   frame|death poem by kuroki hiroshi, a japanese soldier who died in a submarine accident on september 7, 1944 a death poem (zetsumei-shi, çµ¶å½è©©) is a poem written near the time of one's own death. it is a tradition for literate people to write one in a number of different cultures, especially in japan and joseon korea, as well as certain periods of chinese history. ==japanese death poems== ===history=== death poems have been written by chinese, korean, and japanese zen monks, by many haiku poets, and japanese samurai. poems were written following one of three poetic forms: kanshi, waka or haiku. it was an ancient custom in japan for literate persons to compose a jisei on their deathbed. one of earliest records of jisei (è¾ä¸) was recited by prince Åtsu executed in 686. for examples of death poems, see the articles on the famous haiku poet bashÅ, the japanese buddhist monk ryÅkan, Åta dÅkan (builder of edo castle), the monk gesshÅ« sÅko, and the japanese woodblock master tsukioka yoshitoshi. the custom has continued into modern japan. on march 17, 1945, general tadamichi kuribayashi, the japanese commander-in chief during the battle of iwo jima, sent a final letter to imperial headquarters. in the message, general kuribayashi had apologized for failing to successfully defend iwo jima against the overwhelming forces of the united states military. at the same time, however, he had expressed great pride in the heroism of his men, who, starving and thirsty, had been reduced to fighting with rifle butts and fists. he closed the message with a traditional death poem. {{quotation| :å½ã®çº éãåªã æãå¾ã§ ç¢å¼¾å°½ãæã¦ æ£ããæ²ãã :unable to complete this heavy task for our country :arrows and bullets all spent, so sad we fall. :ä»è¨ãã§ éè¾ºã«ã¯æ½ã¡ã å¾ã¯å ä¸åº¦çãã¦ çãå·ããã :but unless i smite the enemy, :my body cannot rot in the field. :yea, i shall be born again seven times :and grasp the sword in my hand. :éèã® å³¶ã«èã å¶ã®æã® çå½ã®è¡æ ä¸éã«æãµ :when ugly weeds cover this island, :my sole thought shall be the imperial land.kumiko kakehashi, so sad to fall in battle: an account of war, page xxiii''
Death_customs Death_in_Japan Genres_of_poetry Japanese_poetry Poems_about_death Seppuku