"Sad Toy" - Kanashiki Gungu

...In the wake of the High Treason Incident that followed, he sought an escape from his impoverished life in socialism, and wrote works such as "The Current State of the Closed Era" (1913), which showed sharp social criticism, but he also came to regard tanka poetry as a sad compensatory act for those who cannot change reality. His tanka poems, collected in "A Handful of Sand" (1910) and "Sad Toys" (1912), candidly sang of everyday emotions with cynical humor and deep pathos, bringing a breath of fresh air to the world of tanka poetry. In 1911, he was diagnosed with chronic peritonitis, and then his wife and mother also fell ill. ...

*Some of the terminology explanations that refer to "Sad Toy" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…続いて起こった大逆事件を契機に，貧しい生活の出口を社会主義に求め，《時代閉塞の現状》(1913刊)等を書いて尖鋭な社会批判を示す一方，短歌をば，現実を改変できない者の悲しい代償行為とみなすにいたった。《一握の砂》(1910)と《悲しき玩具》(1912)にまとめられたその短歌は，冷笑的諧謔性や深い哀傷感をもって日常の感情を率直に歌い，歌壇に画期の新風を呼んだ。11年，慢性腹膜炎と診断され，ついで妻も母も罹病。…

※「《悲しき玩具》」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報