Life-changing “words” Noriko Ibaragi I met in Korea December 28, 20:29

About his sensitivity

Defend yourself

by what a fool

Noriko Ibaraki "about their susceptibility"

When you get lost in your way of life.

When you are not confident.

When I was about to be swept away by a big thing.

Did you know that there are poems that have pushed the backs of many?

The poet's words are loved and spread in Korea.

What is the reason?

(Keigo Nagano, Director, Seoul Bureau)

The words of Noriko Ibaragi, who is also loved in Korea

Mid-November.

A reading session by Noriko Ibaragi, a poet representing Japan, was held at a small bookstore at the foot of Seoul Tower, a tourist attraction in South Korea.

Her poetry, 15 years after her death this year, has been loved in Japan for generations.

In fact, Ibaraki's poetry has been translated into Hangul for several years.

On this day as well, young people in their 20s and 30s gathered to select their favorite poems, read them aloud, and discuss their impressions.

A high school teacher in her thirties,

"'When I was the most beautiful' felt like my grandmother. It made me realize that my

grandmother also had a'clean time'. It was an opportunity. "

Similarly, a woman in her thirties chose the poem "Mizuumi."

"I thought the phrase" human charm is probably the fog that emanates from the lake "in this poem is beautiful, so I gave it to my mother.

I felt that there were many parts that I could sympathize with as a young woman."

A man in his thirties

"I like'despite this failure'.

As I get older, I'm afraid of failure and choose stability.

But when I read this poem, I feel like I have to live more .

Become"

Jung Suyun, who translated Noriko Ibaragi's poem two years ago, also participated in the reading session.

Ibaraki's poetry is packed with the words that young people living in Korea need.

Jung Su-yun (Translator)

"Now, there are issues of gender equality all over the world, and the old-fashioned way of working outside for men and devoting women to their families has already collapsed, hasn't it?

I

think

that the power to walk my life while preserving my own personality, my innocence and sensitivity, etc. is included in this collection of poems.

I think there is something that affects Korean readers, especially young women. "

Noriko Ibaragi's words that reach your heart straight

Noriko Ibaragi's words spread across national borders.

Among them, there is a poem that is loved by many people.

Mealy dry by Yuku mind the

blame to Do to the people

keep neglect their own watering

from becoming a gas flame Kashiku

blame to Do to the friends

had lost its suppleness is either a for or

a frustrated the

Do not be to blame relatives

everything was the poor is Watakushi

from Kakaru disappear basics

Do not be the blame of life

the first place was only a spineless aspirations

for any bad things

to the blame of the era a

slightly shiny dignity of abandonment

about their susceptibility

yourself Protect

'm stupid thing

Noriko Ibaraki "about their susceptibility"

As a 47-year-old director, I am one of the people who has been supported by "my sensitivity".

I met Goro Nakagawa, a folk singer and translator in his twenties, who sang this poem with a melody.

Since then, in the New Year, I started to copy this poem on the back cover of my notebook.

It corrects one's sweet posture and stretches the spine sharply.

This poem became like a teacher.

A Korean poet that Ibaraki was interested in

Knowing the spread of readers in Korea, I wondered if I could cover a certain person.

This is Hong Yun-suk, a female poet whom Ibaraki has trusted throughout her life.

Ibaraki translated the work of a Korean contemporary poet using Hangul, which he began learning when he was about 50 years old.

Hong is one of them.

Immediately after Ibaraki died 15 years ago, I visited my home in Seoul and interviewed him.

The quiet appearance left an impression on me as I deeply mourned the death of Ibaraki.

When I contacted him through the publisher, unfortunately Hong was informed that he died six years ago.

However, my family was told that Ibaraki still keeps the letter addressed to Hong.

27 letters What's inside?

It turned out that the remaining Ibaraki letters were 27 letters issued from 1979 to 2006 from postmarks.

With permission, I read all of them.

Two people who have continued to interact for 30 years while going back and forth between Japan and South Korea.

In the letter from Ibaraki, thanks for the hospitality received in Seoul and thanks to Mr. Hong for visiting Tokyo are spelled out, and a letter strongly wishing for a reunion, saying, "We are looking forward to seeing you next day." There were many.

Among them, there was a letter that surprised me.

Ibaraki letter written in Hangul

Postmarked in March 1979.

It was a letter Ibaraki addressed to Hong when the two had just met.

Surprisingly, the letter was written in Hangul on three sheets.

What did Ibaraki try to tell Hong by using Hangul, which he had just learned?

Hello

to Dr. Hong Yun-suk

.

Thank you for your letter immediately.

Long time no see.

I had been feeling a little sick and couldn't hold a fountain pen.

Please forgive me for the late reply.

Mr. Hong's letter is a wonderful Japanese character.

I think that robbing the language is a sin of prewar Japan, and I continue to study Korean while sweating.

There are many Japanese in the Korean language class in Shinjuku that I attend.

Do they think that way too?

probably··.

(Omitted) When

you send me a letter, please write it in Korean.

For me to study.

good bye.

March 6, 1979

Noriko Ibaragi

Born in North Pyongan, North Korea, Hong Yun-suk was fluent in Japanese.

It was because I had been educated in Japanese in the Japanese colonial basement until the end of the war at the age of 20.

In his book, Hong wrote his thoughts at that time as follows.

"When I was a teenager, I experienced a tragic war due to Japanese militarism. It was the first time in my life that I was suffering from a weak sense of fear, poverty, and confusion. Words and names. The days of deprivation and horror that were taken away from the tableware and spoons that I used in the morning and evening (...) still remain as a part of my life as an indelible shadow. "

Ibaraki notes that one of the reasons for learning Hangul was an event when he met Hong.

"I'm good at Japanese." When I screamed at his fluency, he said, "I was educated in Japanese all the time when I was a student." ("Journey to Hangul")

He wrote that he knew well that he had been educating Japanese for 36 years when Japan colonized the Korean Peninsula, but he could not understand it including the pain.

Three weeks later, I will receive a reply from Hong to Ibaraki's letter.

Dr. Ibaraki, the past political relationship between South Korea and Japan was very sad, but

now we have almost forgotten that sadness.

From now on, as a good neighbor, I hope that I can form new relationships and friendships.

It is wonderful that many Japanese are learning Korean.

(March 27, 1979)

The letter was shown by Yang Ju-hae, the daughter of Hong Yun-suk.

Mr. Yang remembers being severely blamed by Hong for not using Japanese when he was young.

However, it is said that as the phone continued to interact with Ibaraki, his eyes on Japan changed little by little.

Daughter Jan Juhe's Hong Yunsuku

"My mother happened confrontation with Japan and South Korea, each time the Korean public opinion is Bubbly, it was always trying to see properly.

Is flowed at a time of emotion, do not be biased to the likes and dislikes a.

you guys ought to know more about Japanese culture.

such a story gave me a great deal to. "

"Noriko Ibaragi understood how painful her mother was to words and took it as her own pain. I think that was a relief for her

."

Hangul in Ibaraki that didn't end with a hobby

In the latter half of the 1980s, the letters often consulted about the translation of Korean poetry that Ibaraki was working on at that time.

Ibaraki wanted to make use of Hangul, which he had been studying, to introduce the works of Korean contemporary poets, which were unknown in Japan at that time, to Japan.

In April 1988, I sent a letter confirming the translation of Hong Yun-suk's representative poem "Sea".

If possible, I would

like to publish this beautiful poem in good Japanese

and let many people know the high standard of Korean poetry.

Is there anything strange?

please tell me.

Sea - the sea of words

when the Watakushi we go a big sea

become a cloud of loaf

when the journey on the sea

on the F and deck of much sword

people that do not know each other

shake hands

like a once-in-a-lifetime hot consanguineous

With the passage of

time

when waving,

I thought I chose a poem that wouldn't flow away so easily, but what's going on?

Anyway, I want to do my best to bring it to completion.

In 1990, Ibaraki translated more than 60 works by 12 Korean poets of his choice and published them as "Korean Contemporary Poetry Selection".

The poetry collection was highly acclaimed for being the first to introduce Korean contemporary poetry in a cohesive form.

Hong listens to the news and sends a letter to Ibaraki.

I'm really happy with the result of my excellent work, and I can't help but respect the teacher's other excellent ability as a poet.

I hope you will take a rest this winter.

I think that translating the language of a country and the most difficult poems in it is to observe the spiritual culture of that country.

In that sense, the teacher has completed a truly great task.

I think I have the right to rest enough for about a winter.

(November 28, 1990)

Cross-border exchange of hearts

According to Hong Yun-suk's daughter, Yang Ju-he, Hong had disposed of most of his belongings before he died, but he kept the letter he received from Ibaraki.

When asked what the relationship was, they took out a photo and showed it to me.

Hong Yun-suk's daughter Yang Ju-he

"This is like a teacher's house.

Look at Mr.

Ibaraki's clothes.

Isn't it an apron?

This is a high school girl who met her friend and was a little excited. Doesn't it look like people are enjoying chatting? My

mother was pleased that Ibaraki-sensei introduced Korean poetry to Japan, despite her struggles. The

two are just friends

.

If so, there wouldn't have been a story with a soul in it. It

was because we interacted with each other in the spirit of a poet that we had a world of only two people that we couldn't imagine, though not very much. I think"

Many seeds sown by Noriko Ibaragi

After reading 27 letters, I felt like I touched Noriko Ibaragi's voice a little.

Thoughts on Korean friends and Korean poetry written in straight and polite letters.

This is because I was able to feel the way of life of Noriko Ibaragi, who keeps her feelings unabated.

There is a work called "Small Swirl" in Ibaraki's poem.

One person of sincere work

in far away that does not put heavy

make a small little spiral

it freely than seeds carried by the wind

to take the favorite course

blossom in place a favorite

Noriko Ibaraki "small spiral"

The seeds sown by Noriko Ibaragi are timeless, crossing national borders, and are blooming here in Korea.

Keigo Nagano,

Chief Producer of Seoul Bureau

Joined in 1998 Moved to Seoul Bureau in July 2009

Mainly covering Korean social issues and culture such as movies