Sagawa Chika is the first Japanese modernist female poet who had a huge impact on the development of modern Japanese poetry. Her wonderful works in a great translation by Sawako Nakayasu are not only a strictly literary treat, but also a great introduction to the culture of the Taishō era (which you could have already tasted thanks to the works of Motojirō Kaji or the album The Brittle Years).
In general, few poems impress me and despite the fact that I try to read more and more poetry, I have a difficult relationship with it. But Sagawa’s work opened doors in my head that I had no idea existed. There is a lot of play of light, sensuality and searching here. “Night eats color” – that’s how “Backside” opens. In “Black Air” she writes: “All shadows drop from the trees and gang up on me”. Constant tension, the struggle between light and shadow, the contrast between what is corporeal and what is ephemeral… Incredible.
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