Sonic Peace

Kiriu Minashita (b. 1970 in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan) is a professor of social philosophy at Rikkyo University, and the author two books of poetry, as well as eight books of critical writings. She is one of the most popular scholars of contemporary Japanese society, appearing often as a commentator in newspapers and on TV. The poems of Sonic Peace are filled with rain, reflecting Minashita’s childhood on the outskirts of Tokyo, where rain was the only authentic encounter with nature. Spencer Thurlow is a poet. He co-translated Sonic Peace with Eric Hyett across a distance of thousands of miles. Working by videoconference between Boston and Kochi, Japan, they developed a unique translation process that imbues the English-language version with the same colloquial tone Minashita brings to the Japanese. Minashita has called this American translation of Sonic Peace “very exquisite.” Eric Hyett is a poet in Boston. He co-translated Sonic Peace with Spencer Thurlow across a distance of thousands of miles. Working by videoconference between Boston and Kochi, Japan, they developed a unique translation process that imbues the English-language version with the same colloquial tone Minashita brings to the Japanese. Minashita has called this American translation of Sonic Peace “very exquisite.”