Many literary works left behind by condemned criminals have been found to be incredibly thought-provoking and moving. Yoshiki Sumitama’s tanka (a form of Japanese poem) anthology, “A Deadly Sin,” is one of such. As one can comprehend how deeply the poet’s thoughts with regard to death as a form of atonement for a criminal’s sin, through reading his tanka in “A Deadly Sin,” I consider what his personal religious beliefs were, his views of sin and death, how he confronted his internal agony of his own deadly sin, and how, ultimately, he faced his own fears of death. He reflected his beliefs through his tanka, questioning that the belief in which one can pay for one’s sin through death, is an illusion. The questions with which he questioned himself are the very same questions he questions society and the current law system with.
