From the Desk of the Editors

WHR December 2011

From The Desk Of The Editors

A Potted History of My Forty Years’ in England through “Senryu”

By Susumu Takiguchi

There is always a funny side to things. I came to live in England on 1 July 1971 and there have been many episodes humorous enough to tell at the fireside. Senryu is an apt genre for it. Here is a potted history of my last forty years in the country of hope and glory through senryu.

*

滑稽も異なりをるか異国の地

Will a sense of humour

be any different

in England?

When I had the good fortune to win the John Swire Scholarship to study at the University of Oxford, this very British company which started its operation in the Far East during the Victorian Era, gave me an initiation in Tokyo in the shape of what later turned out to be a very British lunch hosted by their man in Tokyo, very British from top to toe. He asked me, “So, what do you think about Britain going into Europe? Do you think we should?” This was in 1971. I said, “Do you want my honest answer, or a diplomatic one?” “Whichever you like”, was his reply. So, I said, “You have no other choice but to join Europe.” My answer angered the man so much that he did not speak to me for the next twenty minutes or so. In the end, I challenged him by saying, “You may be offended but where is this famous British sense of humour?” “British sense of humour? Huh! There is no such thing. Especially after what you’ve said!” In that instant I thought I got to the essence of British humour and laughed and laughed so much that he started to laugh with me.

*

隣人は個人主義ゆえ敵となる

neighbours are

but your enemies in

a nation of individualism

The day I first set foot on British soil, the 1st of July 1971, was a fine, sunny and beautiful Summer’s day. The first advice I was given on arrival by an Englishman was, “Never talk to your neighbour!” This did not sound very Christian. His reason was that while one might need good neighbours sometimes, once one fell out with them one would get stuck. Precaution is what he was teaching me. His advice has had a lasting influence on me and I ended up in living without a single neighbour at all.

*

英妻や王室なみに扱はれ

my English wife,

receiving Royal treatment

in Japan

I spent the first two weeks in London to get climatised, before driving down to Oxford where I was to spend at least the next two years as a graduate student. The landlady of my lodging place in Kilburn advised me, “Never marry an English girl” This advice has remained a puzzle to me. Thank goodness it has done so, as I married Diana, a quintessential English rose with a hint of Italian and German bloods, a cocktail like of which seems to make an English person even more English. When I took Diana to Japan and showed her around the Japanese people welcomed her as if it was a Royal visit. The landlady of the Kilburn dig in question was Polish and her view might have been coloured by her desire to get her daughter married to a decent bloke. The daughter was mixed up with a guy she did not approve of.

*

服の穴喜怒哀楽も通しけり

joy and sorrow

going through the holes

of my garment

Annihilating all that’s made

To a green thought in a green shade.

(Andrew Marvell, 1621-78)

Soon after I arrived on the shores of England, a certain Englishman took me to see one of the stately homes in Kent. I was bowled over by the sheer enormity of the place. My friend said, “Ah, well, I should take you to Castle Howard next time”. In the magnificent and immaculately tended garden we walked by a shabby-looking gardener who was wearing a woolly with visible holes in it. Feeling less inhibited and intimidated by his lowly appearances, I ventured into practicing my English on him, talking about weather and roses. To my surprise he was rather well-spoken with decent vocabulary and seemed to know a lot of things other than gardening, most surprisingly about the Japanese situation over the return of Okinawa or the significance of the forthcoming visit of the Japanese Emperor to Britain. I came to like him very much. This was partly because of my sympathy with his social position, being ruthlessly exploited by the ruling class so much that he could not afford even a decent sweater. Later, my friend asked me, “Did you notice that the man you were speaking to so intimately was the Lord of the Manor?” Since then, my dream has been gardening and having woollies full of holes (I now have three of them!)

*

異国にて四十回の寒き夏

away from home...

forty times over

cold summer

I celebrated my forty years in England by having a garden party, inviting forty friends, on a July day which was neither sunny nor rainy. It was a little bit too hot for me to greet my guests wearing one of my holey sweaters. Also, my garden was slightly too shabby and informal to be called a stately home garden. As the party went so well that I wish to have the same celebrations again when I will be 107. It will of course be in THE GARDEN!

*

仙人の暮し亦よし百姓家

life of a hermit...

it’s not bad at all,

a farm house

I live a hermit-like life, risking being a real hermit. The aforementioned garden party was to bring myself back to the world of living. It also had not a few other hidden purposes, not least of which was to implement the life’s philosophy I am trying to construct for my next forty years, code-named “Intellectual Epicureanism”. Sounding outlandish, all it is aiming at is to maximise the joy of life (peace of mind=ataraxia) while minimising its unpleasantness (pain), or hopefully eliminating it altogether. For me, sereneness is derived primarily from beauty. More practically, it is underpinned by a kind of self-sufficient life, a sense of freedom (most importantly, the freedom of expression and creativity), true friends, natural and human environment and one’s own system enabling such a life, and a bit of worldly pleasure thrown into it.

*

侮蔑せし庭いじり今楽しみぬ

yesterday

I despised gardening, today

I am enjoying it

I started gardening for the sole purpose of paying respect to my late wife who was a keen and unconventional gardener. Almost immediately, however, gardening became a joy of my own, verging on obsession. It became an end in itself requiring no justification, excuse or reason. Its importance shot up within myself to the same high level as that of my painting pictures. It can be extremely creative. Like Marvell, I like the colour green, but then, as an artist I like all colours. Green can be compared to a solitary figure enjoying solitude in the garden. Lovely colours are friends with whom to share the joy and sorrow of life. Such pleasantness, music, poetry, friendship, joy, smile and laughter as were created during the party are priceless and will no doubt become important ingredients of successful execution of my “Intellectual Epicureanism”

＊

ばらの国にばらを育てゝ住む子かな 靜子

my son,

living in the rose country

nurtures roses Shizuko

My mother has visited England with my late father several times and still enjoys remembering her fond memories of this country and people. She is 94. This haiku is from her anthology which I compiled and had published in January 2011, which has been awarded in November a prestigious prize The Nagasaki Prefecture Literary and Artistic Award for 2011. The haiku is a reflection of my mother’s mixed feeling of her love for England and also of her weariness about the country that stole her son. (END)