Asahi Shimbun of Japan March 27 2011
Deep Compassion for the Great Disaster in Our Neighbor A Letter of Prayer in the Form of Tanka from Korea by Tetsuya Hakoda
On restless nights, unable to sleep, my heart aches deeply for the great disaster that has struck our neighbor
There is a Korean poet who wrote 250 poems as a prayer for Japan’s revival after the great disaster. Her mother, despite being criticized by the Korean public during difficult times in Korea-Japan relations, spent her life composing Tanka poetry. 'If my mother were alive, she would have written a powerful Tanka to comfort those who loved her' This poet is Sunshine Lee who resides in Seoul. Her mother, the Poet Son Hoyon was born in 1923 during the colonial era, went to study in Japan, learned Tanka poetry and after returning to Korea, spent her life writing Tanka as the only Tanka poet in Korea. I have an ardent wish that two countries will be without fight In 2005, during the Korea-Japan summit at the Blue House and right after that, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi quoted Son's Tanka during a press conference and said that he would carry the spirit of her words in his heart. The Poet Sunshine Lee continues her mother’s legacy of sincerely desiring Japan-Korea friendship by working at the 'THE SOHO' multipurpose art space and Son Hoyon Tanka Research Institute. She also composes poetry in both Korean and English. In response to the disaster she composed 250 Tanka poems thinking of the Japanese people which she also translated into Japanese.
In the desolate village where families and homes
have vanishedYou who will quietly weep for them
荒蕪の地 消えた家族と町並みに 静かに咽び涙する君
She also addressed the images of orderliness among the victims which were widely covered in Korea. | 