Aren’t “even poor me” and “pitiful me” both four syllables and not three? 
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こんなおれでもこの世ではオンリーワン
even i
in a world like this
am unique
I keep changing my mind on punctuation/capitalization for these haha, but I thought this time I’d try something a little more radical.
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Yup. I’m not sure why I wrote 3-5-3, I meant 4-5-4 of course.
I’m fascinated that none of us used the English words “only one”. 
Wait, but doesn’t “in the world” have three syllables? 
This is why I shouldn’t do these on the phone while distracted! 
“Whole world” maybe?
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Thursday, May 26, 2022
Previous senryu
- こんなおれでもこの世ではオンリーワン
こんなおれでもこのよではオンリーワン
even lowly / me — the only me / in the whole world
Notes:
- Another fun one despite my struggles with advanced mathematics (uh, counting).
to Axazel- Final 4-5-4 result is a mish-mash from multiple entries
to @fallynleaf
Current senryu challenge
Volume: Global Truths
- 相合傘濡れてるほうが惚れている
Lots of kanji today. I hope I’m not the only one that had to look up 惚れる.
I just tried my hand at this one, and once again I (probably wrongly) think the sentiment is easy to understand. The difficulty is turning it into three short stanzas of English!
Remember to please use the spoiler tag with your translation attempts! Also, please include the reading in kana with your submission.
Everyone is encouraged to participate, no matter your level!
Online tools like dictionaries, sentence databases, and even AI translation engines are fair game and can be extremely helpful. Yomichan is particularly handy if you use the Chrome or Firefox browser.
Here are the links to the 356 Japanese originals (spoiler free) and to the the spreadsheet with all the upcoming senryu as well as the translations to date.
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Pretty proud of this one! Umbrella is such a long word to fit into a poem (having said that, it would have been nice to put it on the top line.)
あいあいがさ / ぬれてるほうが / ほれている
when sharing an
umbrella the one who’s wet
is more in love
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I only knew this one from 一目惚れ！This is my first time seeing it stand alone. Pretty cool!
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I like that. In fact, I think it works best as a one-liner. I’m starting to wonder whether the English equivalent of Senryu is one-liners rather than any form of syllabic prose.
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Well done! I struggled with it for a bit, then threw in the towel.
Making multi-syllable words work is incredibly satisfying.
I wasn’t familiar with 一目惚れ either. To be fair, I read a lot more 囲碁 and 大工 books than love stories!
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I have been quietly wondering that as well.
The only thing I like about the line breaks, there’s a higher potential to make puns or have more of a “twist” at the end.
You mean to tell me they never write sentences such as 囲碁一目惚れして碁盤をすぐに買った ? 
Joking aside, those both seem like they’re pretty technical. I bet you know a lot of cool niche words!
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Niche for sure, “cool” is debatable.
I’m still learning words, though. I just learned 金版 this past weekend, for example (both the word and how to use one). Kenkyusho says it’s also a brass die for printing, but the one I learned about is just a steel bar mostly used for sharpening the back of plane blades. Weird reading and there is nothing remotely related to gold or money, it’s using the “metal” meaning for the first character.
Well this is interesting. I did a little research for the 惚 character. Apparently, it’s not just used for falling in love, you can also write 呆け as 惚け! I guess love does make us all fools.
It’s not that uncommon a character, but it’s not taught on Wanikani.
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あいあいがさぬれてるほうがほれている (hmm… looks like 6-7-5 to me)
4-5-4 attempt:
Getting wet 'neath / a shared umbrella: / Falling in love
Not sure if using the poetic version of “beneath” to achieve syllable count is fair, but I like it…
My reading is different than @Axazel 's, which is quite charming too (i.e. the one who is wetter is so because he/she cares more for the other). To me, the ほうが seems to be stating that the experience of getting wet under a shared umbrella ( as opposed to being together at a movie, restaurant, etc) is the way to fall in love. I could well be very wrong, and it won’t be the first or last time either. 
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Friday, May 27, 2022
Previous senryu
- 相合傘濡れてるほうが惚れている
あいあいがさ / ぬれてるほうが / ほれている
when sharing an / umbrella the one who’s wet / is more in love
Notes:
- to @Axazel who is on a roll
- to @LaVieQ for a strong contender
- I also initially had LaVieQ’s interpretation at first glance but then came to the same understanding as Axazel. My only slight quibble is the word “more” being applied to in love rather than being wet! But the judges let it stand.
Current senryu challenge
Volume: Ladies
- オフクロの好きなタレント役しだい
Hints:
-
A “talent” is basically a TV personality. Usually singers or actors of some sort.
- I’ve no idea why オフクロ is in katakana!
-
Something I didn’t realize: オフクロ is a colloquial expression for one’s mother!
My interpretation:
I think it’s saying whether or not the author likes a “talent” depends on their handbag. But I’m still puzzling out the wording. I think 好きなタレント and オフクロの役しだい are standalone phrases just weirdly ordered for the purposes of a poem. I’ve been wrong before! Curious to see how others interpret this one, but now that I know オフクロ means one’s mother, I think オフクロの好きなタレント is a single phrase meaning “the tv personality my mother likes”. So maybe: “Which ‘talent’ my mum likes depends on their utility” (but I’m struggling to understand how liking one talent vs. another might be useful in different situations).
Remember to please use the spoiler tag with your translation attempts! Also, please include the reading in kana with your submission.
Everyone is encouraged to participate, no matter your level!
Online tools like dictionaries, sentence databases, and even AI translation engines are fair game and can be extremely helpful. Yomichan is particularly handy if you use the Chrome or Firefox browser.
Here are the links to the 356 Japanese originals (spoiler free) and to the the spreadsheet with all the upcoming senryu as well as the translations to date.
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I was wondering about this when I was translating too! If I’m being honest, I actually have a secret theory…
I think there is a double-entendres here 
方 can also be used to refer to one of two people.
Check out this site for example sentences here. But in this case it’s almost always pronounced かた, not ほう.
I was going to give up on my theory there, but! I googled this 川柳 online and found online that the kanji 方 is often used, which means this could actually be read either ほう or かた! If that’s the case then…
方 is actually referring to both 濡れてるかた “the person that is wet” AND ほうが惚れている“more in love” at once. Which would be clever, make everyone’s translation correct, and be crazy difficult to capture in English!! 
hope you guys geek out as much as I do
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Hmm. Not sure about this. I think 濡れている方が惚れてる means “the one who’s wet is in love” plain and simple (with either reading, actually).
AさんとBさんがあちにいるよ。Aさんはどちらですか？火焼けている方。(The one who is more sunburned.)
Not much worry about that!
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Guess I should keep my secret musings a secret 
I thought it was a fun little theory, and made for a good study.
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Oh, no! Much more fun if we all share our thoughts.
I hadn’t thought about reading it as かた but that might also work, I think (without changing the meaning).
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Where did you find the version that uses ほう and not kanji, I wonder?
(It is more fun to share )
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