Seen in the street
in the blazing heat a thousand-stitch belt one stitch at a time
hizakari no senninbari no hitohari zutsu
1937–1938 · Wartime verses
Sōmokutō · The Home Front (Jūgo)
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A street scene in the burning heat. To pray for the safe return of a soldier going to war, a thousand women each add one stitch to a senninbari, a thousand-stitch belt. Calling out to passersby, another stitch is added, and another. He sets down, just as he saw it in the street, the sight of people standing on through the heat of the day.