Tanka Translation in a Novel

"On a Stone Pillow" is Murakami's short story collected in "First Person Singular" (Knoph, 2020, translated by Philip Gabriel.) Here, the narrator tells the story of a woman who wrote tanka. There are several tanka (we assume Murakami wrote them), and I find it safe to consider them not bad for an amateur. However, the translation read, to me, instead dismissing. The plain translation might reveal how the protagonist felt reading them. The prosy lines may be better accepted by novel (non-poetry) readers. The following are an attempt to make tanka a bit more fun for poetry readers! Also, I wanted them to be in five lines instead of four, as done in the book. This is just for fun! Do you want to try it, too?"

Miho teaches Translations of Murakami at the Tender Leaves Translation Online Academy.

Miho Kinnas is a poet and translator between English and Japanese. She co-translated a book of poems by Ikuko Tanaka with Shelly Bryant. Her poetry, translations, and book reviews were published in various journals, and The Belletrist Magazine nominated her poem "End" for The Pushcart prize in 2018. She has led poetry workshops based on haiku and renku at Pat Conroy Literary Festival, Harvard Art Museum, Shanghai Literary Festival, Life-Long Learning of Hilton Head, Bluffton Book Fair, USCB, Beaufort County Schools, and Montessori May River. Her creative works, as well as workshop material, often include her translations from various literature. Miho Kinnas is a poet and translator between English and Japanese. She co-translated a book of poems by Ikuko Tanaka with Shelly Bryant. Her poetry, translations, and book reviews were published in various journals, and The Belletrist Magazine nominated her poem "End" for The Pushcart prize in 2018. She has led poetry workshops based on haiku and renku at Pat Conroy Literary Festival, Harvard Art Museum, Shanghai Literary Festival, Life-Long Learning of Hilton Head, Bluffton Book Fair, USCB, Beaufort County Schools, and Montessori May River. Her creative works, as well as workshop material, often include her translations from various literature.