ENTER !

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The World Kigo Database ARCHIVE 04 !


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.. .. .. .. .. .. .. General Items

ENTRY: Submit your Entry for a Kigo

KIGO – Its use in haiku About the use of two or more kigo

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.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Our WKD Regional Saijiki

ALASKA Saijiki
AUSTRALIAN Seasons

Ceremonies and Festivals of Japan: Topical Saijiki

Chesapeake Bay Saijiki, USA
EUROPA Saijiki
GERMAN Saijiki
INDIA Saijiki
Ireland, Irish Saijiki
ISSA and the Seasons
KENYA and Tropical Saijiki
ROMANIA Saijiki
..... North American Saijiki List
Sonoran Saijiki, USA

... ... Non-seasonal Topics and Keywords


Basic Haiku Theories

The World Kigo Database
Main Index


… Please sign our GUESTBOOK …

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Pinewood Derby

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Pinewood Derby

***** Location: North America
***** Season: Spring
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

In towns all across America every spring there is the Pinewood Derby. A fine Cub Scout tradition. Other organizations have similar events involving small wooden cars built by the boy with help from his dad (or, all too often, whomever happens to be around).

Bethel Prescott, USA

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The pinewood derby is a racing event for Cub Scouts in the Boy Scouts of America. Cub Scouts, with the help of parents, build their own cars from wood, usually from kits containing a block of pine, plastic wheels and metal axles. With the popularity of the pinewood derby, other organizations have developed similar events and a small industry has developed to provide tracks, timers, scales and other products. The pinewood derby was selected as part of "America's 100 Best" in 2006 as "a celebrated rite of spring" by Reader's Digest.
Similar Cub Scouting events include the raingutter regatta with boats and the space derby using rubber band powered rockets.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

by his car
a proud boy stands alone -
Pinewood Derby

Bethel Prescott, USA



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Related words

***** WKD Festivals and Events of Japan

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Sunflower (himawari)

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Sunflower (himawari)

***** Location: Japan, Europa
***** Season: Late Summer
***** Category:

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Explanation

sunflower, himawari 向日葵 (ひまわり)
"sun wheel", higuruma 日車（ひぐるま）
"sun wheel plant", nichirin soo 日輪草（にちりんそう）

Russian sun flower, roshia himawari ロシアひまわり
Indian Mallow, tenjiku aoi 天竺葵（てんじくあおい）
.... hyuuga aoi 日向葵（ひゅうがあおい）

canopy flower, tengai bana 天蓋花（てんがいばな）






The sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is an annual plant native to the Americas in the family Asteraceae, with a large flowering head (inflorescence). The stem of the flower can grow as high as 3 metres tall, with the flower head reaching up to 30 cm in diameter with the "large" seeds. The term "sunflower" is also used to refer to all plants of the genus Helianthus, many of which are perennial plants.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !


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Worldwide use

American Sonora

Sunflowers
Sonoran Saijiki


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Things found on the way

... Canopy (tengai) 天蓋 in a Buddhist Temple


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Sunflower - Flower of Flames




Sunflower, the Japanese can also read "Flames are covering everything", which is exactly what happened when Takagaki Mondo's home burned to the ground one chilling night in February.
He kept on working as a potter and one of his works is this object of Bizen earth and color, to be hung at the wall.
Now it is in the GokuRakuAn Gallery.

Takagaki Mondo at GokuRakuAn


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HAIKU

sunflowers
drops of rain
and whispers

Rositza Pironska, Bulgaria, May 2008


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It's The Garden State.
I'd like to see sunflowers
dotting the Turnpike.

Read more haiku from New York
©　The Sunflower Project

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sonnenblume blickt
kraftlos zur erde, sehnt sich
nach wärme und licht

©　Ute Dewitz


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Related words

***** WKD Reference

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Turtle (kame)

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Turtle, turtoise (kame)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Various, see below
***** Category: Animal

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Explanation


turtle making a sound, crying
kame naku 亀鳴く (かめなく)
kigo for all spring

"turtle reciting the sutras"
kame no kankin 亀の看経（かめのかんきん）
Their sounds remind the Japanese of monks reciting the morning sutras.

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sea turtle, umigame 海亀 (うみがめ)
kigo for mid-summer
red sea turtle, akaumigame 赤海亀（あかうみがめ）
blue sea turtle, aoumigame 青海亀（あおうみがめ）
..... shoogakuboo 正覚坊（しょうがくぼう)



hawksbill turtle, taimai 玳瑁（たいまい）


turtle babies, kame no ko 亀の子 (かめのこ)
kigo for mid-summer
pond turtle, senigame 銭亀（ぜにがめ）


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In Chinese culture, especially under the influence of Taoism the turtoise is the symbol of heaven and earth, its shell compared to the vaulted heaven and the underside to the flat disc of the earth. The tortoise was the hero of many ancient legends. It helped the First Chinese Emperor to tame the Yellow River, so Shang-di rewarded the animal with a lifespan of Ten Thousand Years. Thus the turtoise became a symbol for Long Life.

It also stands for immutability and steadfastness. We often see stone grave steles on a stone tortoise or reliquiaries standing on it.
The tortoise is also regarded as an immortal creature. As there are no male tortoise - as the ancient believed - the female had to mate with a snake. Thus the turtoise embracing a snake became the protector symbol of the north, but since the word "tortoise" was taboo in Chinese, it was referred to as the "dark warrior" (genbu 玄武 ) and finally became one of the protector gods of the four areas, Zhenwu in Chinese Taoism.

Read more of my story HERE
Turtle, Crane and Daruma san


©　色いろ遊び


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Worldwide use

Yemen

African Helmeted turtle [Pelomedusa subrufa]
kigo for spring



P.s. subrufa nest once per year. A nest is dug to a depth of approximately 15 cm and the eggs deposited. Eggs are white/grayish and covered with a clear slime. They measure 28-31 mm x 15-18 mm and approximately 4-6 grams. Fertile eggs develop a white spot or area on top and hatching occurs in 65-68 days.
©　www.pelomedusa.com


In warm sand
a case for fire ants..
turtle nest

Heike Gewi, Yemen, May 2008
WKD Yemen Saijiki



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Things found on the way

Some Cosmic Fun

A well-known scientist (some say it was Bertrand Russell) once gave a public lecture on astronomy. He described how the earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits around the center of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy. At the end of the lecture, a little old lady at the back of the room got up and said:
"What you have told us is rubbish. The world is really a flat plate supported on the back of a giant tortoise." The scientist gave a superior smile before replying, "What is the tortoise standing on?" "You're very clever, young man, very clever," said the old lady.
"But it's turtles all the way down!"


Russell comments:

If everything must have a cause, then God must have a cause. If there can be anything without a cause, it may just as well be the world as God, so that there cannot be any validity in that argument. It is exactly of the same nature as the Hindu's view, that the world rested upon an elephant and the elephant rested upon a tortoise; and when they said,
"How about the tortoise?"
the Indian said, "Suppose we change the subject."

... the story is patently wise, teaching us that we will never get to the bottom of things.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !


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HAIKU

the turtle is slow;
i capture it with much ease
time to eat it now

a hardshell tortoise.
is there any other kind?
rabbit lost the race.

©　kpaul.mallasch


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a turtle peeps
from its shell, beholds
a spring cosmos ~

Look at a photo to go here:
©　brahman~ Narayanan



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Related words

***** WKD Reference

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Cockroach (gokiburi)

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Cockroach (gokiburi)

***** Location: Japan, other regions
***** Season: All Summer
***** Category: Animal

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Explanation

Cockroach, "oily insect", aburamushi 油虫 (あぶらむし)
..... gokiburi ごきぶり, ゴキブリ
..... gokikaburi 御器噛り（ごきかぶり）

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Cockroaches (or simply "roaches") are insects of the order Blattaria.
This name derives from the Latin word for "cockroach", blatta.

Among the most well-known species are the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana, which is about 30 mm (1 inch) long, the German cockroach, Blattella germanica, about 15 mm (1/2 inch) long, the Asian cockroach, Blattella asahinai, also about 15 mm (1/2 inch) in length, and the Oriental cockroach, Blatta orientalis, about 25 mm (3/4 inch). Tropical cockroaches are often much bigger, and extinct cockroach relatives such as the Carboniferous Archimylacris and the Permian Apthoroblattina were several times as large as these. Cockroaches are generally considered pests; however, only about 30 species (less than 1%) infest urban habitats.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !


More GOKIBURI reference


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We had a lot of them in the small housing compound in Kamakura, where neighbours are close and the gokiburi have no problem wandering around. They are cleverly hiding behind refrigerators and under furniture.

Since we moved to an isolated farmhouse in the countryside, we never saw one again. They can not survive in the solitude, it seems.

Gabi Greve, GokuRakuAn, Okayama, 2008

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Worldwide use

India

she screams
at the sight of a cockroach-
in her bathroom

In India, the cockroaches hide during the winter, but they come out during the summer and rains and are quite a common sight in our homes, especially kitchen and bathroom. The lady of the house always dislikes it, and perhaps, also dreads it.

©　sunil uniyal
Kigo Hotline


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

愛されずして油虫ひかり翔つ　　
aisarezu shite aburamushi hikari tatsu

it is not loved -
the cocroach sparkles
and takes off

Hashimoto Takako 橋本多佳子
Tr. Gabi Greve


it is not loved
but the cockroach shines
as it takes off
Tr. Larry Bole
Kigo Hotline


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Related words

Summer more KIGO with
Insects and Summer Animals

Ant (Ari)

Ant lion (Arijigoku)

Beetle (Kabutomushi)
Caterpillar (Kemushi)
Centipede (Mukade)
Cicada (Semi)
Dayfly, Ephemerid (Kusa-kageroo)
Dragonfly (Ito-tonbo,Kawa-tonbo)
Earthworm (Mimizu)
Firefly (Hotaru)
Flat-headed borer (Tamamushi)
Flea (Nomi)
Fly (Hae)
Gnat (Buyo)
Gold beetle, Gold bug (Koganemushi)
Ladybug (Tentoomushi)
Leech (Hiru)
Longicorn (Kamikiri)
Mosquito (Ka)
Mosquito larva (Boofura)
Noctiluca (Yakoochu)
Slug (Namekuji)
Snail (Katatsumuri)
Spider (Kumo)
Water strider (Amenboo)

some have their own entries HERE
***** WKD Reference

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Deutzia blossoms (u no hana)

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Deutzia blossom (u no hana)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Early Summer
***** Category: Plant

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Explanation

deutzia blossoms, u no hana 卯の花 (うのはな)
..... utsugi no hana 空木の花（うつぎのはな）
..... hana utsugi 花仰木（はなうつぎ）

hedge of deutzia blossoms, unohana gaki
卯の花垣（うのはながき）
This kind of hedge is quite popular in Japan.


deutzia from Hakone, Hakone utsugi
箱根うつぎ（はこねうつぎ）



deutzia with yellow blossoms, kibana utsugi
黄花うつぎ（きばなうつぎ）
..... ukon uzuki うこんうつぎ

"brocade deutzia", nishiki utsugi
錦うつぎ（にしきうつぎ）
..... biroodo utsugi びろうどうつぎ

deutzia in the valley, tani utsugi 谷うつぎ（たにうつぎ）
deutzia in the underbush, yabu utsugi
藪うつぎ（やぶうつぎ）




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Deutzia is a genus of about 60 species of shrubs in the family Hydrangeaceae, native to eastern and central Asia (from the Himalaya east to Japan and the Philippines), and Central America and also Europe. By far the highest species diversity is in China, where 50 species occur.

The species are shrubs ranging from 1-4 m in height. Most are deciduous, but a few subtropical species are evergreen. The leaves are opposite, simple, with a serrated margin. The flowers are produced in panicles or corymbs; they are white in most species, sometimes pink or reddish. The fruit is a dry capsule containing numerous small seeds. Identification of the species is very difficult, requiring often microscopic detail of the leaf hairs and seed capsule structure.

Deutzias are commonly grown as ornamental plants for their white flowers.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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moon in the month when the deutzia is blooming
u no hana zuki 卯の花月（うのはなづき）
... uzuki 卯月 (うづき)
haiku category: season

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"tofu-dregs getting rotten" (u no hana kutashi
　(kudashi) 卯の花腐し

A kind of rain in the old lunar month of may, when it gets hot and warm and the tofu starts rotting soon. During the old lunar month of april and may, the rain was very long (but not yet the rainy season)

..... unohana kudashi 卯の花腐し（うのはなくだし）
..... 卯の花降し（うのはなくだし）
haiku category: heaven



Scrambled tofu dregs are also prepared in a dish of "unohana". It is a common home food, tasting of "mother's cooking".
Okara and Unohana ...




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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

卯の花の花なきさへうられけり
u no hana no hana no naki sae urare keri

a deutzia shrub
even without blossoms...
for sale

Kobayashi Issa
Tr. David Lanoue



u no hana ya kodomo no tsukuru tsuchi dango

deutzia in bloom
children make
mud-dumplings

Issa
Tr. David Lanoue
Kasamori Fox Shrine and mud-dumplings

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卯の花を めがけてきたか 時鳥
unohana o megakete kita ka hototogisu

aiming at
deutzia blossoms
little cuckoo

Masaoka Shiki , Ehime, Matsuyama

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the sun remains
in the deutzia flowers--
under cloudy skies

©　Chiyo-Jo
Chiyo-Jo Haiku Museum


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Related words

***** WKD Reference

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Beans in autumn

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Beans in autumn

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Autumn
***** Category: Plant

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Explanation

There are quite a few beans harvested in autumn. Let us look at the related kigo.

early autumn

new adzuki beans, shin azuki 新小豆 (しんあずき)

black beans, azemame 畦豆 (あぜまめ)
ta no kuromame 田畦豆（たのくろまめ）, kuromame くろまめ
"aze" are the small paths between the rice paddies, where the beans are grown.


green beans, ingen mame 隠元豆 (いんげんまめ)
ingen 菜豆（いんげん）, saya ingen 莢隠元（さやいんげん）
uzura mame 鶉豆（うずらまめ）
toosasage 唐豇（とうささげ）
ingen sasage 隠元豇（いんげんささげ）
"wisteria bean", fujimame 藤豆 (ふじまめ)
..... fujimame 鵲豆（ふじまめ）
..... sengoku mame 千石豆（せんごくまめ）
kakimame 籬豆 (かきまめ)
hasshoo mame 八升豆（はっしょうまめ）
.... enrimame 沿籬豆（えんりまめ）
a kind of cowpea; a black-eyed pea; a southern pea. Most are some kind of green bean of the INGEN Type.

The ingen mame gets its name from the priest Ingen who brought the beans (ingen mame 隠元豆) from China in the 16th century.
Embassies to China 遣唐使 Gabi Greve



a kind of cowpea; a black-eyed pea; a southern pea
sasage 豇豆 ささげ, juuroku sasage 十六豇豆（じゅうろくささげ）
juuhachi sasage 十八豇豆（じゅうはちささげ)
long sasage, naga sasage 長豇豆（ながささげ）


"sword beans" natamame 刀豆 (なたまめ)
natamame 鉈豆（なたまめ）, tachihaki たちはき

Their beans are sometimes crushed to prepare a tea.


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mid-autumn

new soy beans, shin daizu 新大豆 しんだいず


"green beans" bundoo 緑豆 ( ぶんどう)
..... bundoo 文豆（ぶんどう）, yaenari やえなり
also read "ryokutoo"



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peanuts, rakkasei 落花生 (らっかせい)
late autumn
piinatsu ピーナツ
"beans from Nanking", Nankin Mame 南京豆（なんきんまめ）



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Worldwide use

Philippines

Peanuts
topic for all seasons

In the Philippines, peanuts are grown throughout the year, but maybe the crunchiest are eaten in summer.

Pulling up the plant
in the loamy soil
for crunchy peanuts.

- Willie Bongcaron, Manila


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

なたまめや垣もゆかりのむらさき野
natamame ya kaki mo yukari no murasaki no

Buson 蕪村

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Related words


***** Beans and human acitvities in Haiku

***** Tofu (toofu), bean curd Japan

***** Setsubun (Japan) ..
Bean Throwing Festival, February 3

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Herring (nishin)

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Herring (nishin)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Late Spring
***** Category: Animal

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Explanation


Herring, nishin 鰊 (にしん) , 鯡（にしん）、青魚（にしん）、
黄魚（にしん） ,
"fish that brings spring", 春告魚（にしん）
kado かど、kadoiwashi かどいわし
"Korean sardine", koorai iwashi 高麗鰯（こうらいいわし）

"running herring", hashiri nishin 走り鰊（はしりにしん）

first herring, hatsu nishin 初鰊（はつにしん）
middle herring, chuu nishin 中鰊（ちゅうにしん）
late herring, ato nishin 後鰊（あとにしん）

herring are coming, nishin kuki 鰊群来（にしんくき）

place for herrings, nishinba 鰊場（にしんば）
pot for cooking herring, nishingama 鰊釜（にしんがま）
roasting herring, nishin taku 鰊焚く（にしんたく）

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Herrings are small, oily fish of the genus Clupea found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Atlantic, the Baltic Sea, the North Pacific, and the Mediterranean. There are 15 species of herring, the most abundant of which is the Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus).[citation needed] Herrings move in vast schools, coming in spring to the shores of Europe and America, where they are caught, salted and smoked in great quantities.
Canned "sardines" (or pilchards) seen in supermarkets may actually be sprats or round herrings.
Pickled herring is found in the cuisine of Hokkaidō in Japan, where families traditionally preserved large quantities for winter.

©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !


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Worldwide use

Germany

Pickled herring, Rollmops

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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

Above the cedars
a Mother eagle hovers
scent of herring

©　Angelika Kolompar Renville Bygott

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Related words

***** FISH SAIJIKI

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Will-o'-the-wisp (kitsunebi)

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Will-o'-the-wisp (kitsunebi)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: All Winter
***** Category: Earth

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Explanation

"fox fire", kitsunebi 狐火 (きつねび)
"fox lantern", kitsune no choochin
狐の提燈（きつねのちょうちん）
"devil's fire", onibi 鬼火　（おにび）






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”a mysterious light associated with spirits,
found in various folklore tales”

The will-o'-the-wisp, sometimes will-o'-wisp or ignis fatuus (modern Latin, from ignis ("fire") + fatuus ("foolish"), plural ignes fatui) refers to the ghostly lights sometimes seen at night or twilight — often over bogs. It looks like a flickering lamp, and is sometimes said to recede if approached. Much folklore surrounds the legend, but science has offered several potential explanations.

One Asian theologist ponders the relation of will-o'-the-wisp to that of the foxfire produced by kitsune, an interesting way of combining mythology of the West with that of the East.

In addition to Kitsunebi (aka Foxfire) described above, additional similar phenomena are described in Japanese folklore, including Hitodama (literally "Human ball" as in ball of energy), Hi no Tama (Ball of Flame), Aburagae, Koemonbi, Ushionibi, etc. All these phenomena are described as balls of flame or light, at times associated with graveyards, but occurring across Japan as a whole in a wide variety of situations and locations. These phenomena are described in Shigeru Mizuki's 1985 book Graphic World of Japanese Phantoms (妖怪伝 in Japanese)。
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !


Kitsunebi / more reference


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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

狐火や髑髏(どくろ)に雨のたまる夜に
kitsunebi ya dokuro ni ame no tamaru yo ni

fox fire -
on the night when the skull
gathers rain

Buson 蕪村
Tr. Gabi Greve




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狐火や利休鼠の雨が降る
kitsunebi ya Rikyu ne no ame ga furu

fox fire -
the rain falls so gray,
Rikyu gray
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

Gendai Haiku Kyokai
http://www.gendaihaiku.gr.jp/haikukai/result/08_touku.htm

Grey, Gray (hai-iro, hyaku nezu) and haiku

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Related words

***** Fox (kitsune) Japan...
including Fox God Shrine Festival (Inari Matsuri)

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Spring morning light (shungyoo)

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Spring morning light (shungyoo)

***** Location: Japan, worldwide
***** Season: All Spring
***** Category: Season

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Explanation

Already in the Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon we read:
"Spring is the best for the morning dawn!"

akebono is the older usage, later akatsuki was used.
But AKEBONO just like that is not a kigo, but a topic for haiku. The below examples have a different kigo to go with the DAWN.

The sky gets light slowly and we can begin to distinguish things around us again.


spring morning light, spring dawn, shungyoo
春暁 (しゅんぎょう)
..... haru no akatsuki 春の暁（はるのあかつき）
spring dawn, haru no akebono 春の曙（はるのあけぼの）
..... shunsho 春曙（しゅんしょ）

daybreak in spring, haru no yoake
春の夜明（はるのよあけ）
.... haru no asake 春の朝明（はるのあさけ）

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spring morning, haru no asa 春の朝 はるのあさ
..... shunnchoo 春朝（しゅんちょう）
..... haru ashita 春あした（はるあした）


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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU


明ぼのや しら魚しろき こと一寸
akebono ya shirauo shiroki koto issun

Matsuo Basho

at dawn -
how white the whitebait
of just an inch
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

Whitebait (shirauo)

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Issa about the Spring Dawn, AKEBONO

父ありて明ぼの見たし青田原
chichi arite akebono mitashi aodabara

if my father were here--
dawn colors
over green fields


明ぼのの春早々に借着哉
akebono no haru haya-baya ni karigi kana

at dawn
I start the spring...
borrowed clothes


大淀や大曙のんめの花
ôyodo ya ô akebono no n-me no hana

Oyodo Town--
plum blossoms the colors
of dawn


Tr. David Lanoue
Click for more haiku.


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Frühlingsmorgenlicht
englische Suite von Bach
blauer Veilchenduft

spring morning light
suite music of Bach
blue scent of violets
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

©　blaettchen
http://www.seniorentreff.de/diskussion/archiv4/a109.html


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spring morning
the raven goes
where the wind went

©　Elizabeth Searle Lamb / The Heron's Nest 2003


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spring morning
these green leaves no longer
covered in dew

©　kathirudawsky / photo haiku gallery


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Dawn rises in East
Darkness to the West recedes
Passing Heron calls

©　Haiku Dan, 2007


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MORE
haiku about Spring Dawn


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Related words

***** First Sun, First Sunrise (hatsuhi, hatsuhi no de) Japan

***** Spring (haru, Japan)

***** Spring light, spring shining (shunkoo) Japan

***** Dawn moon in autumn (ariakezuki)Japan. mist in the morning, ariake gasumi.

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Tax season

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Tax paying season

***** Location: Japan, USA
***** Season: Spring
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

Income tax has to be declared in February/March in Japan.
In our village, a special service is offered for the farmers to get advise on how to fill out the many papers necessary.

Gabi Greve, Japan




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Worldwide use

USA

i wonder why americans have tax season in spring when it would seem appropriate for autumn [harvest] .

Gary Gach

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American tax season being in spring is based on when the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which authorizes the U.S. federal income tax as we know it today, was ratified.

The 16th Amendment was ratified in February, 1913, and so Congress decided that the first income tax would be collected as of March 1, 1914. The date moved was moved to March 15 in 1918, for reasons not readily available on the internet. The date of April 15 was settled on by Congress in 1955, apparently to allow the Internal Revenue Service more time to do its job, and so it remains to this day.

Larry Bole, 2008

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MOST CITIZENS ARE NOT REQUIRED TO FILE AN INCOME TAX RETURN

THE 16TH ("INCOME TAX") AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION IS A FRAUD

IF YOU FILE, YOU WAIVE YOUR 5th AMENDMENT RIGHTS

These are the major points expressed in a Remonstrance, that was hand delivered to leaders of the three branches of the federal government on April 13, 2000, by a group of citizen-delegates representing all 50 states. These grievances concern alleged illegal operations of the federal income tax system and the IRS.
©　We The People


Check out this PHOTO !


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

the accountant gives
the papers a tidy tap
: tax season

Gary Gach, USA, 2008

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the tax adviser
flicks his fingers round
the points of complication

Dick Pettit, WHCsenryu, 2008


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tax season -
the old farmer counts
on his fingers

Gabi Greve, Japan, 2008


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tax season:
husband comes home
not in the mood

Ethel Yanova, WHCrussian

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Related words

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Insects awaken

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Insects awaken (keichitsu)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Mid-Spring
***** Category: Season

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Explanation

March 5/6
This is one of the 24 special points of the seasons in the Asian Calendar.

On this day, the insects and other hibernating creatures wake up and come out, for example frogs, snakes and grubs. So it is not only insects, but all kinds of animals that wake up. It is finally getting warm enough to start a new circle of life.

insects awaken, insects come out, bugs come out, bugs wake up, insects appear again, insects stir
keichitsu 啓蟄 (けいちつ) 驚蟄（けいちつ）




..... Calendar Systems, Asian Lunar Calendar, 12 Zodiac Animals, 24 Seasons

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Today, close to the day insects are coming out, the mats around the trees of many parks in Western Japan were taken off and burned. This is an annual event which attracts many tourists, called "komoyaki こも焼き".

Here we see the famous park in Tsuyama town, close to my home in Okayama prefecture. And as if on clue, I saw my first ladybug and a grasshopper today in my own garden!

Gabi Greve, March 5, 2008


Mats are put around the trees in October

This is a preparation for winter, to make sure the insects do no harm to the tree itself and can hibernate between the bark and the mat. This event usually takes place on another one of the 24 seasonal turning points, around 23/ 24 of october, called "Frost descends", see below.

In spring, these mats are taken off and burned.





© Photo : Sanyo Shinbun


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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

keichitsu ya yooji no gotoku ashi narashi

awakening spring;
like a toddler, the insect
learns about legs

abe midorijo (1886-1980)
Tr. Michael Haldane


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啓蟄のひとり児ひとりよちよちと
keichitsu no hitori go hitori yochiyochi to

on the day insects wake up
this one baby starts
to toddle around

Iida Dakotsu
Tr. Gabi Greve

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天気地気啓蟄の日となりにけり
ten-ki chi-ki keichitsu no hi to narinikeri

Above ground and below ground the air is ready for keichitsu.

Ishii Rogetsu (1873-1928) 石井露月
Haiku poet from Akita, student of Masaoka Shiki
Tr. Shaun McCabe
(from "Chado: The Way of Tea," by Sasaki Sanmi)

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Check out more Japanese haiku about keichitsu
Gendai Haiku Database

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Related words




***** frost descends, sookoo 霜降 そうこう
sookoo no setsu 霜降の節（そうこうのせつ）
kigo for late autumn
also read: shimo ori

*** "frost descending month", shimo furi zuki
霜降月（しもふりづき）
December
kigo for mid-winter
shimofuri



***** Groundhog Day North America, Europe
This day is a bit similar to the awakening of the animals in Japan.


***** March (sangatsu　三月)

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Common Cold and Flu

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Common Cold (kaze)

***** Location: Japan, worldwide
***** Season: All winter
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation



common cold, kaze 風邪 (かぜ)
fuuja ふうじゃ、kanboo 感冒（かんぼう）
"feeling of running" ryuukan 流感（りゅうかん）

feeling a cold, kaze ge 風邪気（かざけ）
..... kaze gokochi 風邪心地（かぜごこち）
voice with a cold, hoarse, nasal voice, kazegoe
風邪声（かざごえ）
"nose cold", hanakaze鼻風邪（はなかぜ）

cold medicine, kazegusuri 風邪薬（かぜぐすり）


god of the cold, kaze no kami 風邪の神（かぜのかみ）
god of coughing, sekigamisama 咳神様


© PHOTO :　yumi , sekigamisama



Here is another private shrine in the garden of the Ikeda Jirokichi Family. They pray for healing when someone gets a cold and offer a rice scoop (shamoji　しゃもじ) when he gets better and pray for the wellbeing of the family. This shrine is also called "Rice scoop deity", O-Shamoji sama, オシャモジ様.


池田次郎吉
© PHOTO : Hayabuchi


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Acute viral nasopharyngitis, or acute coryza, usually known as the common cold, is a highly contagious, viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory system, primarily caused by picornaviruses or coronaviruses.

Common symptoms are sore throat, runny nose, nasal congestion, sneezing and cough; sometimes accompanied by 'pink eye', muscle aches, fatigue, malaise, headaches, muscle weakness, and/or loss of appetite. Fever and extreme exhaustion are more usual in influenza. The symptoms of a cold usually resolve after about one week, but can last up to 14 days.

Symptoms may be more severe in infants and young children. Although the disease is generally mild and self-limiting, patients with common colds often seek professional medical help, use over-the-counter drugs, and may miss school or work days. The annual cumulative societal cost of the common cold in developed countries is considerable in terms of money spent on remedies, and hours of work lost.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

a long winter day;
my wife interrupts herself,
sneezing now and then

Larry Bole, February 2008


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くさめして百羽の鳩を翔たしむる
kusameshite hyappa no hato o katashimuru

I sneeze and
one hundred doves
fly up in the air

Sakai Noriko 境野 典子
Tr. Gabi Greve


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くさめして鬼に見つかるかくれんぼ
kusameshite oni ni mitsukaru kakurenbo

I have to sneeze
and get caught ...
playing hide and seek

Yura Yumi 涌羅由美, 2005
Tr. Gabi Greve


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Related words

***** Medical Kigo, seasonal affections and disorders 　SAD, the FLU ...

***** Medicine Day (kusuri no hi)Japan. Medicine-related kigo. Chinese Medicine.


***** Yakushi Nyorai 薬師如来、Buddha of Medicine

***** ..... The Gods of Japan and Haiku (kami to hotoke)

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Barley, Wheat

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Barley, wheat (mugi)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: various, see below
***** Category: Plant

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Explanation

There are various words corresponding to MUGI.

wheat, "small mugi" komugi, 小麦

barley, "large mugi", oomugi,　大麦
..... "naked mugi", hadaka mugi 裸麦　

oats, "crow mugi", karasumugi 烏麦(からすむぎ)　
..... enbaku 　燕麦(えんばく)　

Job's tears; tear grass , "dove mugi", hatomugi
鳩麦(はとむぎ)




Let us look at some kigo.




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. . . . . SPRING

early spring

treading on barley/wheat fields, mugifumi 麦踏　(むぎふみ)
mugi o fumu 麦を踏む（むぎをふむ）



all spring

green barley/wheat, aomugi 青麦 (あおむぎ)
..... mugi aomu 麦青む（むぎあおむ）


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. . . . . SUMMER


The time when barley/wheat is ripe for the harvest is called "autumn", in reference to the time when rice is ripe for harvest.

early summer

"barley autumn", mugi no aki 麦の秋 (むぎのあき)
mugiaki 麦秋（むぎあき) bakushuu 麦秋（ばくしゅう）


"autumn wind on the barley/wheat fields" , mugi no akikaze
..... 麦の秋風 (むぎのあきかぜ)
storm on the barley/wheat, mugi arashi 麦嵐（むぎあらし）


rice with barley/wheat, mugimeshi 麦飯 (むぎめし)
plain barley/wheat cooked , sumugi すむぎ


harvesting barley/wheat 麦刈 ( むぎかり)
migi karu 麦刈る（むぎかる）
car transporting barley/wheat, mugiguruma 麦車（むぎぐるま）



threashing barley/wheat, mugikoki 麦扱 (むぎこき)
threashing maschine, mugikoki ki 麦扱機（むぎこきき）




threashing barley/wheat, mugi uchi 麦打 (むぎうち)
..... mugi tataki 麦叩（むぎたたき）, mugi tsuki 麦つき（むぎつき）
..... mugi kachi 麦搗（むぎかち）

pole for threashing, mugi no karasao
麦の殻竿（むぎのからさお）
dust from threashing, mugi bokori 麦埃（むぎぼこり）
burning barley/wheat, mugiyaki 麦焼き（むぎやき）


barley/wheat straw, mugiwara 麦藁 (むぎわら)
..... mugiwara 麦稈（むぎわら）


new barley/wheat, shinmugi 新麦 (しんむぎ )
barley/wheat of this year, kotoshi mugi 今年麦（ことしむぎ）


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all summer



barley/wheat tea, mugiyu 麦湯 (むぎゆ)
mugicha 麦茶（むぎちゃ), mugicha hiayashi 麦茶冷し（むぎちゃひやし）
..... mugiyu hiyashi 麦湯冷し（むぎゆひやし）


"barley drink", beer, mugishu 麦酒（びーる）


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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

麦秋や本の秋より寒い雨
mugi aki ya hon no aki yori samui ame

autumn of the barley -
the rain is colder than
in real autumn

Kobayashi Issa
Tr. Gabi Greve



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Related words

***** Paddy, Fields, rice paddies (ta, hatake) Japan


***** Buckwheat flowers


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Buds of trees

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Buds of trees (ko no me)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: All spring
***** Category: Plant

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Explanation

Tree buds, who would not think of spring immediately. And in Japan, a lot of the sprouts end up on the dinner table and are eaten as tempura or in miso soup.

Some buds are early, some later in spring. Their beauty and vitality has been the theme of poetry since olden times. Their colors range from light greet to pink or even red.




tree buds, ko no me 木の芽 (このめ)

buds from special trees with names, nanoki no me
名木の芽（なのきのめ)
(like maples etc. see below)

..... ki no me きのめ、medachi 芽立（めだち）
..... kigi no me　木々の芽
mebuku 芽吹く（めぶく）
budds are swelling, kono me haru 木の芽張る（このめはる）

rain on the tree buds, konome ame
木の芽雨（このめあめ）
mountain with budding trees, konome yama
木の芽山（このめやま）

fence of budding trees, konome gaki
木の芽垣（このめがき）



sprout, tiller, shoot, bud, hikobae 蘖 (ひこばえ)
..... hikobayu ひこばゆ , yago　やご
late spring
Coming out of cut-down trees or from the side of the stem or branches, they show great vitality and life energy.



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mulberry tree buds, kuwa no me 桑の芽（くわのめ）


buds of the willow, yanagi no me 柳の芽 (やなぎのめ)
..... me yanagi 芽柳（めやなぎ）,
budding willow trees, bebari yanagi 芽ばり柳（めばりやなぎ）


mountain pepper buds, sanshoo no me
山椒の芽 (さんしょうのめ)
Also pronounced as "ki no mi" 木の実.


maple buds, kaede no me 楓の芽 (かえでのめ )


buds of the Chinese matrimony vine, kuko no me
枸杞の芽（くこのめ）
picking buds of the kuko vine, kuko tsumu 枸杞摘む（くこつむ）

They are used for Chinese medicine (kampo), so are the little red fruit later in the year.



tara no me, buds of the angelica tree
楤の芽 (たらのめ)
..... tara no me 多羅の芽（たらのめ）, udo modoki うどもどき