Let's Pass on the Baton of Kunio Hamagushi!: Highly Successful Event on the Labourer-Poet

An event titled "Now We Talk about Kunio Hamaguchi" was held on November 23 in a meeting room of the Musashino Hall in Tokyo. The venue was full of 133 participants, far more than the organizers expected in advance. (photo) In the event, the works of the labourer-cum-poet were vividly depicted through recitation of poems including "Cleaning Latrines" and "Tale of the Hell" and talks by musicians and other authorities. In her speech, Poet Itsuko Ishikawa named three major topics that Hamaguchi's poems dealt with, i.e. Asia-Pasific War, National Railway workers and peace movement. "Those on the war are particularly mighty: They describe his own experience including stabbing of war prisoners to death and deaths of fellow soldiers out of starvation and thus unveiled the reality of the so-called holy war. The war made Hamaguchi, a man who previously was not at all interested in literature, into a poet. He was then raised by the poets' league of Japan National Railway," she said and urged the audience to hold tight to Hamaguchi's baton and hand on to the forth-coming generations the foolishness of the war. (By M) ・Three-minute video "Poems by Kunio Hamaguchi"


濱口國雄のバトンを引きつごう～労働者詩人・濱口國雄を語る集い、大盛況

11月23日、東京・武蔵野公会堂会議室で「いま濱口國雄を語る」というイベントが開催された。主催者の予想をはるかにこえた133人の参加があり、会場があふれた（写真）。会では「労働者詩人・濱口國雄」の詩の朗読（「便所掃除」「地獄の話」など）や音楽・関係者のトークで、濱口國雄の仕事が鮮烈に浮かび上がった。詩人の石川逸子さんは、「濱口の詩は（1）アジア太平洋戦争（2）国鉄労働者（3）平和運動の3分野があるが、とりわけ（1）の自身の戦場体験（捕虜の刺殺や仲間の饑餓死）を細部にわたって表現し、聖戦の実態を暴いた詩は強烈だった。文学に全く縁がなかった濱口を詩人にしたのは戦争で、育てたのが国鉄詩人連盟だった。私たちは濱口のバトンを引き継ぎ戦争の愚かさを次世代に伝えていこう」と訴えた。（M） ・3分ビデオ「濱口國雄の詩」