Oak Park Program Explores WWII Japanese Internment Through Tanka Poetry
Writer and editor Nancy Matsumoto is set to present "Japanese Tanka Poetry and its Key Role in One Chicago Family" on April 27 at the Nineteenth Century Charitable Association in Oak Park. The program details the experiences of her grandparents, Tomiko and Ryokuyo Matsumoto, who were incarcerated in a Wyoming prison camp during World War II. During their internment, they turned to writing tanka, a traditional five-line Japanese poetic form, as a coping mechanism. After the war, advised against returning to the racist West Coast, the couple resettled in Chicago, where they faced significant challenges restarting their lives. Despite these hardships, Ryokyo’s poetry gained recognition, with one piece selected for an imperial ceremony in Japan in 1955. Their collected works were later published in the anthology "By the Shore of Lake Michigan." Matsumoto, joined by translators Mariko Aratani and Kyoko Miyabe, and scholar Eri F. Yasuhara, will discuss the historical context of Japanese-American incarceration, the cultural significance of tanka, and the family’s journey from loss to literary preservation.
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Oak Park Program Explores WWII Japanese Internment Through Tanka Poetry
Writer and editor Nancy Matsumoto is set to present "Japanese Tanka Poetry and its Key Role in One Chicago Family" on April 27 at the Nineteenth Century Charitable Association in Oak Park. The program details the experiences of her grandparents, Tomiko and Ryokuyo Matsumoto, who were incarcerated in a Wyoming prison camp during World War II. During their internment, they turned to writing tanka, a traditional five-line Japanese poetic form, as a coping mechanism. After the war, advised against returning to the racist West Coast, the couple resettled in Chicago, where they faced significant challenges restarting their lives. Despite these hardships, Ryokyo’s poetry gained recognition, with one piece selected for an imperial ceremony in Japan in 1955. Their collected works were later published in the anthology "By the Shore of Lake Michigan." Matsumoto, joined by translators Mariko Aratani and Kyoko Miyabe, and scholar Eri F. Yasuhara, will discuss the historical context of Japanese-American incarceration, the cultural significance of tanka, and the family’s journey from loss to literary preservation.
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