This is Makimoto Kusurô's anthology of 35 verses for children which first appeared in magazines like Dôwa Undô [Movement of Stories for Children] and Shônen Senki [Children's Battle Flag] and other proletarian literary magazines for grown-ups, one of the results of the proletarian literature movement developed from the end of the Taisho era to the beginning of the Showa era. Some words in three verses and an essay in the book have been censored. As the sale was prohibited after publication, only a few copies remain. The Proletarian movement began in 1921 and, at its height from 1928 to 1929, it also influenced the field of children's literature. Makimoto promoted proletarian literature for children as a theoretic leader. He published Akai Hata and two theoretical essays on proletarian children's literature in 1930.
In the introduction Makimoto invited children to lend the book to many
friends and sing together cheerfully. He hoped that they would become brave
proletarian fighters. He laid stress on the instructiveness of verses for
children. Such an attitude can be seen in many of his verses in the book.
Folktales and nursery rhymes are parodied, animals such as horse, sparrow,
parrot and goat are used as symbols of exploited laborers, and expressions
like directly giving cheers for the proletariat can be found here and there.
A reprint of the original was published by Holp Shuppan in 1971. |
