This collection of poetry expresses joy, sorrow, admiration, compassion, warmth, humor, and every other complex human emotion. The verses not only are interesting for those who wish to better understand Japanese culture and the Japanese soul, but can introduce even more readers to the realm of modern poetry.

Just read the acknowledgements by one of the editors, the Japanese poet Maruchi Mamoru: "When I think of this book about to be published, it is like feeling the warmth of the sun's rays on my skin, or hearing the gentle call of a small bird in my ears. I become so excited I virtually cannot sleep."

Chang Shiang-hua, who played a leading role in the translation of these poems, points out: "No matter how much difference there may be in political, military, or economic values, no matter how much competition or even conflict there maybe, basic human nature can still in many respects be recorded in poetry, and convey the beauty and the purity of heart. We have uncovered the voice from the deepest parts of the Japanese soul. From their subtle and nuanced inner voice, we wish to explore the heartbeat of the land of the rising sun."

The process of becoming for this book has been a story of the meeting of minds between people, or perhaps more accurately, between poets.

The earliest to touch off the series of connections that led to this collection was Imatsuji Kajunori, who is deeply versed in Chinese culture. He invested a great deal of time to translate the poems of Chang Shiang-hua into Japanese and has published many of them in poetry journals and magazines. He eventually compiled a book of her poems under the title of his favorite, "The One I Love is on Fire Island." This book was released in Tokyo in 1999 by Seijusha, the publishing house of Maruchi Mamoru.

At that time, Chang was in hospital and could not attend the publication party, so her husband, the famous writer Bo Yang, went in her place. When the then-80-year-old Bo saw the importance placed on this event by the Japanese poetry community, and their enthusiasm for the human rights memorial concert video entitled "The One I Love is on Fire Island," he was deeply moved. This set the foundations for happy exchanges between Chinese and Japanese poetry, and planted the seeds of friendship between Bo, Chang, Imatsuji, and Maruchi.

After recovering from her illness, Chang expressed the desire to cooperate with these two Japanese poets to publish Chinese-language translations of modern Japanese poetry. The two Japanese selected a group of poets who have established a certain reputation in Japanese poetry circles and invited them to write new compositions for this special collection. Thereafter, Imatsuji made a preliminary translation into Chinese.

The poems and the preliminary translations were then turned over to Liu Ru-zhen, a senior reporter who lived in Japan for many years, and Chang, who actually doesn't know any Japanese at all. Word by word and line by line, they wrote out two versions of each of the poems, one reflecting the literal meaning and the other capturing the nuances, implications, and symbolism. Keeping these two versions side-by-side, Chang then put pen to paper to produce the final renditions that we see in Passwords to the Soul. All in all, this project took two full years to complete.

The book includes works from 54 poets, mostly born between 1920 and 1950. Their generations witnessed World War II and Japan's postwar depression. Their poems touch on many themes, and use many forms of language. But virtually all have a profound sense of human pathos and concern for humanity. All the poems-whether quick sketches, recordings of memories, or depictions of individuals or historical events-are deeply thought-provoking and emotional. In particular, death is a theme that runs through many of these poems.

A very noteworthy feature of this book is that each of the poets included was asked to write a brief paragraph on their "poetry worldview." Why do they write poetry? How do they choose their themes? What is the significance of poetry? For many readers who wish to get to know modern poetry but find it difficult to get an entree into this field, this volume, a rare effort at bringing together both the works and the perspectives of poets side by side, provides a great guide. A Japanese-language version will also be published by Seijusha.

But rather than talk about poetry, perhaps it would just be better just to experience a poem directly. This is one by Kijima Hajime: "My two legs walk on without stopping/ Beating the ground like the beating of a drum./ How much sound have I pounded out/ Since being born?/ Through this mouth and nose I have breathed without interruption/ Through them the universe has passed in and out./ How much of this vast universe have I inhaled/ Since being born?"