The Year of My Life, Second Edition

Book Synopsis

The Year of My Life: A Translation of Issa's Oraga Haru by Nobuyuki Yuasa brings one of Japan's most beloved haiku poets into vivid English, capturing both the poignancy of his life and the deceptive simplicity of his art. First published a decade earlier and here extensively revised, Yuasa's translation refines Issa's voice--infusing colloquial immediacy, descriptive clarity, and nuanced interpretation that honors the layered meanings in the poetry. Issa (1763-1827), born Kobayashi Yatarō in rural Shinano, lived a life marked by hardship: the early loss of his mother, years of conflict with his stepfamily, long periods of wandering, and repeated personal tragedies, including the deaths of his children. These sorrows, balanced with tender observation of ordinary people and creatures, permeate Oraga Haru (The Year of My Life), Issa's poetic diary of 1819.

Yuasa's introduction situates Issa in the long tradition of the poet-priest-traveler, from Saigyō to Bashō, but shows how Issa transforms this heritage. For Bashō, the road meant renunciation; for Issa, it deepened human connection, drawing him to friends, family, and fellow wanderers. In The Year of My Life, Issa weaves autobiography and art, reshaping historical episodes--such as the loss of his children--into a timeless meditation on impermanence. His most haunting verse, "The world of dew / is the world of dew, / and yet, and yet . . .," epitomizes the fusion of Buddhist detachment with irreducible grief. By framing Issa's diary as both personal record and crafted literary work, Yuasa presents it as a spiritual and artistic testament: a garland of haiku that crowns a lifetime of sorrow, humor, and compassion. This edition remains an essential entry point for readers seeking Japanese literature in translation and the enduring power of haiku as world poetry.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1960.