Reverberations from Fukushima: 50 Japanese Poets Speak Out

by Leah Stenson (Editor)

This anthology conveys the enormity of Fukushima, the first nuclear disaster of the 21 st Century, on both the environmental and human scale. Contributions by Nobel Peace Prize nominee Dr. Helen Caldicott, Fairewinds Energy Education founder Maggie Gundersen, and professor emerita Dr. Norma Field discuss the nuclear disaster in the context of social, political, and environmental concerns. Poems by 50 Japanese poets portray the disaster from a personal perspective, including prophetic visions of a nuclear future, the plight of nuclear refugees, the relationship of exploiters and the exploited in Japan's nuclear power industry, and the deception by which nuclear power was sold to an anti-nuclear Japan. Truly an eye-opening read.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction

120 pages, Paperback

First published April 2, 2014

Reviews

[Angie Reisetter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let me start by saying that I'm not on board with the anti-nuclear movement. That is, I believe there is a responsible way to do nuclear power.

But all those concerned with this debate, no matter what side they're on, should read this collection of poems (or something like it, but this is a great place to start). The human suffering and damage to nature caused by the Fukushima disaster do not get enough press. One of the introductory essays asks why the entire conversation is about politics and technicalities. It's true that politics and technology were important in the disaster. But the voices of the Japanese people affected by this disaster and the people who speak for the powerless victims of all bad environmental and health policies should always be heard.

So I would not say that you have to agree with the the anti-nuclear movement to get something out of this collection. Read it. It's an amazing collection of poetry. It's important and beautiful and rageful. We pre-select what we read too much, choosing to only read authors we already agree with. Anyone who ever discusses nuclear power should read this book and hold these voices in their hearts, so they are never left out of the conversation. Yes, the numbers are important. There are many considerations. But these are Important. Of Utmost Importance.

And there are historical considerations, too. The poems are full of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Other nations may have forgotten these events, but they are ever-present to the Japanese. When a line like "a power plant is the same as a bomb" go by, and the scientist in me wants to say, "uh, no, it isn't", there's also a truth in that line that I need to listen to. And consider. Every time this topic comes up.

There are too many introductory essays. If I had it to do again, I'd read the poetry before the essays. But then I would go back and read the essays, too. They carry an important message as well.

[Josiah Stephens · Rating 4 out of 5]

A haunting collection that provides an intimate glimpse into the environmentally conscious Japanese mind, these poems wormed into my heart and nested there for days on end. Since these short poems come from such a diverse selection of poets, I felt as if the horrors of Fukushima were explained to me in almost every literary way possible. These are mostly short poems—about one to two pages—translated into English.
I do wish that there was a bit more discussion about Japanese poetry styles and how they might or might not translate into English in its entirely. While the word pictures in the poetry were beautiful, there was never a clear meter (as is standard for translated poetry). I would have liked to know a bit more about each poet’s original Japanese style, even if I was not receiving the full intended effect of the text. This collection does a phenomenal job teaching the reader about Japanese culture through Japanese poetry—it simply does not teach about Japanese poetry itself.

[Ann Straight · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poetry from Japanese writers about the Fukushima Power Plant Disaster. I expected it to lament the lost of life due to the earthquake and resulting Tsunami. Instead it centered around protesting the use of nuclear power. The poetry was more prose in my thinking, speaking of the loss of a beautiful region of the Japanese isles, lost of homeland to many, an invisible evil to wildlife and a lost future as well as past.

The lessons cited, ends with a quote from Maya Angelou: "History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage doesn't need to be lived again."

[Jake · Rating 3 out of 5]

firmly ready for non-school lit over winter break

[Anaika · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book in return for an honest review.

"Better late than never".

I gave this book 4.5 stars,but since Goodreads doesn't allow half stars I pushed it down to four stars.

COVER & STRUCTURE
To start off my review I will be explaining the structure of the book and how it looks. The book has a glossy cover and very simplistic design on the cover and spine. The color scheme adds a nice touch to the mainly white cover.

The structure of this book was really interesting. The book begins with some explanation behind editing the translations by Leah Stenson including a preface also written by Leah Stenson. Moving on we have commentary which includes one written by Asao Sarukawa Aroldi. Lastly, before the poems begin we are given some essays written upon the topic that is being discussed about nuclear power. The fifty poems are then introduced. Each poem has the title, author and a short bio on the author. The short bio tells you the author's name, date of birth, date of death, place of birth, and current residence. I thought this was a nice touch because you could see where they lived and their age while also getting a feel for where they were when the nuclear disaster occurred. After all fifty poems have been introduced you are given page references for all the poems and lastly two bios on the editors. The most interesting addition to this book is that once you have finished the 105 pages the rest of the book(65 pages) is actually the original translation. I think this was such a nice touch which can benefit advanced readers in the language to be able to read in both languages or anyone who wants to test their abilities.

WRITING STYLES & PLOT
Now for the most important part I will be discussing the writing styles and poems. I have to say that this book really speaks about the political aspect as well as the emotional aspects of the nuclear disaster. Through the poems you are able to see all the different emotions that these individuals had and how they were affected. Not only that, but you were able to get a feel for how others truly felt about the situation at hand. Overall I really enjoyed the writing styles that these authors all had to offer. Out of the fifty I had about 15 that really stood out to me. My favorites were "Like Tomatoes" by Shizuka Kawana and "Helen Keller's Fingertips" by Masanori Shida. I took half a star away because although I really enjoyed the writing styles some of the poems didn't speak to me and I found them quite dry. Otherwise Stenson and Aroldi compiled a vast assortment of poems that worked very well together.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about others perspectives on the nuclear disaster or just more about the nuclear disaster itself. I would even recommend it to those who like me enjoy poetry.

[SmarterLilac · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impressive.

For those who have been looking (as I have) for a way to think about Fukushima's impact, here it is. For some reason, discussions in poetry feel more comfortable to me than reading more news articles about the impact of the catastrophe. (Maybe because poets aren't the propagandists news copywriters often are.)

Some things I learned from reading this book: the impact of Fukushima is much worse than I would have thought, especially in terms of the human loss, and Japanese poetry is much more than just Haiku. I found the insights of these writers to be profound and moving, offering a window into Fukushima that has not been opened by international media.