The 8th Hoshi-to-Mori International Tanka Contest, Comments on the Japanese Field. by Hojo Nakajima The theme for the 8th Hoshi-to-Mori International Tanka Contest was “SOUND.” 　Sound is the vibration of air when something moves. It is the rumbling of the earth when a mountain moves; it is the sound of water when the river flows; it is the sound of trees and grass when the wind blows; it is the voices of all living creatures when they court or threaten; it is the voice of men when they feel joy, anger, sorrow and pleasure; it is the voice of songs when men's hearts are strongly moved; it is the sound of music; it is the sound of tools and machines that man has made; it is the noise of cities. We live surrounded by all kinds of sound made by various things. The things which exist around us as well as the sound that these things make are our living environment. (The sound is not a thing but information. So the sound is called informative environment.) When we hear the sound of a jungle or a mountain village, alpha wave increases in our brain and we feel relaxed. But when we hear the noise of machines in a factory or the noise of a city, we feel a lot of stress and it may cause neurosis, stomach ulcer, or cancer. When we are confined in a noiseless environment, we also feel very stressed, and it may cause mental derangement which could lead to death. Recently, we have become more aware that sound is a very important part of our living environment which concerns our health and lives. I was interested in finding out what kind of “sound” people today used to make their tanka in an environment where sound is becoming increasingly annoying. For this contest, we received more than 3000 tanka in which various kinds of “sound” are depicted. Almost all of the sounds that I defined above were contained in these tanka. There were sounds we didn't expect such as the sound of a baby's heartbeat, the sound of bones in an urn, and the sound of a sash when it is undone. Now, let me comment on the three tanka we selected. The Supplementary Prize goes to Ms. Mayumi Yabuuchi from Kagawa Prefecture. America no musume ni hanabi no oto wo okuru juwaki wo takaku takaku kakagete (Summary: To let my daughter in America hear the sound of the fireworks I raised the phone higher and higher in the air.) 　This is a very good tanka, which is easy to understand. It probably didn't make much difference to raise the phone high in the air, but the mother must felt the urge to lift the receiver higher. This is a very humorous tanka which expresses the mother's honest and loving nature. The Grand Prize goes to Mr. Masaaki Seki from Tokushima Prefecture. Aa arewa haha no kuru oto tsue wo tsuku oto ga byoga no ware ni chikazuku （Summary: Ah, it is the sound of my mother coming. The sound of her cane approaches to my sickbed.) 　This is a tanka made by Mr. Masaaki Seki who has been in the hospital for a long time. Ah, I can hear the sound of my mother coming towards me. It?fs the sound of her cane as she slowly approaches me in the hospital bed. Grave and complicated emotions can be felt in the interjection ?gAa?h. Then he depicts his mother's visit with only ?gthe sound of his mother coming?h and ?gthe sound of her cane?h. This is a very inspiring, grave and strong tanka, which makes us empathize with the feelings of the poet who welcomes his mother This is the Grand Prize tanka we selected. The Special Prize goes to Miss Yuka Uemura of Gifu Prefecture. Obaachan otedama no oto yasashiine genkini nattara isshoni asobo （Summary: Grandma, the sound of the beanbags is gentle, isn't it? When you get well, let's play with the beanbags again.) 　The poet of this tanka is 8-year-old Yuka Uemura. The words she said to her grandmother who was in the hospital due to some injury became a tanka. This is a tanka made by chance rather than made by a poet’s effort. We can imagine hearing her lively voice along with the sound of beanbags. We sometimes are surprised to see very inspiring children’s paintings. Here we have a tanka which contains its original intentions, the origin of tanka. This is the first time we awarded a tanka by such a young poet. We decided to give a Special Prize for submitting such a sweet and lively tanka. I have fully realized again through this tanka that whether or not a tanka has strength to move people's heart could be tested only by beign sung aloud, and then would become clear. ー Concludedー 23 July in the 18th year of Heisei (2006) Hojo Nakajima Judge, the Japanese Field, the 8th Hoshi-to-Mori International Tanka Contest Go to the award of the 8th contest Go to the top Copyright(C)2001 Hoshi-to-Mori, All Rights Reserved.