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When you feel anxious or alone, what do you turn to for help?
In Japan, there was a major earthquake in 2011. A huge tsunami hit the city, killing many people. While people in Japan were hurting from the sight of their towns and cities transformed and the increasing number of victims of the tsunami, the following poem appeared in a TV commercial.
“If I say, “Let’s play?”
You say, “Let’s play!”
If I say “Stupid!”
You say, “Stupid!”
If I say, “I don’t want to play anymore,”
You say, “I don’t want to play anymore.”
And then, after a while
becoming lonely
I say, “Sorry.”
You say, “Sorry.”
Are you just an echo?
No, you are everyone.”
Many people were saved by this poem and became positive to support each other. The author of this poem is Misuzu Kaneko, a Japanese historical figure and children’s song poet whom I would like to introduce today.
Misuzu Kaneko was born in Yamaguchi, Japan in 1903. She is said to have been an excellent student, quiet, and kind to everyone. She began writing children’s songs when she was 20 years old. Misuzu made an impressive debut when she submitted her work to four magazines, and it was published in all of them.
Misuzu’s poems are characterized by the gentle and delicate language in which she expresses what she sees and hears. She did not use difficult words, and her poems, expressed as they came from her heart, were able to move both children and adults.
Her life, however, was not a bright one: she married at the age of 23, but her husband, who did not understand literature, forbade her to write poetry. She also suffered from illness and divorce. Finally, she was driven to suicide and died at the young age of 26.
Misuzu’s works, which had been buried for 50 years, became known to the world again thanks to the enthusiasm of Setsuo Yazaki, a children’s literature scholar. He was so impressed by her poetry that he studied her poems for 16 years to enlighten the public. Her poems have even appeared in elementary school textbooks as a result of his efforts. Her works, steeped in tenderness, continue to convey important messages to us.
No matter how advanced our civilization becomes, our hearts will continue to be greatly moved by words. I hope we will continue to speak kind and warm words to each other as she did, and support each other at all times in our lives.