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Machi Tawara is one of Japan’s most respected and popular poets. Born in Osaka, she entered Waseda University in 1981 and began to write tanka under her mentor, the respected poet Yukitsuna Sasaki. Her first book of poetry, Salad Anniversary(Kawadeshobou Shinsha 1987), combined the classical tanka form with modern subject matter, written in the voice of a young woman in love. The book was a huge success, selling over 2.5 million copies. The ‘Salad Phenomenon’ brought fame to Tawara and stimulated renewed interest in tanka in Japan. Two years after the book’s publication she left her job as a schoolteacher to write tanka, essays and translations of classic tanka into modern Japanese. She encourages her readers to write tanka of their own and has edited a collection of tanka sent to her by fans.

   In October 2005 she published Pooh’s Nose (Bungei Shunju), a new collection of tanka based on her experience of becoming a mother, as well as a Selected Poems. This is the first time her poetry has been published in the UK.

A short introduction to tanka by Machi Tawara

   Tanka is a form of short poem made up of 31 phonetic characters in a line-pattern of five-seven-five-seven-seven (equivalent perhaps to five and seven syllables in English). The form has over 1,300 years of history behind it and is still part of the lives of many people today. 2005 marked the 1,100th year since the compilation of the classic Kokinshu tanka anthology and the 800th year since that of the Shinkokinshu. Many books have been published and events held to celebrate the occasion. Commemorative stamps have sold out with astonishing rapidity.

   In mainstream newspapers in Japan, along with haiku, there is always a column for readers to send in tanka. I am among those who choose from the tanka submitted, which number several thousand a week. In this way, not only dedicated poets, but also lay people are able to enjoy the writing of tanka. The characteristics of tanka are that they are short and rhythmical. Since one is very limited in the number of words that can be used, one is able to be very strict in one’s usage. The choice of subject matter, too, requires one to be exacting. The rigid form of the poem and its rhythmical nature bring the few words used to life. There are only 31 characters used, but with these it is possible to move the reader by creating the kind of vista usually associated with hundreds of words.