(On having dreamt that I returned to Richmond)
O wo furite hashiri yorikuru inu no se wo nademu tote samenu Tanforan no asa
Wagging its tail
the dog comes running up.
I go to pat its back
then wake up –
morning at Tanforan.
Yume ni mishi waga kaiinu ha o wo furite moto no aruji wo wasurezarikeri
Our family dog,
which I saw in my dream,
was wagging its tail.
Clearly it has not forgotten
its former master.
About the contributor: Kane Maida (1898-1961) was born in Wakayama Prefecture in 1898. Kane’s father Kumakichi and brother Eichi started the Maida Nursery on Wall Ave. in Richmond, California in the early 1900s. Kane and her mother, Matsue, joined them around 1904. Kane married Torayoshi Muraki (who took the Maida name) in 1918, and they had three daughters. When the War began, the family was running three nurseries in Richmond. The entire family was transferred to Tanforan in May of 1942. They were then incarcerated at Topaz from September 1943 to July 1945. When they returned to Richmond after the War, the house and nurseries were in terrible condition, so everything had to be rebuilt. Kane passed away in 1961. Throughout the period of incarceration, Kane wrote poetry, all written in an ancient poetic Japanese form called tanka. We are honored that Ken Tokuno, Kane’s grandson, shared her poetry with us.
© Kenneth Tokuno
Transcriptions and translations by Robert Huey PhD, Professor Emeritus, East Asian Languages and Literatures, University of Hawai`i at Manoa