We had a marvelous time at the 2019 Greater Kansas City Japan Festival in Kansas City on Saturaday. Many people attended our Shikoku pilgrimage lecture. The festival had an eclectic schedule involving performances, vendors, food, and events. There were sumo wrestling and your favorite anime characters. Click on the image for a larger view.
Category Archives: Hakusan Creation
Lest We Forget
Lest We Forget is a photographic exhibition of holocaust survivors at the National World War I Memorial in Kansas City. This is the work of the German-Italian photographer and filmmaker Luigi Toscano. He took portraits of almost 400 Holocaust survivors in the United States, Germany, Ukraine, Russia, Israel, Belarus, Austria, and the Netherlands. 70 are presented here on large semi-tranparent panels. The exhibition runs until October 8th. Click on the image for a larger view.
Kansas City Japan Festival
Naomi and I will be speaking at this year’s Kansas City Japan Festival. We will be giving a one-hour presentation on our experience of the 88 Sacred Places of Shikoku Pilgrimage, a 700-mile walking pilgrimage around the island of Shikoku in Japan. Our presentation is at 1 pm in the recital hall, but events are planned for the entire day.
The festival is on October 5th at the Johnson County Community College and sponsored by the Heart of America Japan-America Society. More can be found on the festival website.
Winter
Solitary Sunday
Blanket of snow
My gaze
My silence
（1989）
TRANSLATED FROM THE JAPANESE POETRY BOOK ON LOVE
OTOHIME KARA URASHIMA TARO NI TSUGU BY NAOMI OTSUBO.
FROM CHAPTER ONE, BEFORE MEETING
冬
ひとりの 休日に
いちめんの 雪
みつめる わたし
音のない わたし
（1989年）
恋愛詩集「乙姫から浦島太郎に告ぐ」第1章出会い前 より
A Law of the Universe
I’m patting my dog’s head
over and over.
Something amazing is happening.
I am becoming happier and happier.
.（1988）
TRANSLATED FROM THE JAPANESE POETRY BOOK ON LOVE
OTOHIME KARA URASHIMA TARO NI TSUGU BY NAOMI OTSUBO.
FROM CHAPTER ONE, BEFORE MEETING
宇宙の法則
犬の頭をなでる
コロコロと なでる
なぜか 自分が うれしくなってくる
すごいことが おきている
（1988）
恋愛詩集「乙姫から浦島太郎に告ぐ」第1章出会い前 より
I won’t cry
My funeral
A friend’s funeral
Not to cry after a death
with unexpressed gratitude
I will face them now
with “arigato.”
Note: arigato is an expression of thanks or gratitude in Japanese.
TRANSLATED FROM THE JAPANESE POETRY BOOK ON LOVE
OTOHIME KARA URASHIMA TARO NI TSUGU BY NAOMI OTSUBO.
FROM CHAPTER ONE, BEFORE MEETING
(Original Japanese poem)
私は泣かない
自分の葬式
他人の葬式
死んでから
鳴いて感謝するよりも
向かい合った「ありがとう」を
私は選ぶ
恋愛詩集「乙姫から浦島太郎に告ぐ」第1章出会い前 より
Cinderella’s Carriage
Midnight parties are
sheer sadness
The taxi in front of me is
a mere pumpkin
Oh, pumkin, pumpkin
You are white tonight
(1990)
Note: In Japan, taxis come in a variety of colors: black, white, green, yellow, blue, etc.
TRANSLATED FROM THE JAPANESE POETRY BOOK ON LOVE
OTOHIME KARA URASHIMA TARO NI TSUGU BY NAOMI OTSUBO.
FROM CHAPTER ONE, BEFORE MEETING
シンデレラの馬車
真夜中の宴会は
ただの かなしみ
目の前のタクシーは
ただの かぼちゃ
かほちゃよ かぼちゃ
今日のは 白いな
恋愛詩集「乙姫から浦島太郎に告ぐ」第1章出会い前 より
Vacant
Ah!
How vacant it is
Wonderously vacant
Incessently vacant
But, my heart,
That’s OK
It’s a blessing
And indeed better
For just a litte longer
Stay this way and behave
(1988)
TRANSLATED FROM THE JAPANESE POETRY BOOK ON LOVE
OTOHIME KARA URASHIMA TARO NI TSUGU BY NAOMI OTSUBO.
From chapter one, before meeting
(Original Japanese poem)
空き部屋
まあ
なんて からっぽ
みごとに からっぽ
ずっと からっぽ
でも
それでいいの 私のこころよ
それが なにより
ほんとに なにより
今しばらくは
そこでおとなしく しておいで
恋愛詩集「乙姫から浦島太郎に告ぐ」第1章出会い前 より
Solitude
On the days I can approach people,
Everyone seems beautiful.
The air sparkles.
I don’t understand myself.
Why have I held onto this solitude?
(1987)
TRANSLATED FROM THE JAPANESE POETRY BOOK ON LOVE
OTOHIME KARA URASHIMA TARO NI TSUGU BY NAOMI OTSUBO.
From the chapter one, before meeting
（ORIGINAL JAPANESE POEM）
勇気の孤独
自分から 人に
話しかけることができた日は
どんな人も 美しく思える
大気が きらめいて見える
どうしたものか 自分よ
何もそこまで 孤独になるな
恋愛詩集「乙姫から浦島太郎に告ぐ」第1章出会い前 より
A Letter to the Stars
To the countless stars in the sky,
Does being round
make it easier for you
to travel through the universe?
Or, while on your travels,
did the universe beat you,
making you rounder and rounder?
Or, is it the space between us
that simply makes you appear round?
Is keeping a good distance your secret?
(1985)
TRANSLATED FROM THE JAPANESE POETRY BOOK ON LOVE
OTOHIME KARA URASHIMA TARO NI TSUGU BY NAOMI OTSUBO.
From chapter one, before meeting
（Original Japanese poEm）
お星さまへ
天空にまします数々のお星さま
丸ければ
宇宙で うまくまわっていられますか？
それとも
まわっているうちに
あの手この手で 宇宙が
丸くしにかかってくるんですか
それとも
何でもかんでも
遠くにおいてしまえば
丸く見えてくるもんですか？
つまり
距離をおくってことですね
