An overview of Modern Japanese Poetry

14 april 2006 The new leaders needed to find ways to protect the country against colonization by western European countries, Russia, or the United States, and to make it an equal of those developed nations. To achieve this within a limited period of time, they consolidated the semi-autonomous local governments and formed a single ‘nation’ under the new emperor who, having restored traditional imperial power, tried to make its people feel they were Japanese ‘subjects’ belonging to one and the same nation. The new government set about transforming Japan into a modern state (in the western sense) by improving its economy and reinforcing its military force. The westernizing campaign swept through the country and resulted in feverish and sometimes pathetic efforts to catch up with and surpass western nations.

Such modernization naturally provoked patriotic reactions which led to a growth in Japanese nationalism. It was, in fact, a nationalism kindled and fostered by the western influences, as is manifest in many works written by the poets of the period. For example, great poets like Kohtaro Takamura (1883-1956) and Tatsuji Miyoshi (1900-1964), who would later express strong anti-Western thinking in the poems they wrote during World War II, were enthusiastic and sympathetic readers of Western poetry in their youth.

The reality is that modern civilization in Japan developed through the recurrent clashes and alternating domination of two conflicting drives: a drive to imitate and master Western civilization, and a drive to act collectively, as a nation, against the westernization process. With regard to poetry composition, one can see that these two drives did not necessarily contradict each other in an individual poet: they could coexist, and become a complex energy source for literary creation.


Christianity and ‘Free-style spoken-language’ poetry
The westernization of modern Japanese poetry was first visible in the transformation of traditional verse forms. As early as 1900, attempts had been made to revise and revitalize Japan’s traditional poetic forms such as the Haiku and the Tanka. Poets of the younger generation, however, wanted more than that : they were willing to be directly influenced and inspired by translations of western poetry and tried to compose free-style verse in Japanese in imitation of it. This practice developed into a new trend of ‘free-style, spoken-language’ poetry, totally independent of what was happening in the world of Haiku and Tanka.

We can trace the germ of this inovation back to the 1870’s, to Christianity. Christianity had been opposed and strictly banned until the beginning of Meiji era (1868-) but as soon as the ban was lifted, its teaching of the equality of all men under God awakened and agitated some of the youth who had previously been bound by feudalistic ethical codes. Christianity suggested the possibility of freedom from a hierarchical and patriarchal society, and of freedom to love as well. This led to the romantic verse of such pioneering modern poets as Tohson Shimazaki (1872-1943) and Kohtaro Takamura.

During the course of westernization, a greater emphasis was placed on poetry reading in elementary schools. The great living poets and educators even composed songs to be sung in classrooms; these quickly spread across Japan following the nationwide enforcement of compulsory education. It is interesting to note that the songs were composed in the manner of western music, although elements of traditional Japanese folk music were also integrated. Since this period, Japanese musical education has been almost exclusively based on the theories and practices of western music. Indeed, it is the most notable and long-lasting example of westernization instigated during the Meiji era.

Hasty, large-scale westernization, however, brought about a schizophrenic split in Modern Japan: while western concepts dominated in the public sector, traditional heritage continued to be respected and preserved in private. This split or cultural duality, did not make things easy for the creative development of modern Japanese poetry. Many excellent poets found themselves confronted with the issue and had to struggle on their own to come to terms with it.

Every poet, without exception, who confronted this duality aimed to form a deep inner bond with either traditional Japanese poetry or its modern western opposite, through self-expression in free verse. This is analogous to the attempts Japan had been making, over a thousand years, to selectively absorb the latest civilizations from the Chinese continent and Korean peninsula. Reading the free-style poetry of Modern Japan is therefore tantamount to viewing a self-portrait of modern Japanese civilization.


The end of World War II
Japan’s defeat on August 15, 1945 brought with it a sharp change in Japanese society. The faraway west, which had existed only as a fantasy in people’s minds unexpectedly became a very present reality which had to be faced up to and dealt with. For the very first time in the history of Japan, people realized that a war could hugely impact upon the culture of a defeated country.

Industrial development and military empowerment, colonialism and imperialism, the invasion of the Asian countries : each of these national aspirations was completely overturned. It was the beginning of a new era for Japan under occupation by the allied forces who imposed some fundamental changes on the domestic order and structure of Japan, and such changes, of course, had a great impact on the entire society. The poetic sphere was no exception : the occupiers had a considerable influence on contemporary poetic expression.

People lost their confidence amidst so many changes; to quote a distinguished journalist, it was the age of “repentance by a hundred million (Japanese)”. Blind faith in ‘Divine Japan’ crumbled away. Skepticism and denial towards anything indigenous and traditional grew. American democracy, which was artfully promoted by the American occupation force, was praised in journalistic and educational circles. Extensive reform of the education system was accepted without much resistance. The teaching of ‘divine Japan’ was now replaced by the teaching of democracy, the new orientation for young people.

The new constitution of 1947, which pledged against war and for absolute pacifism, was a wake up call to the Japanese people who had lived under militaristic totalitarianism. In general, it was successful in bringing about optimistic idealism and giving constructive guidance to Japanese society. The constitution also declared that Japan’s sovereignty should be in the hands of its people, not the emperor. This declaration gave the nation a great sense of relief, assuring a brighter future following the many years of war which had seen a great number of men sent to the battlefields in the Emperor’s name.

The new constitution also provided women with the right to vote and equal opportunities to participate in higher education; this was one of the greatest achievements of post-war politics.


Poetry in post-war Japan
Nevertheless, the defeated country had to face tough realities in the post-war days. A multitude of problems such as famine, poverty, rampant black marketing, diseases and deaths due to malnutrition, an increasing number of war orphans out on the streets and prostitutes, and a series of massive labor disputes confronted the nation. Despite these, there were some energetic and reconstructive forces at work. Communist leaders started to make political commitments and cultural efforts to restore the country, as soon as they were released from their ten-year prison terms. In the field of literature, a new movement which addressed and vividly reflected the miseries and sufferings of the war and the chaos in the post-war society was blossoming.

The key subjects for poetry in this period were devastation, anxiety, desperation and death; this reflected the social circumstances just as prose writing does. Poets, living in grim uncertainty and suffering the horrifying aftermath of the atom bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, generally expressed their pessimistic vision of the future of humankind through their works.

However, themes such as love, hope, and a plea for new life became popular and almost indispensable to poetry, precisely because the country was in such misery. Japanese poets realized for the very first time that the tragic-comic private life of a Japanese person on an isolated island nation could indeed share a great deal with and even make up a part of the contemporary spiritual state of the whole world. To many strictly ‘post-war’ poets who started writing poetry only after the summer of 1945, including myself, this realization came quite naturally and effortlessly from within. I have been writing poetry and criticism all these years in the belief that the raison d’etre of modern poetry is an expression of this sense of global contemporaneousness, which I suppose distinguishes the post-war Japanese poetry from that of earlier years. Ironically, the loss of the war and the consequent occupation gave modern Japanese poets an opportunity to open the windows and observe the rest of the world.

We have lived in an age of incredible scientific progress, meanwhile, we have seen religion revived in various forms and exerting an ever stronger influence on political action and social behavior today. In the 21st century, we are still caught up in this peculiar historical shift as it yields atrocious high-tech wars and violent and savage conflicts amongst races and religions.

In the midst of this historical upheaval, ‘words’, the only weapon poets and literary men have, seem to fall short and offer no assistance. But I cannot but help believe that words do have the power to offer humankind genuine salvation and comfort, as well as hope and energy for the future.

Words may not be able to make any apparent difference in the world of politics and in society, but that does not mean that poetry is devoid of power. Poetry can quietly and softly penetrate our hearts and remind us that this world is still a wonderful place to live in, full of countless charms and things to love. In other words, poetry is an extremely delicate and intricate product of the human mind which can contribute immensely to harmonizing and regenerating the processes of the human mind.