New Edition Prose - Shobunsha Library

[Shobunsha Library]

"We must say we are extremely blessed to be able to enjoy the writings of a poet who strives to be completely honest with his words." -Rei Nagai

Travel, music, seasons, and words. Memories of the poet Shuntaro Tanikawa's musings from the 1960s and 1970s.

Travels and encounters. Thoughts on music, film, and art. Daily reflections. Questions about writing. Even as I'm more captivated by the beauty of the world than most, I feel a strange frustration with my inability to fully appreciate or understand even the most inconspicuous things... This is a collection of invaluable essays written by poet Shuntaro Tanikawa in the 1960s and 1970s, including important essays that touch on the very roots of poetry: "Where are the roots of speech?" and "To be able to write that 'there is nothing to write.'" [First published in 1972]

Commentary by Rei Nagai (Philosophy Researcher)

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[Table of Contents]

Travel

Encounters / Letters from New York / Build Bridges, Dig Tunnels! / Road Trip / Wandering Drive / From Cars to Horses / Tokyo 1972

Seasons

Spring's Death / May Sky / In May / May Sea / Rainy Season / On the Table... / Indoors / Blue Sky / My Sea / Eternity / Mr. Miyoshi / Mysterious Power / Yesterday, Today, etc.

Listening

The Door to Music / From "Like" to "Love" / When Opening the Piano / Poetry Hears with the Ears / About a Certain Pain / Standing Talk

Watching

Close-up / Stranger / Silence / My Marilyn Monroe / Tutankhamun's Golden Mask / The Right to Own a Picasso / Behind the Glass / Doing Something / Image of an Athlete / LSD Report / Blue Film and Innocence / Thirst for Vermeer / Earth in the Dark

Thinking

The Most Important Thing / How What I want even if it means something / Obsessing / Terrifying / The World of Charlie Brown / A Small Yacht in the Pacific / Castaways / About Education / About Books / About Friendship / About Money / About Regret / Are You Busy? / My Childhood Friend / An Only Child / A Request to Myself / As a Premise

Words

Where are the roots of speech? / About the ambiguity we might call intuition / Being able to write "There's nothing to write" / Fragments sparked by the single character "public" / There must be a place where poetry is created somewhere / Self-questioning

Afterword

Commentary: The Hesitant Poet, Rei Nagai

──────────────────────── ◇ Shuntaro Tanikawa Born in Tokyo in 1931. Poet. Published his first collection of poems, "Two Billion Light Years of Solitude," in 1952. He won numerous awards and publications, including the 4th Japan Record Award for Lyrics in 1962 for "Getsu Ka Sui Moku Kin Do Nichi no Uta" (Songs of Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday), the Japan Translation Culture Award in 1975 for "Mother Goose Songs," the 34th Yomiuri Literature Prize in 1982 for "Daily Maps," and the 1st Hagiwara Sakutaro Prize in 1993 for "Seken Chi Raz" (World Wisdom Raz). In addition to poetry, he published a wide range of works, including picture books, essays, translations, screenplays, and lyrics. Many of his works have been translated overseas, and he won the Japan Foundation Award in 2020 and the Struga Poetry Evening Gold Crown Award in 2022. He also devoted himself to readings and live performances across the country, greatly expanding the reach of poetry. He passed away in November 2024.