Women’s war-themed poetr y has been

Articlelong neglected in Japanese literary studies.
This paper discusses one of the earliest women’s poems of the Asia-Pacific War publishedin arguably the first women’s free-style shi-po-

Early Women’s Poetry of
the Asia-Paciﬁc War
Poems from Contemporary Womenstream Poets Anthology
現代女流詩人集

etry anthology, Contemporary Women-stream
Poets Anthology 現代女流詩人集 ,1）as a part of
my women’s war-poetr y research project,which aims to reveal what women wrote during the war on war-related issues, to analyze
how they grasped the war and tried to express
their war experiences in their poems, and possibly to examine the reasons why they did so. I
hope this paper gives some examples of women’s war poetry and demonstrates the variety of

Rina Kikuchi

Shiga University / Associate Professor

their voices.

I

Contemporary
Women-stream
Poets Anthology
Contemporary Women-stream Poets An-

thology (CWSPA) was edited by Nagata Suketaro (永 田 助 太 郎) and Yamada Iwazaburo (山田 岩 三 郎 ) and published from Sangabo-pub-lisher in November 1940. 2）When published,

1）Women-stream is originally joryū 女 流 in Japanese,

which is of ten translated as ‘women’s’. However, theword joryū is different from josei 女性 , which means‘women’ or ‘women’s’. Jor yū-poetry and josei-poetry
have diﬀerent connotation. Joryū means women-stream
or women’s stream, which is not or cannot be a part ofmain-stream. It suggests that women’s works are notconsidered to belong to the ‘main-stream’ of literature,and thus women need to have their own stream.
2）In this paper, the names of the Japanese poets/editors

follow the Japanese convention, which is a family namefirst followed by a given name.

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彦根論叢

Winter / Dec. 2019 / No.422

they proudly stated ‘there were no women po3）

gy is put together, with support and help fromets anthology’, implying that this is the firstthe senior women poets’. 8）She then acknowl-

women’s poetry anthology in Japan.

edges three senior women poets, Yosano Akiko

However, there were at least two antholo-(与 謝 野 晶 子 1878-1942), Fukao Sumako (深 尾gies of women’s poetry published prior to their

須 磨 子 1888-1974) and Ikuta Hanayo (生 田 花

publication. One was New Selection of Contem-

世 1888-1970).

porary Women-stream Tanka and Shi-poetry4）

What role Inoue played is not clearly stat-published in June 1930, with an introductioned, but Inoue seems to play a role of the repre-

written under the name of Yomiuri Newspa-

sentative of a group of women poets. In her in-per, one of the most influential newspapers in

troduction, Inoue uses the pronoun ‘we’ in-Japan. The poems included here were shi-po-

stead of ‘I’ and declares ‘we have put all ourems and tanka-poems which were priorly pub-passion and love for this anthology’. 9）Also, itlished in Yomiuri Newspaper (‘Afterwards’is implied that Inoue did not select the poems

p.19). The introduction boasts ‘there has neverfor the anthology, but these poems were select-

been a project, which involved such a large

ed and sent to Inoue by the poets themselves.

number of women shi-poets and tanka-poets

This antholog y includes two to five poems

5）in Japanese history’ and includes the works
of 57 tanka-poets and 17 shi-poets.

6）from 39 women poets. Many of them, such as
Nagase Kiyoko (永瀬清子 190-1995), Hayashi

The other is Japan Women Poets Antholo-

Fumiko ( 林 芙 美 子 1903-1951), Hanabusa Yo-gy.7）It was published in July 1930, a few weeks

shiko ( 英 美 子 1892-1983), Mori Michiyo ( 森after New Selection was published. Japan Wom-

三 千 代 1901-1977) and Takeuchi Teruyo (竹内en was edited by a woman poet, Inoue Kiyoko

てるよ 1904-2001), actively kept writing during( 井 上 淑 子 1903-1989). Inoue explains the pur-and after the Asia-Pacific War.

pose of this publication in the first sentence of

The publication process of CWSPA washer introduction: ‘Because it has been such a

different from the above two, because it was

regret that no anthology of women poets has

published as if it was the seventh volume of po-

ever been yet published in Japan, this antholo-e t r y a nt ho lo g y. P r ior t o p u b l i c a t ion of「詩歌のおほいに行はれる昨今にあつても、なほ遡る過去
3）girls, for it was often considered as one of the means fortheir better marriage.

に於ても、女流詩人のかかる華麗のアンソロヂーは江湖にみず（」現代女流詩人集 , p.391）

4）新選 現代 女 流詩歌集 . Hereafter abbreviated as New

Selection. Shi-poetry is a free-style poetry developed
only after Meiji Restoration, 188.
「今日までこれほど他州の女流歌人及び 詩人を集め得た
5）
企てはありません」P.4.

6）‘Contemporary’ meaning ‘living’ at the date of publi-

cation. Tanka has a long tradition, and because it developed as a love-poem exchange between men and women,
there are many women tanka-poets in Japanese literary
history. It was encouraged especially for upper class

Early Women’s Poetry of the Asia-Paciﬁc War

日本女性詩人集 . Hereafter abbreviated as Japan Wom7）en.
「日本に於ける女性詩人の詩花集が、いまだ刊行されぬの8）を遺憾として、先輩諸姉のお力を借りてこの集を編みました」（序 ‘Introduction’, no page number）

9）Note that in Japanese the subject is very often omit-

ted. There is a great emphasis on ‘we’ here in Inoue’s introduction. Underline emphasis added.

Rina Kikuchi

031

CWSPA, in 1940, they have published a set ofmura Chio (中村千尾 191-?) were included,

six volumes of Contemporary Poets Anthology.

along with some prose poems of Tsuyuki Yoko

There was no woman included in these six vol-(露 木 陽 子 1910-2003)11）and Shō hara Teruko

umes. Thus, it looks as if they dedicated their(荘原照子 1909-1999).

seventh volume exclusively to women. Howev-

The anthology, CWSPA successfully dem-er, the publisher, Kawaguchi Keigo (川口敬五)

onstrates the varieties of women’s poetic voices

explicitly states this is not meant to be theirof the time as well as how women of the timeseventh volume,10）as if implying the women’s

tried to express themselves through poetry.

poetry should not be considered as a part ofWar-themed poetry is a good example of strug-

contemporary Japanese poetry.

gles, conﬂicts and complexities of women poets

Despite the denial to be the seventh vol-of the time.

ume of this major poetr y collection of thetime, CWSPA follows the editorial layout of
the other six volumes of Contemporary Poets

II

Hanabusa Yoshiko(英美子 1892-1983)

Antholog y. It includes ten to twenty poems
from each poet. Because a large number of po-‘Fallen Blossom 散華’

ems are selected from each poet, it gives a reader a good understanding of each poet’s poetics‘This is my boy

and aesthetics. It almost looks like 15 solo po-

The day he graduated from aviation school at

etry books of 15 women put together as a book.

Kasumigaura ̶Each poet has given a title for the selection of

A memento of the time

her poems as if giving a title to her own solo

He received a gift from the Emperor,’

poetry collection and has her own introduc-

I say this, pointing at the desktop phototion or brief biography along with her autograph. It gives a good insight and understand-In a plaza, walled by red and white curtains,

ing of each poet.

In front of another long curtain,

Furthermore, this antholog y covers not

You, straight as a shoot of bamboo,

on ly the senior women poets but a lso theRaise your hand to salute the Emperor

younger emerging poets and introduces theI vividly feel‘latest’ trends of poetic movement of the time.

Your pulse, your pride

Good amount of modernist women poets, who

But only a few days later, far too soon,

were not included in 1930s anthologies, such as

He was sent to the Navy Base in Oita

Ema Shoko (江間章子 1913-2005) and Naka-）本女流詩人集は必ずしも先に刊行した『現代詩人集』の10「

Also known as Yamamoto Fujie (山本藤枝).
11）

続刊ではない。しかし、現代女流詩人の詞華修である意味においてそれにつながるものである（」後記 p.391）

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彦根論叢

Winter / Dec. 2019 / No.422

12）

May 24, 1939
7:25 in the evening

Dyeing the navy-blue wheat field withburning red

Those numbers ̶ forever, as long as I live ̶Like a falling meteorite

Will remain deeply lodged in my body and

The oﬃcers dashed there, shoutingsoul

Who’s that? Whose craft? What aircraft
number?

He joined a night drill

His body was clad tight in uniform,

In preparation for the heavy yet honorable

His face hidden in his helmet,

duty

It wasn’t easy to identify who he was

To which he was about to be called
They say he asked to lead the aircraft 95 incombat,One voice screamed, ‘Lieutenant Colonel
Ikeda!’

But that evening

Tearing through the darkness of nightHis life concluded at twenty-four years

His comrades-in-arms held their breath

As he died, becoming a fallen blossom in the

Then called your name like thunderopen skyWhile surrounding you, my boy

That was the last of him
His fighter plane crashed

Their cries called him back to life

Onto the great plains in Oita, darkness

Using his last strength, he sat,already falling

Held the control stick again

The title page with a short biographical essay and the12）
photo of the poet, Hanabusa Yoshi ko, in CW SPA(pp.143-144).

Early Women’s Poetry of the Asia-Paciﬁc War

Rina Kikuchi033

As if to lift his spirit and ﬂy once more

How he praised our boy, I wonder

He lasted only half a minute more

His name was written on an honorable ﬂag

They brought him to the Navy HospitalBut despite diligent care,
My boy’s soul left this worldof death‘Navy Lieutenant Colonel Ikeda, Seventh
Court Rank’̶ My Isamu,
The name you received in honor shines

In Oitabrilliantly

All wept for his heroic end
Those who knew him and those who did not

You

Attended the solemn military funeral

Made my wishes come true

All this was written in a heart-felt letter

Your mother, who adores the blue sky andI received from a perfect stranger

wide-open ocean,
Had her wishes granted thanks to you

That day

Beautiful both inside and outside, you

Was the southern sky
Beautiful with a misting of blossoms?
His father hurried there without packing athing

becameOne of the youngest, bravest soldiers of thesea, of Japan, of the Fatherland
Your death is in the utmost honor

13）CWSPA, p.154-153. All poems are translated by me

unless otherwise noted. I try to quote the whole poemin my papers on women’s war poetry, because these poems often have limited access. I believe it is importantfor each of us to read them and think what women of
the time went through.
This translation first appeared in Transference vol.(2018). Special thanks for Prof. Jef frey Angles, who
made beautiful suggestions on my draft.

この数字は―

私の命ある限り
私の肉体と魂とを深く抉るでせう。
近く、再び出動の重き栄えある内命を身に帯びて夜間演習に参加
かねて、あの児の志望の九五式戦闘機上に編隊を指揮してゐた、と申しますがその夕、あの児は

これは、あの児が二十四歳を一期として霞ヶ浦の航空隊卒業の日

大空に散華しはてたのでございます。

畏き辺りからの、恩賜品を拝受した時の記念の写真です

私は、その最後をと、私は、机上に飾つた一葉の写真を説明します。

纔に承りました

紅白の幔幕が張り廻らされた広場の中央

青き麦畑を、からくれなゐに染めて既に夕闇の迫つた大分 の曠野の一つの天幕の前に隕石のやうに堕ちた、一機へとお前は、一本 の竹のやうな姿勢でさつと押し集つた係りの人々は挙手の最敬礼をしてゐる誰れだ？ 何機だ？ と口々に絶叫するのでしたがその光景に波打つお前の矜持が飛行服に身を固め

私には、はつきりと感じられます

毛糸の飛行帽にすつかり包まれた顔はそれから、日ならず、あの児は容易に誰れと、見分けもつかなかつた。

大分航空隊に所属を命ぜられました。
その中に、池田中尉だ！ と昭和十四年四月二十四日

闇を裂く一声に

午後七時二十五分

固唾を呑んだ戦友達は

034

彦根論叢

Winter / Dec. 2019 / No.422

proud ‘military mother, 軍国 の 母 gunkoku-no-

I wish for nothing more in this world, forhaha’.

humankind, for myself
There is nothing more I wish to say

Hanabusa is one of the women pioneers of
free-style modern verse, and her first solo poet-

I, a nameless woman poet,ry collection, Over the White Bridge 白橋 の 上

Am humble, full of awe.

に , was published in 1925. She was one of the

I say ‘Long life ̶ banzai! ̶ to Your Majesty,

first five women who managed to publish a solo

the Emperor.’ 13）

free-style poetry collection in Japan. Hanabusa
wa s a l ready a wel l-recog ni zed poet whenThis poem by Hanabusa is one of the earli-

CWSPA was published. She explains her longest shi-poems by women which directly reﬂects

poetic career as her life exercise: ‘before I real-

the Ten’noism of wartime Japan. However, theized, writing poetry has become my physiology,

significance of this poem is not only the strong

the act of writing is beyond the judgement of

impact of Japan’s ten’nosei belief, which makes

good and evil’ (CWSPA, p.143). She did not

the poet celebrate her son’s death in the air-need to ‘sell’ her name as a poet by writing pro-force drill by saying ‘ten’no-heika banzai!’,

14）

paganda poetry.15）

but because it demonstrates the shift of theSome may claim it was necessary to praise

feeling from the sorrow f u l mother to thethe ten’no because of the censorship or the poet忽ち嵐のやうに、池田、池田、と最後の名の晴れやかさ。

お前を囲んで、叫び始めた。
お前はその声に、あの児は、息を吹き返しました

恒に、青空と、広き海とに

そして、懸命な力で半身を起すと限りない憧れをもつ、この母の直ぐ、操縦銲を握つて希望を、よく実現してくれました

再び飛ばうと試 みる気勢を示しました、が人となり秀れた、お前がそれは、僅に三十秒ばかり

祖国

海軍病院に運ばれ死所を得た欣びで

日本 の、海の若き荒鷲の一人となり

手厚い手当の甲斐なく

私は、もう、世にも、人にも、自分にもあの児は、魂絶えました。

何も、申す言葉はない。

大分 の街は

名もなき、女詩人の身としてその雄々しい最後にみな泣いて畏れ、かしこみ知るも、知らぬも

天皇陛下、万歳を申上げ奉る。

荘厳を極めた海軍葬の盛儀に参列しましたと、これは、未知の人から私への温い手紙です。

14）Heika means ‘His Majesty’. The word ten’no was al-

most always combined with heika as ten’no-heika.
15）Some have argued the less established poets thought

その日

南国の空は
美しく、花に霞んでゐたでせうか取るものも取り敢えず駈けつけた勇の父は、どんな風に、あの児を讃めてやつてくれたでせうか

it was a good chance to be better known in the literary
world and claim this as one of the reasons of writing
propaganda poetry (against their will or belief). This
does not apply to any of the poets I deal in this paper,for they were already established before they start writing poems in support of war.

光栄ある弔旗に刻ざまれた
海軍中尉、従七位池田勇のEarly Women’s Poetry of the Asia-Paciﬁc War

Rina Kikuchi

035needed to praise the ten’no to protect herself

the latter is what the mothers of the ten’no’sfrom the persecution, but I argue it was not thesoldiers would and should feel.

case. Most of the poems published in CWSPAThis is an autobiographical poem about

do not deal with ten’no. Most poems do not

her first-son, Isamu, who is the war-victim ineven mention the war. There are other war-re-

this poem. Hanabusa has given away Isamu

lated poems in this antholog y, but no otherwhen he was about six years old, and she has

women poets directly mention ten’no. Also, thenot seen him since. According to her first auto-

censorship was mainly for checking the words

biographical novel, Waves ( 浪 , 1941), which

related to communism, socialism, anti-imperi-

was published soon after this poem was pub-alism and anti-ten’noism. Praising ten’no or

lished, Hanabusa finds out Isamu’s death fromhaving the word, banzai, was not necessary.

Isamu’s stepmother. At that time, Hanabusa

It seems to me that Hanabusa wanted to

was living as a single mother with her second

make it clear that the mother in the poem isson, Atsumasa, whose father is different fromnot feeling sorry for her son’s death but hon-

Isamu’s.

ored, by using the phrase, ‘ten’no-heika banzai’

The details of the background of thisin the last line. It is interesting that the motherpoem as well as a dramatic life of a woman,in the poem clearly expresses her deep sorrow

who wanted to be a poet in the era which wasat the beginning of the poem but finishes with

diﬃcult for women to have any profession, areher praise for ten’no, who is the cause of her

narrated in Waves, but the most striking is the

son’s death. It does not seem consistent, andcontrast of the feelings towards Isamu and At-

the poem does not provide the reason whysumasa. I shall discuss the contrast between

there is such an emotional twist in the poem.

the feelings of the mother depicted in Waves

The tragedy of the poem lays in this para-and in Spring Car p Diar y 春鮒日記 (1953),

dox ica l t wist of the mother’s feeling : thewhich is about her life in the countryside withmother is sorrowful because of the death of her

Atsumasa from the spring 1945 to 1953, in ason, who has died to protect the ten’no’s coun-separate paper due to a limited number oftry, but in the end, she is filled with the feelingpages allowed in this issue.

of honour because of her son’s death, who has‘Over the Winter Mountains’ is anotherdied for ten’no. It seems to me as if the firstwar-related poem of Hanabusa included in thisfeeling is instinct, and the latter is a sociallyanthology. This poem was published in Febru-

learned response. However, the poem implies

ary 1940, first in the feminism journal, Kagayaku (which means ‘to shine’). This poem is16）Translation first published in Transference vol.(2018).

成る程、誰れも花を有つてゐない
たゞ、一筋な心に冬山を超すのである。
冬山を越す（湊病院を慰問する、輝く部隊の一行に加はりて。
）

伊豆は、埃を浴びてむつつりとしてゐた「花を持つて来れば可かつたね」

島、鷗、裸樹、山肌と、誰れかバスの中で言つた

何處を見ても寒い

036

彦根論叢

Winter / Dec. 2019 / No.422

about her visit to Minato Veteran’s Hospital inpressed through the act of praising ten’no in

Izu as a member of Kagayaku women’s troop, at he f i r s t p o em a nd i n t he s e cond p o em ,group of women writers and feminist advo-

through the act of visiting wounded soldierscates in support of war.

who are still willing to get well and fight.17）
The women in the latter poem are giving ‘com-‘We should have brought some ﬂowers,’

fort’ to those wounded in the hospital by their

Someone said in the bus.

visit, but at the same time, they are giving

She was right, no one has ﬂowers‘comfort’ to the frontline soldiers. The poem is

But still we go over the winter mountains

sending the message that the soldiers would be

Bearing only our pure hearts

treated respectfully and kindly at home front,even if they fail to be ‘war heroes’. Moreover,

The seaside town of Izu, covered in dust,

the women in the poem seem to find ‘comfort’

Greeted us gloomily

in their own sadness, fear and loss through theIslands, seagulls, fruit orchards, mountainact of visiting the hospital.

surfaces

III

Everything I see makes me cold
Lake Ippeki is the only blue

Ikuta Hanayo(生田花世 1888-1970)

Turning from the bus
I fill my fountain pen

Ikuta is another senior poet, who was very

With the clear water of this lonesome highland‘active’ and ‘productive’ during the war. She
started to publish her prose in literary journals
in 1924, and since then, she kept publishing

Minato Veterans’ Hospital, are we there yet?

tanka poems, shi-poems and autobiographicalNot yet, much, much further

short stories in various feminism and literaryThis mountain, that mountainjournals. During the war, she visited some Ja-

From the city of Shimoda,
We once more go over the mountains

pan-occupied towns and cities in Asia as part16）of ‘comfort’ visits as a poet and published ninesolo-books between 1940 and 1945.18）

Though these appear to be the poems in sup-For CWSPA, Ikuta submitted eleven po-port of war, I argue that the immediate feeling

ems, under the title of ‘Japan-Sino Poetry Col-of a woman, who must do something to over-lection (日支詩篇)’ along with her photo taken

come the daily fear of losing her son(s) is ex-

in front of the destroyed buildings and piles of

青いのは、一碧湖だけ

下田の街から

高原の孤独に澄む水をまた、山越すのである

私は、バスから振り返つて
万年筆に入れた。
湊病院は、まだか

17）Hanabusa actually meets soldiers who knew Isamu

in these ‘comfort’ visits. I am using the word, ‘comfort’
here as the equivalent of Japanese ‘ian (慰安)’.

まだです、まだ、まだ

18）About Ikuta’s war poems, see pp.71-75 in my paper

あの山、この山

on ‘Ikuta Hanayo’ in Women Literates in Tottori (2017).

Early Women’s Poetry of the Asia-Paciﬁc War

Rina Kikuchi

037

rubble. Many of these poems are about her visit

occupation but the friendship between China

to Japan occupied China in September 1939.

and Japan is emphasized.

This photo must have been taken during thisIn the poem, ‘Celebrating the establishment of Chinese Nationalist Party 国民政府生

trip.
Despite the fact that she is visiting the誕 を 祝 し て’, Ikuta finishes the poem by cele-

battle fields and meeting Japanese soldiers at

brating the collaboration of China and Japanfront line, the relationship between China andfor the better future:

Japa n in her poems is na ively depicted a sfriendship. Strongly reflecting the concept of

Now is the time, we work together

Holy War, Japanese soldiers appear to be fight-

Oh, this is such a joy

ing ‘for China’ not ‘against China’. The poet

The utopia Japan and China longed for

innocently seems believe the peace in Asia will

Shall come true because of this20）

be brought by the Japanese soldiers she has visited during her ‘comfort’ trip. There is no sign

A girl in China is also simplified or reduced toof occupation or imperialism in these poems.

as an icon as a friendship tool between China

In these poems, China neither appears as Ja-

and Japan:

pan’s enemy nor the victim of Imperial Japan’s

19）

The title page with a short biographical essay and the19）photo of the poet, Ikuta Hanayo, in CWSPA (pp.19-20).

038（最終 4 行のみ抜20）Last 4 lines.「国民政府生誕を祝して」
粋） 今ぞ

力を合す／嗚呼

喜ばしきかな／日支待望の楽園／これよりぞ来る

彦根論叢

Winter / Dec. 2019 / No.422

Along the horse carriage pathheroes for the people in China just like they

To visit Hánsh ā nsì temple

were thought to be the war heroes in Japan.

Violet ﬂowers, too,

Ikuta’s poetic focus was somehow limited

Line upto the emotional turmoil and inner selves ofA gūniáng with round eyebrows picks them

Yamato people. In the first poem of CWSPATo present to a tsuwamono-soldier of theanthology, ‘Battle Ship Dispatch 出征船’, Ikuta

country Japan 21）

depicts the emotions of the parents who could
do nothing but repeat crying out ‘banzai’, 22）

Though it may imply the colonial relationshipwhen sending their son off to the front line.

between China and Japan, by symbolizing

The poem is set five minutes before the ship’s

China as a young, pure, pretty woman suggest-

departure. There is a father (st.5) and a mothered by violets and Japan as a man, a brave soldier(st.) looking up the ship. The emotions in(tsuwamono), the focus is more on the purity ofboth stanzas are intense. In stanza 5, ‘the eyes

a young Chinese girl and her respect for a Japa-of the father under smiling face / put all his

nese soldier. Ikuta’s poems do not show at-energy and spirit’23）to stare at his own son out

tempts to explore a Chinese girl’s feelings orof thousands of soldiers on board. Following

her viewpoints, but a Chinese girl is used only

the same poetic pattern and rhythm, stanza as an ornamental figure to (mis)represent thedescribes a mother: ‘the hand of the motherlocal respect Japanese soldiers have won inunder her falling tears / holds her own breast

China.

tightly’. 24）In stanza 7, the ship starts to move

It is shocking, and to some extent hard toaway:

believe, that Ikuta, one of the advocates ofwomen’s right and established poets, seems toThousands of fathers cry out

lack the imagination what Japanese soldiersThousands of mothers wave her arm

meant for the young girls in China at that

Trying to hang on to the last two minutes,

time. For Chinese girls, Japanese soldiers were

to cling to one last minute25）

invaders. They could have been raped andkilled. However, Ikuta does not seem to have a

The narrative in stanzas 8 and 9 carries the sol-slightest doubt that Japanese soldiers were thediers slowly away. The soldiers, standing stiffly」最終 6 行のみ抜粋）
21）Last 6 lines.「支那の春を思ふ（

23）笑の中で父の眼は／父の精力をつぎこむのだ (CWSPA

寒山寺訪ふ／馬車のみち／菫の花も／咲くならむ／／

p.23)

眉まるかりしクーニャンの／摘みておくらむ日本 の国のつはものに22）Literary means ‘Long life to Emperor’ but it wascommonly used for cheering up the soldiers going to thefront line and battle field. It is also commonly used forcelebrations, meaning ‘Hurray’.

Early Women’s Poetry of the Asia-Paciﬁc War24）涙の下で母の手は／母の乳房をふくめるのだ (CWSPA

pp.23-24)
CWSPA p.24.
25）

千人の父は叫び／千人の母は手を振り／二分を惜しみ一分にすがる

Rina Kikuchi039

at attention, never move. They are getting

ems, Ikuta seems to view Japanese soldiers as

smaller and smaller, and finally blend into the‘victims’ of the Japanese Imperialism.

ship:
Losing sight of their target, the herd ofIV

Ema Shoko(江間章子 1913-2005)

mothers and fathers
Kept crying out ‘banzai’, ‘banzai’,repeatedly. 26）

A modernist poet, Ema Shoko, selected 20
poems for CWSPA anthology. Many of them
are witty, uniquely structured poems, full of

Ikuta did not seem to grasp the fact that these

foreign words. These poetic elements wereyoung men who were sent off with their par-‘fashionable’ in the modernism poetry of theents’ tears became villains once arrived in Chi-time. 28）Ema, too, has some poems in relation

na in her war poems. Almost in all her war-po-

to war in CWSPA.

27）

The last two lines (CWSPA p.25)
26）

The title page with a short biographical essay and the27）

対象を失つた父母の大群は／「万歳」「万歳」と叫びつづけ

photo of the poet, Ema Shoko, in CWSPA (pp.239-240).

た28）It is interesting to compare her early modernism po-

ems with her war poems.

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Winter / Dec. 2019 / No.422

‘Autumn Flower Basket 秋の花籠’ is an el-

Ema and Nakamura Chio, applied their mod-egy for the journalist who has lost his life inernism techniques in some of their war poems.

Nomonhan Incident (known as the Battle ofThis poem is crucial, for it proves poets

Khalkhin Gol in the former Soviet Union andcould publish poems which lament the war

29 ）dead. They did not have to necessarily cry out

which took place in Mongolia from May to‘banzai’ for their lost lives, but simply express

September 1939. Japa nese sold iers foug ht

sorrow in a subtle way, if not using the cen-against Mongolian and Soviet armies and weresored words explicitly. Ema successfully ap-

defeated severely.

plied her poetic skills in order to express in

the Battle of Halhin Gol in Mongolia),

order to express her sorrow without being too
Tiny shoes with fine embroideries,
Pure white evening dress with high collar,a ring with jewels shining with the color of

explicit.
Another example of such is ‘The snake of1937 一九三七年の蛇’.

grass and sea,
I have put all of them and then

War steals men from women, it is said,

wrapped the green ‘Osaka Mainichi

but it deprived me of my eyes.

Newspaper’ logo armband.
This armband was on Sato, the journalist,
who has lost his life as a war correspondent
at Baintsagan Hill last July. 30）

I feel as if I am in love with the stature
without a form.
I hear as if all words and voices come from agramophone.
It is as if pinning a photo of an actress in myThis collage like images from line 1 to 3 is aold room when I was poor.

technique she has learnt as a modernist poet inO, the orange colored sun,the 1920s and 30s. Many of the male (ex-)mod-are you being out there even at night?

ernist poets stopped using these techniques

I will go to the cinema and listen to music.

when writing war poems and went back to the

The first violet of spring, I will give to you.

traditional Japanese poetic style, but interest-

The image of eternity is raining again

ingly, women (ex-)modernist poets, such as

today. 31）

29）About the names of the places in English related to31）戦争は女から男たちを奪ふといふけれど

t h i s po em , see ht t ps://w w2db.com /bat t le _ sp ec .
php?battle_id=89 (10 Jan. 2019).

それはぼくから眼をとりあげた

30）きれいな刺繍の小さな靴よ
カラアの高い純白のソワレよ

海と草の色に光る宝石の指輪よ
わたしはそれらを身につけて「大阪毎日」の緑の腕章を捲いてみた
これは去る七月バルシャガル高原近くで報道戦線 の 華と散つた

佐藤記者の腕にまかれてゐたものである (p.260)

Early Women’s Poetry of the Asia-Paciﬁc War

ぼくは姿のない彫刻を愛し合 つてゐる気持だ

優しい声も言葉もレコードをかけてゐるやうだ
ちやうどむかし、貧しかつた室に女優の写真一枚貼りつけてゐたやうな
オレンヂ 色の太陽よ
お前は夜でも出てゆくのか
ぼくはシネマへ行つて音楽を聴かう

春は最初のすみれの花を貴方に上げませう
けふも永遠のイメエヂに雨がふる (pp.257-258)

Rina Kikuchi

041

This poem is unique, because ‘I’ in the poem ispoems, which use the first-person narrative

a male first person, speaking of his lost sight invoice, ‘we, Yamato women’. In both poems,

the battle. It was very rare for women poets of

Ema is trying to grasp the moment of personal

the time to write a poem using a male voice.

emotion not through the feeling but through

It is often arg ued that poets could not

the objects. In the first poem, it was the arm-

write anti-war poems and it was one of the rea-band. In the second poem, it is the music (re-sons they ended up producing many pro-war

cords) and visions (cinemas) which connect his

poems. However, as Ema’s poems prove, notpast he could see and his present he cannot see.

being able to write anti-war poems does notmean they have no choice but to write pro-war
poems. Her war-poems show that there wereV

Ueda Shizue(上田静栄 , 1898-1991)

different approaches to the war poems. These
two poems are either pro-war or anti-war, but

In this anthology, not only Ema, but alsoboth deal with the victims of the war, which as

some of other modernist women poets demon-a result, may leave a reader a feeling of anger,

strate the inﬂuences from the Western culture

sadness or even aversion towards war.

and literature. Ueda Shizue is another exam-

In contrast to many other war poems pub-ple. Ueda started her poetic career with anar-lished during the war, especially after Pearlchist or socialist inclinations, but after her

Habour Attack in 1941, Ema’s war poems pay

marriage to a modernist poet, Ueda Tamotsu

little respect to 7-5 syllable counting poetic(上 田 保 190-1973), she started writing poems

trad ition. I nstead , Ema f reely enjoys theunder modernist influences. Her poems in-

katakana-words, just like she did before thecluded in this anthology show a unique mix-

war in her modernism poetry. These katakana-ture of socialism and modernism. A good ex-

words are the adopted words from the Western

ample is her ‘The Lady’s Cat 貴婦人の猫’. It is alanguages. In the ‘The snake of 1937’, for exam-satirical poem with the symphonic image of allple, we can observe cinema シネマ, image イメエ

the cats owned by a rich lady being burnt one

ヂ, gramophone レコード and evening dress ソ

after another.

ワレ (soiree from French).

‘Thinking of the warriors 戦 士 を 想 ふ’ by

Not only the vocabularies, but the images

Ueda demonstrates the association with the

Ema uses in her poems very much reﬂect West-war. This poem also shows a curious combina-

ern cultures. For instance, her poems are muchtion of her interests in social issues and mod-more individualistic than other war-themed

ernist poetics, though not as explicitly as in

CWSPA p.195.「戦士を想ふ」
32）33）pp.195-197. Italics added in l.7.

大陸の戦野をかける勇士たちよ。

天も地もきびしい白色だ。

私はいつもあなたたちを見つめてゐる。

充満する白銀の光は、

この詩はある日ニユース映画で私の見た無限の鋭い矢だ。

あなたたちの姿です。

雪白の房と揺らぐ樹木。
うねり輝く高原を、

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彦根論叢

Winter / Dec. 2019 / No.422

‘The Lady’s Cat’. The poem has a four-line ex-

Rapid heartbeats at the battle

planation at the beginning:

Their life is unmercifully white 33）

For the warriors, who run through thebattlefield of the continent

While many of the women’s war poetry is subjective and emotional, this poem is rather ob-

I am always watching you

jective. Ueda applies one of the modernist

This poem is dedicated to you

techniques, which tries to eliminate feelings of

To you, I saw in the evening motion picture

the objects in the poem, and tries to compose a32）

picture-like poem, which was one of the char-news on that day

acteristics of Japanese modernist poetry. It
Then, the poem begins:

works eﬀectively, for this poem is about a scene
she has seen at the motion picture news. The

The heaven and earth, unmercifully whitescener y is all white. It must be somewhere

Silver white lights filling the air

snowy. The poet overlaps the image of the land

Are the infinite sharp arrows

the soldiers are sent to with the image of theircold, freezing , shivering feelings by using

Along with snow white bunches of blossoms,
the trees swing‘white’.
It is worth noting that Ueda has chosen

Through the winding, shining grassland

the word, warrior戦士 senshi, for the title. This

From valley to valley

word, senshi, was hardly used for war poetry in

The soldiers march

Japan. Instead, the word, soldiers ( 兵 隊 heitai

Marching, this one action,or 兵士 heishi) was used. Many women used

Is made of thousands of farewells

heitai-san (兵隊さん), which literary mean Mr.

Their heart is unmercifully white

Soldier. A word, ‘san’ in heitai-san, is a polite
suffix. It is one of the Japanese honorifics,

Making snow a shieldwhich indicates attachment, respect and aﬀec-

Staring fiercely at the black steel dragon,tion of the speaker. Men poets rarely used heit-

Shivering with anger at white smoke of the

ai-san. It was mainly used by women or for

muzzles,chi ldren’s verse. In the poem itself, Ueda

Snow blossoms fall with a shower of sparks

chooses not to use the word, senshi, but replac-

They stare and starees it with heishi (l.7).

They fire and fire

谷から谷 へ、睨む鋼鉄の黒き龍。

進撃する兵士たち。

怒り慄 ふ銃口の白い炎。

その一つの行動と、火花と散る雪花。

千の訣別よ。

彼等は凝視する。

彼等の心情はきびしい白色だ。

彼等は射つ。
戦ひのはげしい鼓動だ。

雪を楯に、

Early Women’s Poetry of the Asia-Paciﬁc War

彼等の生命はきびしい白色だ。

Rina Kikuchi

043

The word, senshi was avoided in poetry,most likely because the pronunciation is exact-V

Sh ō hara Teruko(荘原照子 1910-1999)

ly the same as senshi ( 戦死 ), which means thedeath in war. Sen ( 戦 ) means battles or war or

It is worth noting another modernist

fighting. The kanji character for shi (士) in sol-poet, Sh ō hara Teruko, although, or rather be-dier means ‘a person’, but a kanji character forcause, none of her poems published here are

war dead, shi (死) means death. It is clear when

war related. She has nine poems, including

you are reading the poem on the page, because

eight-pages long prose poem, ‘Moon Pollens’

the different kanji-character is used for ‘shi’.

(月 の 花 粉) in this anthology. Her poems are

However, if you are listing to the poem, it has avery imagistic and full of Western images withdifferent effect. Many war poems were readlots of katanaka-words. Her poem, ‘The Tree34）

and therefore

in Desert ( 砂漠の木 )’ has a queen ( 王 妃 ) andthe sounds of each words must have been cru-

princess (王 女) instead of empress or emperor.

cial.

The name of the girl in ‘Dream Growing’ (育つaloud during the war time,

Moreover, in Japanese culture, there is a夢)’ is Erica (エリカ). There is a sofa (ソフ ア ー )strong belief that the spoken words have poweron the Persian carpet（ ペ ル シ ャ 絨 毯 ）in ‘At

to make what is spoken come true. The soundNight (夜 に)’, and a pieta painting of Amedeoof the words has a spiritual power. The word

Clemente Modigliani (1884-1920) in ‘Eagle

senshi (warrior 戦 士 ) would sound like a curse

Dwelling Dish (鷲 の 棲 む 皿)’, and even Jesus

or bad spell, when spoken to a soldier who is

Christ (キリスト) in ‘Moon Pollens’ (月 の 花 粉)

going to the battlefield, for it does sound like a(p.308).

curse to bring senshi (the death in battle 戦 死)Sh ō hara has been a mysterious figure forto him. In other words, the title, ‘Thinking of

long. She started her poetic career in Shii-no-ki

the warriors’ sounds like ‘Thinking of the war(Oak Tree 椎の木 ), which was a poetry journal

dead’, which would suggest the double mean-organized by Momota S ō ji. Many establisheding of the poem. The poet is thinking of thepoets, such as Mur ō Saisei ( 室 生 犀 星 1889-

soldiers she saw in the motion film news, how-192) and Nishiwaki Junzaburo (西 脇 順 三 郎

ever at the same time, she is thinking of those

1894-1982) and younger emerging poets, such

who were killed and are going to be killed.

as Ito Sei (伊藤整 1905-199), Sagawa Chika (左川ちか 1911-193) joined, and the group pro-

duced many modernist poets.
Sh ō hara’s poems and prose were collected
and published in the solo collection, Roman

34）Discussed in Celebration of Voices 声の祝祭 (Hideto

Tsuboi, 1997).

044

彦根論叢

Winter / Dec. 2019 / No.422

Poesy : Mars’ Rose (マルスの薔薇 ろまん・ぽえじ

In 1957, seven years after the surrender ofい) in 193, edited by a poet and a book design-

Japan, one of the major poetry journals, Poetics

er Aki Shunosuke (秋朱之介 b?-d?). According( 詩学 ) published an obituary that Sh ō hara35）

he has never met her, but‘who lived in Yokohama, has moved to Sendai

she kept sending him her works. One day, itat the end of the war but soon after died of ill-

stopped because, he assumed, she became too

ness’. Many years later, Sh ō hara confessed she

exhausted of looking after her sick mother andread this obituary in Tottori. Her story proves

could not write any more. He selected some ofthat there was a woman poet, who publishedthem and publishing them on behalf of her. He

and tried to continue to write anti-war poems

hopes this book will arrive at her door out ofduring the war, risking her own life.

to his afterward,

blue, make her mother well and make Teruchan (Shōhara’s nickname) happy.

Conclusion

In 1940, her poems were collected in thisCWSPA, but her poems are not collected in

These war poems demonstrate that women

any other women’s anthologies. She totally dis-poets approached war in many different ways

appears by 1945. Many believed she has died ofin their poetry. Hanabusa Yoshiko seems toillness.

express women’s urgent need to become patri-

In 197, Sh ō hara was re-discovered andotic in order to fill in or to cope with the loss

told how she ‘disappeared’ from the poetrycaused by war. On the other hand, it seems

scene. 36）She was watched by the Special Police

Ema Shoko felt more perplexed towards war(特高警察) after China Incident in 1937, for her

and searched the way to express anxiety andprose published in Mars’ Rose was satirical anduncertainty about their war experiences. Ikuta

had some critical points about Sino-Japan war.

Hanayo seems to me that she felt determined

She was also severely suﬀering from tuberculo-

by the government party line and wrote as if

sis. In June 1945, the sergeant officer from theshe tried to convince herself as well as others

special police who has been watching warned

by writing what she tried to believe in, such asthat she would be killed if she stays in Yokoha-

a concept of Holy War in Asia. And there werema and helped her to get away from the special

some like Ueda and Shō hara who tried to cap-

police. The plan was to circulate the rumor

ture war more objectively and tried to express

that she has fleeted to Sendai, where her rela-their belief against Japan’s Imperialism.

tives lived and meanwhile let her go back toThis reveals that women’s war poetry has

her mother’s place in Matsue. It was successful.

varieties, and I argue it was a medium and an

Everyone seemed to believe the rumor.

art form which enabled women to express their35）https://cogito.jp.net/library/si/shyoharateruko-

marusunobara009.jpg (last viewed on 14 Feb. 2019)36）This story was published in the newspaper, Mainichi

Shimbun (21 August 197).

Early Women’s Poetry of the Asia-Paciﬁc War

Rina Kikuchi

045thoughts and feelings. Women’s war poetry
should not be neglected but should be reassessed and reexamined its literary and historical value.

Selected Bibliography
⦿Contemporary Women-stream Poets Anthology 現代女流
詩 人 集 , 1940 (republished in Japanese Women’s Poetry

1930-1943 日本女性詩集（1930 年〜1943 年）, 2vols withappendix, Fuji-press, 2014).

⦿Ema, Shoko. Collected Poems of Ema Shoko 江間章子全【 Acknowledgement】

This paper is a section of my broader research paper in progress on women’s poetry of
the Asia-Pacific War (KAKEN 15KK0049). It

詩集 , 1999.

⦿─ . Poetry Banquet: My Life 詩 の 宴 わ が 人 生 ,1985⦿‘Fenix: The women poet, Shō hara Teruko was not dead’is written based on the presentations on wom-

The Mainichi Newspaper, 21 August 1967. https://cogito.jp.net/library/si/shyoharateruko19670821.GIF

en’s war poetry I did at various conferences and⦿Hanabusa, Yoshiko. Spring Carp Diary 春鮒日記 , 1953.

workshops held in Australia while I was under-⦿─ . Waves 浪 , 1941.

taking my research project at the Australian

⦿─ . Over the White Bridge 白橋の上に , 1925

National University and University of Canber-⦿I kuta , Hanayo. (ed by I kuta Hanayo Association)

ra from 2016 to 2019. I am most grateful to all
the people who have given me useful feedback.
I would especially like to acknowledge Prof.
Tessa-Morris Suzuki, Dr. Meredith McKinney
and A.Prof. Ruth Barraclough, who have kindly read my war-related papers and gave me detailed suggestions.

Works of Ikuta Hanayo 生田花世読本 , 1996.
⦿Kagayaku 輝く , reprints, 2 vols with appendix, Fuji-

press, 1988.
⦿Kikuchi, Rina. ‘Ikuta Hanayo’ Women Literates in Tot-

tori 鳥取ゆかりの女性文学者 , 2017, 58-86.

⦿─ . ‘Four Poems by Yoshiko Hanabusa’ Transfer-ence Vol.6, 39-48.
の時代 , 1993.
⦿Ogata, Akiko. The Era of Kagayaku「輝く」
⦿Shō hara, Teruko. Mars’ Rose マルスの薔薇 , 1936.
⦿Toda, Fusako. The Wife of the Poet: Ikuta Hanayo 詩人の妻生田花世 , 1986.

⦿Tsuboi, Hideto. Celebration of Voices 声の祝祭 , 1997.
⦿Wada, Tsuyako. Life of Ikuta Hanayo 鎮魂：生田花世の生涯 , 1995.

046

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Winter / Dec. 2019 / No.422

Early Women’s Poetry of the Asia-Paciﬁc War
Poems from Contemporary Women-stream Poets Anthology 現代女流詩人集

Rina Kikuchi

Women’s war-themed poetry has been longneglected in Japanese literary studies. Criticalessays only started to appear in 1990s, almost
half a century after these poems were published, and unfortunately, the study has notbeen developed much since. I assume the reasons could be: many of the poems were prowar propaganda; many poets tried to discard
the war poems they have written after the surrender of Japan; many poets felt ashamed orembarrassed to talk about their war poems; thepost-war Japanese society did not allow themto talk freely about the poetry during the war
and as a result, the war-time literature became
to be acknowledged as ‘white pages’ in Japanese
literary studies. Many avoided this topic for
too long. It seems to me that women’s war poetry is unfairly claimed to be propaganda cliché
and have no literary value with such little critical attention and analyses.
The aim of this paper is to discusses the importance of women’s poetry of the Asia-Pacific
War (1931-1945) by bringing them into light.
Many of the war poetry anthologies and poetry
collections have been out of print for decades,
but some of the women’s works started to be
reprinted in 1990s, in relation to the feminism
studies boom. This paper focuses on the war
poems published in Contemporary Womenstream Poets Antholog y 現代女流詩人集 ,published in November 1940, and analyses thepoems written by two senior poets, Hanabusa

Yoshiko (英美子 1892-1983) and Ikuta Hanayo(生田花世 1888-1970), and three modernist
poets of the younger generation, Ema Shoko(江間章子 1913-2005), Ueda Shizue (上田静栄, 1898-1991) and Shōhara Teruko (荘原照子 1910-1999).

Early Women’s Poetry of the Asia-Paciﬁc War

Rina Kikuchi

047