Haiku by Itaru Ina
haiku translated by
Hisako Ifshin and Leza Lowitz
Itaru Ina was born in San Francisco, Calif., on June 10, 1914. His father was an immigrant who worked for the local Japanese newspaper and his mother came to America as a picture bride. At age 5 Itaru accompanied his mother and sickly sister to Japan and received schooling there. He returned to America to rejoin his father when he was 16 years old. Itaru began studying and writing haiku during his teen years. In 1939 he met Shizuko Mitsui, also an American citizen, who was working at the Japanese pavilion on Treasure Island in San Francisco during the 1939–40 World Trade Exposition. They were married in March 1941. Pearl Harbor was bombed in December 1941, and by March 1942 they both were incarcerated at the Tanforan Assembly Center near San Francisco. Shizuko was pregnant at the time and suffered a great deal while confined to life in a horse stable. Itaru was desolate witnessing his wife's suffering. and by the time they were transferred to Topaz, Utah (September 1942–September 1943), he vowed to make a better life for his family by disavowing his loyalty to America and requesting repatriation to Japan. Now an "enemy alien," he and his wife and newborn son were transferred to Tule Lake Camp, a segregated prison for those who were identified as disloyal. On June 30, 1945, shortly after the birth of their second child, Itaru was arrested at Tule Lake. Three days later he was sent to a Department of Justice internment camp at Fort Lincoln in Bismarck, North Dakota, where he was held until March 1946. Eventually it was determined that renunciation of citizenship under the duress of imprisonment was unconstitutional, and Itaru and his family were reunited at the Crystal City, Texas, family internment camp. They were finally released on July 9, 1946.
After the war the Ina family lived with relatives in Cincinnati, Ohio, where their third child was born. They returned home to San Francisco in 1950. During Itaru's camp life, he was an active member of camp haiku clubs and had several poems published in camp haiku journals. He served as the leader of the San Francisco Yukari Haiku Kai until his death on October 31, 1977.
Tessaku
Note: Tessaku ("Iron Gate") was a publication of the haiku group that met weekly at Tule Lake. There were a total of 158 weekly meetings.
Tessaku 6: New Year's Special (1945)
jimuhajime yosooi kuroku taipisuto
First workday of the year—
the typist
is dressed in black.
Tessaku 8 (1945)
kari ikuya shôheitô ni itoma ari
Wild geese fly away—
the tower guards
are on a break.
Notebook #1 (July 1–September 30, 1945)
July 1, 1945. Sunday. Sunny, hot. Packing. Farewell. Imprisonment.
hanare-yuku ware tomo shirazu hiyake no ko
I'm leaving—
but the sun-tanned child
doesn't know.
tsuki suzushi tesso suke-te sanga ari
Brisk moon—
through the window's iron bars
mountains and rivers.
nagaki hi ya yô o tsuku-tte kanshu yobu
A long day—
I make up an errand and
call the guard.
July 2, Monday. Sunny, hot.
itotonbo haya umareshi-ka goku no mado
Damselflies—
already born
at the prison window.
July 3, Tuesday. Leaving Tule Lake at 5:00 a.m. Train leaves Klamath Falls at 8:30 a.m. A trip to Bismarck; 9:30 a.m. Chiloquin; 10:40 a.m. Chemult; 2:15 p.m. Eugene; 3:35 Albany; 4:30 Salem; 6:20 Portland; 8:30 state of Washington.
