What do you think?
Rate this book
Chieko's Sky
- GenresPoetry
Hardcover
Published January 1, 1978
1 person is currently reading
26 people want to read
About the author
Kotaro Takamura
57 books8 followersKōtarō Takamura was a Japanese poet and sculptor.
He graduated from the Tokyo School of Fine Arts in 1902, where he studied sculpture. He studied in New York in 1906, London in 1907, and in Paris in 1908, returning to Japan in 1909, and lived there for the rest of his life.
His sculptural work shows strong influence both from Western work (especially Auguste Rodin, whom he idolized) and from Japanese traditions.
He is also famous for his poems, and especially for his collection Chiekosho (Chieko's sky) (1941), a collection of poems about his wife Chieko Takamura, who died in 1938.
He graduated from the Tokyo School of Fine Arts in 1902, where he studied sculpture. He studied in New York in 1906, London in 1907, and in Paris in 1908, returning to Japan in 1909, and lived there for the rest of his life.
His sculptural work shows strong influence both from Western work (especially Auguste Rodin, whom he idolized) and from Japanese traditions.
He is also famous for his poems, and especially for his collection Chiekosho (Chieko's sky) (1941), a collection of poems about his wife Chieko Takamura, who died in 1938.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 20, 2025
I hope to visit the Takamura Kotaro Museum in Hanamaki. So … my current poetry readings are from Chieko’s Sky. I am crying a lot. The poems are beautiful but difficult.
…
hold hands quietly
cry the endless joy within our hearts
and pray
let life be in the trivia of each day
let minute brilliance be in the details of living
let the overflow be in us all
let us always be full
…
this is our supper, the supper of the poor
April 1914
Takamura Kotaro, from the poem “Supper”
…
hold hands quietly
cry the endless joy within our hearts
and pray
let life be in the trivia of each day
let minute brilliance be in the details of living
let the overflow be in us all
let us always be full
…
this is our supper, the supper of the poor
April 1914
Takamura Kotaro, from the poem “Supper”
November 15, 2021
though I doubt I deserve your love
your love envelops me, ignoring all
Despite being often called the father of modern Japanese poetry and being among some of the most passionate and skilled artists of all time, Kōtarō Takamura's name and work remain fairly obscure even in the age of the Internet and instant communications. As frustrating as it may be, it is perhaps not too surprising; for the Western world is still largely unacquainted with Asian literature outside of a couple of big names such as Dazai, Sōseki and, most recently, Murakami. I'm certain this is due in no small part to the implicit difficulty in translating Japanese works, in light of how complex the language is and how many cultural references, idioms, clever wordplays, etc. are necessarily lost in translation or at the very least stripped of their original impact. And even if we somehow manage to bypass these limitations, we still encounter a culture wildly different from our own, one that may hold an entirely different understanding of aesthetics and art. A question arises: can we truly understand (and enjoy) a piece of art that comes from what's almost another world, complete with its distinct language, social conceptions, problems, people, geography, in a word, can we tear down the culture barrier to see what's beyond?
I think the answer is yes. I preface my review with this question only because I believe Chiekoshō is one of the most universal works of literature of all time. Not because it is written in a particularly simplistic or accessible way, but because it's all-encompassing. Let me give you a bit of context: Chiekoshō was originally published in 1938, shortly after the death of Kōtarō Takamura's wife, who had struggled with health issues, both physical and mental, from several years prior—as Kōtarō writes in one of his poems: seven years of insanity ended with her death. Her wife was named Chieko, as you might have guessed; Chieko Naganuma. The first poem in the collection dates back to 1911, and, in subsequent years, the collection was expanded multiple times—I do not know how many, exactly. The edition I own contains a total of 36 poems, along with a short essay and a small collection of Chieko's art. The last poem on it is dated November 1951, roughly half a decade before Kōtarō's own death. We then have a book that comprises nearly fifty years; fifty years of great happiness, distress, poverty, trouble, melancholy, hope, acceptance, spirituality, and so on. It is a book that can be read in less than a couple hours yet it contains much more than any other, because Kōtarō, whether he wanted it or not, captured everything between his verses; the best and the worst of the human experience, the joy of being loved, the fear of losing someone, the despair once they are gone; as well as the beauty of nature and the amazement it calls for, and simply the excitement of seeing and perceiving; he captures and pulls into his words the image of mountains, rivers, a clean and ever-stretching sky, the things that make us, to quote Alden Nowlan, half-tipsy with the wonder / of being alive, and wholly enveloped in love.
As the careful reader of this review surely has noticed already, this is my favorite book. Not my favorite book of poetry, but my favorite book, and perhaps too my favorite piece of art. Writing only for himself and his wife, Kōtarō Takamura was unknowingly crafting something never achieved before or after: the only truly human literature to ever exist.
10/10
your love envelops me, ignoring all
Despite being often called the father of modern Japanese poetry and being among some of the most passionate and skilled artists of all time, Kōtarō Takamura's name and work remain fairly obscure even in the age of the Internet and instant communications. As frustrating as it may be, it is perhaps not too surprising; for the Western world is still largely unacquainted with Asian literature outside of a couple of big names such as Dazai, Sōseki and, most recently, Murakami. I'm certain this is due in no small part to the implicit difficulty in translating Japanese works, in light of how complex the language is and how many cultural references, idioms, clever wordplays, etc. are necessarily lost in translation or at the very least stripped of their original impact. And even if we somehow manage to bypass these limitations, we still encounter a culture wildly different from our own, one that may hold an entirely different understanding of aesthetics and art. A question arises: can we truly understand (and enjoy) a piece of art that comes from what's almost another world, complete with its distinct language, social conceptions, problems, people, geography, in a word, can we tear down the culture barrier to see what's beyond?
I think the answer is yes. I preface my review with this question only because I believe Chiekoshō is one of the most universal works of literature of all time. Not because it is written in a particularly simplistic or accessible way, but because it's all-encompassing. Let me give you a bit of context: Chiekoshō was originally published in 1938, shortly after the death of Kōtarō Takamura's wife, who had struggled with health issues, both physical and mental, from several years prior—as Kōtarō writes in one of his poems: seven years of insanity ended with her death. Her wife was named Chieko, as you might have guessed; Chieko Naganuma. The first poem in the collection dates back to 1911, and, in subsequent years, the collection was expanded multiple times—I do not know how many, exactly. The edition I own contains a total of 36 poems, along with a short essay and a small collection of Chieko's art. The last poem on it is dated November 1951, roughly half a decade before Kōtarō's own death. We then have a book that comprises nearly fifty years; fifty years of great happiness, distress, poverty, trouble, melancholy, hope, acceptance, spirituality, and so on. It is a book that can be read in less than a couple hours yet it contains much more than any other, because Kōtarō, whether he wanted it or not, captured everything between his verses; the best and the worst of the human experience, the joy of being loved, the fear of losing someone, the despair once they are gone; as well as the beauty of nature and the amazement it calls for, and simply the excitement of seeing and perceiving; he captures and pulls into his words the image of mountains, rivers, a clean and ever-stretching sky, the things that make us, to quote Alden Nowlan, half-tipsy with the wonder / of being alive, and wholly enveloped in love.
As the careful reader of this review surely has noticed already, this is my favorite book. Not my favorite book of poetry, but my favorite book, and perhaps too my favorite piece of art. Writing only for himself and his wife, Kōtarō Takamura was unknowingly crafting something never achieved before or after: the only truly human literature to ever exist.
10/10
December 21, 2025
è una bella lettura perché sono belle le poesie originali. ho apprezzato tantissimo l'aggiunta del testo di kōtarō in memoria di chieko a metà raccolta: le poesie s'interrompono con la morte della donna, e il poeta racconta a cuore aperto tutto quel che meglio ricorda di sua moglie, parlando poco di sé e della loro vita come coppia e concentrandosi interamente su di lei.
le poesie del '35-'38 sono, come previsto, quelle che mi hanno colpito di più. sono strazianti. ma si trova una sorta di pace consolatoria in quelle successive, che viene trasmessa adeguatamente nonostante la bruttezza oggettiva della lingua inglese.
meravigliosa l'aggiunta dei papercut di chieko; è un omaggio bellissimo alla sua creatività e al suo spirito artistico. lo stile delle poesie è ben mantenuto, anche se continuo a pensare che la mia traduzione di "il cuore di una certa notte" sia migliore. ma tutto sommato, approvo
le poesie del '35-'38 sono, come previsto, quelle che mi hanno colpito di più. sono strazianti. ma si trova una sorta di pace consolatoria in quelle successive, che viene trasmessa adeguatamente nonostante la bruttezza oggettiva della lingua inglese.
meravigliosa l'aggiunta dei papercut di chieko; è un omaggio bellissimo alla sua creatività e al suo spirito artistico. lo stile delle poesie è ben mantenuto, anche se continuo a pensare che la mia traduzione di "il cuore di una certa notte" sia migliore. ma tutto sommato, approvo
July 26, 2025
You can feel the author's love for his deceased wife in every word. The inclusion of Chieko's papercuts is a nice touch to breathe even more sensibility into this book. I didn't enjoy poetry as much as the rest of the book simply because I'm dense.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews