Peacock Boat and Other Writings

A peacock spreads its tail in a summer garden, and ordinary daylight becomes a revelation. Around that image, Irako Seihaku’s complete Peacock Boat gathers sea journeys, mountain legends, moonlit weddings, strange princesses, and a wondrous horse that no ruler can command. Its carefully preserved verse lines lead from quiet observation to visionary intensity.

Ten companion works widen the anthology’s range. Taneda Santōka writes of suffering, artistic conscience, and the practical quarrels of poetry societies. Harada Satsuki gives a woman in prison an intimate, defiant voice, while Iwaya Sazanami turns a jealous triangular ruler into the hero of a comic geometric fable. Shimada Seijirō follows a young writer’s ambition through illness and his father’s grief.

Three essays by physician and social critic Ōishi Seinosuke question military enthusiasm, describe a restaurant conceived as a place of communal benefit, and attack civilization imposed by force. Together these eleven unabridged works offer a varied encounter with Japanese literary and political life. This new English translation includes concise notes on names, historical references, and difficult passages.