Sanriku Simpo March 6, 2014
Eternal Flow of All Things 萬有流転
March 11 marks the third anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake. This year, memorial services will be held in Kesennuma City and Minami-Sanriku Town, where people will offer prayers for the victims and make their vows for recovery. There will be a speech by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and a message from the Japanese Emperor as part of the official government ceremony. Those living in the disaster-stricken areas would have surely gone through many trials. It has been a difficult journey, but they have made it this far thanks to the support of people from all over Japan and the world. They have received many donations, and countless performances of songs, plays, and dances have provided encouragement. On that day, at the En'unkan (煙雲館) in Katama, the birthplace of the father of modern tanka, Ochiai Naobumi, a mini Noh performance titled "The Spirit and Comfort of Nōgaku" will take place at 1:00 PM, featuring Hatta Tatsuya of the Kanze school. A tanka reading and speech event by Korean poet Sunshine Lee, which was held in Minamicho at "Kadokko," last year, is held until 3:00 PM. Sunshine Lee is the eldest daughter of Son Hoyun, a Korean female poet and first foreigner invited to Japan’s Imperial New Year's Poetry Reading (Utakai Hajime). Lee continues to carry on her mother's legacy of promoting understanding and reconciliation between Japan and Korea through tanka and is now active on the global stage. I have an ardent wish that two countries will be without fight I hope that we can all unite with the same heart and build a new relationship with Korea. | 