Ito Hiromi / 伊藤比呂美 – V
Trans-Population
The house where we lived stood in a damp field in Kumamoto
A ditch sued to surround the house
Twenty years ago in Tokyo
The ditches were our drains
The stink of the ditches bothered us
They had to serve as our drains
Now they are all dried up and there are no mosquitoes
But when summertime comes
The grass grows tall, the mosquitoes appear from nowhere
And the water begins to stink
It became so hard to live there we could hardly stand it
The mosquitoes carry Japanese encephalitis
The ditches inevitably submerge our homes
They make us eat mosquitoes
They make us burn with fever
Tokyo iz katnd ob ruin
(I say in my accented English)
It is dirty
It is disorganized
It is safe though
It is full of foreigners
And no one even notices
At the same time
Nihon probably seems closed
Nihonjin probably seem closed
And haughty
And irresponsible
Just saying it
My tongue gets dirty, my mouth rots
Going to Tokyo you will probably understand
Going to Tokyo and trying to understand it is one way of going about it but
Not going to Tokyo and understanding it is another
What you understand from going to Tokyo
You can understand from not going at all
Trust me on this
I was born and rasied there
I was born and raised on the back streets of Tokyo
Even now ehn I go into the alleys
I stand and talk with people
When they see me they say
Why Hiromi-chan you haven’t changed at all
Even though it’s been thirty years
And my friends and playmates
So-and-so and who’ s it
From thirty years ago
Have knocked someone up and gone back to live with their family
Or have never married and still live back at home
Why Hiromi-chan, you haven’t changed at all
When they say this, they put me on a pedestal
With the auspicious ropes and pines for the new year
The ropes and pines
The faces from thirty years ago
I got rid of Tokyo as quick as I could
I went back to Tokyo three years ago
Just temporarily to give birth to my child
The hills and rivers where I was born and raised
There were valleys and fields and hills and rivers in Tokyo
My child was born in Tokyo
My child will say she was born in Tokyo
Regardless of whether she puts down roots
But my child has begun speaking
Nihongo flatly, without any accents
That is not my way of speaking
My child’s speech sounds flat to me
It is awkward and ungainly
If she keeps this up, her flat face
Will grow awkward and ungainly too
I am not sure whom she looks like but
Her flat, expressionless, masochistic, infantile face
Will look awkward and ungainly
I do not have any blood relative
I do not own any land
I will take
My cat with me
My cat has
Neither uterus or ovaries
A female cat ten years old
I absolutely had to bring that cast with me from Tokyo
Because of that I also had to bring
A thirty year-old doll with me too
Her body and skin have changed color
Because of that I also had to bring
A stuffed dog with the cotton coming out
No matter how often I mend it, the cotton still comes out
Because of that I also had to bring
The plants I pulled out of the garden
Wisteria, azaleas, dwarf azaleas, snake’s beard, asters
Because of that I also had to bring
The cat’s water and the cat’s blanket
Because of that I also had to bring
The cat’s owner and his wife
And of course I also had to bring
The corpse of the cat too
Yes, the cat died
It was cold
And hard
On the side of the road
Tufts of hair scattered about
When I saw the ten-year old female cat lying out
I finally abandoned Tokyo for once and for all
I took out a cardboard box
And began to pack father, mother
The cat’s corpse, the cat’s blanket
The old doll
The plants, the mud
The work still is not done
The other day when I went to Tokyo
The most lively part of town
Was a pile of rubble
There were bloody signs where people had died
There were piles of dog shit
I assumed it was dog shit
But it could have been from people too
A yellow loose stool hardly worthy of a dog
Next to it, dried noodle someone had vomited up
A foreigner had spread out his cover
And was selling worthless pictures
A child was crying somewhere
A crying voice that would receive no help
Before long there was a pause
The harsh sound of a parent scolding
Then the child started to cry again
There was no break in the foot traffic
As the foreigner sat before his spread pictures
And the child continued to cry
トランス、ポピュレイション
すむ家はクマモトの湿った原っぱにたっていました
溝が家をとりまいていました
トーキョーではもう二〇年も前に
溝は暗渠になっています
溝がおおいのが気になる
暗渠でなければならない
今は枯れはてて蚊もいませんが
夏になれば
草はのびるし蚊もわくし
水がにおうようにもなるでしょう
そしたら住みにくくってたまりません
蚊はニホン脳炎を媒介します
この溝はかならず
わたしたちの住む家を水に浸し
わたしたちを蚊に食わせ
発熱をおびき出します
トーキョー、イズ、ア、カインド、オブ、ルーイン
（とわたしは言いました）
汚いし
無秩序だし
なによりも安全
外人がどこにでもいて
だれもそれを気にかけず
同時にニホンは
おそろしく閉鎖的
ニホン人は閉鎖的
高慢で
倣慢です
言うだけでも
舌がよごれる口が腐れる
トーキョーに行けばそりゃトーキョーはわかりましょう
トーキョーに行ってトーキョーをわかろうっていうのもひとつの方法でしょうが
トーキョーに行かずにトーキョーをわかるのもひとつの方法です
トーキョーに行けばたちまちわかることでも
行かなくてわかることだってある
聞いてください
わたしはトーキョーで生まれて育ちました
トーキョーの裏町で生まれて育ちました
今でも路地を入ると
人がぬくぬくと立ちばなしをしています
わたしを見ると
ひとみちゃんかわんないねえ
とじっさいは三〇年がたったというのに
人は言います
そこには三〇年前の
わたしのともだち、あそびなかまたち
だれちゃんかれちゃんが
よそでコドモをうんで親のところに帰ってきてたり
結婚せずに親のところに残っていたり
ひろみちゃんかわんないねえ、と自分のことは棚にあげてわたしに言います
正月にはおめでたい縄や松
おめでたい縄と松
三〇年前の顔たち
わたしはとっくにトーキョーを捨てました
コドモをうみに
一時的にトーキョーに帰ったのは三年前でした
生まれ育った山や川
生まれ育った山や川
谷も原も山も川もトーキョーの中にあった
コドモはトーキョーでうみました
わたしのコドモは将来どこに根をおろそうと
トーキョー生まれということになる
しかしコドモは平坦な
高低のない
ニホン語をしゃべりはじめました
わたしの言語ではありません
わたしにはコドモの言語は平坦に聞こえます
ぶざまです
こうなるとコドモの平坦な顔さえぶざまです
誰に似たのか平坦な無感動なマゾヒスティックな幼児の顔はぶざまです
血縁はいません
土地は持ってません
猫は
連れていきます
猫は
子宮も卵巣もない
一〇歳のメス猫です
この猫はぜひともトーキョーからいっしょに連れ出さなくちゃなりません
そのためには
三〇年前の古人形も連れていかなくちゃなりません
人形の皮膚は変色しています
そのためには
綿のはみ出した犬も連れていかなくちゃなりません
縫っても縫っても綿は出ます
そのためには
庭木たちもひっこぬいて連れていかなくちゃなりません
フジ、ツツジ、サツキ、リュウノヒゲ、ミヤコワスレ
そのためには猫の水のみも猫の毛布も
連れていかなくちゃなりません
そのためには
猫の飼い主とその妻も連れていかなくちゃなりません
もちろん猫の死骸も連れていかなくちゃなりません
猫は死にました
道端で
つめたくなって
かたくなって
抜けた毛を散らして
一〇歳のメス猫が伸しているのを見たとき
わたしは最終的にトーキョーを捨てた
タンボール箱を取り出して
そこに父やら母やら猫の死骸やら猫の毛布やら
古人形やら
庭木やら泥やらを
つめこみはじめました
作業はまだ完了していません
先日トーキョーに行きましたら
町のいちばん賑やかな場所が
瓦礫の山でした
人が死んで血がながれた痕があちこちに残り
犬のうんこがやり捨ててありました
犬のうんこと言いましたが
もしかしたら人糞かもしれない
犬にはあるまじき黄色い軟便でした
麵入りのげろはそのそばで乾き
外人が布をひろげ
価値のない絵をならべていました
どこかでコドモが泣いていました
救いのない泣き声
すぐに泣きやみ
親がののしり硬い音がして
またコドモが泣きました
人どおりは切れ目がなく
外人が絵をならべ
コドモはまだ泣いています
Living in Kumamoto, going to Tokyo
The house where we lived stood in a damp field in Kumamoto
A ditch sued to surround the house
Twenty years ago in Tokyo
The ditches were our drains
The stink of the ditches bothered us
They had to serve as our drains
Now they are all dried up and there are no mosquitoes
But when summertime comes
The grass grows tall, the mosquitoes appear from nowhere
And the water begins to stink
It became so hard to live there we could hardly stand it
The mosquitoes carry Japanese encephalitis
The ditches inevitably submerge our homes
They make us eat mosquitoes
They make us burn with fever
Tokyo iz katnd ob ruin
(I say in my accented English)
It is dirty
It is disorganized
It is safe though
It is full of foreigners
And no one even notices
At the same time
Nihon probably seems closed
Nihonjin probably seem closed
And haughty
And irresponsible
Just saying it
My tongue gets dirty, my mouth rots
Going to Tokyo you will probably understand
Going to Tokyo and trying to understand it is one way of going about it but
Not going to Tokyo and understanding it is another
What you understand from going to Tokyo
You can understand from not going at all
Trust me on this
I was born and rasied there
I was born and raised on the back streets of Tokyo
Even now ehn I go into the alleys
I stand and talk with people
When they see me they say
Why Hiromi-chan you haven’t changed at all
Even though it’s been thirty years
And my friends and playmates
So-and-so and who’ s it
From thirty years ago
Have knocked someone up and gone back to live with their family
Or have never married and still live back at home
Why Hiromi-chan, you haven’t changed at all
When they say this, they put me on a pedestal
With the auspicious ropes and pines for the new year
The ropes and pines
The faces from thirty years ago
I got rid of Tokyo as quick as I could
I went back to Tokyo three years ago
Just temporarily to give birth to my child
The hills and rivers where I was born and raised
There were valleys and fields and hills and rivers in Tokyo
My child was born in Tokyo
My child will say she was born in Tokyo
Regardless of whether she puts down roots
But my child has begun speaking
Nihongo flatly, without any accents
That is not my way of speaking
My child’s speech sounds flat to me
It is awkward and ungainly
If she keeps this up, her flat face
Will grow awkward and ungainly too
I am not sure whom she looks like but
Her flat, expressionless, masochistic, infantile face
Will look awkward and ungainly
I do not have any blood relative
I do not own any land
I will take
My cat with me
My cat has
Neither uterus or ovaries
A female cat ten years old
I absolutely had to bring that cast with me from Tokyo
Because of that I also had to bring
A thirty year-old doll with me too
Her body and skin have changed color
Because of that I also had to bring
A stuffed dog with the cotton coming out
No matter how often I mend it, the cotton still comes out
Because of that I also had to bring
The plants I pulled out of the garden
Wisteria, azaleas, dwarf azaleas, snake’s beard, asters
Because of that I also had to bring
The cat’s water and the cat’s blanket
Because of that I also had to bring
The cat’s owner and his wife
And of course I also had to bring
The corpse of the cat too
Yes, the cat died
It was cold
And hard
On the side of the road
Tufts of hair scattered about
When I saw the ten-year old female cat lying out
I finally abandoned Tokyo for once and for all
I took out a cardboard box
And began to pack father, mother
The cat’s corpse, the cat’s blanket
The old doll
The plants, the mud
The work still is not done
The other day when I went to Tokyo
The most lively part of town
Was a pile of rubble
There were bloody signs where people had died
There were piles of dog shit
I assumed it was dog shit
But it could have been from people too
A yellow loose stool hardly worthy of a dog
Next to it, dried noodle someone had vomited up
A foreigner had spread out his cover
And was selling worthless pictures
A child was crying somewhere
A crying voice that would receive no help
Before long there was a pause
The harsh sound of a parent scolding
Then the child started to cry again
There was no break in the foot traffic
As the foreigner sat before his spread pictures
And the child continued to cry
トランス、ポピュレイション
クマモトに住む、トーキョーに行く
すむ家はクマモトの湿った原っぱにたっていました
溝が家をとりまいていました
トーキョーではもう二〇年も前に
溝は暗渠になっています
溝がおおいのが気になる
暗渠でなければならない
今は枯れはてて蚊もいませんが
夏になれば
草はのびるし蚊もわくし
水がにおうようにもなるでしょう
そしたら住みにくくってたまりません
蚊はニホン脳炎を媒介します
この溝はかならず
わたしたちの住む家を水に浸し
わたしたちを蚊に食わせ
発熱をおびき出します
トーキョー、イズ、ア、カインド、オブ、ルーイン
（とわたしは言いました）
汚いし
無秩序だし
なによりも安全
外人がどこにでもいて
だれもそれを気にかけず
同時にニホンは
おそろしく閉鎖的
ニホン人は閉鎖的
高慢で
倣慢です
言うだけでも
舌がよごれる口が腐れる
トーキョーに行けばそりゃトーキョーはわかりましょう
トーキョーに行ってトーキョーをわかろうっていうのもひとつの方法でしょうが
トーキョーに行かずにトーキョーをわかるのもひとつの方法です
トーキョーに行けばたちまちわかることでも
行かなくてわかることだってある
聞いてください
わたしはトーキョーで生まれて育ちました
トーキョーの裏町で生まれて育ちました
今でも路地を入ると
人がぬくぬくと立ちばなしをしています
わたしを見ると
ひとみちゃんかわんないねえ
とじっさいは三〇年がたったというのに
人は言います
そこには三〇年前の
わたしのともだち、あそびなかまたち
だれちゃんかれちゃんが
よそでコドモをうんで親のところに帰ってきてたり
結婚せずに親のところに残っていたり
ひろみちゃんかわんないねえ、と自分のことは棚にあげてわたしに言います
正月にはおめでたい縄や松
おめでたい縄と松
三〇年前の顔たち
わたしはとっくにトーキョーを捨てました
コドモをうみに
一時的にトーキョーに帰ったのは三年前でした
生まれ育った山や川
生まれ育った山や川
谷も原も山も川もトーキョーの中にあった
コドモはトーキョーでうみました
わたしのコドモは将来どこに根をおろそうと
トーキョー生まれということになる
しかしコドモは平坦な
高低のない
ニホン語をしゃべりはじめました
わたしの言語ではありません
わたしにはコドモの言語は平坦に聞こえます
ぶざまです
こうなるとコドモの平坦な顔さえぶざまです
誰に似たのか平坦な無感動なマゾヒスティックな幼児の顔はぶざまです
血縁はいません
土地は持ってません
猫は
連れていきます
猫は
子宮も卵巣もない
一〇歳のメス猫です
この猫はぜひともトーキョーからいっしょに連れ出さなくちゃなりません
そのためには
三〇年前の古人形も連れていかなくちゃなりません
人形の皮膚は変色しています
そのためには
綿のはみ出した犬も連れていかなくちゃなりません
縫っても縫っても綿は出ます
そのためには
庭木たちもひっこぬいて連れていかなくちゃなりません
フジ、ツツジ、サツキ、リュウノヒゲ、ミヤコワスレ
そのためには猫の水のみも猫の毛布も
連れていかなくちゃなりません
そのためには
猫の飼い主とその妻も連れていかなくちゃなりません
もちろん猫の死骸も連れていかなくちゃなりません
猫は死にました
道端で
つめたくなって
かたくなって
抜けた毛を散らして
一〇歳のメス猫が伸しているのを見たとき
わたしは最終的にトーキョーを捨てた
タンボール箱を取り出して
そこに父やら母やら猫の死骸やら猫の毛布やら
古人形やら
庭木やら泥やらを
つめこみはじめました
作業はまだ完了していません
先日トーキョーに行きましたら
町のいちばん賑やかな場所が
瓦礫の山でした
人が死んで血がながれた痕があちこちに残り
犬のうんこがやり捨ててありました
犬のうんこと言いましたが
もしかしたら人糞かもしれない
犬にはあるまじき黄色い軟便でした
麵入りのげろはそのそばで乾き
外人が布をひろげ
価値のない絵をならべていました
どこかでコドモが泣いていました
救いのない泣き声
すぐに泣きやみ
親がののしり硬い音がして
またコドモが泣きました
人どおりは切れ目がなく
外人が絵をならべ
コドモはまだ泣いています
