Customer Reviews

Tangled Hair: Selected Tanka from Midaregami (Japanese Edition)

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My first introduction to Tanka and now I'm hooked. So much can be said in five lines. The book was beautiful. It also included lengthy foot notes on each tanka--just in case we missed cultural aspects of the poem --explanations about Buddhism etc. All the poems were written in Kanji too. A lengthy biography about the author was also included. The book was like having 3 books in one.

This is the best translation I've been able to find of Akiko Yosano. It was also featured in a scene from Jane Campion's movie "In the Cut". A beautiful, if slight, volume. The best part is that there are light-blue sections every 50 or so poems, with the original Japanese in the Tanka layout (which is very "foreign" to my Western eyes). A reader can therefore see the originals in a more accurate form than a traditional side-by-side translation layout. Worth the extra money!

"Dazzling" is just the word to describe this collection, with each poem an intense & passionate work of lapidary perfection. While utilizing traditional Japanese poetic symbols drawn from Nature, this is far from being just blandly pretty "Nature poetry" -- it explores the landscape of the heart. And it does so with gorgeous precision, constantly evoking subtleties of color & emotion. An extraordinary woman's soul is laid bare in these pages ... and she celebrates her body & the joys of the flesh with equal honesty.

First published in 1901, this is sensual & stirring work that's timeless -- certainly far more real & lasting than the superficial treatment of sexuality in too much of today's popular culture. For those who seek lush beauty & love's anguish in all of its Romantic splendor, this is where you'll find it. Most highly recommended!

Goldstein & Shinoda's translation of selections from Midaregami, Tangled Hair by Yosano Akiko is unsurpassed for its simple elegance that perfectly matches the sensual spareness of the original. Yosano Akiko ranks not only as one of the world's great women poets, but great poets, period. Her imagination challenged the limits of her culture and dared to speak of the fullness of womanhood while simultaneously overcome old conventions and breathing new life into the genre of tanka poetry.

This tradition continues today, and readers who liked this book should seek out M. Kei's Fire Pearls and Leza Lowitz's A Long Rainy Season: Haiku and Tanka (Contemporary Japanese Women's Poetry, Vol 1).

I love Japanese poetry but this translated selection is the best of the best. The translators did a fabulous job of taking a complex Japanese art form and making it understandable to the English reader while keeping the sensuality of Yasano's work intact. The color, life and passion of her words still resonate in the heart. Amazing what a few words can impart. I also found the accompanying translator's notes very insightful into the life of the poet and the culture of her time. A wonderful collection of poetry in an excellent little book. I highly recommend it!