Japan's office workers get poetic on life during the pandemic

LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL

Japan’s office workers get poetic on life during the pandemic

The thought process: Japan's stressed office workers need to tap into their poetic sides every now and then. That's where the 34th Senryu for Salaried Workers Contest comes in. | GETTY IMAGES

By Haruka Murayama
Staff writer

Jun 25, 2021

If you want to get something off your chest these days, there are many ways to do it. My parents post on Facebook, my friends upload videos to YouTube and almost everyone sounds off on Twitter. For Japan’s army of サラリーマン (蝉补谤补谤ī尘补苍, “salarymen” or office workers), however, there’s the (Sararīman Senryū Konkūru, Senryu for Salaried Workers Contest).

川柳 (蝉别苍谤测ū) are short poems in three lines and with 17 morae (which are like syllables). They follow the same structure as 俳句 (haiku), but instead of describing nature they will usually focus on the triumphs and tribulations of everyday life.

The サラリーマン川柳コンクール is organized by Dai-ichi Life Insurance and has been held annually since 1987. For its 第34回 (dai sanjūyon-kai, 34th edition) this year, more than 60,000 entries were collected from office workers across the country between September and October. From those, the top 10 were announced last month.