Translation of Ten Japanese Haiku

Professor Minoru Fujita and I worked together on translating four Japanese haikuists from the original Japanese into English back in 1983. These poems have never appeared online but originally were published in Paintbrush: A Journal of Poetry, Translation and Letters (Spring&Autumn, 1983 issue). However, I am providing a copy of our worksheet for Bosha Kawabata's delightful poem "Fiddleheads" that did not appear in Paintbrush; it is hoped that this sample worksheet shows the process of translation effectively.

Bosha Kawabata: 3 Haiku:

A drop of dew;

an ant recedes from it

staggering

In glimmer of moon

scars of deep snow

cannot be hidden

Gentle fiddleheads

sprout like no characters

in earthly paradise

Seishi Yamaguchi: 2 Haiku

Even disappearing tip

of tail is still nothing

but a snake's body

What a crunching sound

praying mantis makes

with bee's head

Shuson Kato: 2 Haiku

Eyes of pheasant

shine forth brilliantly

while sold away

A frogfish

frozen to the bone

gets all chopped up

Hakyo Ishida : 3 Haiku

A grapefruit split open

bursts forth like joy,

its color and smell

For but an instant

setting sun transfigures

with gold a burnt land

Waiting for a bus,

I cannot doubt coming

of spring to wide boulevard

These four Japanese poets are all deceased. They lived in the early to mid-twentieth century. I first met Professor Fujita in 1981 when I taught American literature for one full year at Osaka University. He is an eminent Shakespeare scholar but loves contemporary Japanese haiku for its stark and surprising poignancy. He and I spent several months working on this translation. His English is at a much higher level than my Japanese but he respected the fact that I am a poet who wrote a collection of poems Bamboo in the Sun (1983) in a Japanese manner.

See also: http://hubpages.com/hub/A-New-Translation-of-An-Inca-Rain-Poem

Summary

Ideally, a translation from Japanese to English should be made by a team of two. One should be fluent in Japanese and proficient in English and the reverse for the other person. Both should be engrossed in the subject matter.