At the Power of the Spoken Word reading at Ben's Cafe last month, Yasuo Fujitomi, John Solt, Masafumi Suzuki and Misako Yarita read from their works. Scholar and poet Fujitomi read from poems published in his CD of the highmoonoon spoken literature series, "whatnever" (3,500 yen), a sophisticated production designed by long-time VOU member Shohachiro Takahashi.

Slapsticks have a way of slipping into Fujitomi's poems. "The Wide Forehead" is an example of a prosey gag poem, though much shorter than other works: There is a company president whose forehead is so wide that it became a table. A conference has been held there since this afternoon. After it adjourned, children went out, and the forehead turned into a playground where they kicked the ball around. (John Solt translation)

The highlight of this program was when Fujitomi read Katsue Kitasono's poem "Blue" in the Japanese followed by Solt's translation from "Glass Beret," awarded the 1996 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize. Set to music, the poem was then sung and accompanied with shamisen by Fuei Nishimatsu. Nishimatsu is iemoto (head) of the Nishimatsu school of shamisen and vocals and has given recitals at the National Theater and elsewhere in Tokyo, and in Rome, Budapest and Bangkok; she has performed at the Berlin Opera House, the Royal Academy of Arts in London and the Chamber Music Festival in Kuhmo, Finland.