On May 26, 17-year-old Mariko Wakabayashi of Yokkaichi High School, Mie Prefecture, became Japan's first Poetry Boxing Lightweight Champion. (Click here for an explanation of poetry boxing.)

In poetry boxing, two poets stand in a boxing ring and face off against each other with words instead of fists. They recite their own original poetry, and judges decide the winner. Poetry boxers have to be over 15 years old to compete in open tournaments. They have one three-minute round to knock out their opponents with their poems.

The boxers have a lot of different poetry genres to choose "punches" from, including tanka (a 31-syllable Japanese poem), haiku, short stories, and even manga (Japanese comics). They are allowed to use some props, but the most important things are their voices and words, so no music is allowed.

In the final round of a tournament, contestants also have to improvise a poem about a word the referee gives them. In her title bout Mariko was given the word "butter" and came up with this poem:

Just like melting butter, my heart quietly melts away,
Light and Dark love me equally,
Inside the Light I can see bits of Dark.
The Dark smells of milk,
Milk is the smell of my mother,
And my mother's smell is mixed in with the Light...

This year at the All-Japan Tournament there were three contestants aged 15 to 19, eight in their twenties, eight in their thirties, five in their forties, two in their fifties, and one each in their sixties, seventies, and eighties, for a total of 29 competitors from 13 prefectures.

After reciting her improvised poem in the final round, Mariko was declared the winner by the nine judges in an overwhelming 9-0 vote. This was a great accomplishment, especially given that Mariko had only started writing and reading her poems a few months before.

Mariko says, "I really believe in poetry. When I try to put the things in my heart into words, the words ignore my will and run free like living things." Thanks to this contest, her talent with words has found her a lot of admirers. Author Masahiko Shimada expressed the thoughts of many people about this amazing girl when he said: "I saw a genius being born right before my eyes."

Photos: (Top) A contestant taking part in a poetry boxing bout; (Above) Poetry Boxing Lightweight Champion Makiko Wakabayashi. (Japan Reading Boxing Association)