Snow Stepper

Poet Akiko Yosano, who has ties to Yosano Town, announced this tanka poem in March 1936. It is one of a series named “Yama ni Omou” she composed during a trip to Mt. Haruna in Ikaho (Gunma Prefecture). The year before, she lost her beloved husband Tekkan, but she never stopped traveling and composing poems. Mt. Haruna was especially memorable for her and her husband. She could not hide her grief over her travel companion husband in her poems. When she noticed anonymous travelers entering the snowy mountain, she probably thought they must have family and loved ones which perhaps made her write the poem with a warm heart.

Assisted by: Tanka and Haiku Museum
Yosano Municipal Kozan Bunko