Songs from the 13th Bokusui Tanka Koshien

I went to the 13th Bokusui Tanka Koshien in Hyuga City, Miyazaki Prefecture, on August 19th and 20th.

Since Hasegawa-san and Ugetsu-san, who went with me, have already written short reviews, I would like to quote a few poems as well.

The new semester, with blood oozing out roughly; was it the right foot I started walking with while chatting? / Sho Iwamoto
From the phrasing of the second half, the confusion and excessive tension are conveyed. It is a poem that conveys a sense of strain. I interpreted 'blood oozing out' in the first half as a psychological description, but it might also be good to ground it in something concrete, like biting one's lip.

When the tense air of the competition dissolves, the six-minute calculation ends / Rina Kuroki
At first, I thought it was about a certification exam, but I learned there is a competition for this. The overlap of the two verbs—'air dissolves' and 'calculation ends'—is quite a highlight. I thought it would be difficult in a debate format to decide how to affirm such a broken rhythm.

Competing with a 'great' brother of three thousand years, the pointed toe of the brother next to me / Shun Kawakami
A poem that focuses on the origin of kanji characters. Although the concept comes first, the fact that this type of poem sparks lively discussion shows that both teams read it very sincerely. The balance of narrowing down the subject of the reading with 'no' in the second half is excellent.

♪~ (Departure bell) The children who ran out lost the race; taking off my earphones, I waved back / Nanami Okino
Using the subtitle notation '♪~ (description of sound effect)' is an achievement of this poem in itself. I wonder if it would be better not to burden the reader after the second phrase so that the first phrase can stand out more.

On my feet, swaying while being jostled on the first bus, is still a square school bag / Rino Kodama
The poem works because the subject is separated from the school bag. The contrast structure is easy to understand—perhaps too easy—which makes it difficult in a debate, so the exchange during the match was very good.

◎ This was my first time seeing the Tanka Koshien in person, and it was great to see the accumulation of experience so far... the theories on how to proceed and the ingenuity of each team. It felt like know-how was being passed down, both among the participating teams and on the management side, which was very good.
◎ Regarding the recitation and PR (the first evaluation by the friendly team), the parts played by prior practice and direction are significant, and I had the impression that each team had put a lot of effort into finishing them. In contrast, as a spectator, I felt that a heated battle was one where good exchanges could be seen in the subsequent discussion part.
...So, I talked with Kazuhiko Ito about whether it might be possible to evaluate the performance aspects of the recitation and PR in a separate category from the judging. Perhaps a performance division (tentative) might be created starting next year.

If I had participated when I was a high school student, I think I would have given it my all and then quit tanka right there. That is how intense the battle was.