In a world saddened by fear and death, this year's selection of a theme for the Imperial Poetry Contest gains a significance that reaches far beyond the shores of the Japanese islands.
Prayers on Meeting the New Year " will be murmured around the world, in Europe as in Asia—in shrine and temple, mosque and church. And surely the substance of these prayers will be identical: a plea for lasting peace and understanding among the children of men.
The above is a pictorial representation of this year's Imperial Poetry Contest theme, approved by the Emperor of Japan, in which all Japanese may compete.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.