Let's celebrate together 'the 70th Anniversary of foundation'
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　――Instead of greetings of the President Assumption of Office

Dated July 1st, 2019

Junko, Kitaoka

　With the progress of civilization, the distance to the world is getting closer, and information runs around the earth in an instant. We touch the world in our daily life, while selecting a lot of information every day.
　In the recent information, the behavior of denying others and causing discrimination and fragmentation is greatly conveyed, and such a situation makes us knit our brow. Denying the inner "I" of others, it seems to me like a very lonely state that we lost the phase where the self and others could merge.

　Although it is an extreme argument, it can be said that such thoughts have led to disastrous wars in the past.
　The act of poetry 'to think and deepen things' enriches ourselves, nurtures imagination to others and makes us extend helping hands. It would be the farthest but closest way to a world without contention. That was the thought of our senior poets in the pioneer days who established the Japan Poets Club. They were passionate about promotion of poetry as a long-suffering action for the affluence of the heart, and about organizing a group of poets first of all. We see their Club the 70th anniversary come around as our own in 2020.
　This 70th anniversary commemorative project includes the publication of the Special Number "The Future that Poetry Opens" and member's Anthology, main convention titled "Contemporary Poery ― East, West, North and South" held on November 14th in Tokyo, the commemorative convention in Kansai area as well and "Canary Award" recruiting poetry widely for elementary, junior high and high school students. To that end, we have set up an executive committee and started preparing.
　Looking back on the history of Japanese Poet Club 70 years, I would like this opportunity to be the motive to think with other poet fellows about how much the poetry as a genre of literature can wrap in its bosom, and about what we could through poetry and poet work towards the world where selfish way of thought is prevalent.

Let's do our best together.