One of the leading contemporary poetry magazines in Japan is “Poetry and Thought”, published by Doyo Bijutsusha Shuppan Hanbai.
My article was published in the April 2025 issue of “Poetry and Thought”.The title is “The Sound of Transforming Obstacles into Passages”.
I have written here about the solidarity of our activities as a member of the Baamdaad House of poetry in exile, regarding the poetry collection “No Jail Can Confine Your Poem” that we published in Japan in 2023.
We will continue our activities in Japan with a deep sense of respect for Somaia Ramish and the poets around the world who support her, and with empathy for the messages they have sent.
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The sound of turning a blockade into a path
Nozomu Shibata
What should I believe in? This is the question I have been asking myself since the day I read Somaia Ramish's message in February 2023. After 80 years of living in Japan with the U.S. military still present, we received a message from a poet in Afghanistan, where the U.S. military had withdrawn, asking us to send them poems. In solidarity with the resistance to the “poetry ban” in Afghanistan. Is it true? When I contacted the Afghan embassy in Japan, I was told in English that they didn't know anything about it. When I called the Japan-Afghanistan Society, I was told by Mr. Matsunami that it was true, that there were protests in the area, but that Japanese poetry is different from Afghan poetry and that not all of the news reports were accurate. However, it hadn't appeared in the Japanese news, and I hadn't done my research. I was ashamed of my own ignorance, living in Japan where the US military has not withdrawn, as I exchanged emails with Somaia Ramish with the guidance of Junichi Noguchi, the editor-in-chief of Web Afghanistan.
The predecessor of the poetry journal “Fragile”, which we publish three times a year from Asahikawa, Hokkaido, is the poetry journal “Seiga”, which was first published in 1946 under the editorship of Shoichi Tomita and continued to be published for 72 years. Shoichi Tomita, who was a telegraph operator who saw off the Kamikaze pilots, was demobilized at the age of 18 and, determined that “from now on it will be the age of the heart, the age when we can write poetry freely”, he founded the journal with his classmates. Mr. Tomita learned poetry from Yoshihisa Koike, a friend of the poet Hideo Oguma. In Japan 90 years ago, when Hideo Oguma, who was associated with Asahikawa, and Takiji Kobayashi, who was from Otaru, were active, it was also not possible to write poetry and novels freely. The determination of Shoichi Tomita, who was a child soldier, is the starting point of our poetry activities. I cannot ignore the message of Somaia Ramish, who is fighting for freedom of expression.
Around that time, I was researching Yoshimori Furukawa, a Hokkaido poet and excellent editor who was active in poetry magazines such as “Shi no Mura” (Village of Poetry). While I was reading through the materials, I came across “Hokkaido = Vietnam Poetry Collection I”, which was published in 1965 as a “poets' demonstration march” by Kouta Ebara, Itsuro Sasaki and others, bringing together poets from across the Hokkaido poetry factions of the time. Senichi Chiba criticized it, saying that “humanism and sentimentalism are fundamentally different”. Yoshimori Furukawa's work “Three Drops of Blood” does not fall into that category. Based on a Vietnamese folk song, it is a brilliant poem that uses a swarm of mosquitoes to symbolize the military forces that are swarming around the interests, and it penetrates to the root of what is causing the war. In the 1960s, poets read newspapers, magazines, and Ken Kaiko's reportage to obtain information, and as contemporaries, they discussed and took action regarding the Vietnam War.
What is information? The perspective of news differs greatly from country to country. Both the press and the internet are full of propaganda. Mr. Noguchi and I carefully conveyed Somaia Ramish's words through social networking services, and we received not only support but also various opinions. Of the approximately 100 poems that were sent in from around the world, 36 were by Japanese poets. The initial plan was to post the works on the BaamDaad (House of Exiled Poets) website on April 20th, World Poetry Day, but we decided that this would be too precious, so we decided to publish an anthology of poems. With the support of many people, we were able to publish the anthology on August 15th 2023, two years after Kabul fell to the Taliban. The anthology includes all the works of Japanese poets, as well as 21 poems in English by overseas poets, translated by Atsushi Ando (Professor Emeritus of Hokkaido University, Chairman of the Hokkaido Poland Cultural Association). At the same time, the French Pen Club was also preparing to publish an anthology of poetry in France, and the Japanese poems were translated by Mr. Takahashi Atsushi (Professor Emeritus, Otaru University of Commerce) and sent to the publisher via Somaia Ramish. The French edition of Nulle prison n'enfermera ton poème was published by Oxybia in October 2023. It contains poems by 85 poets from around the world, including 10 Afghan poets.
'No Jail Can Confine Your Poem' was ranked number one in the poetry category of Amazon's new arrivals (pre-orders) ranking. After publication, it was reported not only in Japanese newspapers, but also in the Persian-language BBC and the Independent. On August 24th, a commemorative event was held at the Asahikawa City Culture Hut in the city center, and on September 25th, a statement of support was posted on the official website of the Japan P.E.N. Club's Committee for Writers in Prison and Human Rights. On October 15th, a commemorative event was held at the Kotobuki Collaborative Space in Yokohama City, thanks to the efforts of Hitsuji Endo and Genichi Takaboso. Here, money was also collected for earthquake relief in Afghanistan. I have also been telling people about “NO JAIL CAN CONFINE YOUR POEM” at various poetry events and appearances in local media, and I have continued to send out information via social networking services, and I have started to receive inquiries from overseas. I also received messages directly from students and poets living in Afghanistan, in English and Farsi. I asked them if it was true that poetry was banned and women's rights were being taken away. I received graphic replies, saying things like “it's true, the Taliban are terrible, this place is hell”, etc. They asked me earnestly to take them to Japan, and although it didn't end up happening, they looked into ways of studying abroad. They all knew Kaka Murat (Tetsu Nakamura). One day, Somaia Ramish warned me that I should be careful about social networking services, so I've refrained from direct contact with them, but through this kind of exchange, I received a poem by Farkhunda Shula, a female poet living in Afghanistan, and it was published in the 19th issue of the poetry magazine “Fragile” (published in December 2023).
In December 2023, Somaia Ramish visited Japan at the invitation of KOTOBA Slam Japan (representatives: Yuri Miki and Jordan A.Y. Smith). Somaia Ramish, who appeared as a guest at the National Convention at Ikegami Kaikan on the 16th, said, “Poetry has the power to change society.” On the 17th, there was an exchange meeting at Matsudo FANCLUB. On the 19th, Somaia Ramish, Aki Sagawa, Akira Okawada and Miwa Ota took part in a symposium at the Kotobuki Collaborative Space in Yokohama. There were poetry readings and discussions about the appalling situation in which women's human rights and culture are being threatened. Somaia Ramish said, “If you lose your freedom, it's like dying.” On January 21, 2024, from 4:00 am Japan time, the French Pen Club hosted an online event called “Global Poetry Night to Confront the Oppression and Darkness of Afghanistan”. More than 50 poets from around the world participated and read their poems. Poets from Japan who took part in the event included HarukaTunnel, NIJO Cenka, Sumire YUZURIHA, Akira Okawada, Goro Takano, Miwa Ota, Junichi Noguchi, Aki Sagawa, Tagayasu Mori and Motoyamasaki Mifuyu. The event was preceded by a message of solidarity from Kyoko Nakajima, chair of the Japan P.E.N. Club's Committee on Writers in Prison and Human Rights. At this event, I read out a message from Atsushi Takahashi in English, which said, “We must become a voice calling on all people, including even the Taliban, to seek their own ‘poetry, which is freedom’, which they have forbidden themselves,” and “We must not be used as a tool for political power struggles,” and this was also published in the poetry magazine “Fragile” No. 20, along with a report on the event.
In June 2024, a Dutch-language edition of the anthology was published. Thanks to everyone's support, the first edition of the Japanese-language NO JAIL CAN CONFINE YOUR POEM sold around 400 copies, and I sent the royalties of around 60,000 yen to Baamdaad (House of Exiled Poets) in the Netherlands via PayPal. The second edition was published on November 3rd (Culture Day) 2024. The works of four poets (Kojima Kimiko, Hayashi Mioko, ZHONG ZHANG, and Mokuhachi Tanaka) were added to the collection. On the same day, Somaia Ramish's first collection of translated poems in Japan, “The Madness of Geography in My Veins” (editor/translator: Akira Okawada, translators: Naho Nakamura, Jun Kigure, Junichi Noguchi, Akira Kaneko) was published. The 20-poem collection “(The Madness of Geopolitics that Runs Through My Veins)” (translated by Akira Okawada and Jun Kigure), a book review of Haruki Murakami's work by Somaia Ramish, an Afghan, “Life is a Metaphor! —A Look at Haruki Murakami's “Kafka on the Shore” (translated by Naho Nakamura), a Q&A session from a symposium held in Japan in December 2023, “Report: An Intellectual Dialogue between Afghan and Japanese Poets on Freedom of Speech, the Status of Women, and Social Liberation” (first published in the June 2024 issue of “Poetry and Thought”), and a brief biography of Somaia Ramish (translated by Junichi Noguchi, Akira Kaneko). This book is a great way to get to know the poet Somaia Ramish. On November 9th, “NO JAIL CAN CONFINE YOUR POEM” was selected for the 27th Japan Self-Publishing Culture Award and I received a certificate of commendation. Dot World editor-in-chief Mitsue Tamagake, who has previously written detailed articles for the Asahi Shimbun and other publications, interviewed me again, and in December an article was published on the Dot World news site and broadcast live on the YouTube channel on the 25th (Afghan women poets defying the silence of art and freedom and spreading solidarity - “Monthly Dot World TV” #4). On January 8th 2025, at Chuo University, a lecture (The Possibility of Resistance through Literature: On the Poetry Collection of Somaia Ramish) and workshop were held by Akira Okawada, a modern poet and literary critic, at the invitation of Professor Miwa Ota of the Faculty of Letters.
Two years have passed since I first met Somaia Ramish. Thanks to the warm support of everyone, our activities have grown to the point where they are attracting the attention of many people. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude. When we first started our activities, it was difficult to gain understanding. Two years ago, I received an email from Junichi Noguchi of Web Afghanistan, which was addressed to the Hokkaido Poets Association. I contacted the executive board at the time, and was immediately told that the association could not get involved in the activities. Akira Okawada encouraged me to continue my activities as an individual, and I also had the thoughts of a Hokkaido poet as I wrote in the first half of this article, so I continued my efforts on a personal level and reported on the progress I had made, including the responses I had received from around the country at the July board meeting. I was then reprimanded for things like “the association has its own way of thinking”, “don't cause trouble”, “it's wrong to go into exile instead of staying in the area”, and “stop with the Taliban, do something about Ukraine” (lol). I resigned from the board of directors and decided to leave the organization. However, a year later, the 2024 edition of the Hokkaido Poetry Collection was published, and the poem “No Jail Can Confine Your Poem” was highly praised in the collection review. I learned that my actions were being watched, and that it would take time and effort to gain understanding. I was also seen as the youngest person in another organization, and I was seen as someone who was creating unnecessary work for others (in these situations, I am the youngest person in my late 40s, and I am in a serious state of stagnation. As it was the last event of the year, I did my best to make the autumn event a success in my kimono...), but I believe that one day they will understand my determination to make use of what I learned there. In the final selection for that prize, the evaluation of poetry collections that deal with social themes is not just criticism or propaganda, but is based on the importance of having self-criticality and ensuring that the poems reach both the criticizing side and the side being criticized.
Everyone who has participated in the activities of “No Jail Can Confine Your Poem” has their own thoughts. As I understand it, this is not a protest movement with a moralistic bent, but a place where we can think about the world and the role of poetry, together with poets from overseas. Somaia Ramish has also criticized the previous government, and has clearly stated that it was the United States that brought about the disaster. The issues are quite complex, and cannot be simplified into East and West.
A world where Liu Xiaobo and Alexei Navalny lose their lives in prison. In a country where people who are inconvenient to the government are killed by suspicious people without warning, and where public executions are carried out, girls raise their voices and are imprisoned in women-only prisons. It is difficult to obtain correct information and understand the situation in Japan, where the US military has not withdrawn. In January 2025, Malala Yousafzai, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, strongly criticized the interim government of the Taliban in Afghanistan at an international conference held in Islamabad, saying, “They don't consider women to be human.” I'm happy, but instead of blindly believing the news, we actually meet the poets of that country, look them in the eye, listen to their words, and send them our poems. They and their families are in danger. And we learn and imagine the poems of our senior poets in Japan. There was a time when literature recognized the world and proposed change. As a Japanese poet, I choose what I believe in.
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April 2025 issue of “Poetry and Thought” (published by Doyo Bijutsusha Shuppan Hanbai）
