Remembering Jūkichi Yagi

There was not a cloud in the sky on October 26, 2017, a fine autumn day that marked the 90th anniversary of the death of Christian poet Jūkichi Yagi. About 70 people, including admirers of his poetry, gathered at his birthplace in Machida City, Tokyo, to commemorate the date. This day has been known as “Chanohana-ki” (literally “Tea Flower Mourning”) since the opening of the Jūkichi Yagi Museum in 1984.

Those in attendance gathered around Yagi’s grave for a memorial service and sang his favorite hymns before Pastor Shigeru Kobayashi (of Ōbirin Church, The United Church of Christ in Japan) delivered a message. “If there was one thing that defined Yagi, it was his faith in God,” he said.

After the memorial service, there was a formal opportunity for other guests to speak. Mr. Norio Ozawa, the former principal of Ibaraki Christian Junior and Senior High School, said he had sometimes shared Yagi’s poetry in classes and at parents’ meetings. “They’re not just good poems. They’re poems that live and work, getting into the hearts and minds of students. I once had a difficult student who was so touched by Yagi’s poetry that he presented a collection of it to his mother as a gift. It was deeply moving.”

Ms. Yukiko Kanbayashi, curator of Machida City Museum of Literature, said that many people visited the Jūkichi Yagi exhibition that they held in 2016. “We planned it in the hope that those who read Yagi’s poems might take the opportunity to think about their own lives. These poems are the stars of our hometown, and we want to pass them on to our children.” She indicated that the museum will continue in its efforts to introduce people to Yagi’s poetry.

Mr. Mikio Yagi, himself a poet, and a member of the Board of Directors of Kanagawa Museum of Modern Literature, expressed his thoughts on one of Yagi’s poems, “A Plain Koto.”

“If you lay a plain koto in this brightness, it will begin playing quietly, unable to endure autumn’s beauty.” (Translated by Yasuhiro Yotsumoto)

この明るさのなかへ
ひとつの素朴な琴をおけば
秋の美くしさに耐えかね
琴はしづかに鳴りいだすだらう

“It doesn’t take long to read, but it raises a number of questions. Who lays the koto there? Who plays it? Maybe it’s the poet, or maybe it’s God. Maybe Yagi himself is the koto, and God the one who plays it. If we examine Yagi’s poetry like this, we can catch glimpses of a deeper world.”

Jūkichi Yagi was born in 1898, the second son of a farming family. He started reading the Bible in his high school years, and became a devout Christian, but it wasn’t until his time as an English teacher in Hyōgo Prefecture that he began writing poetry. His first book, Autumn’s Eye, was published in 1925. Two years later he was struck down with tuberculosis, and died at the age of just 29, leaving behind two young children and his wife, Tomiko, who went on to publish The Complete Poems of Jūkichi Yagi in 1959.

Word of Life Press Ministries published a book about Yagi’s life to coincide with the 90th anniversary of his death. Jūkichi to Tabi suru (Travel with Jūkichi) includes examples of his poetry along with many photos and illustrations, which make it a good introduction to Yagi and his work. Many of those in attendance at the commemorative gathering bought a copy.

Ms. Hiroko Satō, a relative of Jūkichi Yagi, and acting director of the Jūkichi Yagi Museum, thanked guests for their support, and indicated that she hopes to continue commemorating Chanohana-ki Day into the future.

From Christian Shimbun, December 3, 2017
Translated by Tomoko Kato