Photo/Illutration A bird flies in front of an "I love Ukraine" sign in downtown Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 16 amid a curfew. (AP Photo)

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the "senryu" (satirical haiku) poet Akira Tsuru (1909-1938) captured the inhumanity of war in this piece that went to the effect, "Missing its arms and legs/ (The deceased) is sent home like a log."

The sheer impact of these words, delivered ruthlessly like a slingshot, must have alarmed the authorities. Tsuru was arrested for violating the wartime Maintenance of Public Order Law and died young in prison.

Another work by him goes: "Newsreel without corpses/ Drumming up heroism."

This verse, a mordant mockery of propaganda films that justify and glorify war, was published in a senryu magazine. I wonder how many people saw it at the time.

Many Russians watch the state TV news program broadcast at 9 p.m. Marina Ovsyannikova, an employee, must have seen this as her chance to personally protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, at her own risk.

Bursting onto the set during a live broadcast, she held up a sign that bore this terse, powerful message: "No to war. Don't believe the propaganda. They're lying to you here."

She was arrested and taken to a police station. But instead of being sent to prison, she was only fined. The swiftness of the decision may indicate the authorities' sense of panic. But could it also mean they are contemplating a much severer punishment for later?

Because we are not in Russia, we can tell that the administration of President Vladimir Putin is lying through its teeth.

But what if we were, and were being told over and over that the Russian Army is a liberation force, or that the Ukrainian Army is responsible for all the bombings?

This is precisely why it is of great significance that the Russian state propaganda machine has begun to spring a leak.

State internet censorship is in place in Russia, but some people appear to be somehow managing to circumvent it. And information also trickles out from their families and friends in Ukraine.

Another senryu by Tsuru goes to the effect, "Buds remain in the dark/ Enfolding dawn."

I pray that daybreak won't be long in coming. 

--The Asahi Shimbun, March 17

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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