Kuki Shuzo (1888-1941), one of Japan's most original thinkers of the twentieth century, is best known for his interpretations of Western Continental philosophy. His works on and of poetry are less well known but equally illuminating. During his eight years studying in Europe in the 1920s, Kuki spent time in Paris, where he wrote several collections of poetry and many short poems in the tanka style.

Included in this volume are these Paris poems as well as other verses that Kuki appended to a long essay on poetry, Rhymes in Japanese Poetry, written in 1931. Included as well are...