Apr 11, 2017
Misuzu Kaneko’s 114th Birthday
Simple and expressive enough for children yet deep and accessible enough for adults, the works of Misuzu Kaneko were nearly lost to time until they were rediscovered four decades later. Misuzu is known throughout Japan as a poet who expressed childlike wonderment and humility simply and beautifully through her words.
Born Teru Kaneko in the fishing village of Senzaki, twenty-year-old Misuzu sent her first poems to several Tokyo children’s magazines in 1923. Her mother, who ran a bookstore in the small town of Shimonoseki, ensured her daughter was highly educated. Misuzu became a voracious reader, in turn inspiring her to try her own hand at writing. What resulted were internationally read poems beloved by several generations.
Today’s Doodle took its inspiration from Misuzu’s poem “A Bell, A Bird, and Me.”
No matter how I spread my arms
I can not fly at all,
But unlike me, a flying bird
Can not run fast on ground.
Though I rock my body back and forth
It makes no pretty sounds,
Yet unlike me, a ringing bell
Does not know many songs.
A bell, a bird, and also me,
All are different, all are good.
The poem exemplify Misuzu’s insatiable curiosity about nature and her ability to find the good in adversity. Another early Doodle sketch captures the spirit of her poem “Are You An Echo?”, aired by TV stations to inspire volunteers helping in the wake of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.
Early sketches by Doodler Sophie Diao
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