Ki no kuni no akura no hama no wasuregai ware wa wasureji toshi wa henu tomo

紀の国の飽等の浜の忘れ貝
我れは忘れじ年は経ぬとも

Roma-ji: Ki no kuni no akura no hama no wasuregai ware wa wasureji toshi wa henu tomo
English Translation: In the land of Ki
upon the strand of Akura
lies the shell of forgetting;
but I shall never forget,
though the years go passing by
Meaning: Unlike the shells of forgetting on the beach of Akura in the land of Ki, I will never forget, however many years may pass.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2795

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
Playing on the name of the "shell of forgetting" found on the beach of Akura in the land of Ki, the speaker vows never to forget, however many years go by. Turning the name of a shell said to make one forget love against itself, the poem asserts a heart that will not forget.
With this poem begins a run of poems on shells, continuing to poem 2798, in which shells serve as prefaces for love. "Toshi wa henu tomo" here and "toshi wa henitsutsu" in the next poem share the same phrase, setting a vow not to forget across the years beside a lament for years passing in one-sided love.
The author is unknown. The anonymous poems of Book Eleven gather the love poems of people whose names have not come down to us.

First line, "ki no kuni no": "of the land of Ki," present-day Wakayama Prefecture. The first three lines form a preface that repeats the sound "wasure" of "wasuregai" to lead into "wasureji."
Second line, "akura no hama no": "of the beach of Akura" in the land of Ki; its location is uncertain.
Third line, "wasuregai": the "shell of forgetting," a single valve of a bivalve or a shell said to make one forget the pain of love when picked up. The line ends on a noun and passes on by sound to "wasureji."
Fourth line, "ware wa wasureji": "I shall not forget." "Ji" expresses negative will, and the particle "wa" sets off the speaker's own heart as unlike the shell of forgetting. A pause falls here.
Fifth line, "toshi wa henu tomo": "even though years pass." "Nu" is the perfective auxiliary and "tomo" marks a concession; inverted with the fourth line, it shows a vow unchanged over long years. It shares the phrase with "toshi wa henitsutsu," the last line of the next poem.
Source: Manyoshu
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