Year-end Presentations of Waka Poems

2017, The Twenty-ninth Year of Heisei

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

The 68th National Arbor Day Festival
Tateyama-sugi
Non-pollen Japanese cedar
Here have I planted
Hoping no one will suffer
From pollen any longer.
At the Opening Ceremony of the 72nd National Sports Festival
The stadium lawn
Its green vivid and splendid
Here in Ehime
National Sports Festival
As the athletes come marching in.
The 37th Convention for the Development of an Abundantly Productive Sea
Japanese abalone
And Japanese littleneck
Handing them the fry
I think of the fishermen
Of their lives and livelihoods.
Visiting Viet Nam
How did they live through
Those years of fighting and war
My thoughts went out to them
As we visited this land
The country of Viet Nam.
Visiting Thailand to pay respects to the late King
There lies the late king
I sit before his coffin
As I remember
The many days and years
Of our warm and close friendship.
(Notes to His Majesty's Waka) :

Note to poem 1 :
In May Their Majesties the Emperor and the Empress visited Toyama Prefecture to attend the National Arbor Day Festival. On that occasion, His Majesty planted the seedlings of Tateyama-sugi, Japanese cedar, Cryptomeria japonica, which has been improved to not produce any pollen at all. In this poem, His Majesty recalls the occasion.

Note to poem 2 :
In September, Their Majesties the Emperor and the Empress visited Ehime Prefecture to attend the Opening Ceremony of the 72nd National Sports Festival. In this poem, His Majesty recalls the athletes marching into the Ehime Prefectural Sports Park Stadium, splendid with its sparkling green lawn.

Note to poem 3 :
In October Their Majesties the Emperor and the Empress visited Fukuoka Prefecture to attend the National Convention for the Development of an Abundantly Productive Sea. In this poem, His Majesty recalls thinking of those engaged in fisheries as He handed them, at the ceremonial event, the fry of Japanese abalone, Haliotis discus, and Japanese littleneck, Ruditapes philippinarum.

Note to poem 4 :
In February and March Their Majesties the Emperor and the Empress visited Viet Nam for the first time. In this poem, His Majesty describes his thoughts on the history of the country, which, even after World War II, experienced various wars and conflicts before achieving the development we see today.

Note to poem 5 :
In March Their Majesties the Emperor and the Empress stopped over in Thailand to bid farewell to the late King of Thailand, King Bhumibol Adulyadej. In this poem, His Majesty describes how He recalled the more than half a century of their friendship as He sat in front of the late king’s coffin, lying in state in the Royal Palace.

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

Travel
“My father’s land”
Speaking thus of Japan
Here these people live
In this faraway Viet Nam
Where we have come to visit.
Name
“Nobiru” in the news
Plant’s name dear and familiar
’Tis also a name
Of a disaster-stricken area
Deeply etched in my mind.
Islands in the south
We have come far
To spend the time together
With the islanders
How we treasure these three days
Both His Majesty and I.
(Notes to Her Majesty's Waka) :

Note to poem 1 :
Quite a few former Japanese soldiers remained in Viet Nam after World War II and joined the Vietnamese people in their war of independence from France. They had Vietnamese families there but were forced to return to Japan without them, so a number of Vietnamese families of former Japanese soldiers were left behind in Viet Nam. When Their Majesties the Emperor and the Empress visited Viet Nam earlier this year, They had occasion to meet some of them. In this poem, Her Majesty refers to that encounter.

Note to poem 2 :
Ever since the Great East Japan Earthquake, Her Majesty the Empress has always had the condition of the afflicted areas in Her thoughts. Soon after the earthquake, Her Majesty found and noted, among the many afflicted areas, a place called Nobiru, the same name as the plant Nobiru, or wild rocambole, Allium macrostemon, She would often pick in the garden in the springtime. In this poem, Her Majesty describes how the name Nobiru has now become unforgettable for Her as an afflicted area.

Note to poem 3 :
In November, Their Majesties the Emperor and the Empress visited Kagoshima Prefecture and, in Yakushima, They conversed with the residents of Kuchino-erabujima who came to see Them from their island. These residents were forced to evacuate their island completely after the eruption of Niidake two and a half years ago, sought refuge in Yakushima, but were able to return to their island a year ago. Their Majesties also visited the islands of Okino-erabujima and Yoronjima for the first time. During Their three-day visit, Their Majesties met with the residents on each of the islands. In this poem, Her Majesty shows how Their Majesties treasure those three days as a precious memory.

(Including these three islands, Their Majesties have so far visited 53 islands in Japan.)