YOHEI SASAKAWA'S COMMENTS ON ' THE RIVER RETURNS'

"I would like to express my sincere appreciation for your kind letter and your heartfelt gift of the book, The River Returns, which presents a beautiful new world of poetry. The book impressed me very much and I was deeply moved by your imaginative creativity, which transformed the traditional culture of Japanese Haiku and Tanka into beautiful English poetry. This poetlry falls into a different sphere of classification from just pure translation of Haiku and Tanka, and gives us a new genre in the literature of poems. I'm sure your work will be recognized as a leading light in its field. I would like to extend my deepest gratitude for all your kindness and tell you that I await your next publication with great anticipation."

--Yohei Sasakawa, Chairman, The Nippon Foundation, Tokyo, Japan, in a letter to Dr R.K.SINGH, dated April 20, 2007.