‘New Year’s Poetry Reading’ All Poetries by Their Majesties and IF Members, and Their Background

 

On the morning of January 18, the annual event of the Imperial Household, the "New Year’s Poetry Reading," was held in the Matsunoma Room of the Imperial Palace. The theme of this year's event was "Mado (Window)”.

The participants took PCR tests beforehand and took all possible precautions against coronas before the event.

 

The Emperor and Empress of Japan and eight members of the Imperial Family recited their poems. Among them, Her Imperial Highness Princess Toshinomiya Aiko, the daughter of Their Majesties, who came of age last year and sang for the first time at the New Year's Poetry Festival, wrote a poem about her feelings when she attended the Eton Summer School in England when she was in high school, which drew much praise.

 

The following is an introduction to their poems and the background of the poems published by the Imperial Household Agency. Each member of the family translated the poems into English by themselves, and Her Majesty the Empress supervised the translation.

 

His Majesty the Emperor :

 

As our contacts with the world

Remain difficult,

I earnestly hope for a day

When the window opens to the world

 

(Background of the poem)

His Majesty the Emperor expresses, as he did last year, in the poem his hope that the COVID-19 pandemic will be contained. Last year, His Majesty composed the poem, praying that the peoples' hopes and efforts to overcome difficulties and challenges would bear fruit and thus the COVID-19 pandemic would come to an end. This year, His Majesty expresses in this poem his earnest hope that a day will come, once the pandemic is under control, when the comings and goings of people between Japan and the rest of the world will be revitalized.

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Her Majesty the Empress:

 

Looking through the windows

Of the Fukiage Palace, our new residence,

We enjoy the greenery

Of the great trees around us

 

 (Background of the poem)

In September of last year, Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress and Her Imperial Highness Princess Aiko moved from their long time residence the Akasaka Palace to the Fukiage Palace, where Their Majesties the Emperor Emeritus and Empress Emerita used to live for a long time until the year before last. Her Majesty the Empress composed this poem with renewed feelings of appreciation to Their Majesties the Emperor Emeritus and Empress Emerita, as she views the lush green from her new residence.

 

Her Imperial Highness Princess Aiko:

 

As I stand before

The House of learning where I shall study in Britain,

I feel the windows to the world

Are opening up to me

 

(Background of the poem)

Her Imperial Highness Princess Aiko participated in the Eton Summer School program during summer vacation when she was a second year student at Gakushuin Girls’ Senior High School. During the program, participants stayed at the dormitory of Eton college, and learned various aspects of British culture through English lessons and visits to museums and historical and cultural sites. This was the first time for Princess Aiko to visit schools overseas, and when she stood in front of the stately building with its long history, she felt that the world was opening up in front of her. In this poem she expresses her aspirations and expectations for the coming three weeks she was going to spend in the United Kingdom.

 

 

His Imperial Highness Crown Prince Akishino:

 

Through the window

I see the children

running about,

 and I sense a calmness

growing in my heart.

 

(Background of the poem)

There was a time when, due to the spread of COVID-19, many schools adopted staggered attendance and remote learning. And there was also a time when the students were unable to freely participate in extra-curricular activities. At the university where His Imperial Highness Crown Prince Akishino gives lectures every year, he looked out the window and saw, in the courtyards of the adjacent schools, the cheerful and energetic schoolchildren. As he recalled those times the sight of the children gave him, for a moment, a sense of reassurance.

 

 

 

 

(The following English translations were added by this blog.)

 

 

Princess Kako

 

When I open the window,

the sweet fragrance of the Chinese fragrant olive makes my heart flutter

 

(Background)

When Princess Kako opened the window of her room one day in autumn, the fragrance of the Chinese fragrant olive drifted in on the breeze. She wrote a poem about the sweet fragrance that made her feel happy.

 

Note: It is believed that this poem may metaphorize the marriage of Kako's sister, Mako, last fall.

 

Princess Hanako, Princess Masahito of Hitachi

 

A young child stands at the window of a bullet train

gazing at the river without turning around

 

(Background)

She composed this poem after recalling the sight of a small child holding on to the window of the Shinkansen train on one of her visits to the countryside, eagerly gazing at the magnificent view of Mt. Fuji and the birds gathering in the river.

 

 

 

Princess Nobuko, Princess Tomohito of Mikasa

 

The Princess has come of age

I see her dazzlingly in the window of the car

On her way to school

 

(Background)

Princess Nobuko has watched over Princess Toshinomiya Aiko with deep respect and affection since she was a child. Nobuko has watched over Aiko with deep respect and affection since she was a child, and she was truly delighted when Aiko came of age last year.

Aiko has grown into a splendid young woman, and she is even more devoted to her studies than ever before. In this poem, Nobuko describes her feelings as she looked out the car window and saw Aiko, her hair neatly groomed and healthy, dashing out of her residence to go to school.

 

Princess Akiko of the Mikasa Family

 

The windowsill reflecting fluorescent lights

Recalls me the effort of study of the Taisho Emperor

 

(Background)

The Emperor Taisho wrote a chinese poem and presented to the students of Gakushuin. It said: “Don’t forget ancient people’s painful effort of study.” When Princess Akiko was working in her laboratory, she looked out the window and saw that it was already dark and the fluorescent lights were reflected in the window, which recalled her the poem.

 

 

Princess Hisako, Princess Tomohito of the Takamado Palace

 

The wide sea of Noto seen from the train window

The waves coming in make snow fall

 

(Background)

This is a poem about the sea of Noto seen from a car window and the cold scene of snow falling.

 

Princess Tsuguko, Takamado family

 

Corona disaster and windows are opened for ventilation

I look at the air conditioner

and worry for a while

 

(Background)

With the Corona disaster, windows went from "something to open" to "something to be remained open," and every time I feel hot or cold, I feel conflicted about whether to use the air conditioner or protect the environment, as the poem says.