Haiku by Students at AIU (Part 1)

 

Professor Alexander Dolin teaches Japanese Literature and Civilization Studies at Akita International University(AIU)（国際教養大学）（秋田）. He also writes haiku.

Professor Alexander Dolin taught haiku to the students in his class of Japanese Literature and contributed their haiku to our website.

 

Ms. Yukari Sakamoto（阪本縁） kindly translated English haiku by Rebecca Cox into Japanese.

First of all, let me introduce Ms. Yukari Sakamoto and her haiku to you.

She is a graduate student at AIU and sometimes writes haiku in her academic career.

She won first prize at AIU HAIKU contest, Japanese Section for Students, by CRESI’s “Kokyo Yuwa” （「交響雄和」実行委員会）on October 11, 2009.

 

ラベンダー蜂と私の異空間 

Ravendaa  hachi to watashi no  ikuukan

 

the bee and I

in the world of lavender― 

each in our own space

 

Secondly, we post English haiku by Rebecca Cox and their Japanese translation by Ms. Yukari Sakamoto.

Haiku by Rebecca Cox (USA)

Rebecca Cox, a student at the University of New Mexico, wrote haiku on November 19, 2009, while studying about Japanese Literature at AIU.

Autumn Haiku             　　　　　    秋に寄せて

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Aki ni yose te

 

 

The Many Motions of Fall　　　　　　　　　　　　秋の多彩な動き

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　  　Aki no tasai na ugoki

 

 

The rain trickles

The red leaves tumble down

Fall has many acts!

　　　　　　　　　　　　

雨しずく  紅葉舞い散る  舞台が回る

Ame shizuku  momiji mai chiru  butai ga mawaru

 

（阪本のコメント：秋の多彩な動きや表情について。秋を舞台となぞらえて、幕＝場面の動きを表現しました。）

View from a Window　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　窓からの眺め

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Mado kara no nagame

 

 

The dark green trees

Red, yellow and orange leaves

against a sad sky.

 

針葉樹    紅葉の彩り    空哀し

Shinyouju  momiji no irodori  sora kanashi

 

 

（窓をフレーム、情景を絵として表現しました。針葉樹と紅葉の対照。）

Thoughts　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　物思い

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Mono omoi

 

The leaves die and fall

Autumn’s strange beauty wakes

I think of my home.

枯れ葉落ち  　自然の移ろい   故国想う

            Kareha ochi        shizen no utsuroi    furusato omou

 

（秋の季節、気付かなかった自然の趣を呼び起こしてくれる感動を詠んでいると思います。日本語訳は、それを「自然の移ろい」と訳しました。また留学生なので故国を「ふるさと」と読ませました。）

 

 

Haiku by Yui Suzuki  (Japan)

She wrote haiku at AIU on November 25, 2009.

 

懐かしき本よりひらり紅葉かな

Natsukashiki  hon yori hirari  momiji kana

 

When I opened my good old book,

one red maple leaf

beautifully fell from it.

 

 

稲を割き秋雨は行くまだ遠く

Ine o saki  akisame wa yuku  mada tooku

 

Going through rice fields,

autumn rain continues

further and further…

 

リリヤンを繰る手赤らむ秋の夜

Lily-yarn o  kuru t e akaramu  aki no yoru

 

While I am playing with lily-yarn,

my hands turn red

because of the autumn cold night.

 

*Lily-yarn（リリヤン）is Japanese-English.  This is the name of toy in old days, which can knit lace by using colorful yarn.

Haiku by Nanase Inoue (Japan)

She wrote haiku at AIU in fall, 2009.

秋雨のしずくとともに木の葉散る

Akisame no  shizuku to tomo ni  konoha chiru

 

Leaves fall

from the trees

with drops of the autumn rain

 

I think that autumn leaves falling with rain is very beautiful and a little bit sad.  I think it represents the ending of autumn.

 

秋の夜涼しい風と虫の声

Akino yoru  suzushii kaze to  mushi no koe

 

I felt cool breeze

and heard songs of bugs

at autumn night

 

In Japan songs of bugs represent autumn, so I always feel the changes of season summer to autumn with songs of bugs.

 

甘栗をむきつつ過ごす秋の午後

Amaguri o  muki tsutsu sugosu  aki no gogo

 

All autumn afternoon

I spent eating

sweet chestnuts

 

In autumn sweet chestnuts are sold everywhere, so it is a pleasant time for me to spend  doing nothing but to eat sweet chestnuts.

 

 ―　Hidenori Hiruta