To Oki, and to the Waka Beyond

In 2024 and 2025, I spent time on the Oki Islands, the remote islands of Shimane Prefecture, centered around Ama Town, in the form of an awards ceremony tour for the Oki Gotoba-in Waka Grand Prize.
Although each trip was limited to three days and two nights, they were experiences that truly define the word 'precious'.

I received a proud award at the Waka competition, met the people in Ama Town I had wanted to see,
honed my sensibilities on an island rich in nature,
and was able to meet old friends in my home prefecture of Shimane while on my way to Ama Town...

While those personal things were, of course, delightful, beyond that,

• The fact that several people provided financial support, telling me, 'You should go to Oki,'
• And the fact that after I reported on the 2024 trip on note, one of the participants on the following year's tour told me, 'I was hesitant, but after seeing that article, I decided to participate this year'

and so on,

“This journey and this way of life are truly no longer just my own.”

Being able to deeply feel that was a major realization.

I study Waka,
I share it with the world for free or at a low cost,
many people receive it for free or at a low cost and are influenced by it,
and those who find particular significance in it support my life through donations and work.

I have renewed my resolve that I will continue this form,
not only for sharing Waka but also for 'Waka-related travel' from now on.

I have renewed my commitment to this.

My life, my sharing, my travels, and my existence are like a collaborative production with all of you, my readers.
Would you like to get a little more involved in this endeavor?

To the next poem, to the next journey

As I wrote at the end of last year's awards ceremony tour report series, I was selected again for last year's Oki Gotoba-in Waka Grand Prize, and the Oki awards ceremony tour is coming up this October.

What kind of experiences will I have in Oki this year,
what kind of exchanges will I have with other Waka poets, and what kind of inspiration will I receive,
and will I be able to reunite with relatives and mentors in my hometown on the way back...?

I hope to gain experiences that can only be obtained from this journey,
and share them with all of you in the form of Waka poems, reports, essays, and more.

I have reported on this in three parts so far, so this will be the fourth installment.
Please look forward to it!

Previous installments

Paving the Way with a Passion for Waka (The path to winning the Grand Prize in Reiwa 5, 8 articles in total)
The Waka Spirit Leading to Oki: Waka Grand Prize Award Ceremony Tour Report (2024 Award Ceremony Tour, 11 articles in total)
Visiting Oki with Waka, Once Again: Reiwa 6 Waka Grand Prize Report (Reiwa 6 Competition and 2025 Tour, 11 articles in total)

About activity funding

I wish to continue these Waka activities in a way that I truly believe is valuable and sincere.
Therefore,

sacrificing accuracy for more popular expressions,
blasting out advertisements,
or aggressively selling high-priced courses

are not the forms I take,
as I am attempting to design this activity so that it continues organically.
(I am by no means against advertisements or high-priced courses in principle.)

It is a form of activity that is unstable yet certain, built on a belief in the cycle of human goodwill.

Things that can be received for free,
after receiving them for free,
choosing to support me a little, or a lot, through tips or donations

This economic activity barely survives because a certain number of people do this.
And I am always hoping to make this a bit more stable and to increase the number of people involved.

With your support, please send Waka Kajima to Oki again this year.

Postscript: Why do I continue to share content for free or at a low price while simultaneously asking for your financial support?
I have written about what I have thought about once again.

Regarding the support received

The support I receive will be used carefully for:

・The 128,000 yen participation fee for the Oki Gotoba-in Waka Grand Prize awards ceremony tour (+ remittance fees)
・Round-trip travel expenses between Tokyo and Oki, as well as transportation, food, and accommodation costs outside of the tour
・Other activity expenses to support my ongoing studies and outreach

I will make sure to put it to good use.

I will provide updates on my current progress in this article.

How to support

While there are actually other ways to support me (please refer to this article), focusing on the trip to Oki, the following are the main methods.

Support by sending funds

Donations of any amount are always appreciated.
Please contact me and I will provide you with the account number.
waka-kajima@hotmail.co.jp (Waka Kajima)

Support via subscription

You can support me starting from 500 yen per month using the membership feature on note.
The amount remaining after fees are deducted will reach me.

Support using the note "tip" feature

You can send a tip from the "Support with a tip" button at the bottom of any of my note articles.
The amount remaining after fees are deducted will reach me.

※Since note revenue (including memberships and tips) incurs fees for each transaction as well as fees every time a transfer is requested, I consolidate several months' worth of earnings before requesting a transfer.
Therefore, depending on the timing, support via note may be used for general activity expenses such as living costs rather than specifically for the Oki trip.※

Thank you as always.

Needless to say,

Reading my articles,
leaving comments,
and clicking the 'like' button

These actions of yours are a great source of encouragement for my activities.
Thank you always for your precious time, effort, and kindness.

Furthermore,

“I want you to go to Oki again this year,”
“I want you to continue this Waka activity in the future,”
“I want to support that Waka story and be involved in creating it together,”

If you happen to feel that way,
please also consider providing financial support.

The true feelings I couldn't express

Actually, regarding the awards ceremony tour for the 2025 competition, that is, the tour this October,
compared to the past two times, I felt it was difficult to confidently say 'please support me'.

I first challenged the Oki Gotoba-in Waka Grand Prize in the 2022 competition with a Waka poem I composed in just about a week, and it was selected.

“Since you have the ability to be selected with just a week of composition, if you work on it more seriously, you will get even better results,”
with that confidence, I approached the following 2023 competition, and then

“Kojiki Compilation 1300th Anniversary Grand Prize”

I received that notification.
I was thinking 'Yay, yay,' and it turned out to be the first-place prize.
It was beyond a surprise. It was a major event.

Having received such a wonderful prize,
I had given up from the start, thinking 'But there's no way I have the money to go from Tokyo to Oki,' but several people said

“Go!”

and gave me money, allowing me to go on the awards ceremony tour.
Please also take a look atthe past seriesregarding this.

The following year, 2024, I was also grateful to receive the Jonangu/Tobadono Prize, and thanks to everyone's support, I was able to go on the awards ceremony tour for this as well.
This isthe tour whose series I recently finished.

But you know, for the Reiwa 7 competition, I only received an honorable mention.
Even though I was confident that I had put in the most genuine effort yet toward the set-topic waka,,
it was just an honorable mention.

If it had been the Grand Prize or some other award, it would have been easier for people to tell me, 'You should go on the awards ceremony tour,' and
it would have been easier for me to say, 'I really want to go, so please help me.'

However, with an honorable mention, it was hard to say.
I could show my determination to go, but it was difficult to add, 'So please support me'...

I understand it logically.

The people who support me, including financially,
don't support me just because I won the Grand Prize.

They watch me dedicate my life to waka,
they see me go to Oki, have wonderful experiences, and write reports about them,
and they see me internalize those experiences to improve the quality of my waka instruction and other activities.

As a result of all those complex factors intertwined,

some people support me financially,
and some support me by giving 'likes' or sharing my work,

I know that is how it works.

Saying 'it's hard to ask because it's only an honorable mention' is nothing but my own ego.

Even so, it was hard to say.
Because the fact remains that it was hard to say.

No matter how much I think I have polished myself, my spirit is still green.
I cannot even reach the feet of the Emperor Kogon, whom I revere...

Call it ego or whatever you like, it was hard to say.
Therefore, I decided to do what I could, one step at a time, to make it easier for me—the one who finds it 'hard to say'—to actually say it.

Around the time the information for this October's awards ceremony tour arrived,
I resolved to finish writing the report on last year's tour, which had been on hiatus, by the end of June, and I got to work.
It actually took until early July, but I managed to finish the report that I had kept everyone waiting months for.

By finishing the report that had been weighing on my mind, it became a little easier to say,
'I want to go to Oki again this year, so please support me. I will write another good report like this one.'

It was at such a moment, the other day

“I want Waka-san to go to Oki again this year”

I received these words directly, along with a donation....

That's right.

Whether I was selected or not, that wasn't
such a big deal after all.

For those who truly find value in these Waka activities and care for me,
it wasn't about whether I was selected or not,

“I want you to go to Oki”

that was what it was all about.

I knew that. I knew that, but... it really was just like that.

Words like “happy” or “grateful”... they don't even begin to cover it.
I was made to realize my own smallness and the magnitude of what I have taken on.

In order not to let down that person and everyone else who feels the same way,
and of course for my own sake as well,

I have decided to write this article to properly ask for donations.

Once more, no, as many times as it takes, I will put it into words.

Please, send Waka Kajima to Oki with your support.

The Waka Kajima of the future, who has been able to go to Oki again this year,
will continue to write better articles and compose better Waka than ever before,
giving back to you and to the many others beyond you.

Whether it's the grand prize or just a selection, I will keep visiting Oki,

and I will continue to write articles that only I can write.

And, the Waka as well.

Thank you, truly, for everything, always.

Author of this article

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