NEW HOPE INTERNATIONAL REVIEW

An independent small press poetry review

NHI independent review
YATSUKA ISHIHARA: RED FUJI
edited and translated by Tadashi Kondő & William J. Higginson
From Here Press
PO. Box 1402
Summit
NJ 07902
USA
ISBN 0 89120 101 7
$12 [Canada $16; Japan Ą1500]
{by post +$2.50; $3; Ą300]

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YATSUKA ISHIHARA: RED FUJI

In the preface to this book we are told

Yatsuka's haiku theory is called naikan zőkei, "introspective shaping". He feels that haiku should not be just a sketch of what we experience in the world, but a formative art creating something tangible out of noumenal reality.
This is explored futher in Kristen Deming's introduction PORTRAIT OF A HAIKU MASTER. Deming explains the role of the haiku master in Japan, a concept which is somewhat alien to western writers, who tend not to align themselves to a particular school. Now in his 80s, Yatsuka has a tremendous following among his students.

The selection of poems, translated by Tadashi Kondő and William J. Higginson fall into three distinct parts — EARLY POEMS (1937-69), MID-CAREER POEMS (1970-81) and RECENT POEMS (1982-94). The translations are followed by the original in Japanese and romanji. They are also accompanied by notes on the kigo, the season word used in each poem.

The early poems include such gems as:

	vomiting blood
	with parched eyeballs —
	the scorching sun

		as a baby carriage
		passes by    the swaying
		baby's breath
whilst in the middle section we find
	a bell tolls
	Venice in a winter shower
	how many bridges?

		Place de la Concorde
		this well-bucket —
		nightfall
and the last haiku in the book is
	Great Goose Tower
	on the roof of tiles
	grasses sprout
which is a reference to a place in China but could be seen as a metaphor for how students of haiku masters rise by feeding on their masters. Yatsuka is surely one of the greats.

reviewer: Ku.