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Tomino's Hell

I am a huge fan of poems, whether the sentences are easy or difficult to decipher. One poem I would like to share today is a Japanese, short and old one called "Tomino's Hell". Why I wanted to talk about this piece is because it has an interesting story behind it and I'm sure people recognize this picture, as it became sort of a Creepypasta.


The work is basically about a boy that ports to Hell. Why Tomino's Hell became popular is because of its legend and curse that folk says lies upon it. No one knows how the reputations started, though one thing is clear and that is that everything that is said about the poem is fully false, ofcourse. But there are still people who believe in it; there's always a warning before reading the actual text. The warnings are things like "If you read this out loud for yourself, be prepared for horrific consequences", "You and your family can become sick or die" and such.
 
In any case: Tomino's Hell was published over 100 years ago, year 1919, in a collection of poems [that is called Sakin, "Gold-dust" in English] by Saijo Yaso. The poem became more popular in this age after the Japanese author Yomota Inuhiko included it in one of his books from 1998.
 
And, if you want to read Tomino's Hell, it can be read in both Japanese & English here.
 
My opinion on the poem is that I like it very much. It is beautiful and fascinating, even when it's certainly tragic. In a single word, I would call Tomino's Hell unique. Saijo Yaso did a fine job with the lyric!
 

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