Satoko Yamazaki
A diagonal pull-up on a spring day Flowers falling on my face telling me to go alone from here
Written by Morita Shihoko. Included in "Thursday" (Shoshi Kankanbo).
When you decide to break away from the small world that has protected you and "go alone," flower petals fall on your face as if to congratulate you on your decision. This song has continued to encourage me since my twenties, when I thought I "knew" this feeling of being hit by loneliness and celebration at the same time. This tanka poem makes you feel that words certainly have power.
I don't want to forget my own line
Goodbye to the flower bed where I once peed, goodbye to the breathless crawl
Included in "Fireworks in the Palm of Your Hand" (Tanka Kenkyusha).
Wataru Yamada
On the footbridge, bathed in the setting sun, me, yeah, me, yeah, me, yeah
Written by Satoru Goto. Included in "Green Shrine" (Shoshi Kankanbo).
When I was in my twenties, I learned this song, written by a poet of my generation, and it had a profound impact on me. "Myself, yeah." I thought those words couldn't possibly exist, but they were burned into my head and wouldn't go away. "Western sun" is a symbol of Japanese society heading towards decline. The excessive refrain portrays the atmosphere of an era when people needed to vainly encourage themselves in order to get by.
I don't want to forget my own line
Although this will not go according to your wishes, I will continue to live in this world.
Included in "Goodbye Bug Children" (France-do).
Naomi Terai
If you like, please despair, I'll follow up closely.
Written by Hiroyuki Sasai. Included in "Eternal Power" (Chikuma Bunko).
This song has a gentle quality to it, as if embracing despair as it is, rather than treating it as something bad. At the time, I was tired of forcing negative thoughts into positive ones, and I wanted to use words to "properly" savor my emotions, rather than just glossing over them, which is what inspired me to start writing tanka.
I don't want to forget my own line
It was full of trash, but it was lively, and I want to make God cry after the destruction.
Included in "Seikatsu Forever" (ELVIS PRESS).
Soichi Chikusa
Maybe someday we'll meet again in the world where we saw the details so clearly they hurt
Written by Uomura Shintaro. Included in "Floral Pattern" (Sunakoya Shobo).
This song describes the moment when one realizes that one has lost the sensitivity that makes life difficult (one might even say that one has become accustomed to life). While cheerful songs that make one laugh and give hope can sometimes be too bright and lively, dark songs that sing of pain empathize with the reader's pain and support them like a splint. This song has supported me.
I don't want to forget my own line
Ah, it was on video, a short video of your voice, of the ocean.
Included in "Dune Rhythm" (Chikuma Bunko).
