A wonderful compilation of poems, well translated by Sam Hamill and Keiko Matsui, illustrated by Stephen Addiss, written by the "goddess of poetry", Yosano Akiko (1878-1942). In the introduction, there is a brief description of the life of this wonderful woman poet. There we learn that she was the epitome of early twentieth century Japanese feminism, social reform and romanticism. The poet was so noted by her peers, that her era is referred to as the Age of Akiko. Born out of a family of poets and literati, she was initially despised by her father, who sought a male son. Afterwards, her father gave her the best available education and supported her fully. Her life was full of adversities and triumphs, and her love story with a romantic womanizer poet, Yosano Hiroshi (pen name Tekkan) reminds me, in a way, of Frida Kahlo's relationship with Diego Rivera. Proficient in modern occidental literature, she can be seen, in the context of her times, as a modernist poet; the first in Japanese history to criticize openly the emperor. Throughout the poems written in tanka form, compiled in this edition, we can perceive and feel her struggle to look directly into the heart and reveal the complexity of the human being, as well as the hues of erotic, spiritual and familial love. There are also some modern style poems which confirm, again the genius and sensibility of the greatest 20th century woman poet of Japan.
"Raindrops continue
to fall on white lotus leaves.
While my lover paints
I open the umbrella
on his little boat....." Long live Akiko!

As a poet, I can barely open this book without the muse whispering in my ear. The translations are superb - page after page of delicious tanka with a small section of "modern style poems" at the end. The brush illustrations by Stephen Addiss visually enhance a magnificent experience. Don't miss it!

This volume of poetry has the same high quality one has come to expect of Sam Hamill. It is enhanced by brush and ink illustrations by Stephen Addiss and a brief biographic introduction to the poem Yosano Akiko.

The most jarring poems are the twelve in modern style - jarring in the sense of being furthest from the reader's expectations. "Women Are Plunder" is a feminist poem opening with the image of a department store sale as a universal call to women. "The Town of Amazement" describes a Utopia - one without student plays - in which the power structure (political, educational, legal, religious. famial) is leveled. "Cold Supper" explores family financial troubles, a plight frequent in the poet's life. "You Shall Not Be Killed, Brother!" is a pacifist poem. Most of these modern poems are relatively time bound - interesting but ephemeral with some exceptions.

The poems written in the traditional tanka form, however, are more universal exploring sensuality, sexuality, religion ... An example: "On her cheek and mine, / although our minds so differ, / like utter strangers, / the pine winds blow equally - / almost as though we were friends." In these poems one sees a genius transforming traditional image and form into something new, expressing experience previously hidden and confronting the changing views of society.

"To punish-- Men for their endless sins,-- God gave me-- This fair skin,-- This long black hair!"

Imagine writing that in turn of the century Japan, at a time when women were considered to be barely human and feminism was unheard of! Yosano Akiko's beautiful poems broke with tradition and spoke of love, the emancipation of woman, and the pleasures of the flesh. Attacking conventional morals, she glorified the female body and defended sexuality, but there is more to her poems even, than that. The title, Midare Gami means "tangled hair" and is a typically oblique Japanese expression that, despite its indirectness, is utterly fraught with nuance and meaning. Tangled hair refers not to hair that is messy or untidy, but to hair tousled by love making and is a constant theme in her poems. Yosano Akiko brought new meanings to the term, and used it to connote female emancipation and sexual freedom.

Although Yosano Akiko is important in Japanese literary circles because she wrote about things that no one had ever dared to write about before, her poems are more than just historical curiosities. They are hauntingly beautiful, and her choices of images are incredibly vivid.

She says so much in so few words, that one can spend days thinking about a simple three or four line poem no matter how many times one reads her work, one can always find new things that one had not seen before. It is fascinating to read the thoughts of a woman who truly lived her life for love and art, and who was constantly struggling to come to grips with the conflict between one's ideas about the way that life ought to be and the way it really is. Her poems about being betrayed by men who go off to have affairs, or the sad verses about women waiting for men to come home, or the lamentations on the emphemerality of beauty and youth are unforgettable. As Pico Iyer discusses in his book The Lady and the Monk some of her best poems have to do with the conflict that the monk faces when he is torn between his love for a woman and his quest to escape from the longings and desires of the material world.

Yosano Akiko's poems are very difficult to understand, as the many of the cultural references and symbols she uses are not familiar to westerners, but fortunately there is an excellent appendix which provides explanations for all the poems.

Tangled Hair: Selected Tanka From Midaregami is a selection of Akiko Yosano's rather impressive Japanese poetry, which was originally published in 1901, and is here superbly translated by the combined efforts of Sanford Goldstein (Professor Emeritus, Purdue University and Keiwa College, Japan) and Seishi Shinoda (Niigata University, Japan) into English for a new generation of readers. The "tanka" is the most popular form of Japanese poetry, representing 1,200 years of literary history and tradition. These translations are sensitive to context and subtle word meaning, are presented with extensive notes concerning the poems themselves, and include facets relating to the author's life. 95: Through these pines/The breeze equally/On her cheeks and mine,/Yet how like strangers/Our thoughts.

The tanka collected in this volume are simple and elegant. I would say perfect, but I suppose that's a dangerous word. Heck, I like danger; they're perfect. Not one extra word or unessesary image in the whole book. Now, in my fast food culture "without excess" is a rare,beautiful,almost inconcievable thing. I suppose that's one reason I cherish this particular book. Using quiet traditional images from nature; moonlight,cherry blossoms, morning dew, the high cries of the cranes the author cuts deep into the collective human experience. It quiets my soul. I'm amazed. In the words of Josef Albers "Less" in this case certainly "is more".