The Publisher

The American Book Company would like to thank Maruzen, Kinokuniya and Junkudo for its cooperation in selling Poems of the Goat following its publication in 2002. It is particularly thankful for Maruzen’s continued cooperation with Poems of Days Past. Maruzen hosted the book release celebration in Fukuoka in August, 2005, and continues to generously promote the title.

The American Book Company is further grateful to Literary Imagination, vol. 7, no. 1, winter 2005, for publishing several poems from Poems of Days Past; to the media outlets in radio, television, print and cyberspace that have featured the books; and to the Nakahara Chûya memorial museum.

The Translator

Ry Beville, translator of Nakahara Chûya’s Yagi no Uta (Poems of the Goat), Arishi hi no uta (Poems of Days Past), and mikanshi (Uncollected Poems), is indebted to many: Matsuura Kanako and Shiraishi Kumiko for their enormous help in all aspects of the Poems of Days Past project– without them, this book would never have seen the light of day; the Nakahara Chûya Memorial Museum; staff of the Fukuoka International Exchange Foundation, particularly the Kokusai Hiroba information division; Okuda “Sam” Isamu and other members of the S.G.G. clubs of Fukuoka and Iizuka; the J.E.T. Program, which sponsored employment in Japan from 1997 to 2000, during which time Beville began translating Chûya; peers and professors at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Notre Dame; Nishihara Kazumi of Kurume Fusetsu schools; Robert Hass for his readings and lasting critical advice; Moriyama Hideaki of the Fukuoka prefectural government and Miyamoto Chie for their support in translations of Poems of the Goat; Pixie Garnaut for her overly generous support during the production of Poems of Days Past in Fukuoka during the summer of 2005; the many reporters who helped promote his work beyond their normal responsibilities; friends and family for their support; and all the people who selflessly devoted their time out of kindness and a simple love for Chûya and poetry.

The Site

Architect: My Huynh