啄木小公園

タクボクショウコウエン

■観光説明板

この辺りは、かつて砂丘があって、ハマナスが咲き乱れていた。啄木が好んで散歩した所であり、歌集「一握の砂」に「砂山の砂に腹這ひ初恋のいたみを遠くおもひ出づる日」と歌われている。詩集「あこがれ」を左手に持ち、もの思いにふける啄木の座像（本郷新作）は、昭和33（1958）年に建てられた。隣の石碑は、後年啄木の墓を訪れた詩人西条八十が啄木に捧げた自筆の歌碑である。
啄木が函館に来たのは明治40（1907）年5月のことで、7月には離散していた妻子を呼び寄せ、久しぶりに親子水入らずの生活を営んだ。弥生小学校の代用教員を経て、函館日日新聞の記者となって間もなくの8月25日、函館は未曾有の大火に襲われた。新聞社も焼失し、啄木は職を求めて、妻子を残したまま函館を去った。
函館滞在の4か月余りは、彼の一生のうちで、最も楽しい期間であったといわれている。

函館市

TAKUBOKU PARK

In days gone by this area used to be a dune where many Hamanasu （a family of roses） bloomed wild.Takuboku enjoyed taking walks here.While walking around here he wrote the following Tanka （31-syllable Japanese poem） which is now in his collection of Tanka,”A Handful of Sand.”
“Lying on the dune sand,this day I recall,remotely,the anguish of my first love.”
The statue of Takuboku who sits lost in thought while holding his poetry collection,”A Longing,” was carved in 1958 by Hongo Shin.The stone monument which stands beside him was offered by Saijyo Yaso,a poet,when he visited Takuboku’s grave.On the surface his own handwriting was engraved.
It was in May 1907 that Takuboku arrived in Hakodate.Then in July,Takuboku had his family join him.He had lived separate from his family for a long time and so he enjoyed being together again.After teaching as a substitute teacher at Yayoi Elementary School,he worked at the Hakodate Nichi-nichi Newspaper Company as a journalist.However,as soon as Takuboku began to work there,on August 25 a great fire destroyed Hakodate.The company building was burnt down and so leaving his family in Hakodate Takuboku left Hakodate to look for work.
It is said that his short stay in Hakodate for four odd months,was the most pleasant time in his life.

CITY OF HAKODATE