Springtime in Edo

A traditional 36-verse kasen renku to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the death of Kikaku, one of the most highly regarded of Basho's disciples. Composed bilingually in Japanese and English, and led by Professor Nobuyuki Yuasa, the composition of this poem spanned three continents, and is now published as a limited-edition 57-page booklet under the title Springtime in Edo, also including Kikaku's An Account of our Master Basho's Last Days — appearing for the first time in English. See below for details and ordering information.

Nobuyuki Yuasa (lead poet)
Haku Asanuma
Akiko Sakaguchi
Eiko Yachimoto
Shizuka Yamamoto
John Carley
Norman Darlington
Stephen Gill
Kirsty Karkow
Dick Pettit

Listen to Norman read the poem:
http://eirmode.com/mp3/kikaku.mp3

The opening three of our 36-verse poem:

Spring-time in Edo,
Not a day passes without
A temple bell sold.
Kikaku

Effervescent haze reaching
To the dark side of the moon.
Eiko

From deepest sleep
I waken to the sound
Of uncle's plough.
Norman

To Order

To order, send a postal money order for 1500 yen (or securely wrapped cash at sender's risk), to:

Prof. Nobuyuki Yuasa,
1118 Regalia,
7-32-44 Fujimicho,
Tachikawa City,
Tokyo,
Japan 190-0013

Regrettably, personal cheques cannot be accepted, due to high bank charges.
If ordering several copies, shipping cost may be reduced. Contact Prof. Yuasa at nyuasa88--AT--regalia.nir.jp for further information (substituting @ for --AT--).