Year-end Presentations of Waka Poems

2013, The Twenty-fifth Year of Heisei

Year-end Presentation of Five Waka Poems by His Majesty the Emperor

Anzu no sato, Apricot Village
Apricots in bloom
Their red calyces recurvate
And their blossoms white
Admiring the sight
I walk with my beloved.
At Daisen Royal Hotel
From this window
Mt. Daisen can be seen
At the far end
Swerving by and swishing down
Some house martins fly past.
Visiting Minamata
Not knowing the cause
Of the disease plaguing them
Those struck by the illness
We cannot begin to fathom
Their hardships and sufferings.
Two poems at the Imperial Palace Grounds
Year after year
The climate of Tokyo
Is getting warmer
Red maple leaves are still left
At the end of the year.
How hard life must be
In winter in the regions
Struck by disaster
I wonder here in Tokyo
Where the sunshine is warm.
(Notes to His Majesty's Waka) :

Note to poem 1 :
In April, Their Majesties the Emperor and the Empress visited Nagano Prefecture and admired the apricot, Prunus armeniaca, blossoms in the Sketch Park in Anzu no sato, Apricot Village, in the city of Chikuma. In this poem, His Majesty describes the scene.

Note to poem 2 :
In May, Their Majesties the Emperor and the Empress visited Tottori Prefecture to attend the National Arbor Day Festival and stayed at the Daisen Royal Hotel in Hoki-cho. In this poem His Majesty describes how He saw from the hotel window, with a view of Mt. Daisen, some house martins, Delichon urbica, fly right past the window.

Note to poem 3 :
In October, Their Majesties the Emperor and the Empress visited Kumamoto Prefecture to attend the National Convention for the Development of an Abundantly Productive Sea. At that time, They visited the city of Minamata to participate in the Welcome Ceremony at sea and the release of young fishes into the water. On that occasion, Their Majesties met with those who have been suffering from Minamata disease. In this poem His Majesty describes how His heart went out to the Minamata disease patients who had been suffering for many years from a disease whose cause was not known.

Minamata disease is a neurological syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning, first discovered in Minamata city in Kumamoto Prefecture. It was caused by the release of methylmercury in the industrial wastewater from Chisso Corporation’s chemical plant, which continued from 1932 to 1968.

Note to poem 4 :
In this poem, His Majesty describes how Tokyo is getting warmer every year and even at the end of the year, some Japanese maple, Acer japonicum, in the Palace grounds have their red leaves left.

Note to poem 5 :
This year, Their Majesties the Emperor and the Empress continued Their visits to regions afflicted by the Great East Japan Earthquake to comfort the victims, just as They did last year and the year before last. In this poem His Majesty describes how His heart goes out to the people who are facing a cold harsh winter in the afflicted regions.

Year-end Presentation of Three Waka Poems by Her Majesty the Empress

Uchimizu, sprinkling of water
Rose acacia
Its bloomless branches and leaves
Rustle in the summer breeze
As the wind rises and blows across
The garden sprinkled with water.
Tohno
Oft I wondered
There must be a stream nearby
In Tohno on a visit
As I heard from somewhere a sound—
Water flowing so quietly.
Concert
The tone and timbre
Of the piano played with the left hand
Lingering in my ears
I return through the streets
As the lights are turned on.
(Notes to Her Majesty's Waka) :

Note to poem 1 :
Rose acacia, Robinia hispida, which blooms in the spring, is planted in the Palace gardens. In this poem, Her Majesty describes how, on a hot summer day, the leaves and branches of the now bloomless tree are rustled by the breeze blowing across the garden, which has been sprinkled with water to create a cool breeze.

Uchimizu is a Japanese tradition of sprinkling water in the garden or in the streets in the summer. When the water evaporates, the heat of vaporization cools and stirs the air above, creating a breeze.

Note to poem 2 :
In July 2013, Their Majesties the Emperor and the Empress visited the cities of Ofunato and Rikuzentakata and other places in Iwate Prefecture as a part of Their continuing visits to regions afflicted by the Great East Japan Earthquake. Prior to that, They visited the inland city of Tohno, which has been playing an important role in supporting the coastal regions hit by the earthquake and tsunami. In this poem, Her Majesty describes how She kept hearing the sound of water on Her way through the city and felt that, although She could not see them from the car, there must be many streams in this quiet, far-off city of Tohno.

Tohno is also spelled Tono, but it is spelled Tohno here to make sure the reader knows it is a long vowel of two syllables in the poem.

Note to poem 3 :
In November, Her Majesty went to a concert by the pianist Izumi Tateno. In this poem, Her Majesty describes how, with the graceful sound of the piano played only with the left hand still lingering in Her ears, She returned from the concert in the gathering dusk through the streets as the lights began to be turned on.