Takuboku's Flowers

The Japan Times - Thursday, Jan. 17, 2002
IN BLOOM
Fukujuso (Adonis)
By LINDA INOKI

A long letter came from my younger sister, Mitsuko, in which she wrote: "On my desk is a lovely Adonis. While I was looking at it today, I couldn't help remembering our hometown. We often walked around the graveyard searching for violets and Adonises, remember?"

From "Romaji Diary" by Takuboku Ishikawa (1886-1912),translated by Sanford Goldstein and Seishi Shinoda(Charles E. Tuttle)

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The Japan Times - Thursday, Feb. 27, 2003
IN BLOOM
panji (pansy)
By LINDA INOKI

Thinking I would mend my torn kimono, I
went out to buy some needles and
thread. But instead of buying them and
even as I heard an inner voice crying
"Stop! Stop!" I took out my purse and
bought this notebook I'm writing in, a
pair of tabi, some undershorts, a roll of
letter paper and two pots of pansies at
five sen each.

From "Romaji Diary" by Takuboku Ishikawa (1886-1912), translated by Sanford Goldstein and Seishi Shinoda (Charles E. Tuttle)

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These two flowers are from Linda Inoki's fascinating column IN BLOOM in the Japan Times. Click on the pictures to view the complete articles. More flowers and poetry are available there as well!

Ishikawa Takuboku was a native of Iwate and Morioka.