The Project
This project was a handmade pop-up book of haikus. I chose to write all haikus because they originated from Japan. Every haiku was written based on research done about Japanese authors. I picked 5 different authors, and they all came from different time periods. The time periods ranged from 973 to present day.
Murasaki Shikibu (973-1025?)
This author was a woman who was very intelligent. As a child, she started studying with her brother because she was learning faster than he was. During this time, she learned Chinese which was improper for women at the time. When she was in her 20s, she was brought to court to be the lady in waiting for the Empress. While she was there, she had to hide her Chinese knowledge because she would get shamed for it. She died around 1025. My page for Shikibu was representing femininity because feminists believe that men and women should be able to do the same things. When she was alive, this was not believed by many people at all. The poems i wrote for her are below.
I carry ten books
Learning obscure languages
Forced to be quiet
I was taken here
Now I wait for the empress
Just for my knowledge
I carry ten books
Learning obscure languages
Forced to be quiet
I was taken here
Now I wait for the empress
Just for my knowledge
Miyamoto Musashi (1584? - 1645)
This author was a famed swordsman. He was known to have fought many duels, and he was victorious. He claimed that he defeated his first opponent at 13 years old. He was also said to have a disfiguring skin condition that made him look deformed. He passed away in 1645. The page for Musashai is intended to represent the warrior that he was. There is a samurai mask and two swords that show that he was known to fight with two swords. The poems I wrote for him are below.
I have many scars
I perfected my sword skills
Rarely defeated
Lonely Samurai
Bamboo or an artist’s brush
Plagued in my own skin
I have many scars
I perfected my sword skills
Rarely defeated
Lonely Samurai
Bamboo or an artist’s brush
Plagued in my own skin
Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1725)
This author is most well known as a Bunraku writer which was a play writer for puppet theaters. He was known for writing love-suicides, but that was in a time where people were in to gory stories. He wrote plays for the Kabuki theater between 1684 and 1695. In modern times, some call him the Japanese Shakespeare because of the plays he wrote. He died in 1725. This page is meant to look like a puppet theater. There is a puppet attached to strings standing in the center of the stage. The poems I wrote for him are below.
Love of the theater
Wrote of lust and tragedy
Japanese Shakespeare
Bunraku writer
Formulating puppet’s voice
Standing ovation
Love of the theater
Wrote of lust and tragedy
Japanese Shakespeare
Bunraku writer
Formulating puppet’s voice
Standing ovation
Tarō Hirai (aka Edogawa Ranpo) (1894-1965)
This author was born as Tarō Hirai, but chose a stage name to go by instead. His stage name “Edogawa Ranpo” comes from the Japanese pronunciation of Edgar Allen Poe who was his literary idol. Ranpo wrote detective stories and macabre chillers, and he wrote adult stories about sexual deviance. His longest lived creation was detective Kogorō Akechi which was a Japanese analogue of Sherlock Holmes. Ranpo died July 28, 1965, and his name is now used for an annual prize given to detective story writers. This page represents Ranpo's dark writing style as well as his idolization of Edgar Allen Poe. The poems i wrote for him are below.
I draw from the dark
Inspired by a raven
The Hell of Mirrors
Pushing boundaries
Vampires wander my pages
Brocade portrait world
I draw from the dark
Inspired by a raven
The Hell of Mirrors
Pushing boundaries
Vampires wander my pages
Brocade portrait world
Yoshimoto Mahoko (Banana Yoshimoto) (born in 1964)
This author writes stories and novels with unusual characters and not very much action. She was raised in a more free environment than most children in Japan, and her father was a leader of the radical student movement in the late 60s. Yoshimoto attended the College of Art at Nihon University in Tokyo. During her college years, she won the Izumi Kyoka Prize for her book Moonlight Shadow. She is still writing today, and she is a big hit in Japan, but Americans that do not understand Japanese culture believe her work is simplistic. This page represents her whimsical and "cute" personality. The poems I wrote for her are below.
Winsome free spirit
A subtle androgyny
Moonlight Shadow dance
Novella kitchen
May I take your order sir?
Spatula for pen
Winsome free spirit
A subtle androgyny
Moonlight Shadow dance
Novella kitchen
May I take your order sir?
Spatula for pen