Tohru Watanabe, photo by Kenki Iida
Japanese poetry magazine Gendaishi-techo features an insert of Czesław Miłosz's audiobook recorded by the actor Tohru Watanabe. The magazine includes numerous articles devoted to the life and work of the Polish poet.
Following the release, Czesław Miłosz's audiobook will be promoted during an evening at Tokyo's Super Lux club on the 7th of November. Tokyo's Polish Embassy also plans to host a Miłosz evening, with readings by actor Tohru Watanabe. The Polish Embassy will also realise a film on the poet's figure and the reception of his work in Japan, and a collection of Miłosz's poems in Japanese is to be published with the Embassy's help.
The endeavour forms part of the Cultural Programme of the Polish Presidency of the EU, as well as a special programme commemorating the hundredth year since the Polish poet's birth. The publications differ, depending on their country of publication. The graphic design and overall concept remains the same: The audio books, produced by European Polish Institutes, and the Embassies of Poland in Beijing and Tokyo are an opportunity for international readers to acquaint themselves with the works of the Polish laureate of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Two renowned experts of Polish language and literature, Professor Tokimasa Sekiguchi and Professor Mitsuyoshi Numano have selected Czesław Miłosz's poems for the Japanese audiobook.
Sekiguchi is Proffesor of Polish at Tokio University of Foreign Studies. He is a translator and literary researcher, and has greatly contributed to the propagation of knowledge of Poland in Japan. In Poland, he is best known for his essay on Gombrowicz, entitled "Gombrowicz czytany pionowo" / "Gombrowicz Read Vertically", as well as his translation of Czesław Miłosz's "History of Polish Literature" into Japanese.
Professor Mitsuyoshi Numano from the Slavic Studies Department of Tokyo University is an acclaimed literary critic. Numano was a student of Stanisław Barańczak at Harvard University. An editor of numerous publications of Stanisław Lem's writings, he also published a new translation of "Solaris".
The two specialists also conducted a team of translators working on Japanese versions of poems selected for the audibook.
Tohru Watanabe, who lend his voice for the audiobook recording, was born in Ibaraki prefecture in 1961. In 1980, Watanabe entered the Theatrical Institute of Bungakuza, Japan’s leading theatre company, and after 5 years he was promoted to a member of the Bungakuza. In 1981 the actor made his debut in a popular Japanese TV drama "Taiyou ni hoero!", quickly becoming a celebrity. In 1982 he released his debut single, "Promise", which hit number one on a TV hit chart. At present, Tohru Watanabe mainly concentrates on acting in theatre. Some of the productions he took part in are "Henry IV" of William Shakespeare (2009), "The Witness for the Prosecution" based on the prose of Agatha Christie (2010), and most recently, "The Flowering Cherry" of Robert Oxton Bolt (2011).Watanabe is also engaged in various TV series and film projects, and works as narrator and presenter. The actor is laureate of many prizes such as the Golden Allow Award, Rookie of Élan d'or Award and Kikuta Kazuo Theatrical Award.
Tohru Watanabe on recording the audiobook:
With this selection of poems I faced the challenge of measuring up to the entire richness of Miłosz's poetry. This turned out to be no easy task, as he is a poet-philosopher who trangresses forms typical of poetic enunciation for which it is not easy to find a interpreatative key.
When I familiarised myself with the poems, I became intrigued by the distinct style and language in which a heated tone and emotional engagement come to the fore. This poetry has a refined and unparalleled style, with many philosophical, historical, metaphysical and religious references.
Often pesimistic and bitter in his tone, restless, at times gentle, ironic, distanced towards himself and the surrounding world, liking to surprise the reader: I think that these traits of Miłosz's pieces make it impossible for anyone to remain indifferent towards his poetry.
In his constant search for new forms of artistic expression, Miłosz took an interest in haiku and translated many of them from English into the Polish.
I would like to say that reading Miłosz's poems allowed me experience a true intellectual adventure, and I hope that I was able to touch upon this vision of the world and of man that Miłosz paints out in his poems.
I hope that the listeners of this audiobook will also experience the unique atmosphere of this selection of poems.
Tokyo, June 2011
Kibou / Hope
Tami-wo itaburishimono-yo / You Who Wronged
Shikashi shomotsu-wa / And Yet the Books
Kakumo wazuka / So Little
Watashi-no chuujitsu-na kotoba-yo / My Faithful Mother Tongue
Campo dei Fiori
Sekai-no owari-no uta / Song on the End of the World
Sheteinye-de / In Szetejnie
Kumo / Clouds
Nihon-no shijin Issa (1762-1826) wo yominagara / Reading Issa, the Japanese Poet (1762-1826)
The Japanese edition of Czesław Miłosz's audiobook is made possible thanks to the help and cooperation with the Polish Embassy in Tokyo.
Full list of poems selected for the Japanese edition:
"Kibou"
"Tami-wo itaburishimono-yo"
"Shikashi shomotsu-wa"
"Watashi-no chuujitsu-na kotoba-yo"
"Campo di Fiori"
"Sekai-no owari-no uta"
"Kakumo wazuka"
"Kumo"
"Sheteinye-de"
"Nihon-no shijin Issa-wo yomu"
Date: Distribution starts 20th of October, 2011
Location: Nationwide in Japan through Gendaishi-techo magazine
Organised by: Polish Embassy in Tokyo, Adam Mickiewicz Institute
Project cofinanced by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland.
Czesław Miłosz is a Flagship Project of the Cultural Programme of the Polish Presidency. For more information on the project, see: Czesław Miłosz
For more information on the 2011 Milosz Year, see: www.365milosz.eu
Source: Adam Mickiewicz Institute