Okinawan Stone Guardian Lion (Shisa)

The sea at Okinawa is so beautiful,
Ultramarine, indigo, blue…
All the colors of the sea.
The sounds of the waves of the sea and the wind ,
Excited me twenty-eight years ago.

Beautiful, I think now,
Are the colors of the roof - slates.
Interesting and amusing
Are the shisas guarding the houses.

The sphinx in Egypt,
Passing through the Silk Road,
Changed its shape to the north and the south in Japan.
Was it originally a lion?
In Honshu, it became a stone guardian dog,
Shisa in Okinawa looks like a lion.
Making a funny face, it is on the roof.

Shekwasha (flat lemon) and Awamori liquor,
Pig trotters and white gourd,
Rishiri kelp of Hokkaido,
Salt-seasoned white soup,
All make funny combinations.
Drinking Awamori at night,
Food comes last,
Perfectly delicious.

Autumn Festival

Don't speak a word!
Boos and jeers fill the air,
Everybody is excited after the festival,
I'm ready to accept anything,
Young and old jumble together,
Finally, the excitement ignites women too.
The talk becomes bigger,
From ants to baseball, football, politics, and…

The universe, black holes,
The theory of relativity,
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.
Do you say there's more now?
Have you seen them?

And, at the very end,
Boxing comics "Ashita no Joe (Tomorrow's Joe)"
Which do you like, Rikiishi or Joe Yabuki?

Flowering in Edo were fires and fights,
Don't speak any more.
The celebration at a pub ends at midnight,
It is so cool and refreshing outdoors,
Take care not to start a fire,
Before it's too late.

A Cicada's Funeral

I feel a difference in the wind blowing by a street corner,
The leaves have begun to color on trees and plants along the river,
Persimmons growing on the trees on village hills are coloring,
Higurashi cicadas are giving their last shrill chirps,
Chirping louder as they work their hearts out,
It's a task they venture at the risk of their 14-day lives,
Just like running Melos.
A cicada that has breathed its last is still on a tree,
It's like Benkei (a famous warrior) who died standing,
An admirable death indeed!

The half-moon low in the sky is beautiful,
Getting rounder as if it's about to begin rolling.

Its funeral is held with warm sake,
The bluish-silver Japanese sword-like mackerel pike is broiled with salt.

I'd like to see you again after seven years,
Good-bye till then, Cicadas!