3/31/2007

Wisteria (fuji)

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Wisteria (fuji)

***** Location: Japan, other areas
***** Season: Late Spring
***** Category: Plant


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Explanation

The wisteria is well loved in Japanese literature.

06 pink fuji END
© PHOTO : Gabi Greve, 2010

Here are some kigo:

wisteria, fuji 藤 (ふじ )
fuji no hana

藤の花(ふじのはな)

wisteria trellis, fujidana 藤棚(ふじだな)
Constructed from bamboo or wood poles, so we can walk under it and enjoy the blossoms as they hang down.

Click on the photo to see some more !


white wisteria blossoms, shirobana fuji
白花藤(しろばなふじ)

red (violett) wisteria blossoms, akabana fuji赤花藤(あかはなふじ)
many-layered wisteria blossoms, yaefuji 八重藤(やえふじ)

tuft of wisteria, fuji fusa 藤房(ふじふさ)
"waves of wisteria" , fuji nami 藤波(ふじなみ)、
南蛮藤(なんばんふじ)、

mountain wisteria, yamafuji 山藤(やまふじ)
wild wisteria, nofuji 野藤(のふじ)
wistria in the fields, noda fuji 野田藤(のだふじ)
white wisteria blossoms, shirafuji 白藤(しらふじ)
a kind of wild wisteria


Wisteria floribunda - Japanese Wisteria
Wisteria / Wikipedia Facts

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Wisteria Maiden, Fuji Musume 藤娘,
a famous Kabuki dance


Click on the photo to see more versions !

Fuji Musume (“Wisteria Maiden”) is a famous classical dance out of the Kabuki theater in Japan. Fuji (wisteria) Musume (maiden) was first performed in 1826 at Nakamura-za, Edo and was originally performed as one in a series of five dances.

Later in 1938, Onoe Baiko VII, the most famous Kabuki actor during his time, became associated with the dance after his portrayal of Fuji Musume at the Kabukiza Theater in Tokyo. His choreography and refinement of this dance helped to make it stand out and remain today as one of the most popular and famous Kabuki dances.

The story begins in Otsu, an area in outside of Kyoto and around Lake Biwa. Otsu is a city famous for its paintings. People would stroll its art-lined streets, viewing the beauty of the artisans works.

One painting in particular, that of the wisteria maiden, caught the eye of a male passerby. As he gazed upon the painting, the Wisteria Maiden became infatuated. So infatuated in fact, that she came to life, stepping out of the painting. The maiden is dressed in long flowing kimono; black-lacquered bamboo hat and carrying a beautiful branch of fuji (wisteria). She writes beautiful, heartfelt letters to her love. The letters however go unanswered.

The story continues on as she dances under a beautiful pine tree, covered in wisteria. The dancer expresses the emotions found in unrequited love in the manner of women of the Edo era (1603-1868). Eventually, sadness and despair take over our maiden and, heartbroken, she returns to the painting. Her return to the painting remains the last pose of the dance.

The Fuji Musume dance is accompanied by Nagauta music. Nagauta is the most important school of music in Kabuki theater as it has developed in conjunction with Kabuki.
MORE photos :
© 2007 by Melanie Shintaku. .


The wisteria entangles a pine tree - an old symbol in waka poetry for the Fujiwara clan 藤原 and its trusting relationship with the imperial court (the evergreen pine).

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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


Helen Hyde and the Wisteria Woodblocks

Wisteria at Kameido


Look at more of them HERE
© lotusgreen : Japonism

kono fuji wa
hayaku sakitari
Kameido no
fuji sakamaku wa
tôka mari nochi

these wisteria
have bloomed early...
the blossoming of
those at Kameido will be
more than ten days later

...

kozo no haru
Kamedo ni fuji o
mishi koto o
ima fuji o mite
omoi idetsumo

last spring
i saw wisteria
at Kamedo--seeing
the wisteria now
brings it to mind


Many artists have depicted this famous bridge, which was destroyed in WWII and has since been rebuilt.

Two Tanka by Masaoka Shiki
Tr. Janine Beichman


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HAIKU


wisteria trellis--
behind it, in the light
wildflowers

fuji-dana ya ushiro akari no kusa no hana

by Issa, 1809

In one text, Issa copies this haiku with the prescript, "Toogan Temple wisteria temple solicitation."
His point in the haiku, perhaps, is that Nature gives its gifts freely--the wildflowers in the light--and has nothing to do with the money-making of the Buddhist temple with its wisteria trellis and request for donations.

Tr. David Lanoue




Key is 後ろ明り the back light, that implies Buddha is existing.
Buddha lights up everything, wisteria as well as wild flowers .

ここにも来ている仏の恵み
koko ni mo kite iru hotoke no megumi

Buddha's favors
have come even here


© Haiga and Renku by Nakamura Sakuo

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Temple Toogan-Ji 東岸寺 藤勧進 in 木更津市 in Kisarazu Town, Chiba 中央1丁目 東岸寺 .
There is a stone memorial of this haiku at this temple in Kisarazu.
http://www.geocities.jp/f_travel2000/kisarazushi1.htm

The abbot of this tempel was a friend of Kobayashi Issa and they held a Wisteria Haiku Meeting 藤見句会 with eight people there, when the above haiku was penned.
Statue of the Buddha of Healing at Toogan-Ji


Legend of Kimisarazu 君不去(きみさらず)

Prince Brave of Yamato was once trying to cross Tokyo Bay to Kazusa when his boat was suddenly attacked by strong waves, almost sinking it. At that moment, Princess Oto Tachibana jumped into the water in an attempt to pacify the sea god and save the Prince's life.
It worked and the fierce waves subsided immediately. After landing, the Prince went to Mount Oda to look over the sea and reminisce his lost love. The fact that he stayed there for many days gave rise to the place name Kimisarazu (meaning "prince-didn't leave" in Japanese). This later turned to KISARAZU.
http://www.city.kisarazu.chiba.jp/foreign/english/symbol.html

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藤棚を潜れば王子海道哉
fuji-dana o kugureba ôji kaido kana

creeping through
wisteria trellises...
Oji Highway


Issa

Tr. David Lanoue
Read more wisteria haiku by Issa here !


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Related words

***** natsu fuji 夏藤 (なつふじ) summer fuji
doyoo fuji 土用藤(どようふじ) fuji for the dog days


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***** fuji no mi 藤の実 (ふじのみ)
wisteria seeds, wisteria beans

kigo for late autumn

They look almost like beans in a sheath.


. . . CLICK here for Photos !


藤の実は俳諧にせん花の跡
fuji no mi wa haikai ni sen hana no ato

fuji seed pods
as theme for our haikai -
after the flowers



For Hirose Izen 広瀬維然.
1689 Oku no Hosomichi, at Ogaki, 元禄2年9月, ninth lunar month

The town of Seki 関 in Gifu was quite famous for its wisteria flowers, but when Basho arrived at Ogaki, it was autumn. So he composed this poem for his host, Hirose Izen 広瀬維然 from Seki.
(Maybe Izen was insecure about the various possibilities of haikai and this was an instruction for him.)

For Basho, anything at hand was worth a subject for a greeting poem and a haikai session.
This shows his true haikai spirit.
The priest Soogi 宗祇 Sogi (1421 - 1502) is famous for his waka about wisteria blossoms.

. Hirose Izen 広瀬維然 at Seki 関.


- - - Station 43 - Ogaki 大垣 - - -
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .




by Koonoo Bairei 幸野楳嶺 Bairei Kono (1844-1895)

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***** Wisteria Cutting Ceremony (Fuji Kiri Eshiki)


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3/30/2007

Kimono and sleeve

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Kimono, traditional Japanese robes

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


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Explanation

The love of seasonal flavor shows in the way of wearing traditional Kimono too. They come in seasonal colors and patterns.



Kimono are the traditional garb of Japan, and they date back well over 1000 years. The garment has undergone many transformations since that time, both stylistically and in the way it's constructed. Kimono literally means "clothing," but usually refers to the traditional wrap-around, full-length, one-piece robe worn by both men and women.

During the Heian period (795-1185), the kimono was so splendid that its appearance must have been stunning to say the least. The world's first novelist, Lady Murasaki Shikibu (author of "Tale of Genji," and attendant to the Emperior's court), described in her writings multi layered costumes made of the finest silk. Up to a dozen or more colorful layers of contrasting colored kimono would be worn!

As the kimono evolved into outer wear, so to did its potential for creative and expressive design. Kimono became elaborate works of art, sometimes with renowned artists commissioned to paint their surface. Glorious embroidery that utilized gold or silver thread embellished the garments.

The Japanese love and reverence for nature was reflected in the themes chosen to decorate kimono. Flower blossoms, trees, and streams were lovingly hand painted onto the surface of the robes. Oftentimes kanji would be incorporated into the designs... bits of poetry or characters alluding to ideas or concepts would be embroidered or painted onto the garment.

A very intricate dyeing technique was developed called yuuzen. Artwork would be either stenciled or painted directly onto the garment with an organic material (rice paste), which would then dry and harden. The cloth would then be dipped into a dye bath... with the "resist" painted areas refusing the dye. After the stencil painting was removed by washing, a dazzling piece of artwork would be the result. This dye-resist method is still used today in the production of some kimono.

Once it became fashionable to wear kimono as outer garments, they were combined with a trouser called, hakama. Around the 15th century, kimono were worn without hakama and this fashion became the standard for both men and women. Kimono had become a single layer, multicolored robe with rectangular sleeves, and was secured at the waist by a sash called the obi.
quote from
A brief history on Japanese Kimono
Lisa Mari





Kimono: Fashioning Culture
Liza Dalby

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juuni hitoe 十二単衣 12 layered court robe



The jūnihitoe is an extremely elegant and highly complex kimono that was only worn by court-ladies in Japan. Literally translated, it means "twelve-layer robe". The older term, still used by scholars but not widely recognised in mainstream Japan, is Karaginu Mo (唐衣裳). This is in reference to its Chinese coat (Karaginu) and apron-like train (Mo), the defining parts of the costume.
... The colours and the arrangements of the layers are very important. The colours have poetic names, such as "crimson plum of the spring".
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !


quote
Some two hundred rules were established which governed things like the combination of colors of kimono colors and how the colors of the outside and the lining should be harmonized. This resulted in certain colors being associated with November to February which were called ume-gasane or "shades of the plum blossom. Such kimonos were white on the outside and red on the inside.

For March and April there was a combination called "shades of wisteria", a kimono with lavender outside and a blue lining.
Winter and Spring had their own set with an outer garment of yellow and orange.

The colors were set to mirror the seasons and their moods, showing just how closely the Japanese were attuned to the world of nature around them. This also, of course, led to other things one did not do with kimonos, such as wear one with cherry blossom designs in the winter or fall. Examples of summer motifs include ocean waves and red maple leaves.
source : darkchilde


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tamoto たもと【袂】the sleeve of a kimono
This is an important item, used by ladies to wipe their tears. It is also important in Japanese dance.

. hana no tamoto, 花の袂(はなのたもと)
kimono sleeve for cherry blossom viewing



. kasumi no tamoto 霞の袂 sleeves of mist


. tamoto no shigure 袖の時雨
"a sleeve wet from cold tears"

sode そで【袖】sleeve arm of a coat



. MORE
Haiku with tamoto / sleeve




春の雪せまき袂にすがりけり
haru no yuki semaki tamoto ni sugari keri

spring snow
on my narrow sleeves...
clinging


Kobayashi Issa

Or: "his" or "her sleeves."
There is a cultural dimension to this haiku that is lost in translation. Shinji Ogawa explains, "The expression tamoto ni sugari or 'clinging to the sleeve' is a typical gesture in the theater for a lover's departure. I think it is Issa's humor to depict the spring's unwillingness to depart.
The phrase semaki tamoto implies the work clothes or poor man's clothes."
Tr. and Text David Lanoue


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Here are a few kigo with the dresses of Japan.

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........................... Spring

Japanese robes for spring, haru goromo 春衣
..... haru irui 春衣(はるい)

willow robes ...
with various flower robes

lined kimono 春袷 はるあわせ haru awase, haru-awase


spring wear スプリングウェア supuringu uea
shunpuku 春服 (しゅんぷく)
haru no fuku 春の服(はるのふく)
haru no kimono 春の着物(はるのきもの)
shunsoo 春装(しゅんそう)

haru booshi 16 春帽子 ( はるぼうし) hat for spring
iisutaahatto イースターハット Easter hat
iisuta bonetto イースターボンネット Easter bonnet

haru no gaitoo 春外套 (はるがいとう) overcoat for spring
supuringu kooto スプリングコート
haru kooto 春コート(はるこーと)
supuringu スプリング topcoat for spring
aioobaa, ai-oobaa 合オーバー(あいおーばー)


haru seetaa 春セーター (はるせーたー) sweater for sprig

haru shooru 春ショール (はるしょーる) shawl for spring
..... haru mafura 春マフラー(はるまふらー)muffler for spring

haru tebukuro 春手袋 (はるてぶくろ) gloves for spring
.... harushuuto 春手套(はるしゅとう)



kigo for late spring

haru no kasa 春日傘 (はるひがさ) parasol for spring
..... haru no higasa 春の日傘(はるのひがさ)
..... haru parasoru 春パラソル(はるぱらそる)


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Festival of dying material for robes, senshokusai
染織祭 (せんしょくさい)

kigo for late spring
..... gofuku sai 呉服祭(ごふくさい)

Beginning of April, especially in Kyoto, where many dyers were living.
Started in 1930 to revive the traditional arts and crafts of Okasaki, Kyoto.



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........................... Summer

first wearing of summer robes, awase, 袷
hatsu awase 初袷(はつあわせ)、suawase 素袷(すあわせ)
"no more quiltings", watanuki 綿抜(わたぬき)
old summer robes, furu awase古袷(ふるあわせ


summer robes (natsu goromo)
including bleached cloths, sarashi, shrinked cloths, chijimifu and many more.

Summer sash (natsu obi) 夏帯

white layered robe, shiragasane 白重, 白襲
..... white robe, shira-e, shira e 白衣(しらえ)


cotton robes, yukata


. higasa 日傘 ( ひがさ) parasol for summer
umbrella and kigo


natsu tebukuro 夏手袋 (なつてぶくろ) gloves for summer
..... 夏手套(なつてぶくろ)
reesu tebukuro レース手袋(れーすてぶくろ)gloves made from lace
amitebukuro 網手袋(あみてぶくろ)net-gloves
They are used by ladies to prevent the sun from shining directly on the skin.



shirogutsu, shiroi kutsu 白靴 (しろぐつ) white shoes

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CLICK for enlargement !

Weaving the Colors of Nature
Fukumi Shimura
has been weaving kimono from naturally dyed thread for more than 60 years. The traditional Japanese artist was recently awarded the prestigious Kyoto Prize in recognition of her ability to reflect the harmony between humans and nature in her art. But she is concerned that that relationship is changing for the worse.
- source : nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english


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........................... Autumn

autumn cloths, aki no fuku 秋の服 あきのふく
..... aki awase 秋袷 あきあわせ, aki no awase 秋の袷(あきのあわせ)
..... nochi no awase 後の袷(のちのあわせ)

chrysanthemum robes, kiku gasane 菊襲 きくがさね


maple leaves robes, momiji goromo 紅葉衣 もみじごろも
..... momiji gasane 紅葉重(もみじがさね)


Momijigasane

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observance kigo for early autumn

. kashi kosode 貸小袖 (かしこそで) lending a robe .
hoshi no kashimono 星の貸物(ほしのかしもの)
If you lend some yarn and a kosode robe to the Weaver Princess, your own ability in weaving would increase. So robes and yarn was put on the Kikoden-shelf.
Ritual for the Tanabata Star Festival

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. yookai, yōkai 妖怪 Yokai monsters .

kosode no te 小袖の手 Hands of a Kosode


CLICK for more photos !
鳥山石燕の妖怪画集

- quote -
kosode no te 小袖の手
TRANSLATION: kosode (a short sleeved kimono) hands
APPEARANCE:
Kosode no te is a phenomenon appearing in short-sleeved kimonos formerly owned by prostitutes. It is characterized by a pair of ghostly hands emerging from the sleeves and assaulting nearby people.
ORIGIN:
Kosode no te can occur for a number of reasons. One common origin is when a prostitute dies in vain, after working for many years to save up the money to buy her freedom from her owner. Upon death, such women usually had their clothes donated to a temple for prayers to be said over them. However, if the woman was still owed money by her clients when she died, her spirit often reanimated her old clothing, and they leave the temple to find her customers and beg them for the owed money.
Another common origin is
when, instead of being donated to a temple, a dead person’s kimono is sold to someone else. If the deceased was unable to properly pass on to nirvana upon death, that person’s spirit occasionally comes back and haunts the kimono.
- source : yokai.com/kosodenote -

- reference : "kosode no te" -

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........................... Winter

Warm Winther Cloths

Gloves, mittens (tebukuro)

Wearing the hakama for the first time, hakamagi 袴着


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........................... New Year

wearing the first robe, kiso hajime 着衣初 きそはじめ
..... hatsu ishoo 初衣裳(はついしょう), hatsu gasane 初重ね(はつがさね)


"spring robes" harugi 春着 はるぎ, 春衣(はるぎ)
new year kimono, shoogatsu kosode 正月小袖(しょうがつこそで)
spring kimono, haru kosode 春小袖(はるこそで)
spring cloths, harubuku 春服(しゅんぷく)haru no fuku

"Spring" is here synonym with the New Year according to the Asian Lunar Calendar.




December- Preparing new kimono for the New Year
Watanabe Nobukazu (1872-1944)

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sode fure-au mo tashoo no en 袖触れ合うも他生の縁
. When our sleeves touch,
it feels like we met in a past life. .


karma relations

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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


Kimono, Yukata, Nagajuban and more
着物、浴衣、長襦袢 などなど

Daruma Museum, Gabi Greve

ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo

- - - - - Kimono Material - - - - -
crepe, chirimen
slit-weave tapestry, tsuzure-ori
weft brocade, nishiki
woven hand-cut velvet, tsuzure-biroodo

. yuuzen 友禅 Yuzen past-resist dyeing, .
Kaga yuuzen 加賀友禅 Yuzen from the Kaga region

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HAIKU


- sode 袖 sleeve, kosode 小袖 short-sleeved kimono -
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .


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念仏の給金とりや初袷
nembutsu no kyuukin tori ya hatsu awase

his prayers for pay
pay off...
a new summer kimono




桜へと見えてじんじんばしより哉
sakura e to miete jin-jin bashiyori kana


off to view cherry blossoms
old man with kimono
tucked


Kobayaslhi Issa

I thank Susumu Takiguchi for helping me to visualize this haiku. In an e-mail (4/17/01), he explains that the first line, jin-jin bashiyori refers to "an action whereby a man picks up the centre-back of the hem to his kimono and tucks it to his obi sash at the back of his waist.
By doing it, his legs would be given freer movement and it is presumed that a man does this when he wants to do something, such as walking a long way as in a walking journey, dancing or engaging in an active action. It is not clear if this noun only refers to old men, or men in general."
Shinji Ogawa notes that the Japanese kimono is not well suited for striding or running, and thus needs to be tucked for such movement. Jin-jin bashori (or jin-jin bashiyori) is a relatively easy way to tuck the kimono but it looks untidy; thus it is called "an old man's tuck."
Tr. David Lanoue


click for more photos

jinjin bashiori じんじん端折り/ ”じんじんばしょり”
jijii bashiori じじいばしょり(爺端折)



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natsu matade baika no yuki ya shiragasane

not waiting for summer
the plum blossoms in snow -
white layered robes

Tr. Gabi Greve

Den Sutejo (1633-1698)



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Related words

***** Loincloth (fundoshi) and haiku

***** Paper clothing, paper robes (kamiko) 紙衣 (かみこ) 紙子(かみこ)

***** Parasol (higasa)

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Willow robes (yanagi gasane)

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Willow robes (yanagi gasane)

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


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Explanation

In the Heian period, seasonal cloths were quite important.
The willow robes come with various kigo:

Willow robes, yanagi gasane 柳重
..... yanagi goromo 柳衣(やなぎごろも)
willow silk, yanagi no kinu 柳のきぬ(やなぎのきぬ)、
"flower willow robe" hanayaki goromo 花柳衣(はなやぎごろも)
"green willow robe" aoyagi goromo,青柳衣(あおやぎごろも)


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Other flower robes used as spring kigo

cherry blossom robe, sakura goromo 桜衣 さくらごろも
..... sakura gasane 桜重(さくらがさね)

azalea robe, tsutsuji no koromo 躑躅の衣
..... mochi tsutsuji もち躑躅(もちつつじ)
"rock azalea" iwa tsutsuji 岩躑躅(いわつつじ)
white azalea, shiro tsutsuji 白躑躅(しろつつじ)


yellow mountain rose robes 山吹衣 (やまぶきごろも)
yamabuki goromo

..... hanayamabuki 花山吹(はなやまぶき)
..... aoyamabuki 青山吹(あおやまぶき)
kigo for late spring
. . . CLICK here for Photos !



robes worn for cherry blossom viewing
..... hana goromo 花衣, hanami goromo 花見衣(はなみごろも), hanami kosode 花見小袖(はなみこそで), hana no tamoto 花の袂(はなのたもと), hanami ishoo 花見衣裳(はなみいしょう)
"sleeves for the blossoms", hana no sode 花の袖(はなのそで)

robes for spring, haru goromo 春衣
..... haru irui 春衣(はるい)

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XXXXX COLOR SAMPLE XXXXX

88a28c 柳鼠(やなぎねずみ)



Yanagi Kasane, willow layers

Examples of "Kasane" waring different tiers of colors
This list also explains the months for each flower robe.

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Willow Tree as Kigo


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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


haiku and artwork by Fay Aoyagi

Fay Aoyagi's second haiku collection, 'In Borrowed Shoes' was published by Blue Willow Press.
Her first book, 'Chrysanthemum Love' is still available.
http://www.bluewillowhaiku.com/


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HAIKU


aoyagi ni koomori tsutau yuubae ya

Kikaku 

A bat flying
Along the green willows
In the evening glory!


(Tr. Blyth)

According to Shiki, this haiku comes from a 'Kuawase' that Kikaku made with Sampuu, which would be, according to my research, either "The Rustic Haiku Contest" ("Inaka no Kuawase") or "The Evergreen Haiku Contest" ("Tokiwaya no Kuawase").

Shiki considers this haiku an example of moving beyond the Danrin School, beyond "the mere play of words." Shiki says "their humour was in their taste, a high-class humour" [Translations in quotes by Blyth].

bats flutter
along the green willows -
bright sunset


(Tr. Gabi Greve)
Seeing the bats as courtiers in their black robes and aoyagi as the ladies in their spring robes.
Discussing the translation of this haiku in detail here.
Compiled by Larry Bole


The real meaning might be completely different.
See this LINK for more on the Willow Tree Meanig
Willow Tree as Kigo

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匂ひ有きぬもたたまず春の暮
nioi aru kinu mo tatamazu haru no kure

The scented clothes
still not put away,
twilight in spring.

Tr. Sawa and Shiffert


quote
The clothes incensed
Left unfolded;
Spring evening!


To burn incense to perfume one's clothes is one of long-standing personal habits to be well-groomed.
The person who has just returned home steeps himself in the sentiment enchanted with spring evening and he neglects to do a duty to change his clothes and hold the incensed clothes. It is neither cold nor hot and the time somewhat languid. The atmosphere of the room is beginning to be filled with a lingering perfume of the clothes he wears.
A mental weariness, a melancholic mood caused by a spring day form the basis of the Haiku. What if something has happened to him? And it's unknown whether it is a good thing or not. The depth of the Haiku may lie in its resonance note that we could catch if we would try.
- Tr. and comment : Kumano Shoji


I can also imagine Buson having spent a day with a lovely lady at some hanami blossom viewing party and still enjoying the scent of her fragrance while back home . . .

. Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 in Edo .


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Related words

***** Azalea (Japan) Tsutsuji, Satsuki, Oomurasaki

***** Cherry Blossoms (sakura, Japan)

***** Yellow Mountain Rose (yamabuki, Japan)

***** Yellow Willow (yanagi, Japan)


More about
Kimono of Japan and Haiku 日本の着物



.SAIJIKI ... HUMANITY
Kigo for Spring
  


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Summer Robes (natsu goromo)

[ . BACK to Worldkigo TOP . ]
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Summer robes, summer clothing (natsugoromo)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Summer
***** Category: Humanity


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Explanation

At the beginning of summer it is time to
change the robes, koromogae 更衣 ころもがえ

In modern Japan, western clothing is becoming more and more common and the traditional Japanese robes, as described below, are not worn so much any more in the big cities. In the countryside, where I live, some are still quite common.
It used to be the first day of the fourth lunar month, but now it has come to be done on the first of June.


BTW
there is another time for koromogae in autumn, when summer robes are put away and the winter robes are coming out:

nochi no koromogae 後の更衣 (のちのころもがえ)
"the later changing of robes"
kigo for early winter
It was the first day of the tenth month, now often given as the first of october.


changing cloths for the winter season
. Warm things for Winter .

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white layered robe, shiragasane 白重, 白襲
..... white robe, shira-e, shira e 白衣(しらえ)


one layer of robes, hito-e, hito e 単衣 ひとえ

summer robes, natsuginu 夏衣(なつぎぬ), natsugi 夏着(なつぎ), natsumono夏物(なつもの)

hemp robes, asafuku 麻服(あさふく)
They are especially light and cool in summer, although nowadays, they are quite expensive.

light lined kimono, awase 袷 あわせ , natsu awase 初袷(はつあわせ), suawase 素袷(すあわせ), watanuki 綿抜(わたぬき)
old lined kimono, furuawase 古袷(ふるあわせ)


katabira 帷子 かたびら unlined (linen) kimono
shirokatabira 白帷子(しろかたびら)white linen kimono
somekatabira 染帷子(そめかたびら)dyed linen kimono
kibira 黄帷子(きびら)yellow linen kimono
ekatabira 絵帷子(えかたびら)lined kimono with patterns

tsujigahana, tsuji ga hana 辻が花(つじがはな)
. tsuji ga hana 辻が花 "flowers at the crossroads" dyeing method .
(haiku by Issa and Masaoka Shiki)



thin robes, thin kimono , usumono 羅 うすもの
usuginu 薄衣(うすぎぬ), usugoromo 薄ごろも(うすごろも)
silk gauze, ro 絽(ろ), sha 紗(しゃ)
"transparent robe", sukiya 透綾(すきや)
light cloth robe, joofu 上布(じょうふ), ryoora 綾羅(りょうら), keira 軽羅(けいら)、
. joofu 上布 ramie hemp cloth .

CLICK for more photos !
silk crepe, made in Akashi town (near Kobe)
akashi 明石(あかし)

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joofu 上布 finely woven summer cloth robes
Echigo joofu 越後上布(えちごじょうふ)from Echigo
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
Satsuma joofu 薩摩上布(さつまじょうふ) from Satsuma
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
. Yaeyama joofu 八重山上布 Yaeyama ramie hemp cloth .
Okinawa


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kinuno 生布 (きぬの) raw cloth (not washed after weaving)
made from various materials. It feels quite cool in summer.
kibira 生平(きびら)、kuzufu 葛布(くずふ)"kuzu cloth"
sayomi 貲布(さよみ), tafu 太布(たふ)"heavy cloth"
saimi 細布(さいみ)、asabu 麻布(あさふ)"hemp cloth"
fujifu 藤布(ふじふ)wisteria cloth
kinuno 木布(きぬの) "tree cloth"

bashoofu 芭蕉布(ばしょうふ) "banana fiber cloth"
Basho-fu, bashofu is one of the representative textiles of Okinawa.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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light cotton robes, yukata 浴衣 ゆかた
Yukata is a Japanese summer garment. People wearing yukata are a common sight at fireworks displays, bon-odori festivals, and other summer events. The yukata is a casual form of kimono that is also frequently worn after bathing at traditional Japanese inns. Though their use is not limited to after-bath wear, yukata literally means bath(ing) clothes.
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !

first wearing of the summer yukata, hatsu yukata 初浴衣(はつゆかた)
indigo yukata, ai yukata 藍浴衣(あいゆかた)
starched yukata, nori yukata 糊浴衣(のりゆかた)
yukata for retn, kashi yukata 貸浴衣(かしゆかた)
old yukata, furuyukata 古浴衣(ふるゆかた)
cotton robe after a bath, yu katabira 湯帷子(ゆかたびら)
pole to hang a yukata, yukatagake 浴衣掛(ゆかたがけ)


© Chöpa Imports, 2006 :Yukata Robe-Haiku

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bleached cloths, sarashi 晒布 さらし
Nara sarashi 奈良晒(ならざらし)
river for bleaching cloths, sarashigawa 晒川(さらしがわ)
time for bleaching cloths, sarashidoki 晒時(さらしどき), sarashi 晒(さらし)
Click HERE for photos of Nara sarashi


shrinked cloths, chijimifu 縮布 ちぢみふ
chijimi 縮(ちぢみ), shima chijimi 縞縮(しまちぢみ)
shrinked cotton, chijimimen 縮木綿(ちぢみもめん)
shrinked cloth robe for summer, chijimi katabira 縮帷子(ちぢみかたびら)
shrinked cloth from Echigo, Echigo chijimi 越後縮(えちごちぢみ)
shrinked cloth from Akashi, Akashi chijimi 明石縮(あかしちぢみ)

Click HERE for photos of shrinked cloth from Echigo

Click HERE for shrinked cloth from Akashi


. . . Summer sash (natsu obi, natsuobi, natsu-obi)


cotton flannel, neru ネル



neckband for summer, natsueri, natsu eri 夏襟 (なつえり)
This was used under a kimono and could be washed easily.
Sommerkragen, Kragen



haraate, hara ate 腹当 (はらあて) stomach [belly] wrapper
..... haragake 腹掛(はらがけ)
nebie shirazu 寝冷知らず(ねびえしらず)
This was used when sleeping to prevent getting cold with sweat, especially for children.


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越後屋に衣さく音や衣更
Echigoya ni kinu saku oto ya koromogae

at the Echigoya shop
the sound of cutting cloth -
changing the robes


Enomoto Kikaku Takarai 宝井其角


. Echigoya 越後屋 and Mitsui 三井 .

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CLICK for more photos !

short, light summer coat, natsubaori
夏羽織 (なつばおり )

one layer coat, hitoebaori 単羽織(ひとえばおり)
thin coat, usubaori 薄羽織(うすばおり)
hemp coat, asabaori 麻羽織(あさばおり)
silk gauze coat, robaori 絽羽織(ろばおり)


HAORI 羽織 is the general term for a coat worn over a Japanese kimono. In combinations it is often spelled ... baori.


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kihgoza 着茣蓙 (きござ) goza mat to wear
Often used by travellers of old to protect them from the sunshine.
Goza floor mats


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summer trouser-skirt, natsubakama 夏袴 (なつばかま)
silk gauze trouser-skirt, robakama 絽袴(ろばかま)
hemp trouser skirt, asabakama 麻袴(あさばかま)
Formal trouser-skirt (hakama) and Haiku

HAKAMA 袴 is the general term for a formal trouser-skirt worn over a Japanese kimono. In combinations it is often spelled ... bakama.


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light summer suit with short legs, jinbei
甚平 (じんべい), jinbee 甚兵衛(じんべえ), jinbeじんべ

CLICK for more photos !

They are very comfortable and many men wear them after the nightly bath to sit outside and enjoy the evening cool. They are usually made of cotton or hemp.


きてもみよ甚兵が羽織花衣
kite mo miyo jinbei ga haori hanagoromo

(kite mo miyo : This is a double play with the meaning, come and see 来て, or come and wear 着て this jinbei when looking for cherry blossoms.)

come and look!
put on a Jinbei robe
and admire the blossoms

Tr. Makoto Ueda

Written in 寛文12年, Basho age 29, in Iga Ueno.


. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .

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half-long trousers, han zubon 半ズボン (はんずぼん)
short trousers, shooto pantsu, ショートパンツ
shorts, shootsu ショーツ


summer shirt, natsu shatsu 夏シャツ (なつしゃつ)
white shirt, shiro shatsu 白シャツ(しろしゃつ)
net shirt, ami shatsu 網シャツ(あみしゃつ)
crepe shirt, kureepu shatsu クレープシャツ


shirt with an open collar, kaikin shatsu
開襟シャツ (かいきんしゃつ)

open collar, kaikin 開襟(かいきん)


aloha shirt, aroha shatsu アロハシャツ (あろはしゃつ) PHOTOS !
aloha (shirt), aroha アロハ


summer dress, samaa doresu サマードレス
"sun dress", san doresu サンドレス
summer coat, samaa kooto サマーコート
summer wear, samaa wea サマーウェア

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white clothing, shirofuku 白服 しろふく
hakusoo 白装(はくそう)


CLICK for more photos !
white clothing with splashed patterns
shirogasuri 白絣 しろがすり. 白飛白(しろがすり)
"white material", shiroji 白地(しろじ)

KASURI 絣, ikat, splashed patterns (...gasuri) come in typical dyeing and weaving patterns of some areas of Japanese.
Ikat patterns and Daruma san


lace, reesu レース
making lace, reesu amu レース編む(れーすあむ)

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net-like under-kimono, ami juban
網襦袢 (あみじゅばん)

Kimono, Yukata, Nagajuban and more
着物、浴衣、長襦袢 with DARUMA patterns


CLICK for more photos !
juban, worn under a kimono


"sweat catcher", asetori 汗袗 (あせとり)
..... asetori 汗取(あせとり)

made from twisted paper, koyori juban
紙縒襦袢(こよりじゅばん)

made from gauze, gaaze juban ガーゼ襦袢(がーぜじゅばん)
made from a thin bamboo pipe, kuda juban 管襦袢(くだじゅばん)
bamboo under-garment, take juban 竹襦袢(たけじゅばん)

Bamboo Wife (chiku fujin)
.. a device to spend a hot night and other bamboo tools for summer

Woven bamboo under-garments are often worn by priests to protect the precious silk garments worn on official occasions.



CLICK for more photos !
loose underpants for men, suteteko, すててこ
Usually they go just over the knee, are made of thin cotton or gauze and can be washed easily.
Many farmers in our area wear them in the evening with no other cloths on top of them. They are extremely comfortable in the humid Japanese summer.


light underwear, appappa あっぱっぱ
"simple clothing", kantan fuku 簡単服 かんたんふく


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bathing suit, mizugi 水着(みずぎ)
"sea water suit", kaisui gi 海水着 (かいすいぎ)
"sea water hat", beach hat, kaisui boo
海水帽(かいすいぼう)



sangurasu サングラス sunglasses



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The mummy of the famous priest Kobo Daishi at the mountain monastery Koya San is also dressed twice a year.

changing of his robes, mi-koromogae 御衣替,
o-koromo-i 御衣井

Kukai Kobo Daishi and Kigo for Haiku



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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way



Court Ladies 02
Photo curtesy of Terry Steudlein, May 2008

© DIARIES OF
COURT LADIES OF OLD JAPAN



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Kimono Saijiki 着物歳時記 Kimono for all seasons



きもの歳時記
source : www.amazon.co.jp



A BLOG with seasonal hints:
きもの歳時記
source : mitu-naka


Notes for each month :
source : www.kimono-shop.co.jp


Textile Dyeing Patterns No 4
Kyoto Shoin (Author)
source : www.amazon.com/


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HAIKU





夏衣 いまだ虱を とりつくさず
natsugoromo imada shirami o tori tsukusazu

my summer robe
there are still some lice
I have not caught


Matsuo Basho
1685, End of fourth lunar month 貞亨2年4月下旬

Basho had just ended a very satisfying travel and was thus in a playful mood (karumi 軽み).

Read more from Makoto Ueda and
source : Basho and His Interpreters


summer robes:
still some lice
I've yet to pick

Tr. Barnhill

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ひとつ脱てうしろにおひぬ衣かへ
一つ脱いで後に負ひぬ衣更
hitotsu nugite ushiro ni oinu koromogae

taking off one garment
I sling it over my shoulder
clothes changing day


Along the Nakasendo, 17. Sakamoto-shuku 坂本宿


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source :lucky2zacky.jugem.jp
yukatabira of the Heian period 平安時代の湯帷子
. . . yukata



紫陽花や帷子時の薄浅黄
ajisai ya katabira doki no usu-asagi

these hydrangeas -
time for a linen kimono
in light blue


MORE - Ajisai haiku by
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .


. asagi あさぎ - 浅黄 - 浅葱 hues of light yellow, green and blue .


- - - - - - - - - -

いでや我よき布着たり蝉衣
ide ya ware yoki nuno kitari semi-goromo

come look at
the fine summer robe I wear -
my Semigoromo

Tr. Gabi Greve

Written in summer of 1687 貞亨4年夏
Sugiyama Sanpu had sent Basho a new katabira robe for summer and this was his thank-you hokku.



semigoromo 蝉衣 a very thin silk cloth for summer robes, as light as the wings of a cicada.
lit. "cicada robe".

This hokku has the cut marker YA in the middle of line 1.


MORE - hokku about the haori and natsu-baori coats by
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .


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Issa about the changing of the robes

.更衣松風聞に出たりけり
koromogae matsu kaze kiki ni detari keri

new summer robes--
listening to the pine breeze
they emerge




更衣しばししらみを忘れたり
koromogae shibashi shirami o wasuretari

a new summer robe--
for a little while
no lice




痩藪も窓も月さすころもがへ
yase yabu mo mado mo tsuki sasu koromogae

in thin trees, in my window
bright moon...
new summer robes

Tr. David Lanoue
More haiku with : koromogae




Haiga by Nakamura Sakuo !

糊こはき帷子かぶる昼寝哉
nori kowaki katabira kaburu hirune kana

his starched summer
robe his blanket...
siesta


Katabira refers to a light summer garment made of hemp. The napper is either wearing the garment or using it as a cover. For my translation, I picked the latter. An alternate version: wearing his starched summer robe... siesta

David Lanoue

CLICK for more KATABIRA
Festival Katabira


. Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 in Edo .

西山や袷序の神だのみ
nishiyama ya awase tsuide no kami tanomi

western mountains --
going out in summer robes
they also pray to gods


This hokku is from early in the fifth lunar month (June) in 1814, about three weeks after Issa got married to his first wife Kiku in his hometown on 4/11. He seems to be remembering his time in Kyoto a few years earlier and imagining what stylish Kyoto people are doing now in early summer. Kyoto people dress more conservatively than than people in Edo and Osaka do, but they are generally more sensitive to traditional esthetics and styles. The imperial court in Kyoto now lacks real power, but it puts great emphasis on ritual, and it holds a major ceremony on the first of the fourth month, the first day of lunar summer and the day when people change from thick robes into lighter robes consisting of two thin layers of cloth. On 5/5 they will change again into still lighter single-layered summer robes, but for the moment people feel light and loose and celebrate the return of warm weather. Kyoto commoners also consider 4/1 a holiday and celebrate by going out for the day or by going around to exchange greetings and chat with their neighbors and friends.

Issa seems to be writing about one such group or family who are going around seeing people and sights wearing fresh early summer robes for the first time in many months. Issa has another hokku about visiting the low mountains just to the east of Kyoto, but in the present hokku people have decided to visit the low mountains along the western border of Kyoto, a largely wooded area in which many Shinto shrines are located. (There doesn't seem to be any overt mention of Buddhism here.) New leaves cover the trees, and people no doubt enjoy watching the summer fashions others are wearing, but at some point they have decided to visit a Shinto shrine in the foothills -- perhaps the big Matsunoo Shrine there. The word kami-danomi means asking various Shinto or shamanic gods for favors or protection as opposed to making a deep, emotional confession or plea to a god, so Issa seems to be indicating that the prayers the people make on their outing are not the goal of the outing but something convenient they do along the way. He doesn't seem to be satirizing them, however, just evoking the way many people pray. Perhaps he is suggesting that, in contrast to their utilitarian and self-centered requests to the gods, the way people walk and smile full of joy and lightness in their fresh summer robes makes them minor gods for the day, a day when both divinities and humans feel refreshed and changed.

The Issa scholar Maruyama Kazuhiko also feels that "western mountains" here refers to the low mountains along the western edge of Kyoto. See Issa Shichiban nikki 2.51. The geography of Kyoto was well known all over the country in much the same way that most Americans have a vague idea of where Central Park and the Statue of Liberty are, and the Kyoto court was also the center of clothes-changing festivities in Japan.
Tr. and comment : Chris Drake

. Kyoto 京都 "Hana no Miyako" 花の都 .

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The thin legs of Issa
(click on the photo to read the haiku and
enjoy the haiga by Sakuo Nakamura)


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痩脛の毛に微風あり衣更
yasezune no ke ni bifuu ari koromogae

the hair of my thin legs
moves in the light breeze -
changing of the robes


. Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 in Edo .
MORE hokku about koromogae


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夏羽織 われをはなれて 飛ばんとす
natsubaori ware o hanarete toban to su

my summer coat -
it wants to leave me
and fly away


Masaoka Shiki 正岡 子規
Tr. Gabi Greve

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単衣着て 風よろこべば 風まとふ
hitoe kite kaze yorokobeba kaze matou

I wear a thin summer robe -
I enjoy the wind
I wear the wind


or

wearing a thin robe -
if the wind is pleased with it
I wear the wind


Nakamura Teijo 中村 汀女
Tr. Gabi Greve


dressed in a summer robe
the pleasant breeze
wraps me up

Tr. Keiko Izawa

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甚平着て 饅頭笠着て 土佐の人
jinbei kite manjugasa kite Tosa no hito

wearing a jinbei
wearing a round straw hat
a man from Tosa


or

I wear a jinbei
I wear a round straw hat
(like) a man from Tosa


Takahama Toshio 高浜 年尾
(Son of Takahama Kyoshi)

CLICK for more information about Japanese straw hats and haiku !
"Round straw hat like a rice dumpling", manjugasa

Tosa, a province in Shikoku

Tr. Gabi Greve


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Related words

***** Warm clothing and robes for Winter

***** Japanese Kimono and Haiku

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.SAIJIKI ... HUMANITY - Kigo for Summer  



[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
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Willow (yanagi) and Ippen

[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO TOP . ]
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Willow (yanagi)

***** Location: Japan, other areas
***** Season: Spring, see below
***** Category: Plant


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Explanation

Li Ch'ing-Chao, a famous Chinese poet, has this to say about the pussy willows:

Warm rain and soft breeze by turns
Have just broken
And driven away the chill.
Moist as the pussy willows,
Light as the plum blossoms,
Already I feel the heart of Spring vibrating.
© Bopsecrets


Su Tung-p’o, the famous poet of the T'ang period, writes about the beauty of the green leaves on the willow branches in spring:

yanagi wa midori, hana wa beni

Willows stand for things green,
flowers for things red.



© PHOTO Gabi Greve. Read more on this LINK.


The court at Kyoto during the Heian period also adored the willows and the cherry blossoms as harbingers of Spring.

Priest Saigyo, Saigyoo 西行法師 has this famous poem about the shade of a willow tree:

道のべに清水流るる柳影
しばしとてこそ立ちどまりつれ

A stream by the path
With clear clear waters.
"In the willow's shade
I'll stay just for a while", I thought
but for long couldn't move away


Saigyo, poet and monk,(1118-1190)
For details, see below.




© Korin Ogata, 1658-1716
Artelino Gallery


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Here are some kigo with the willow tree:

willow buds, yanagi no me 柳の芽
kigo for mid-spring

..... me yanagi 芽柳(めやなぎ)
budding willows, mebari yanagi 芽ばり柳(めばりやなぎ)



willow, yanagi 柳
kigo for late spring

yanagi no hana 柳の花(やなぎのはな)willow blossoms
..... ryuujo 柳絮 りゅうじょ
ryuujo tobu 柳絮飛ぶ(りゅうじょとぶ)willow blossoms scattering


hanging willows, shidare yanagi 枝垂柳(しだれやなぎ)
..... ito yanagi 糸柳(いとやなぎ),
green willows, ao yanagi 青柳(あおやなぎ)
willows along the river, kawabata yanagi 川端柳(かわばたやなぎ), kawazoi yanagi 川添柳(かわぞいやなぎ)
pussy willows, neko yanagi 猫柳

yanagi no ito 柳の糸(やなぎのいと) taoyanagi, 嬌柳(たおやなぎ)
This discribes the delicate branches of a hanging willow, with a beauty like a fair maiden.

willow without hanging branches, yooryuu 楊柳(ようりゅう)

willow at the corner, kado yanagi 門柳(かどやなぎ)
This is already a subject of poems in the Manyo'shu collection of poetry.

far away willows, too yanagi 遠柳(とおやなぎ)
shadow of the willows, yanagi kage 柳影(やなぎかげ)


Willow Festival, yanagi matsuri やなぎまつり 柳祭
Celebrating the willow trees along the famous Ginza in Tokyo. Pines and cherries had also been planted during the Meiji period, but the other trees all failed to survive. Even the willows were lost during the great fire in the Taisho period in 1923 after the earthquake.


willow branch hair decoration, yanagi no kazura
柳の蔓

On the third day of the third month (hina matsuri), ladies would decorate the hair with willow branches in a wish for a long and healthy life. This custom came from T'ang China to Japan. Nowadays the shelf for the hina dolls is decorated with willow branches.

Doll Festival (hina matsuri) Japan Girl's Festival

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kigo for early summer

hayanagi 葉柳 (はやなぎ) leaves of the willow
natsu yanagi 夏柳(なつやなぎ)willow in summer
yanagi shigeru 柳茂る(やなぎしげる)willow with plentiful leaves

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kigo for mid-autumn

leaves of the willow are falling, yanagi chiru
柳散る, chiru yanagi 散る柳(ちるやなぎ)

willow leaves getting yellow, yanagi kibamu
柳黄ばむ(やなぎきばむ)

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kigo for the New Year

new year decoration with willow branches
kake yanagi 掛柳 (かけやなぎ)

..... yanagi kakeru 柳掛くる(やなぎかくる)
binding willow branches, musubi yanagi
結柳(むすびやなぎ),むすび柳

Willow branches are hung out of a freshly cut bamboo vase in the tokonoma or over the hearth before making the first fire. The longer the branches hand down, the better. Sometimes even up to 5 meters long ! Long branches are also wound togehter to a ring, as a celebration to the sun gaining new strength for the coming year.


chopsticks made of willow wood, yanagi bashi
柳箸(やなぎばし)


The whiteness of the wood was thought of as auspicious for celebrations. They are also used for wedding ceremonies and other auspicious family events.


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Worldwide use

Germany

Weide, Weidenblüten, Weidenkätzchen



Heike Gewi, 2008

GERMAN Saijiki


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Things found on the way


Willow Dolls (yanagi ningyo 柳人形)
Also called "Kamo Dolls (kamo ningyo 加茂人形)

Kamo dolls origininated at the Kamo Shrine in Kyoto in 1736-40 by Takahashi Tadashige, a ritual object craftsman at the shrine.
He is said to have made the first Kamo ningyo from leftover willow wood. Kamo ningyo are said to be the first to use the kimekomi technique of clothing decoration. The wood is carved in such a way to represent folds in the clothing;within the crevices, slits are made and the fabric is stretched over the wood and fitted into the slits. The fabric smoothly covers the surface of the wood and requires no adhesive of any kind to hold it in place.

The willow wood provides a nice pinkish color which resembles skin tones. Kamo ningyo are usually small size dolls and like daruma ningyo types which are ball shaped without any arms or legs. Their appearance is very playful and most figures represent everyday people doing everyday things. Miniature groupings are also seen.
True old Kamo dolls are rare although there are many Meiji Period dolls that look similar but lack the playful quality of the Edo pieces.
© The Yoshino Newsletter



© PHOTO B & C Antiques / at Trocadero


Click HERE to look at more of these dolls !

A few more LINKS on these dolls.


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quote
Sanjûsangendô Munagi no Yurai
三十三間堂棟木由来

The drama "Gion Nyogo Kokonoe Nishiki" was originally written for the puppet theater (Bunraku) and staged for the first time in the 12th lunar month of 1760 in Ôsaka at the Toyotakeza. This 5-act drama was about the legend of the willow tree that forms the long ridgepole of the hall of the Sanjusangendô Temple in Kyôto. It is famous for the work song that makes the willow tree move at the end.
The third act (the best one) became an independent play in the 7th lunar month of 1825, which was titled "Sanjûsangendô Munagi no Yurai".

On the occasion of an imperial hunt, a hunting falcon gets caught in the upper branches of a giant willow tree. They are about to cut down the tree to recover the falcon when a man named Heitarô deftly frees the falcon, rescuing both the bird and the tree. Some years later, Heitarô is living as a simple hunter together with his mother, his wife Oryû and their young son Midorimaru. Meanwhile, in the imperial palace, the retired emperor is suffering great headaches and a fortune teller has revealed that the roots of a willow tree are twisting around the skull of his former incarnation and says that the willow tree should be cut down and used to build a temple. As Heitarô and his family hear the sounds of the tree being cut down, Oryû suddenly collapses in agony.



In fact, she is the spirit of the willow tree that has taken human form and become Heitarô’s wife in gratitude for his saving the tree. She says farewell to her husband and son and disappears. As workers are pulling along the cut-down tree, suddenly it stops moving. Heitarô and his son appear and the tree does not move again until little Midorimaru sings a work song. At the sound of his tearful voice, the tree miraculously moves by itself.
source : www.kabuki21.com

. Sanjusangendo 三十三間堂 Hall with 33 Spaces - Legends .


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. WKD : Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 in Edo .


振向ばはや美女過る柳哉
furimukeba haya bijo suguru yanagi kana

turning 'round
just missing a pretty woman...
willow tree


source : Tr. David Lanoue



when I turn around
the beautiful woman's gone --
willow tree


This late lunar spring hokku is from Issa's Travels in the Western Provinces (Saigoku kikou 西国紀行) dated 3/27 (early May) in 1795, when Issa is 33. The haibun says it was written on the road as Issa walked from Osaka to the agricultural town of Hirano (just SE of Osaka), where he visited Dainenbutsuji Temple, at which there was a dramatic ceremony depicting Amida Buddha and 25 bodhisattvas coming down to escort a newly dead soul to the Pure Land. From there Issa went on and visited Fujii-dera, another temple.

The verb is vague, so it's possible to see the woman as having completely disappeared or as simply being hard to see, since she's already gone past a willow tree in the middle distance. The situation is probably a rural or semi-rural country road on the way to Hirano, and Issa's trip is made in order to visit a famous temple, so he doesn't seem to be cruising or preoccupied with staring at women. He apparently has passed a woman going the other way, and, come to think of it, he finds her very attractive, so a short time later he turns and looks back, expecting to see her -- and instead sees a willow tree. It's not clear whether the woman is partially visible beyond the tree or not. That's apparently not what Issa's writing about. The impression I get is that the hokku is about the shock of expecting to see a woman and instead seeing a willow, a shock which causes the willow and woman to momentarily strongly overlap or fuse in Issa's mind. There is no explicit indication that the willow is a hindrance or is annoying Issa by blocking his view.

The willow's importance may be mainly psychological. Perhaps Issa didn't realize how much time had gone by after he'd passed the woman because he was thinking or imagining things about her (or her image), and the willow and the absent woman are a kind of clock that converts space into time and shows Issa just how far he is from the tree and woman and thus how deeply he's been thinking or imagining things about the woman -- and perhaps this suggests shared karma. Perhaps Issa also feels a strong similarity between the image of the woman and the willow.

In Japanese willows are often associated with women: for example, "willow hair" is used for women with long straight hair, and "willow waist" means a slender woman. Willows are generally regarded as beautiful trees and also associated with borders, ghosts, dead souls, and the other world, so perhaps suddenly seeing a willow tree when he's expecting to see a woman makes Issa feel as if he could momentarily see the woman's soul. If so, this might almost be a scene from a noh play in which a local person suddenly reveals herself / himself to be a god or a dead soul.

Chris Drake

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寝る隙にふいとさしても柳哉
neru hima ni fui to sashite mo yanagi kana

asleep when
something's poking me --
a willow tree

Tr. Chris Drake

This spring hokku is from the 3rd month (April) of 1814, the month before Issa got married, when he was mainly staying at the houses of students and friends in towns not far from his hometown. Issa seems to have fallen asleep on the ground or perhaps on a porch, when suddenly (fui to) he's woken by what seems for a moment to be the poke of another person or animal. When he opens his eyes, however, he sees that a breeze was just pushing the end of a willow branch against his skin. Halfway between sleep and waking, he perhaps wonders if the willow could possibly be pointing something out.

Chris Drake

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茶の煙柳と共にそよぐ也
cha no kemuri yanagi to tomo ni soyogu nari

tea steam
and willow
sway together

Tr. Chris Drake

This spring hokku is in the collection published by Issa at New Year's in 1794, when he was traveling around to various parts of western and southwestern Japan. It doesn't seem to evoke a tea ceremony. Rather, people have been served green tea freshly made from tea leaves steeped in a teapot into which boiling water was poured. Right after being poured into teacups, the tea is quite hot and sends up wisps of steam, especially during cool or cold weather. It is still cool when willows put out their first new leaves, and the sliding doors of at least one room must be open, revealing a willow in the garden or standing somewhere nearby the house. Probably the sliding doors in two rooms are open, or perhaps this is a teahouse, since the breeze moves the willow limbs and the wisps of steam simultaneously, removing the distinction between inside and outside. The wisps of steam and the willow limbs sway gently at the same time and in the same direction, as if they were harmonizing and moving with each other.

Chris Drake



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HAIKU


aoyagi ni koomori tsutau yuubae ya

Kikaku  宝井基角

According to Shiki, this haiku comes from a 'Kuawase' that Kikaku made with Sampuu, which would be, according to my research, either "The Rustic Haiku Contest" ("Inaka no Kuawase") or "The Evergreen Haiku Contest" ("Tokiwaya no Kuawase").

Shiki considers this haiku an example of moving beyond the Danrin School, beyond "the mere play of words." Shiki says "their humour was in their taste, a high-class humour" [Translations in quotes by Blyth].

It's in Haiku, Vol 1, page 147. Blyth writes:

"Kikaku especially was given to using suitable passages and 'translating' them into haiku. An example is the following:

The bat
Flying from willow to willow
In the evening glow


This is taken from the No play called The Willow of Yugyo. Yugyo Shonin was the name given to each of the head monks of Yugyooji Temple in Kanagawa Prefecture, the main temple of the Jishu Sect. In the play, the Yugyo goes on a pilgrimage and meets an old man who directs him to the narrow road where the willow tree stands that was made famous by Saigyo's waka:

The clear water of a stream
Flows beneath the shade
Of a willow by the roadside;
It was long indeed
That I stood there.


The old man thinks that if such a saint were to lift up his voice and intone the sutra, even trees and plants would become Buddhas. He disappears and the Yugyo reads the sutras all night. Later the old man reappears in a more august form; he was really the spirit of the willow tree. He dances to express his pleasure at being able to go to Paradise and his first words are:

The windy-feather dance of the uguisu from the willow,--it calls to mind the court music called Ryukaen.

Kikaku has taken this and changed the uguisu into a bat, something less beautiful and poetic, but more odd and humorous, and therefore more significant. Humor is found in No, but seperated from the main body of the play in comic farce, interludes called Kyogen. The humor of haiku is found everywhere, even where least expected or noticed; perhaps chiefly there."

This leads me to believe a singular bat was intended. I'm still not sure about the humor, though. Is it simply because a reader would be expecting a uguisu, and got a bat instead?

Compiled by Joshua
Translating Haiku Forum


. . . . Read another possible translation of this haiku HERE !

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Temple Yugyoo-Ji 遊行寺

The Ji Sect is an offshoot of the Jodo Sect, or the Pure Land Buddhism.
Priest Ippen was the patriarch of the Sect and his successors were given the title of Yugyo Shonin. (Shonin is the Japanese counterpart of the Christian saint).

The term Yugyo of Yugyoji denotes being itinerant and wayfaring for missionary work.
Today's Yugyo Shonin (73th) holds the post of Fujisawa Shonin (55th) concurrently.

Near the east entrance of the Temple facing the old Tokaido Highroad stands a stone cenotaph. It was installed in 1418 by Priest Taiku (1374-1438), the 14th Yugyo Shonin, for the solace of those who lost their lives during the Zenshu Revolt. The battle was waged between the Uesugi and Ashikaga factions and many were killed or wounded.

Thus, it was called "Cenotaph for Friends and Foes." Engraved on the cenotaph are words meaning "May god lead those men and beast that were killed under the tortures of hell to the Pure Land Paradise without discrimination."

Priest Taiku may remind noh and kabuki fans of Sanemori Saito (?-1183), a distinguished samurai in the late Heian Period (794-1185).

Please read the details HERE
- Temple Yugyoji, Fujisawa -



quote
Tracing the Itinerant Path: Jishu Nuns of Medieval Japan
時宗の尼
Medieval Japan was a fluid society in which many wanderers, including religious preachers, traveled the roads. One popular band of itinerant proselytizers was the jishū from the Yugyō school, a gender inclusive Amida Pure Land Buddhist group. This dissertation details the particular circumstances of the jishū nuns through the evolving history of the Yugyō school.

The aim is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the gender relations and the changing roles women played in this itinerant religious order. Based on the dominant Buddhist view of the status of women in terms of enlightenment, one would have expected the Buddhist schools to have provided only minimal opportunities for women. While the large institutionalized monasteries of the time do reflect this perspective, schools founded by hijiri practitioners, such as the early Yugyō school, contradict these expectations.

This study has revealed that during the formation of the Yugyō school in the fourteenth century, jishū nuns held multiple and strong roles, including leadership of mix-gendered practice halls. Over time, as the Yugyō school became increasingly institutionalized, both in their itinerant practices and in their practice halls, there was a corresponding marginalization of the nuns. This thesis attempts to identify the causes of this change and argues that the conversion to a fixed lifestyle and the adoption of mainstream Buddhist doctrine discouraged the co-participation of women in their order.
source : www.medievalists.net


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observance kigo for mid-autumn

. susuki nenbutsu-e 薄念仏会 Pampas Grass Memorial Service .
At the temple Yugyoji (Yuugyoo-ji) 遊行寺 in Fujizawa on September 15.

In a long vase in front of the alter the priests arrange long susuki ears and pine branches and hang small paper slips from them where the Amida Prayer is written.





observance kigo for the New Year

Yugyooji no fudakiri 遊行寺の札切 (ゆぎょうじのふだきり)
cutting amulets at temple Yugyo-Ji

..... ofudakiri お符切(おふだきり)
..... hatsu ofuda 初札(はつおふだ)

January 11

Amulets with the name of Amida Buddha 南無阿弥陀仏 are printed on paper, cut into small pieces and distributed to the pilgrims.
The actual printing and cutting is not open to the public.

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Yugyoo Yanagi, a Noh Play
遊行柳(ゆぎょうやなぎ)


Click HERE for some photos !

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Matsuo Basho writes in Sesshoseki

The willow that Priest Saigyo wrote of, "Rippling in the pure spring water," is at the village of Ashino, where it still grows on the ridge between two paddyfields. The magistrate of this area had sometimes said to me, "I wish that I could show you that willow of of Saigyo's," and I had wondered just where it might be. And today I have actually come and stood in its shade.

Planted, the single field -
All too soon I must leave the shade
Of Saigyo's willow.


© Earl Miner, University of California, 1976





田一枚植て立去る柳かな
ta ichimai uete tachisaru yanagi kana

they planted one field
but now I have to leave
the willow (of Saigyo) . . .

Tr. Gabi Greve

(This hokku has the cut marker KANA at the end of line 3.)



a whole field of
rice seedlings planted - I part
from the willow

Tr. Haruo Shirane

One field
did they plant.
I, under the willow.

Tr. Carl Sensei

One whole field planted:
I arise and take my leave
of the willow tree!

Tr. Burleigh


Oku no Hosomichi - Station 9 - Sesshoseki 殺生岩
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .

. . . . .

Matsuo Basho and Willow Haiku

A green willow,
dripping down into the mud,
at low tide.

With every gust of wind,
the butterfly changes its place
on the willow.

© Terebess Asia Online (TAO)

. . . . .


腫物に柳のさはるしなへ哉 
haremono ni yanagi no saharu shinae kana

腫物に触る柳の撓哉
haremono ni fureru yanagi no shinae kana

Supple as the hands
Softly touching the tumors —
Willow sprays bending.

Tr. Yuasa


. . . . .

to the willow ~
all hatred, and desire
of your heart.
source : Chilali Hugo, harp.

(Attributed to Basho, I am still looking for the Japanese.)


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Quote from "Some landscapes"

For landscapes in haiku, an obvious writer to consult is the poet-painter Buson (1706-83), famous for his objective style and visual imagination. For example, from 1742 this poem about a willow tree:

柳ちり清水かれ石ところどころ
yanagi chiri shimizu kareishi tokorodokoro

The translation posted in several places on the web is by Robert Hass:

The willow leaves fallen
the spring gone dry
rocks here and there.


Earl Miner has translated the last two lines as ‘in fresh waters weathered stones scattered here and there.’

The poem seems to be a simple landscape, describing a scene encountered by Buson, but it is also about poetry and the passing of time. The willow tree alludes to a poem by Priest Saigyo (1118-1190) in which he lingers in the shade watching the reflection of the tree in rippling water:

Michi no be ni Shimizu nagaruru Yanagikage
Shibashi tote koso Tachidomaritsure.


Buson is also referring to an encounter with the tree at Ahino by Basho (1644-94) on the Narrow Road to the Deep North. As Haruo Shirane writes,
‘Basho pauses beneath the same willow tree and before he knows it, a whole field of rice has been planted. In contrast to Basho's poem, which recaptures the past, Buson's poem is about loss and the irrevocable passage of time, about the contrast between the situation now, in autumn, when the stream has dried up and the willow leaves have fallen, and the past, in summer, when the clear stream beckoned to Saigyo and the willow tree gave him shelter from the hot summer sun.

Like many of Basho and Buson's poems, the poem is both about the present and the past, about the landscape and about other poems and poetic associations.’ For Buson (as Miner puts it in Japanese Linked Verse), ‘Saigyo and Basho are gone from the earth, remaining however in the mind as a cherished idea shrouded in the mystery of memory.’

© Some Landscapes, by Plinius BLOG


quote
fallen willow leaves --
the clear stream gone dry,
stones here and there


The hokku is a description of a natural scene, of "here and now", but it is simultaneously an allusion to and a haikai variation on a famous waka, or classical poem, by Saigyo (1118-1190), a 12th century poet:

by the side of the road
alongside a stream of clear water
in the shade of a willow tree
I paused for what I thought
would be just a moment


source : Haruo Shirane


. Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 in Edo .


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Issa and the Willow Haiku

振向ばはや美女過る柳哉
furimukeba haya bijo suguru yanagi kana

turning 'round
just missing a pretty woman...
willow tree




青柳の先見ゆるぞや角田川
ao yagi no mazu miyuru zo ya sumida-gawa

green willows
are the first thing seen...
Sumida River




三筋程松にかくれし柳哉
mi suji hodo matsu kakureshi yanagi kana

three strands or so
hide in the pine...
willow tree




うとましき片壁かくす柳哉
utomashiki kata kabe kakusu yanagi kana

annoyingly
it hides one wall...
willow



入相を待遠しがる柳哉
iriai wo machidooshigaru yanagi kana

waiting and waiting
for sunset...
the willow tree



朝やけも又めづらしき柳哉
asayake mo mata mezurashiki yanagi kana

dawn's glow
even more of a wonder...
willow tree




Tr. David Lanoue.
Read more HERE !


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ara ao no ... how densely green,
yanagi no ito ya .... the willow boughs
mizu no nagare .... in flowing water

Uejima Onitsura (1660-1738)


chiru yanagi ... falling willow-leaves;
aruji mo ware mo ... Master and I
kane o kiku ... listen to the bell


Matsuo Bashō (1644-94)


kimi yuku ya ... you leave;
yanagi midori ni ... in the green of willows
michi nagashi ... the road is long


Yosa Buson (1716-84)


hashi ochite ... fallen bridge
ushiro samushiki ... and lonely behind
yanagi kana ... the willow


masaoka shiki (1867-1902)


hayanagi no ... down Temple-Street
teramachi suguru ... with leafy willows;
amayo kana ... rain at dusk


Kaya Shirao (1735/8-1791/2)


sukashi mite ... looking through,
hoshi ni sabishiki ... the willow is lonely
yanagi kana ... with stars

Miura Chora (1729-81)

© Tr. Michael Haldane

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雪どけの  中にしだるる 柳かな
Akutagawa Ryuunosuke 芥川龍之介


猫柳 高嶺は雪を あらたにす
Yamaguchi Seishi 山口誓子


猫柳 ときをりの 水のささやき 
Nakamura Teijo 中村汀女


門の灯や  昼もそのまま 糸柳
Nagai Kafuu 永井荷風


柳の芽 雨またしろき ものまじへ
Kubota Mantaroo 久保田万太郎


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Related words

***** Willow robes (yanagi gasane)


***** Saigyo Hooshi Memorial Day, Saigyoo-ki


***** Yugyoo-Ji Kaisan-Ki 遊行寺開山忌
Memorial Day of the Founder of Temple Yugyoo-Ji
kigo for spring


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***** Ippen-Ki 一遍忌 Memorial Day of Saint Ippen
..... Yugyoo-Ki 遊行忌 Memorial Day of the Travelling Saint

kigo for mid-autumn

Saint Ippen (1234 – 1289)
His death anniversary is the 23rd day of the 8th lunar month.

Ippen came from Iyo (伊予) province, (modern Ehime prefecture, in Shikoku (四国)island and was originally called Chishin (智真). He first studied Tendai (天台) Buddhism on Mt. Hiei (比叡), Kyoto, and then Pure Land (Jodo 浄土) Buddhism at Dazaifu (太宰府), Kyūshū island.

During a pilgrimage to Kumano (熊野), the kami deity enshrined there revealed to Ippen that enlightenment was determined by Amida Buddha (阿弥陀) and that Ippen should devote himself to preaching the importance of reciting the name of Amida, nembutsu (念仏).
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !



. Ippen and the Dragon Legend of Mount Koryujigatake .
高龍寺ヶ岳


Ippen and the Hot Spring in 鉄輪温泉 Kannawa Beppu, Kyushu

quote   
It is the very hot spring of symbolic view above all Beppu Hatto with tremendous steam rising. In the year of Kamakura the rough hell called "Kuberiyu-no-iu" was developed by Ippen Shonin.
The area around Mushiyu (Steam Bath) which he founded has now become the heart of Kannawa and has flourished with many public baths, accommodations and souvenir shops lined along the narrow and winding streets. Also the inns for rent peculiar to Kannawa remain standing to take in the guests from afar.
source : www.city.beppu.oita.jp

There is a festival where the statue of Ippen is carried to the great hot spring pool and cleansed in the hot water.
People pray for healing to the statue, and also statues of Yakushi Nyorai, the Buddha of Healing.




Yuami hooyoo  湯あみ法要 Yuami Festival
At temple Eifujku-Ji
source : yuami-festival-in-kannawa2012

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. The second Yugyo Saint Ta-A Shonin 他阿上人 .
他阿弥陀仏上人, (1237 - 1319)
and Kehi Shrine 気比神宮 in Tsuruga.


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