Gogyohka - New Style Japanese Poem Now Quietly Booming

For the last 1,400 years Japanese poetry has been dominated by two forms; Tanka and Haiku. Since the second half of the last century, however, a new form called Gogyohka (literally "five-line verse") has been quietly on the rise. Its originator - a poet who goes by the pen name of KUSAKABE Enta - first developed the form in 1957 when he was just 19.

Having decided he wanted to become a poet while still at elementary school, Kusakabe spent his younger years focusing his literary energies on Tanka, but gradually became frustrated by the rigidity of the 5, 7, 5, 7, 7 syllable structure. He felt that the structural uniformity of Tanka was constrictive and tended to result in a poetic voice that was almost invariably melancholic. He wanted a form that would allow him to express the whole spectrum of human experience in a more direct and honest way.

By maintaining the five-line structure but removing the syllabic pattern of Tanka, Kusakabe created a new form of verse that was more flexible and, he felt, better suited to expressing the nuances of everyday existence. While some poems treat themes traditionally associated with Japanese short verse, such as nature and the changing seasons, many Gogyohka are direct and disarmingly honest expressions of the author's emotions or thoughts. Often written in the everyday vernacular, it is not unusual for Gogyohka writers to use onomatopoeic words and phrases lifted from everyday conversations.

This, according to Kusakabe, has been the key to the success of the Gogyohka movement. While the custom of writing poetry and, particularly, short verse has traditionally been much more democratic in Japan than in the West, Gogyohka is especially accessible, since it requires no formal training or intimate knowledge of high-culture. Kusakabe maintains that some of the best works he has seen have been written by people with no literary education at all. As far as he is concerned, good poetry resides in all of us. Gogyohka provides an effective way for people to draw that of themselves.

Next big goal is to make Gogyohka into a global literary movement
Having initially been scoffed at by his Tanka-writing colleagues, Kusakabe decided to devote his life to making Gogyohka a literary movement in Japan. After a three-year stint at the Yomiuri Shimbun (newspaper) he left in 1964 to pursue his literary ambitions, publishing numerous poetry periodicals and collections of verse. He realized, however, that it would take time for people to accept the Gogyohka form, so without any fanfare he gradually started to introduce Gogyohka poems into his collections of works and quietly gauged the reaction. In 1971 an anthology of his works entitled Hontouni Ai Shiteitara (If You Really Loved Me) sold over 100,000 copies. The collection featured several Gogyohka poems which were well received by readers.

Thirty years after writing his first Gogyohka poem, there were enough devotees to start a Gogyohka society in Tokyo. From that point onwards the movement began to gather momentum and within twelve years around 150 local chapters had sprung up across Japan. In 1984 Kusakabe established a literary press in Iidabashi called Shiseisha, where he began to publish a monthly Gogyohka periodical. Since then several other periodicals have been launched independently by Gogyohka societies across the country.

Regional editions of the Yomiuri Shimbun now feature a weekly Gogyohka corner and schools up and down the country have started to run Gogyohka competitions. According to Kusakabe there are around 4,000 people attending the monthly Gogyohka meetings nationwide, but judging by the quantity of work submitted in response to newspaper and magazine advertisements, the number of people writing Gogyohka in Japan is closer to half a million. Given that there are an estimated one million Japanese people writing Tanka, this is no mean feat.

Much of Kusakabe's success can be attributed to the tireless energy with which he has devoted himself to his work. His next big goal is to make Gogyohka into a global literary movement. "All languages share an inherent quality, the words are a form of breath," Kusakabe writes in the brief introduction to Gogyohka on his website. This realization first came about while he was tinkering with verses written by SHAKESPEARE. He found that certain key phrases or famous lines could be arranged naturally into the Gogyohka form.

Around the same time SASAKI Ryu, a Japanese teacher and part-time employee at Shiseisha, started a Gogyohka club at the International Language School where he works. He was pleasantly surprised by the enthusiastic response. Kusakabe became convinced that this form of poetry could be exported anywhere in the world. With the help of a local translator he published an introductory booklet to Gogyohka in English and booked himself a flight to New York. A trip to London is scheduled for later in 2007.

Some Gogyouka poems:
A little sun
is dancing
on your eyelid
through the hole
in your straw hat

KUSAKABE Enta

When I think of him
without knowing it
a smile breaks out
That panda face
only he has

KURIHARA Michiko

My baby's kick
sends ripples
across the bathwater
This was the first time
I saw your power

MINAMOTO Jun

Gogyohka website
URL: http://www.5gyohka.com/

Back to List Page