101 Modern Japanese Poems

This remarkable anthology features 101 modern Japanese poems by 55 poets, including Shuntaro Tanikawa, Minoru Yoshioka, Taeko Tomioka, Nobuo Ayukawa, Taro Kitamura, Ryuichi Tamura, Hiroshi Yoshino, Noriko Ibaragi, Gozo Yoshimasu and Yoji Arakawa, carefully selected by the renowned poet and literary critic Makoto Ooka to ensure that the chosen poems express each poet’s special character. The collection provides a superb introduction to Japanese poetry from the immediate postwar period to the mid-1990s, and through these works one can sense the movement in poetry that reflected the challenging transitions and dizzying transformations occurring in postwar and contemporary Japan. Selected for inclusion in the Japanese Literature Publishing Project (JLPP) by the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs, this first-ever English edition has been translated by Paul McCarthy with both empathy and artistic felicity, and also includes a critical introduction by the Japanese poet and essayist Chuei Yagi. Suitable for both the student/scholar of modern Japanese literature and the general reader with a passion for poetry, the 101 poems in this authoritative collection will delight and inspire.