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The reading is also performed in the form of a reading in front of a shrine. The author is in the far right (Kumano Hongu Taisha Shrine, October 2010)

Professor Faculty of Education and Integrated Arts and Sciences Kintake Sonoike

Professor Faculty of Education and Integrated Arts and Sciences. Specializes in plant physiology. Pictured here is the morning coat he will wear at the New Year's poetry reading event. "Writing books is also a hobby of mine, and one of the happy events of 2022 was that my book for the general public, 'There is Meaning in the Shape of Plants,' was published in paperback (Kadokawa Sophia Bunko)," he said.

Are you familiar with the New Year's Imperial Court event called Utakai Hajime? It is broadcast live on NHK General TV every year in mid-January, but it is broadcast from 10:30 am on a weekday, so students and those with respectable jobs may not have seen it. It is a ceremony in which 10 selected poems from around 20,000 poems submitted from all over the country are recited in front of Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress in a style described as "traditional" (this is called a recitation). I first attended this Utakai Hajime in 1984, and for the past 40 years, I have acted as a reciter almost every year. I am absent from university on the day of the Utakai Hajime, so it is off-time if you like that kind of thing.

Many Waseda University graduates have been involved in this poetry gathering since long ago. The judges who select the poems from the selection committee include Shoichiro Kubota, Chuichi Mukawa, Hiroshi Shino, and Akira Naito, all from School of Humanities and Social Sciences, and Takayuki Saigusa, from the Faculty of Political Science and Economics. Kubota, Mukawa, and Naito are all Professor at Waseda.

Unlike these people, I am a science researcher who specializes in plant physiology and mainly studies photosynthesis. I am often asked, "Why are you a science researcher?" But in fact, science people are often seen among waka poets.Mokichi Saito was a psychiatrist, and among the judges of the Utakai Hajime,Takashi Okai is a doctor and Kazuhiro Nagata  is a cell biologist. Okai said that he is often asked, "Why does a doctor write poetry?" So I asked him, "How do you answer?" and he answered, "I have been writing poetry since I was a student. It is not a doctor who writes poetry, but a waka poet who is a doctor." In that sense, I also started learning recitation when I was still an undergraduate student at university, and it was only a few years after I got my degree and became a researcher at the Utakai Hajime that I could say that "the recitation role is researching photosynthesis." In the world of waka, it is not so unusual for people to be skilled in both the arts and sciences.

When I am involved in the reading of poems at the New Year's poetry reading, I have to recite poems myself. When you write poems for a long time, it becomes a kind of enjoyment, even if you are not good at it. When my head is full of work, even if I try to rest and do nothing, my mind is tense and I can't do anything about it. However, when I think of poems at such times, I can relieve unnecessary tension. This is probably because I am not doing it as my specialty. Singing helps me to switch to off-time.

A kemari offering at Suga Shrine (Oyama City, Tochigi Prefecture). The author is in the red costume in the center. Ahead of my gaze, a white ball is being raised in the center right hand (May 2012)

In addition, for the sheer enjoyment of it, the children also imitate the game of kemari (a traditional Japanese game). Kemari is also a part of traditional Japanese culture, but it was originally a pastime for nobles. The act of lifting the ball without dropping it is similar to the practice of soccer. However, the ball is like a paper balloon made of leather, and unlike a soccer ball, it is not subjected to pressure, so it flies more gently. Also, although there are competitions over the number of balls, there is no winner or loser. Kicking the balls that we made ourselves with our friends is a good way to relax both the body and the mind.

A ball in the process of being made. It is made by binding two semicircular pieces of deerskin with a leather string. After this, the surface is painted with whitewash and glue to create a pure white ball.

I am known as a person who enjoys both singing and kicking a ball, and as such, I am known as a person who is good at both singing and kicking a ball. Balance is important in life, so I hope to continue to switch between my on-time and off-time well and pursue both my arts and sciences.