Chapter 115 So you are "1 Lang"? You ask who I am? I am the Haiku Master of Tokyo Universi
Chapter 115 So you are "Ichiro"? You ask who I am? I am the Haiku Master of Tokyo University.
When Mutsuro Takahashi and the whiteboard with three new haiku appeared, the literary exchange meeting, which had originally seemed a bit dull, immediately reached a climax.
"A new work by the master of Haiku from the University of Tokyo?"
"Eh? When? Didn't you say you'd stop writing after 'Thor's Song'?"
"Is it really written by a haiku master? By the way, isn't the haiku master of the University of Tokyo sitting right here?"
"Oh, oh, oh, what you said makes me even more curious! The haiku must have been written by a haiku master. The one on the stage is the famous Mr. Takahashi."
"Rumor has it, it's rumored that the master of Haiku from the University of Tokyo will be on stage today to share his thoughts."
"No way! Is this true?! Is the Haiku Master from the University of Tokyo really sitting here?"
The audience was already in chaos, with all kinds of discussions and curious voices constantly spreading from the front to the back row.
When they realized that the Tokyo University haiku master might be present and that the original "Thoriumin Tanka" came from the Tokyo University haiku research group, many people's eyes immediately and quietly turned to the Tokyo University Kitagawa fan group who had just silenced a group of Kyoto University students.
There were only a few students from the University of Tokyo who came to exchange ideas this time. The four people from Yumeko who took the stage to debate were obviously the best among them. If there is a haiku master hidden among them, then...
Feeling the burning gazes all around them, the four people had different feelings.
Mengzi took it calmly, without any panic at all;
Jabami Rei sat up straight, wishing she could fast forward time and witness the large-scale social suicide of Ichiko Sadaji, Takahashi Mutsuro and others;
Kobayashi Tomoyo was looking forward to Yumeko's appearance, but at the same time, she was worried about what would happen next. A genius suddenly appeared among the friends she had been playing with. It was like a buddy who suddenly told you that he would go to the global finals after playing a game in an Internet cafe with five people. It was too dreamy.
Qian He Hui's situation was much simpler. She looked around and had no idea why these people were looking at them.
After everyone's voices gradually died down and their eyes returned to the three haiku, Takahashi Mutsuro coughed, exchanged glances with Ichiko Sadaji and the others, and then slowly said, "The style of these three haiku is consistent with that of Thunder God Tanka, and they all have a unified poetic beauty."
He served as the commentator, and the audience listened and appreciated the poems, and couldn't help but be immersed in the artistic conception of the three beautiful haiku.
"Mr. Kitagawa, your new work is so beautiful." Shizuko Kawaide lowered her voice and couldn't help but admire in a low voice beside him.
Her expression fully illustrates the discomfort a literature lover who is at a loss for words feels when he or she encounters a work that he or she really likes, and wants to express something but is unable to!
For a long time, Shizuko Kawaide has been criticized by her grandmother and a group of literary giants for her extraordinary and extremely poor literary aesthetic qualities.
Even she herself silently acknowledged this in her heart.
But Kitagawa Hide's works always hit her strike zone accurately!
Therefore, her excitement and joy are even greater than those of ordinary Beichuan fans.
Kitagawa Hide was once quite confused by the Japanese obsession and admiration for haiku.
When Kitagawa Hide first arrived at the University of Tokyo to study in his previous life, like many of his neighbors, when he first saw those famous haiku poems that have been passed down through the ages, the first word that came to his mind was "that's it."
To be honest, after being baptized by the true immortal poet next door, his threshold for pleasure in poetry has become ridiculously high.
Simple and plain, such as "Looking up at the bright moon, looking down at my hometown", magnificent, such as "The world is the inn of all things; time is the passer-by of hundreds of generations", and heart-shaking, such as "The rich have wine and meat, but the roadside has frozen bones".
Just in terms of poetry, comparing it to the next page and haiku, it is a bit like the feeling of him looking at the famous quotes from ancient times and the poems of Qianlong.
But after years of in-depth research and analysis, Kitagawa Hide gradually came to appreciate the beauty of haiku and why the Japanese are so obsessed with and admire it.
The beauty of haiku is related to the unique pronunciation rules and intonation of the Japanese language. In other words, Chinese people pay more attention to the inner meaning of words, while Japanese people pay more attention to the beauty of rhythm.
You can actually feel this when listening to Japanese songs. They pay more attention to rhythm and movement because of the unique tones of Japanese pronunciation.
The Japanese's admiration and love for haiku essentially stems from their cultural insecurity.
Because it originated from the quatrain next door, just like the early online literature was full of Western fantasy novels that imitated Western literature, and traditional martial arts novels that had not changed or evolved over the years, readers gradually became bored with them, and suddenly one day, a novel with an oriental fantasy and fairy-tale background emerged.
This is a work that breaks inherent cognition and is more in line with current local culture.
The merits and demerits of the work and culture can only be judged by readers from generation to generation. Kitagawa Hide has no say, but the truth is this.
The impact and influence of this kind of thing may have exceeded the value of the work itself.
Especially since the Japanese literary world has experienced the shock of the death of haiku, Kitagawa Hide's new works are no less than the rebirth of a phoenix, and naturally received endless pursuit and heated discussion.
Therefore, whether it was Ichiko Sadajō and others or ordinary students in the audience, they were all deeply shocked by these new haiku.
Mutsuro Takahashi was generous with his praise, and even the pale-faced Ichiko Sadatsugu followed suit to comment on and praise Kitagawa Hide's three new works.
At this point, these literary giants seemed to have suddenly united their front, and no one objected to the comments on the works of the Haiku Master of the University of Tokyo.
This phenomenon is extremely rare in the history of Japanese literature.
There are so many literary schools and personal factions, everyone is fighting to the death for fame and fortune, and are often only slightly more tolerant towards the dead, but at this time they all highly respect the Haiku Master of the University of Tokyo!
The reporters from the Yomiuri Shimbun who were invited to the scene recorded every word of the speeches of these big names. It was also the first time for them to see so many writers showing such admiration for a poet at the same time.
The person who crowned him as king was the former King of Haiku, Mutsuro Takahashi.
There are different opinions on which of the four haiku in "Raijin Tanka" is better, but young people generally prefer "Raijin Tanka" which praises love, while those literary scholars prefer the last three which are said to have richer artistic conception and emotions.
But none of this matters.
The purpose of holding this literary exchange meeting and deifying the haiku master of the University of Tokyo is to praise one and demote another.
Mutsuro Takahashi changed the subject and did not first say what the new literary genre was, but instead mentioned Kitagawa Hide's new haiku.
"This is bullshit! If the Haiku Master of the University of Tokyo is using haiku to awaken our souls, then he is using haiku to push us into the quagmire of filth!"
Mutsuro Takahashi finally said something against his will.
He himself does not really like modern haiku. The works of Mayumi Aso, who is now regarded as one of the representative poets of modern haiku, have absolutely no aesthetic appeal at all.
But these doggerel-like things are popular among the public.
In just a month or two, Mayumi Aso's fame is almost catching up with his.
Mutsuro Takahashi highly recognized several other poems by Hideo Kitagawa that had previously been published in "Bungei", so he didn't want to step on him.
Now, realizing that the new haiku is shaking his position and that his two works "I Am a Cat" and "Akutamaki" have almost brought down the Akutagawa Prize and Kodansha, Mutsuro Takahashi can no longer bear it.
What about retiring and living in seclusion from the world? That shouldn't block the way for up-and-coming talents.
As long as someone truly touches upon his core interests, he will be trampled into the dust!
Before we knew it, the boasting session turned into the trolling session.
The group of people seemed to be playing the "carrot squat" game. After Mutsuro Takahashi criticized, Sadatsugu Ichiko criticized, and then Shintaro Ishihara, Airi Noma and a bunch of invited literary celebrities continued to criticize.
There was one guy among them who made Kitagawa Hide perk up——
The great-great-grandson of Emperor Meiji, Tsuneyasu Takeda, who returned from studying abroad.
Speaking of the emperor, the Japanese royal family does not have a surname because they claim to be "descendants of gods."
Except for the crown prince, the emperor's heir, the rest of his descendants will be granted the title of imperial family.
During the Meiji Restoration, there were five royal families in the Japanese imperial family: Fushimi Prince, Katsura Prince, etc.
During the Meiji period, ten new royal families were established: Kitashirakawa Palace, Takeda Palace, etc.
These royal families are equivalent to legally recognized nobles, and their status and class are completely different from those of ordinary people.
Being born into such a family is even more outrageous than having a silver spoon in your mouth, similar to the Thai royal family, the Saudi oil crown prince, etc.
But after World War II, this feudal golden body was directly shattered by the American empire. According to the "Royal Model" issued by the American empire, the fifteen palace families were abolished, their members were all reduced to civilians, and the "Palace" was removed from their surnames.
Takeda Tsuneyasu is the heir of this generation of the Takeda family, an embarrassed and down-and-out prince.
But to be honest, even the impoverished aristocrats in Japan are basically at the top of the pyramid of this country. Like the royal family, the chaebol families, the Chinese people left over from the old era, and the mixed-race families controlled by the United States, they control the economic and political power of this country.
At least at this stage, Kitagawa Hide didn't think that he would offend an enemy of this level.
Shizuko Kawaide next to her is a possibility.
But this Takeda Hengtai was very strange. He kept biting him like a mad dog.
Everyone else had finished criticizing him, but he was still criticizing him, as if he had some personal vendetta. Kitagawa Hide couldn't help but whisper to Kawaide Shizuko, saying that as people from the same class, they might have attended the same aristocratic kindergarten when they were young.
Shizuko Kawaide immediately whispered a brief explanation to Hide Kitagawa.
The Takeda family is an outlier among the impoverished nobles.
They gave up popular industries such as finance and real estate and concentrated on making a name for themselves in the literary world.
The successor of this generation, Tsuneyasu Takeda, has been studying abroad. He won the Newcomer Award in the Literary World from Bungeishunju a few years ago. His debut work caused a sensation and he was also hyped because of his royal bloodline.
But then his books didn't receive any good response for several years in a row, and he was overshadowed by Oshima Hikaru, who was promoted by Kodansha. He then transformed himself into a literary critic, and unexpectedly turned out to be quite successful.
But for some reason, he disappeared from the literary criticism circle since last year, saying that he was going abroad to study further.
Shizuko Kawaide was unable to find out the specific details, but she only knew that the Takeda family had many connections in the literary world, and Takeda Tsuneyasu was a literary critic who could not be ignored.
She said this because she was worried that Takeda Tsuneyasu's angry criticism of Kitagawa Hide as soon as he made his comeback would affect Kitagawa Hide's future literary career.
Yes, in the literary world, if you can consistently produce high-quality works, you can continue to gain recognition from readers, but this does not mean that you can be supported and accepted by the mainstream industry.
The Japanese literary world, or the world literary world, is a very closed circle.
And readers outside are easily confused by various things.
For example, there was a Qigong craze in the 90s. At first, those Qigong masters and their theories seemed silly, but when there was an authoritative official statement, countless people followed suit and believed in them.
Today's Takeda Tsuneyasu is one such authority.
His comments are even easier for readers to accept than those of Ichiko Sadatsugu and others, because he is one of the few literary critics with great fame.
Kitagawa Hide frowned as he listened. He was just shocked by the other party's strange name.
Hengtai is the transliteration of “hentai”, a word that is familiar to everyone and means perverted.
A father could actually name his son something like this. Should we say that he is a royal descendant with a unique way of thinking, or are they just like the people in the neighboring rural area, thinking that it is easier to raise a child with a cheap name?
As he continued to say bad things about Kitagawa Hide, Kitagawa Hide gradually felt a sense of familiarity.
This spraying method, this skillful technique, why does it look so much like someone I know?
Just as he was wondering, Takeda Tsuneyasu, who was talking excitedly, suddenly paused and said to everyone: "In my opinion, whether not only haiku, but also Kitagawa Hide's literary works deserve the current status and evaluation is debatable.
However, I did not come here intentionally to discredit Kitagawa Hide.
In fact, as early as when he published "Hear the Wind Sing", I had published some related literary reviews. I have always been skeptical and critical of his writing style and content.
But at that time, I felt that he was still a good new writer, and I didn’t want to put him in a public opinion crisis because of my fame.
So I deliberately used a pseudonym to publish the commentary, hoping that without affecting his future literary career because of my name, it could at least serve as a warning to him.
Unfortunately, it seems that this rising literary star has not realized my good intentions and is still going further and further down the wrong path.
Therefore, I have decided not to use a pseudonym anymore. From now on, I will continue to publish literary reviews under my real name and continue to criticize this writer who has led the Japanese literary world in the wrong direction! "
Kitagawa Xiu felt that the smell was getting stronger and stronger.
You criticize me for my own good, so I should kneel down and thank you respectfully for criticizing me, right?
This ability to confuse right and wrong is exactly the same as that person's.
"Mr. Takeda, what is the pseudonym you use to publish those literary reviews?" Takahashi Mutsuro was obviously prepared and started a double act with him.
"'Ichiro'. If you have paid attention to the literature section of famous newspapers such as the Yomiuri Shimbun, I believe you must have read my review draft. It is true that I have always been critical of Kitagawa Hide, and this is not a sudden change."
Takeda Tsuneyasu gets angry when he mentions this pseudonym.
Even 5000 million yen couldn't make up for the hatred he felt for being defeated by a nobody critic!
I must get back at you today!
It’s a pity that Kitagawa Hide was not able to be present, otherwise I would really like to see what his expression would be at this moment.
People in the audience immediately started whispering, and it was obvious that this pseudonym was somewhat well-known.
As the second major dish of Ichiko Sadatsugu and others, Takeda Tsuneyasu now publicly reveals his pseudonym and criticizes Kitagawa Hide's literary works and haiku under his real name.
This step, combined with the mention of Mutsuro Takahashi, the former No. 1 poet of our time, is so powerful that one cannot help but doubt Kitagawa Hide's status and literary talent.
Is Mr. Kitagawa really just trying to attract attention?
Is it really for money that one writes haiku and creates new styles of haiku?
If not, why didn't he learn from the haiku masters of the University of Tokyo and write haiku with more artistic conception?
If it is true as Tsuneyasu Takeda said, then do his "I Am a Cat" and "Akadashi" have the same intention?
When he felt the doubts rising, Mutsuro Takahashi knew that the time was up and prepared to move on to the next step, which was also the final dish.
"Regarding the new literary genre created by the haiku master of Kanto University, I would like to invite her to come on stage and analyze this genre together." Takahashi Mutsuro glanced at Takeuchi Osamu and others in the audience, "Takeda-san and all the writers who have come from afar will also conduct in-depth research and interpretation together."
"Undoubtedly, compared to Kitagawa Hide's snobbishness and his behavior of only trying to please readers and publishers, the creation of the Haiku Saint of the University of Tokyo is more self-centered. She focuses on the path of literature without any interference from the outside world, so she can create a new genre."
Takahashi Mutsuro took a deep breath and said word by word,
"This is not something that some writers who are just trying to attract attention and write and direct a vulgar movie to distort the award after losing the award can do!"
"Please invite the haiku master from the University of Tokyo to come on stage." Mutsuro Takahashi looked at Ichiko Sadajō and others.
Tsuneyasu Takeda, who was sitting nearby, was also very curious.
In fact, Kitagawa Hide's works and literary talent are really strong, but he took a completely opposite path from them, so he must be killed.
Fortunately, after Oshima Hikaru fell and Kodansha was destroyed, there was still such a killer weapon that could restrain him.
Yumeko Agatsuma moved in the audience, and Takeuchi Osamu turned around and chatted with them for a few words. Then his originally calm pupils suddenly dilated and revealed an expression of disbelief.
Jabami Rei could no longer suppress the smile on her face. She held back her laughter and kept nodding in response to Takeuchi Osamu's doubts.
Then, in full view of everyone, Kitagawa Hide took off his sunglasses and walked out from the back row.
Because of its sudden appearance, it will inevitably attract a lot of attention.
Without the cover of the crowd, sunglasses and other props, and after being noticed by the public, someone quickly recognized his identity and let out a low cry!
"Teacher Kitagawa?!"
"This is Mr. Kitagawa!"
"Why is Mr. Kitagawa here? Wait, aren't they inviting the Haiku Master from the University of Tokyo to the stage?"
The lecture hall was in real chaos this time.
When Kitagawa Xiu stood up, the pupils of people like Ichiko Sadajiro also trembled.
The long reaction time made them a little overwhelmed, and bad premonitions and possibilities were emerging.
But my brain subconsciously denied that possibility.
Kitagawa Hide jogged along, then exchanged glances with my wife Yumeko and the others, then smiled and nodded to Takeuchi Osamu.
He walked onto the stage with confidence and sat down in the seat reserved for the Haiku Master of the University of Tokyo.
"Thank you Mr. Takahashi and Mr. Takeda for your evaluation. I am unworthy of it." Kitagawa Hide said shyly and modestly, "But I am really touched to receive your appreciation."
"???"
At this time, probably everyone in the classroom had question marks staring at their heads.
Ichiko Sadajiro turned his head with all his strength and looked at Takeuchi Osamu, but got no response.
"I didn't expect that Thunder God Tanka would be so popular with everyone. For various reasons, I couldn't tell you before that these haiku were actually written by me."
Kitagawa Hide stood up and bowed to everyone sincerely to apologize, then looked at Takahashi Ichiro and the others.
"I am the Haiku Master of the University of Tokyo. That is, Mr. Takahashi. Can I start sharing my thoughts?"
Dongda——
There was a loud bang.
Ichiko Sadaji, who was sitting on the chair, saw black eyes and his body fell backwards uncontrollably!
(End of this chapter)