The gloves come off in poetry boxing

As murmurs of excitement ripple through the rows of spectators, the two gladiators approach the ring. They may look unassuming at first glance, but this is a contest to which both fighters have devoted no small amount of mental preparation.

First to climb through the ropes is the proud occupant of the red corner. When his name is announced by the referee, he salutes his audience and slowly eyes the row of judges sitting only an arm’s length away. His opponent tonight may be less than half his weight, only just over half his height, and a girl. But he knows that he is in for a tough battle.

The spotlights fire up, and the referee bellows “fight!” as the ringside bell chimes. Immediately the young lady in the blue corner unleashes a flurry of attacks ranging from satirical jibes about her father’s driving habits, disagreements with her boyfriend over fashion, and how—despite her self-confessed diminutive figure — she intends to pack a punch when it comes to poetic verse.

Left reeling from his opponent’s blistering start, the young man in the red corner gathers himself to deliver a stinging string of witticisms on the theme of Japan’s most unusual foods. Natto, oden and the idiocy of eating poisonous fugu blowfish all come under fire as the crowd whoops and hollers, hanging on his every word.

This souped-up verbal jousting is performed under the auspices of the Japan Reading Boxing Association, an organization set up over a decade ago by university professor Katsunori Kusunoki. His aim was to create an event that encouraged Japanese people to abandon their inhibitions when it comes to expressing their real opinions. Events now take place across the country, culminating each year in a grand tournament.

The competitions feature a variety of verbal challenges, from timed presentations on a series of set themes to improvisations using random words that are flung at the boxers from a panel of judges. Any means of verbal expression is allowed, from traditional Japanese poetic forms like haiku to modern styles of hip-hop and rap.

Earlier this year I went to see, and more importantly to hear, the organization’s first English poetry boxing contest. The contestants were students of English literature at Yokohama’s Kanto Gakuin University. “I was mainly worried that the words and the grammar that I need to make interesting sentences wouldn’t come into my head quickly enough,” one of the students told me. “When I speak Japanese I can think of the words very quickly, so this has been a really interesting challenge.”

Kusunoki says that the English boxing event is especially valuable, as it encourages Japanese people to feel more confident about speaking a foreign language. “In Japan today, people study English for three years in elementary school, another three years in high school, and then four years in university,” he explained. “That’s 10 years altogether, but after all that time many people still cannot speak English very well. Young Japanese people have to take several English exams, but even those who achieve high scores often cannot express themselves. That is because they are only taught how to answer the exam questions, not how to express their opinions.”

Kusunoki’s ambition is to expand the boxing format to take in as many languages as possible. As Tokyo becomes increasingly multicultural, he believes that events like these can break down communication barriers and help people, whatever their native language, to have confidence to express themselves in a different one.

“In the future I would like to encourage non-Japanese people to take part in the boxing contests in Japanese,” he says, “Then it would be great for Japanese people to compete in other foreign languages. That way everyone can feel confident to communicate with each other, wherever they are from.”

So, swallow your pride and take Kusunoki’s advice: “When you enter the ring, whatever you do, don’t get embarrassed!”

The next poetry boxing contests (in Japanese) take place May 10 and June 10 from 1 p.m., at Yokohama Kannai Hall: 4-42-1 Sumiyoshi-cho, Naka-ku, Yokohama. Nearest station: Kannai or Bashamichi. Anyone is welcome to take part. For more information see www.jrba.net (mainly in Japanese) and www.kannaihall.jp.

This story originally appeared in Metropolis magazine (www.metropolis.co.jp).

© Japan Today