far in the sky
is there happiness?
what is it like?
even an ad balloon
pulls on a rope
Breasts of Snow, 2004
Fumiko Nakajo
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
在遙遠的天空中
會存在幸福嗎？
它是什麼樣的感覺？
甚至廣告氣球
都有一根繩子在牽掣
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
在遥远的天空中
会存在幸福吗？
它是什麽样的感觉？
甚至广告气球
都有一根绳子在牵掣
Bio Sketch
Fumiko Nakajo (中城ふみ子, 1922-54) was a strong-willed woman who lived a tragic life. She died from breast cancer at the age of 32, just few months after her first collection of 50 tanka, titled Chibusa Soshitsu (The Loss of Breasts), won the first prize in a nationwide contest sponsored by a major magazine. She is, though almost unknown outside of Japan, considered to be the third in the three most famous Japanese female poets in the last century, right up there with Akiko Yosano and Machi Tawara.
Structured into two parts (made up of two rhetorical questions and one statement infused with evocatively concrete imagery), this tanka about what happiness is/where happiness exists sparks the reader's emotions and reflection on the role of advertising in a society organized around consumption and display of commodities through which individuals gain prestige, identity, and standing.
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