A handful of sand

This is Ishikawa Takuboku's first collection of poems. It was published by Toundo Shoten in 1910 (Meiji 43). It contains 551 tanka poems, each three lines long, divided into five chapters: "Songs about loving myself," "Smoke," "The pleasantness of the autumn wind," "Unforgettable people," and "Time to take off my gloves." All of them were written during his time in Tokyo and are divided into poems that sing of the joys and sorrows of city life, and poems that reminisce about Shibutami village (now Shibutami in Tamayama Ward, Morioka City), Morioka, and Hokkaido. His representative works include "I work and I work, but my life still does not get any easier/I stare quietly at my hands" and "On this day when all my friends look better than me/I will buy you flowers/and share them with my wife." The distinctive feature of this collection of poems is that it expresses the youthful feelings gained from everyday life in easy-to-understand language used by ordinary people, and its unique style has long been loved by a wide range of people.

[Yoshinori Iwaki]

"A Handful of Sand: Sad Toys" (Kodansha Bunko/Shincho Bunko)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

石川啄木(たくぼく)の処女歌集。1910年（明治43）東雲堂書店刊。一首三行書きの短歌551首を「我を愛する歌」「煙」「秋風のこころよさに」「忘れがたき人人」「手套(てぶくろ)を脱ぐ時」の5章に分けて収めてある。いずれも東京時代の作歌で都会生活の哀歓を歌った作品と、渋民(しぶたみ)村（現盛岡(もりおか)市玉山(たまやま)区渋民）、盛岡、北海道を歌った回想歌に分かれる。代表作は「はたらけど／はたらけど猶(なお)わが生活(くらし)楽にならざり／ぢつと手を見る」「友がみなわれよりえらく見ゆる日よ／花を買ひ来て／妻としたしむ」など。歌集の特色は生活のなかから得た青春の感懐を、庶民のことばでわかりやすく表現しているところにあり、その独自の歌風は長く国民の広い層に親しまれている。

［岩城之徳］

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