A Poetic Life: Japan's Tanikawa Still Writes at 90

Shuntaro Tanikawa used to think poems came down like inspiration from the heavens. Now, at the age of 90, he sees them as growing from the ground. Tanikawa is among Japan's most famous modern poets, with over 100 poetry books. He rose to fame in the 1950s with his poem, "Two Billion
Light-Years of Solitude."

His works have been translated into several languages, and Tanikawa has worked as a translator himself, including for Charles Schulz's Peanuts comic. He also wrote the lyrics for the Japanese theme song of the TV series Tetsuwan-Atomu, known as Astro Boy in English. Now, poetry is no longer a job for Tanikawa. "Writing poetry has become really fun these days," he told The Associated Press at his home in Tokyo.

He said he doesn't have projects anymore because of his age, which has made walking and going out more difficult. But he also said he is working with his musician son, Kensaku Tanikawa, on what they call "Piano Twitter."

He's already written many poems to go with the score. He isn't sure how the work will be presented but said it could become a book with a QR code so readers can listen to the poems being read with music online. Among his many works, Tanikawa said he is most proud of his 1970s "Kotoba Asobi Uta" series of poems, which used singsong alliteration and onomatopoeia.

Tanikawa described the poems as unique and said he still likes what he came up with. The works have been described as a celebration of the Japanese language. "For me, the Japanese language is the ground," he said. "Like a plant, I place my roots, drink in the nutrients of the Japanese language, sprouting leaves, flowers and bearing fruit."


SHUNTARO TANIKAWA

1931 / Tokyo City, Japan

Two Billion Light-Years of Solitude

Human beings on this small orb
sleep, waken and work, and sometimes
wish for friends on Mars.

I've no notion
what Martians do on their small orb
(neririing or kiruruing or hararaing)
But sometimes they like to have friends on Earth.
No doubt about that.

Universal gravitation is the power of solitudes
pulling each other.

Because the universe is distorted,
we all seek for one another.

Because the universe goes on expanding,
we are all uneasy.

With the chill of two billion light-years of solitude,
I suddenly sneezed.

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