mitsuo aida

The Here and Now ﾑMitsuo Aida

BY SHIHO SASAKI

We encounter various kinds of people and books. They sometimes greatly influence a personﾕs life. Recently there have been popular books influencing a lot of people, one is the collection of poems by Mitsuo Aida, the most focused upon poet in Japan today.

Mitsuo Aida (1924-67) is a calligrapher and poet. He was born in Tochigi Prefecture and interested in reading books and poetry since childhood. After graduating from junior high school, he met Tetsuo Takei, a Zen monk of the Sodo sect. Mitsuo learned Buddhism from him and began creative activities as a calligrapher and successively won prizes in calligraphy competitions. He held many private exhibitions in ﾔ70s and began publishing his collections of poems in ﾔ80s. ﾒNingendamonoﾓ (ﾒBecause we are humanﾓ) which was published in 1984 especially has been read by many people and sold more than 1.6 million copies including the sales of after his death. Sometimes his works and life get coverage on TV and radio.

His poems are read by every generation because they are easy to understand. And they have all the more warmness and appeal because each of the works is written in his own hand in India ink. Though his poems are simple, they are truly meaningful in his original way of writing. Whenever we read his simple, sincere poems, we agree with them without hesitation and they make us think.

ﾒComplainﾓ

Itﾕs OK even if we complain

Itﾕs OK even if we show weakness

Because we are human

Itﾕs even OK if we sometimes cry

Because we are alive

Humans do not like others being in better condition/ And I am a human

ﾒFertilizerﾓ

That pain you had at that time/ That sorrow you had at that time/ All turned into fertilizer to help you grow

Arrogance and deprecation/ Obsequiousness and haughtiness/ All come from only one root/ The root named me

Why did Mitsuo keep writing the poem like these? One of his poems says ﾒMeeting someone can change your entire life/ May you have a good meeting.ﾓ He surely experienced it when he met Tetsuo Takei. The meeting with Tetsuo Takei and Buddhism brought him to ask; ﾒWhat are the most important thing and unimportant thing for us, human beings, living here now?ﾓ That was what he expressed in his poems. He is a great person because the poems he kept writing throughout his life still move a lot of people, as one of his poem says ﾒWe can hardly accomplish even one thing as we want/ So I work for only one thing.ﾓ

When encountering his poems, those hurrying ahead stop for a rest, and those only looking back at their past are pushed forward, realizing the importance of their lives ﾒhere and nowﾓ. It is the reason why his poems are so popular and read by so many people especially in these ﾔ90s. These days, a lot of Japanese people with their own problems, do not face themselves living ﾒhere and nowﾓ. There are people who sit in front of the computer all day long, live their life just for work, boys and girls who are not able to control their emotions and young-adults who are not eager to do anything. Mitsuo Aidaﾕs works are accessible to them, because he kept looking at himself living here now, all his life.

His poems tell us that it is natural and not a bad thing for us to make complaints, get angry, cry, envy, and struggle in difficult conditions. In the Mitsuo Aida Museum built in Ginza, Tokyo in September 1996, the visitors notebooks are filled with their problems and their comments; ﾒI was encouraged,ﾓﾒI was helped,ﾓﾒI was relieved,ﾓﾒHe gave me the power to liveﾓ etc. When you stumble, remember his poems, they will certainly give you comfort and support at every turn.