داستانی داشتند را بیشتر از تصویرسازی‌های محض دوست داشتم.

[Zoha Mortazavi · Rating 4 out of 5]

لطیف، مثل حرکت آهسته‌ی بدن، وقتی بعد از تماشای شکوفه‌های گیلاس، در خلوت خانه کیمونوی گلدار را در می‌آورد.
ترجمه‌ی ظریف و زیبا، صفحه‌آرایی مناسب هایکو با خالی های به جا و مقدمه‌ای قابل توجه.

[Victoria · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really liked about 7% of this book.

I wish I could rate it as more than two stars because it's obviously a comprehensive anthology, and the information on authors and the historical context it provides is interesting.

Nothing in particular is wrong with the translations; I just found it difficult to connect or relate to most of them...

[Abbas Hosseinnejad · Rating 5 out of 5]

عاشقانه‌های زنانه‌ی بسیار خواندنی را در این کتاب می‌خوانیم
آقای هیروآکی ساتو گردآورنده‌ی کتاب و مدیر سابق انجمن هایکوی آمریکا، مقدمه‌ای را بر ترجمه فارسی کتاب نوشته‌ است

[Roya · Rating 3 out of 5]

چقدر لطیف و بهاری!☁️