Recent Books

A Letter to the Japanese Written in Tanka Poetry

Lee Sun-shine; Seochon: 209 pp., 14,000 won

In March, a devastating earthquake shook Japan and the world with countless victims and much damage. Poet Lee Sun-shine, daughter of the late renowned poet Son Ho-yun (1923-2003), was one of the people who despaired at the news as she and her mother have a deep relationship with Japan.

Her late mother had published six volumes of tanka — Japanese poems of 31 syllables — in Japan. And the daughter follows in her mother’s footsteps with the publication of her tanka collection to comfort the Japanese victims.

“I felt hopeless when I heard of the unexpected quake, tsunami and ensuing nuclear disasters. At that moment, I thought ardent love about Japan of my mother who was loved by Japanese and if she was alive, a line of her tanka might console them,” Lee said.

Lee wrote some 250 poems right after the quake and introduced them in both Japanese and Korean newspapers.

Her poems reflect her wish for a quick recovery from the quake of, the pains of the Japanese victims, and yearnings for her mother who had a special attachment to Japan.

— CHUNG AH-YOUNG