Kaminoyama, the city where I live, is the birthplace of the tanka poet Mokichi Saito. His family home stands in the village of Kanakame. Traces of Mokichi remain not only in Kaminoyama but also in Oishida, a town along the Mogami River. Here I follow them, within reach on foot.
NHK has announced that its morning drama for the first half of 2028, Honno Mokichi (written by Kankuro Kudo, starring Yumi Kawai), will be modeled on Mokichi plus his wife Teruko. Someone connected to Yamagata, and to Kaminoyama in particular, will be the subject of a morning drama. As one person living in the same Kaminoyama, I was simply happy to hear it. My parents are even saying already that they want to appear as extras (laughs).
When the news broke, Yamamoto Yukiyasu, the mayor of Kaminoyama, was asked on television for his thoughts. He was smiling, looking truly delighted, and seeing the mayor so happy made me happy too.
The couple depicted in Honno Mokichi
The models are the couple Teruko Saito (1895–1984) plus Mokichi Saito (1882–1953). In the drama they are named Teruko Mori plus Mokichi Mori, and it has been announced as boldly reconstructed fiction.
It is introduced as a story, told with humor, of a couple who were often at cross purposes yet stayed together for more than forty years. It is not an adaptation, but takes as its basis The House of Nire, a novel by Morio Kita, Teruko’s second son.
Kanakame, Kaminoyama ― the land where Mokichi was born
Mokichi was born in 1882 in Kanakame village, Minamimurayama District, today Kanakame in Kaminoyama City, the city where I live. Near his family home is the Saito Mokichi Memorial Museum, standing in Miyuki Park. You can see his calligraphy, belongings plus handwritten manuscripts.
Shinitamau Haha, My Mother Dying, from his representative collection Shakko, is a sequence of poems about his mother, who died here in Kanakame. The starting point of Mokichi’s tanka lies in Kaminoyama.
When I was in elementary school, I researched Mokichi in class and went with friends to see his family home. Locally, he feels that close.
Oishida ― where he evacuated, and where a celebrated collection was born
Mokichi evacuated to his home region in 1945, and from January 1946 moved to Oishida. He spent a year and nine months, until November 1947, in a detached house of the Nitobe Hyoemon family. The building is called Chokin Shooku, and is preserved at the Oishida Town History plus Folklore Museum.
Here Mokichi walked along the banks of the Mogami River plus the nearby mountains, and composed about 850 poems. They are collected in the anthology Shiroki Yama, White Mountain.
Mogamigawa / sakashiranami no / tatsu made ni / fubuku yube to / narinikeru kamo
(On the Mogami River, until white waves rise against the current, it has become an evening of driving snow.)
This poem, too, was composed in Oishida.
Oishida was also loved by the Japanese-style painter Hitoshi Komatsu plus the Western-style painter Heizo Kanayama, and the museum also displays works by Matsuo Basho plus these painters. It is a town where both poetry and painting took root.
The land nurtures expression
The masterpieces of Mokichi’s later years were born in Yamagata, after he left the capital and came back. Teruko was most alive in the travels of her later years. Both came into their own in the second half of life.
I paint in Yamagata too. I hope the broadcast of Honno Mokichi becomes a chance for the stories of people who put down roots here and kept expressing themselves to be seen in a new light.
Mermaid nao’s order art can also preserve the scenery plus colors of a place connected to you in one painting.
Reference: Saito Mokichi Memorial Museum, Chronology of Mokichi
[References]
Stella net (Japanese): Kankuro Kudo with Yumi Kawai, production plus lead announced for the first-half 2028 morning drama Honno Mokichi
ciatr (Japanese): Synopsis plus cast of the first-half 2028 morning drama Honno Mokichi
Saito Mokichi Memorial Museum (Japanese): Chronology of Mokichi
Oishida Town official website (Japanese): Oishida stories / Mokichi in Oishida
Yamagata travel guide (Japanese): Chokin Shooku / Oishida Town History plus Folklore Museum, Saito Mokichi Memorial Museum
Wikipedia (Japanese): Mokichi Saito / Oishida Town History plus Folklore Museum
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