Year-end Presentations of Waka Poems

2018, The Thirtieth Year of Heisei

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

The 69th National Arbor Day Festival
Become a forest
For disaster prevention
That was my wish
As I planted black pine trees
In the land of Fukushima.
At the Opening Ceremony of the 73rd National Sports Festival
Here in Fukui
The storm is fast approaching
At the stadium
Awaiting the opening
The people spread out and dance.
The 38th Convention for the Development of an Abundantly Productive Sea
Remembering
My childhood days of long ago
When I kept this fish
The striped beakfish I release
Into the sea of Tosa.
Visiting Okinawa
So many people
Waving their paper lanterns
Gathered together
We waved our lanterns back
At night in Okinawa.
The Torrential Rains in Western Japan
As I watched
Images of turbid waters
On television
Surging through, destroying towns,
I mourned the loss of many lives.
(Notes to His Majesty's Waka) :

Note to poem 1 :
In June Their Majesties the Emperor and the Empress visited Fukushima Prefecture to attend the National Arbor Day Festival. On that occasion, His Majesty planted the seedlings of Japanese black pine, or kuromatsu, so they may grow into trees forming a coastal disaster prevention forest in the region devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake. In this poem, His Majesty recalls the occasion.

Note to poem 2 :
In September, Their Majesties the Emperor and the Empress visited Fukui Prefecture to attend the Opening Ceremony of the National Sports Festival. A typhoon was approaching and the Fukui Prefectural Stadium was drenched in pouring rain. In this poem, His Majesty recalls how, before the Opening Ceremony, the local people performed the wind orchestra and danced, braving the rain.

Note to poem 3 :
In October Their Majesties the Emperor and the Empress visited Kochi Prefecture to attend the National Convention for the Development of an Abundantly Productive Sea. As a child, His Majesty used to spend a part of His summer vacation at the Imperial Villa in Numazu. In His fish tank there He used to keep the fry of striped beakfish, or ishidai, and other fish caught in the fishing net. In this poem, His Majesty describes how he fondly recalled those days of His childhood as He released the fish.

Note to poem 4 :
In March Their Majesties the Emperor and the Empress visited Okinawa. At the end of the day filled with events, the locals gathered and waved their paper lanterns to welcome Their Majesties outside where They were staying in the city of Naha. In this poem, His Majesty describes how, despite the distance, Their Majesties were able to communicate with the people far away by the way They waved Their lanterns.

Note to poem 5 :
In July torrential rains hit western Japan, causing great damage to a large part of western Japan, from flooding of the rivers to landslides. In this poem, His Majesty recalls watching the scenes of destruction on television. (In September Their Majesties visited the three hardest-hit prefectures, Hiroshima, Okayama, and Ehime, to console those affected by the disaster.)

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

Yonaguni Island
Fondly I recall
Our trip to Yonaguni
The westernmost isle
Where we were shown a huge marlin
And native horses as well.
Late Summer
Still in bloom I see
Some late blooming red clovers
Along the moat
There goes a state carriage
Its duty duly finished.
Moving House
I know I’ll recall
Even after we leave here
How light filled this garden
As Your Majesty stood theres
Still youthful and radiant.
(Notes to Her Majesty's Waka) :

Note to poem 1 :
In March Their Majesties visited Okinawa’s Yonaguni Island, the westernmost island of Japan. In this poem Her Majesty recalls fondly this visit when, as They listened to the explanation by the people of the island, Their Majesties were shown a huge Indo-Pacific blue marlin caught at Irizaki, the westernmost point of the island, and at the easternmost point Agarizaki, several wild horses native to the island.

Note to poem 2 :
In late summer, when the flowering season of red clovers was drawing to a close, Her Majesty saw the state carriage slowly returning along the palace moat after performing its duty of taking the newly arrived foreign ambassadors to and from the Imperial Palace on the occasion of the presentation of their credentials to the Emperor. In this poem, Her Majesty imagines the sense of fulfillment and relief those engaged in the work must have felt at the time.

Note to poem 3 :
After His Majesty’s abdication at the end of April next year, it is planned that Their Majesties will move from the Imperial Residence, where They have lived from December 1993 to the Imperial Family Residence in Takanawa. In this poem, Her Majesty recalls seeing the still youthful Emperor standing in the garden soon after They moved to the Imperial Residence.