Not Exactly a Looker

So, I've been working on a translation of a book of poems by the modern waka poet Tawara Machi (that's Machi Tawara for you Western types), namely her third volume the Chokoreto kakumei, the Chocolate Revolution. I know that sounds really corny in English, but, well, it sounds really fucking corny in Japanese too. She's a bit of an oddball (that's another story) and to be honest not much of a looker. She manages to find just the perfect hairstyle to make it look as if she's wearing a black helmet.

Prime Minister Jun'ichiro Koizumi (pictured seated at left) joined her once on the semi-regular show she used to have on NHK. When commenting on her Chocolate Revolution, he had the following to say: "these are... colorful poems." Well, what he actually said was これは、いろっぽい歌だよなあ (which you can confirm for yourself), and the key word here is iroppoi. It literally means something like "colorful" but has the connotation of "sexy" or "erotic." I'm not exactly certain Koizumi and I are reading the same volume.

A taste:

通販の人気等身大枕を抱いて眠る東京

Tokyo, where I fall asleep arms wrapped around
a popular mail order man-sized pillow

Sexy, indeed, Mr. Koizumi, very sexy, indeed.