There are 10 haiku poems that unsettle me every time I read them.

The author, whose pen name was Fuko (literally “No light”), was a death row inmate at the Osaka Detention House where he was executed in 1951. The poems were written during the last two days before his execution.

Here is one: “Chilly spring/ My thoughts have dried up/ My heart is pounding”

The words are straightforward, even blunt.

Another, prefaced “At the Place of Execution,” goes to the effect: “It’s warm/ Once you’ve mounted the gallows.”

These works are included in a book titled “Shokei Zenya” (The night before the execution), alongside the poems, wills and other writings left by a number of death row inmates.

First published in 1960, the book was edited by poet Sanga Kita (1893-1958) and his daughter, Satori Kita.

Sanga started a haiku class for condemned convicts at the Osaka Detention House in 1949 but died unexpectedly nine years later.

The Kitas and their fellow haiku group members hosted “farewell haiku parties” for the inmates on the eve of their execution.

Back then, most of the condemned were informed of their execution date two days in advance. They would sing and weep at the farewell parties, according to Kita’s book.

In the mid-1970s, however, the current practice of same-day notification of execution came into effect.

The Osaka District Court on April 15 dismissed a lawsuit claiming that the practice is unconstitutional.

Prior to the ruling, I had read the plaintiffs’ argument and was struck by the transcript of an audio tape submitted to the court as evidence.

Recorded on the tape were the reactions of an Osaka Detention House inmate who, in February 1955, had just been informed that he would be executed in two days. The tape also mentioned the “farewell haiku party” for this inmate.

Considering the date, I assumed the Kitas and their haiku colleagues must have been there.

Going through the book again, I found poems by several inmates who were executed around that time.

One went to the effect, “Even at the last moment/ I still have desires/ In this cold spring.” Another: “In my hand that killed a person/ A baby sparrow sits without fear.”

Reading the Osaka court verdict that rejected all claims by the plaintiffs, I thought about the last two days in the lives of the condemned.

My thoughts turned to the same-day notification of execution and the farewell haiku parties that are no longer held and the final poems that can no longer be written.

---The Asahi Shimbun, April 16

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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VOX POPULI: Farewell haiku parties for death row inmates no longer possible

46 1
16.04.2024

There are 10 haiku poems that unsettle me every time I read them.

The author, whose pen name was Fuko (literally “No light”), was a death row inmate at the Osaka Detention House where he was executed in 1951. The poems were written during the last two days before his execution.

Here is one: “Chilly spring/ My thoughts have dried up/ My heart is pounding”

The words are straightforward, even blunt.

Another, prefaced “At the Place of Execution,” goes to the effect: “It’s warm/ Once you’ve mounted the gallows.”

These works are included in a book titled “Shokei Zenya” (The night before the execution), alongside the poems, wills and other writings left by a number of death row........

© The Asahi Shimbun


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