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Fire (kaji)
***** Location: Japan
***** Season: All winter in Japan
***** Category: Humanity *****************************
Explanation
Fires are a problem at any time. Some seasons are more prone to fires. In Japan, we have most fires in winter, when people use heating devices and the air is dry.
During the Edo period, when people lived closely in wooden homes and used open fire for cooking, fires were especially terrible.
Fire and fighting are the flowers of Edo (kaji to kenka wa Edo no hana) is an old proverb of these dangerous times.
In other places of the world, regular wildfires come at different seasons, see below.
Let us look at some kigo related to this word.
Katen, the God of Fire©
www.tctv.ne.jp/tobifudo/butuzo/12ten/katen.html
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fire, kaji 火事
big fire, taika 大火
small fire, boka 小火
fire close by, kinka 近火
fire far away, tooka 遠火
fire during the day, hiru kaji 昼火事fire at night, yoru kaji 夜火事
mountain fire, forest fire, wildfire, bushfire
..... yamakaji 山火事
traces of a fire, kaji ato 火事跡watching out for fires, hi no miban 火の見番
watchtower for a fire, hi no yagura 火の櫓 やぐら
mound for the fire bell, hanshoo dai 半鐘台
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on the lookout for fire, hi no ban 火の番 watching out for a fire, hi no yoojin 火の用心
hut for the night watch, banya 番屋
..... hi no ban koya 火の番小屋
night watch, yoban 夜番
..... yokei, yakei 夜警 （やけい）
making the night rounds, yomawari 夜回り
kantaku 寒柝（かんたく wooden clappers of the watchman
visiting someone after a fire damage, kaji mimai 火事見舞
..... usually with a gift of money
Look at some photos from big fires ! fire brigade, fire brigade car, shooboosha 消防車
kaji shoozoku 火事装束（かじしょうぞく)protective colths for the firebrigade
protective hood for fire, kaji zukin 火事頭巾
©
鳶頭政五郎覚書 Edo Fire Museum With MORE photos !
protective coat, kaji baori 火事羽織
.....
PHOTOS ! . kawabaori 皮羽織 leather haori coat . :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
kigo for the New Yearhatsu kaji 初火事 (はつかじ) first fire
The first fire of the new year is often seen as a bringer of bad luck, if it happens during the first three days of the New Year.
. SAIJIKI - THE NEW YEAR :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
observance kigo for mid-winter . ohotaki, o ho taki 御火焚 (おほたき) "making a bonfire" ..... ohitaki, o hi taki おひたき
In many temples and shrines and workplaces or restaurants that use fire, this custom is observed in the middle of November. It used to mark the end of autumn and beginning of the winter season, with prayers to protect the region from fires.
***************************** Worldwide useAustraliaBushfires, hell on earth kigo for summer and other seasons:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Philippines Fires engulf properties in Manila here and there because of the hot days... ironically, march is fire prevention month.
quiet night...
fire at the far corner
of the street
noontime...
billows of thick smoke
from the razing mall
raging fire...
just what three firefighters
make do - Shared by Bos Tsip Joys of Japan, March 2012. PHILIPPINES SAIJIKI . :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Southern California Bushfire, wildfire, Santa Ana Windskigo for autumn
dry sumac
waiting for a brush fire
patient seeds
chaparral vistas
shimmer in the hot wind
ready tinderBillie Dee, 2006 *****************************
Things found on the wayBan Dainagon Ekotoba
(Scroll of the Courtier Ban Dainagon)
(伴大納言絵詞)
The Tale of Great Minister Ban, is an emakimono (handscroll painting) depicting the events of the Ōtemmon Conspiracy, an event of Japan's early Heian period. The painting, attributed to Tokiwa Mitsunaga of the Tosa school, is over 20m long and about 31.5cm tall.
The full-color painting depicts the events of March 866, in which Ban Dainagon, also known as Tomo no Yoshio,
set fire to the Ōtemon 大手門 gate of Kyoto. He then blamed one of his political rivals, Minister of the left Minamoto no Makoto for the fire. However, the true culprit was soon discovered, and Tomo no Yoshio was banished to Izu province.
©
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ban_Dainagon_Ekotoba:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
. The Kitchen Deities of Japan . Kamagami 釜神 The Hearth Deity
hi otoko 火男 "man of the fire"
Aragamisama, Koojinsama, Koojin sama 荒神様
Dokujin, dokoojin 土公神
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Homusubi no mikoto 火産霊命
Deity of Fireand the shrines called Atago jinja 愛宕神社
. The Atago shrines of Japan . *****************************
HAIKUfire and love -
quite a hot topic
for a cold nightGabi Greve
Read about O-Shichi in the Edo period 八百屋お七の物語
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焼にけりされども花はちりすましyake ni keri saredomo hana wa chirisumashi
Burnt to ashes,
But the cherry blossoms
Had all fallen.
Tachibana HokushiTr. BlythBlyth's comment:In the 3rd year of Genroku, 1690, Hokushi's house in Kanazawa was burnt down, and he sent this haiku to Basho. Haiku, like Caesar's wife, must not only be devoid of pose, but be above the suspicion of it. We must avoid even the appearance of evil, and avoid the appearance of avoiding it. Above all, art and life must have no "but."
My house burned down
But anyway, it was after
The flower petals had already fallen.trans. Alex Kerr, from "The Classic Tradition of Haiku," edited by Faubion Bowers
Bowers' comment:When Hokushi's house burned down a second time, Shikoo sent him an "imitative" poem:
yakeni keri saredomo sakura sakanu uchi
You are burnt out, but luckily
Before the cherry-flowers bloomTr. Asataroo Miyamori (1869-1952)
And here are Robin Gill's translations of Hokushi's haiku (Gill adds Hokushi's headnote: kanoe-uma no toshi ie o yakarete):
my year of the horse
my hut in ashes:
so what! the cherry blossoms
had all scatteredhomeless but happy
burnt down
but my cherry was done
blossomingAn excerpt from Gill's comment:This well-known 'ku' complements another well-known poem where the thief left the precious thing, the moon, on the window sill. Hokushi's attitude so impressed Basho that he wrote: "If the ancients wrote great songs at the cost of their own lives, your exchange of this great poem (for having your house burnt down) should leave your spirit without regret."
Is it not a testament to Japan's best side that a man could gain great respect for loving his tree more than his house? Still, I can't help wondering how many people today would trade their house (or spouse) for a poem, even knowing ahead of time it would be appreciated for centuries.
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焼けし野の所々やすみれ草
yakeshi no no tokorodokoro ya sumiregusa
violets have grown
among the ruins
of my burned houseArii Shokyu-ni Tr. Patricia Donegan:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
焼にけりさしてとがなき藪蚊迄
yake ni keri sashite toga naki yabu ka made
everything has burned
even the blameless
thicket mosquitoesIssa
Tr. LanoueLanoue's comment:
This haiku has the prescript, "Shitaya fire." Shitaya was a district in Edo (today's Tokyo), near the place where Issa was living at the time.
According to R. H. Blyth, "thicket mosquito" (yabu ka) refers to a species of "striped mosquitoes"; Haiku
(Tokyo: Hokuseido, 1949-1952; rpt. 1981-1982/reset paperback edition) 3.805. Robin D. Gill notes that the scientific name for these large striped, bloodthirsty mosquitoes is Stegomyia fasciata, according to Kenkyûsha's Japanese-English Dictionary.
Issa's sympathy extends even to the pesky mosquitoes
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蔵焼けて 障るものなき 月見哉kura yakete sawaru mono naki tsukimi kana
my storehouse burned down -
now there is nothing to prevent
the moon viewingTr. Gabi Greve Mizuta Masahide 水田 正秀Read a discussion of this translation
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... when Basho's first "Basho Hut (Bashoo An 芭蕉庵" burned down, on January 25, 1683, he apparently didn't write a haiku about it.
Ueda writes:On January 25, 1683, the Basho Hut burned to the ground in a fire that destroyed a large part of Edo. According to Kikaku's account, Basho "barely managed to survive in the smoke, after submerging himself in the water [Sumida River] and covering his head with a rush mat."
Meireki Fire in Edo, （1657）
(江戸東京博物館蔵）*****************************Related words*****
The God of Fire (katen 火天, kajin 火神 )*****
Firework Display (hanabi) *****
Bonfire, burning fallen leaves (takibi) *****
Camp, camping (kyanpu), tent (tento) camp fire
Japan, North America
*****
Storehouse, warehouse (kura, dozoo) built to withstand a fire !
*****
Ash, ashes (hai) and related kigo and
sumi-temae carcoal layout of the tea ceremony
. Hi no yoojin 火の用心 fire prevention Daruma . Thanks to Larry Bole for compiling most haiku information of this page!:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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