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Masajo Suzuki: A Woman’s Love for Her Life and Art
by Alya Saqer
In this study of a contemporary haiku author, I focus on the book, Love Haiku: Masajo Suzuki’s Lifetime of Love translated by Lee Gurga and by Emiko Miyashita and published Brooks Books in Decatur, Illinois in 2000.
The women of Japan are looked upon as the guardians and teachers of their children. Their respect was based on their marriage and the accomplishments of their children because they were important to the country’s future. Even today, Japanese women are restricted from their participation in society and are mostly expected to marry while sacrificing their life for their spouse and children.
What was amazing to me about Masajo Suzuki's haiku was that in post-war Japan one special woman overcame her hurdle against society’s expectations of her and delved into the art of haiku. As a divorced woman, Masajo Suzuki, stepped onto a path of independence to live her life to the way she wanted and was open about her affair with a married man. Masajo defined her art as an extension of her own heart because that was her own way to celebrate her independence to choose whom she could love and what path she can take even though sadness sometimes leapt from her haiku. She used her art of haiku to express her views on her culture as well as the restrictions that Japanese women experience since their virtue is tied by their ability to follow the cultural expectations of them. Therefore, Masajo’s style of haiku was like an autobirgraphical narrative of moments in her life that she felt was worth to experience even though many of the memories brought her sadness but her belief in the wonders feeling love and living life made her haiku exceptional.
in these three worlds
a woman is never at home;
snow on snow on snow
Suzuki, Love Haiku, 28
Like in many cultures, women are usually not independent people but are the property of their father, husband, and son. Though the concept has decreased in the last century, it is a view that has not died based on that not many women are aware of their ability to achieve independence. In Japanese culture, the restriction of women is part of their culture and since they are a top-down type of society, the change must come from the government or even the state. Masajo knew her own restrictions as a female in a patriarchal society and chose to comply with the role she was born. Though unlike many women in post war Japan, Masajo disliked the life that she led and wanted to choose her own path that could help her develop to what she wanted to be as a person. Thus, she left the hotel business, divorced her husband, along with opening her own pub while having an open affair with a married man. Masajo had no regrets about her life but it seems that she was tired of the external battle that she had to fight for her right to be an individual. As a woman she was an object; her life was defined by the men in her life as well as the community that she lived in. Yet the urgency to live life by her own choice won out and so Masajo delved into the haiku art along with a successful pub business to help her savor the moments of her life.
The imagery of the haiku above is unique to the author because it delves into the world of a woman’s mind. Masajo indicates that though a woman is with her family, yet she is not at home but a servant to the family. The haiku indicates that it is like snow because no matter how much a woman tries to dig her way into freedom, another layer is always in front of her to dig. What is interesting though is that Masajo indicates that there are only three worlds to the Japanese women and that they are the only options that she can participate in. Japanese women have no other choice but those worlds because that is their duty in the state. This haiku is wonderful because it does not hide under many metaphors to get to the point that the author is trying to express to her audience.
In addition, the choices that Masajo took might not seem as important to many western women based on that they usually had some control of the way their life was led. Yet regardless of being a man or a woman, every person on earth wants to conform to the community that we live in because the thought of being alone is very much a fear that is instilled in our own hearts. What was unique about Masajo was that she realized that by establishing her independence, the consequence is the aversion that people would have to her. But to many people, life is hard because we want people to support what we want from ourselves and yet we are pulled to the idea that to be accepted by those around us we must conform to the culture that we live in. It is a sad truth and the battle must be fought by those that want to live their life based on their choices and not others. For example, Masajo wrote about the experience of being shunned by others because she was different as seen in the haiku below.
people’s censure
I know all about it…
sorrow in the spring
Suzuki, Love Haiku, 24
“In a small town people are more concerned about what others are doing (Suzuki 24).” The quote was a way for Masajo to describe what she goes through in her daily life as an independent woman in Japan. As she says that people like to gossip about individuals that they feel are different because what people like Masajo do is just not done. In the western world, many people define themselves by being individuals to some extent. The Japanese culture defines itself by the group not the individual because individual interest hurt the nation and the people that surround them. One can just imagine the disdain that people had on Masajo’s life style but maybe if they saw how her independence contributed to her art, they would not have easily judged her. Later on in her life, Masajo did finally accomplish recognition and fulfillment of her life to some extent. It takes strength to shape our own destiny when societal traditions restrict our rights to do so.
The haiku above gives the mental image of a woman that stands alone on a busy street and yet all around her she can see the people’s back. As the reader reads on to the haiku, the woman’s face is magnified and you can see the sadness in her face as well as the realization that she will never be part of the community around her. The last line indicates spring which is a month or growth, happiness, and freshness but yet all this woman can feel is her sorrow because those around her judge her by her choices in life. Much of the haiku makes the reader feel that the woman is restricted in her emotion and interaction with others. The lesson that many people do not seem to understand is that there is always a price for the choices that we make. Therefore, Masajo was not an exception to that rule since the woman that she describes is herself. Masajo is happy with her decisions to an extent but I believe that she has always had a hard time dealing with the toll that it takes on her soul.
As stated above, a woman’s virtue was based on the extent that she sacrificed herself to the good of the state. Yet is that virtue or enslavement? Can a woman have the ability to decide the life they would like to live? Today, Japan is experiencing a rebellion of many young women who will not bow down to their society’s expectations of them. This was not the case for many women in post-war Japan when the state depended on the mothers’ to serve their children and guide them to strengthen and rebuild Japan. Many women prided themselves on their ability to produce productive children to their society and yet Masajo questions that line of thinking. Is it right to think of a woman’s virtue based on how successful her children are? Can the woman be virtuous by the path that she leads in life like men? Masajo offers insight into this issue of the issue in one of her April Waves haiku.
firefly light:
I step off the path
of woman’s virtue
Suzuki, Love Haiku, 33
In the Japanese definition of a woman’s virtue, Masajo has stepped away from that path because she was not a good wife or a self-sacrificing mother. Yet the path she writes about was already laid out for her by the society that she was born in, so in essence the path was clear to the poet. Even though the firefly was providing that light to that path, Masajo stepped out of it and into the darkness. The author felt that to live her life sometimes one must step into a dark path because that is the only way that an individual can learn, adapt, along with finding themselves. In a way the firefly was showing a planned out path with little surprises. In many ways this haiku is lovely because it again states what the author wants to say by illustrating the feelings and thoughts to what she saw in front of her. A woman’s virtue is defined by the culture not the individual though many females imagine that they do have some control over it even though they do not. Masajo offers an explanation of what she saw in front of her as well as her choice to leave that path. The author is not arguing against the system but states that she just did not follow it.
Moreover, Masajo was even open with her affair with a married man that she loved until his death. She did not mind that he had a wife because she knew that not many women had the ability to go against the conventions that they were raised in. What was interesting is that she hated that she was a failure in relationships and that she cannot get the man that she loved. Even though they are not married, both Masajo and her lover spent as much time with each other as they could. In a way, they were sad that they can not be with each other but her lover did have children to support as well as a wife. What was interesting was that they were both willing to sacrifice much for each other but there was a line to what they would give up in their lives.
shall we die together?
he whispers in my ear…
fireflies in the dusk
Suzuki, Love Haiku, 88
This haiku is a great example that demonstrates the love that Masajo and her lover had for each other. They could not sacrifice everything for their love because they both had duties to fulfill. She had the responsibility to her pub while he had to take care of his family. The haiku offers that for Masajo and her lover, their only sacrifice to each other’s love was their simultaneous death. Many might interpret it as suicide, though the poet offers a glimpse of a dream where they would grow old together and die together. The fireflies offer a light to that love and hope. It is like lovers that sleep in the star filled night while just concentrating on their love and nothing else. The haiku is also well written in that the reader feels that they are reading Masajo’s most intimate moment in her diary and find that in her own bleak world someone did care for her even though she has been shunned by many for her lifestyle. A love that endures many obstacles, it feels like a tragic fairy tale and yet not many people have a fantasy life. In her own way, Masajo offers a depth to real life while giving a glimpse to the unknown because no matter how much we try to control our lives there are still uncertainties that we can not foresee.
Moreover, Masajo’s haikus are the perceptions that she has on the world around her based on a female point of view. The undertones in the haikus are of sadness because restriction of a woman was somewhat severe since females were not allowed much mobility in the Japanese culture. This is not the case today to some extent based on that Japanese culture is going through a rapid change since they realize that they need to adapt to globalization if they are ever to prevail. In many of the haikus, Masajo states what she sees and nothing else. She offers no arguments or false hopes but tells you what the world is around her along with how she adapted. For example,
summer kimono sash—
my destiny in my hand
in my own hands
Suzuki, The Love Haiku, 33
“My fortune is something I have to hew out for myself (Suzuki 33).” A passage in Masajo’s own dairy, where the author has realized that the only one that can live her life is herself. Others might try to help but the ultimate journey to live life is the person that wants to make the journey and not the people that they interact with along the way. Each individual has a destiny that they can shape but like the haiku above, it is by that person’s own hands that their fate can be shaped. The haiku above repeats itself to emphasis the journey that an individual must make themselves. Masajo has a great ability to say little while portraying a meaning so strong that the reader has the utmost respect for what she has accomplished. In addition, the kimono sash has been applied differently to each haiku by Masajo along with the seasons that she writes about in her haikus. Just like the control that one has in how their kimonos sash is placed, each person on the earth has the ability to shape how they live. There are some aspects that are not within a person’s ability to control but a human being is instilled with the ability to adapt to the surroundings that he or she is placed in. Masajo’s haiku gives the picture of the poet adapting to her existence by taking the path that she believes she should lead to fulfill her life. In contrast, not all cultures even allow people to make their own choices yet each person in a community has the free will to say no to the societal norms that they follow. It is the fear of rejection that does not allow many people to live the life they would like to lead. Additionally, the sash can be viewed as the restrictive traditions of the Japanese culture that she must follow since she is Japanese and was born into the culture. Masajo can have the freedom to shape her destiny but can not take down the manacles that she was born with or even perceived with. It is like Masajo is pointing that she is free to the extent that is allowed though many frown upon her decisions.
Cannot the same analogy be applied to western women? The feminist of the past have won women the ability to vote, work, and become educated. Yet we still wear some garments that are worn for the pleasure of the man that sees it. Many garments are meant to make women look pretty and nothing more. Not many follow the dress code or culture but in Japan many people wear what the others wear since individuality is perceived somewhat akin to vanity or even a big ego. There are exceptions to the rule but for Masajo those exceptions go so far since cultural traditions are what individuals use to identify themselves with the culture. Therefore, Masajo did not want to cut herself from the Japanese culture, she just wanted to live with the freedom to make her own choices within her community.
morning-glory—
already it belongs
to yesterday
Suzuki, The Love Haiku, 57
As stated above, Masajo never wanted to cut her culture off, but wanted to live a different way in it. She felt distressed at the sacrifices that she had to make to live her life, yet she cherished the good fortunes that came her way. As stated in her haiku, no matter how painful the past might be there is always something in it that is worth being cherished. It is like every morning signifies a new day with new experiences for the poet. The day passes like any other day but there is always something in the world that makes Masajo go on in her life. They can be the people that surround her or even the plants and animals that she interacts with. What is interesting though is that each haiku she writes is about a moment of every day that she wakes up in. As each haiku can not be replicated, every day on this earth is unique and can not be replicated. The morning-glory of that particular morning will never be seen again since it has passed. It will belong in our memories since that day was just a moment in our daily lives. The emotion Masajo evokes is wonderful because everyone should enjoy the world around them while taking what is around them in a pace that they can handle. It is interesting that even when Masajo’s lover died, she never loved another. In her own mind, just like the morning-glory is a wonderful experience to see so is her love for her lover. It seems that the sacrifices that she was willing to go for her lover explains the lengths Masajo would go to appreciated the things that happen in her life.
In contrast, across the world from Japan, an English woman embarked on a journey to appreciate the path that she has decided to lead. The only difference is that her haikus have little sadness in them; instead Caroline Gourlay celebrates her life and culture. She lives with a husband and family that she loves while writing her poetry on the appreciation that she has for her life.
touching you
as you lie sleeping—
the days shorten
Gourlay, Lull Before Dark, 12
winter mist—
memories of embracing
and being embraced
Suzuki, Love Haiku, 74
The haiku above is one of the examples of what Gourlay’s subject matter is in her haikus. Usually, she writes about her family, nature, or even her close bond with her husband. She differs for Masajo because she was never under pressure by her society to live a certain way since that might account to Masajo’s sad tones in her haiku. Also, since Gourlay never really fought against the social conventions of her day, her haikus have a much story-like than Masajo’s narrative haikus. But that is what makes each author special in the sense that each haiku writer gives a slight interpretation about a haiku. They make the haiku their own while keeping to the rules of the game. In addition, Gourlay writes her haikus about nature while sometimes adding a human presence to the haiku. In Masajo’s haiku, the poet writes about her experiences and usually adds nature to a human element. The poems rarely go out of the narrative style that describes Masajo.
Though they are different in culture and writing style of their own haiku, both women still incorporate elements of their culture or surroundings to their haiku. Masajo and Gourlay identify with the nature around them and manipulate what they see to describe what they feel. That is what makes both women wonderful haiku poets. It is their ability to share their experiences or even their interest by the use of simple words to evoke the emotion that they felt. For instance, Gourlay writes about calves, bluebells, holly leaf, and rabbits while Masajo incorporates kimonos, cherry blossoms, firefly, and morning glory into her haikus. Japanese culture has many meanings to the aspects of nature that touch their lives. The Japanese culture has certain words that have a given context where as the western view is a little less stringent on the philosophical meaning of the world around us. The western view applies what they see around them as just something that they have seen with little significance to the word itself. For example, Gourlay writes a haiku about a smashed windscreen that is behind an oak tree that is in her backyard.
smashed windscreen—
through the oak leaves
splinters of blue sky
Gourlay, Through the Café Door, 21
The oak leaves have no meaning on their own but they provide an illustration to the reader that will read the haiku and nothing more. That is not to say that English culture has no aspects of their nature that has meaning just that they do not interpret each thing that they see with an emotion or cultural aspect. In Masajo’s case, the fireflies in some of her haikus mean love or romantic involvement. The word itself can have meaning to the reader alone if it was left out of the poem or not. The wonderful thing about the Japanese culture is that you do not have to write about love when you can incorporate the firefly to the haiku to describe the emotion that you are trying to evoke with the reader.
Masajo Suzuki wrote love haikus from her heart which held all her emotions and dreams. The Japanese poet made something of her fight for her freedom to live and cherished every day of it with little regrets. She valued those people that were a part of her life as well as the nature that surrounded her. In modern sense, a life means owning material objects that one has dreamed of having but to Masajo life was in special moments that a person experiences. It seems that Masajo was grateful for what she can get as well as accomplish and that takes true strength of an individual to live their life by their own terms and nothing else. She is a woman that wrote to express her love of the haiku art while appreciating her devotion to life and love.
Work Cited
Suzuki, Masajo. Love Haiku. Trans. Lee Gurga and Emiko Miyashita. Decatur, IL: Brooks Books, 2000.
Gourlay, Caroline. Lull before dark. Decatur, IL: Brooks Books, 2005.
Gourlay, Caroline. Through the Café Door. Liverpool, Eng.: Snapshots press, 2000.
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