Raindrops (雫)

Raindrops is a collection of tanka and free-verse poetry composed by the poet Sakiko Hasegawa (active 1918-1935). At present, very little is known about Hasegawa beyond a few ephemeral references in Los Angeles Japanese-language newspapers such as the Rafu Shimpo and Kashū Mainichi Shinbun. Hasegawa’s first recorded poems, a sequence of five tanka, appeared in the September 14, 1918 issue of the Rafu Shimpo in conjunction with the poems of six other members of the “Sunflower Poetry Society” (Himawari Shisha). A March 9, 1919 profile of Hasegawa in the same newspaper provided effusive praise of her poetry: “in tanka, haiku, and long-form poems, the genius of [Hasegawa] is recognized by all those in Southern California who attend to such arts.” The same profile refers to Hasegawa’s husband, Shin’ichiro Hasegawa, a University of Southern California graduate who would later write a 1937 work of nonfiction entitled America and Americans as Seen by a Japanese in the United States [Zaibei hojin no mitaru Beikoku to Beikokujin]. The Zaibei Nihonjinshi (History of Japanese in the United States, 1940) includes mention of Hasegawa as a member of the new tendency haiku groups Remon-shisha (Lemon Society) and Agosto-sha (August Society).

Raindrops is one of the earliest poetry monographs published by a Japanese woman residing in the United States. The publication information indicates that the volume was published by Tokyo Kokubunsha in April 1920, but listed as not for sale (hishōhin). This is likely because the volume was published as a private memorial following the death of Hasegawa’s mother. The volume opens with four photographs depicting Hasegawa with her own two children, the first in a parlor setting, the second in Eagle Rock (now a densely developed neighborhood in Los Angeles), the third outside Mission San Gabriel Arcángel (in the San Gabriel Valley), and the fourth at the Santa Monica shoreline. Following an “In Memoriam” preface, the volume begins with a series of short tanka (31-syllable poems) before turning to a concluding section of longer, free-verse poems. Throughout, Hasegawa reflects upon how the death of her mother “far across the sea” weighs upon her thoughts and feelings while living in the United States.