3/19/2007

Rice plant (ine)

[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO TOP . ]
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Rice plant (ine, sanae )

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


*****************************
Explanation

Rice is the most important food item in Japan. In olden times, it was eaten three times a day.

Rice grains are called "kome, mai 米".
On the table and cooked, it is called "Gohan" ご飯 or "meshi" 飯 めし.


The Emperor, embodying the god of the ripened rice plant, plants the first rice of the spring and harvests rice from the plants of the autumn. In one of the most solemn Shinto ceremonies of the year the Emperor, acting as the country's chief Shinto priest, ritually sows rice in the royal rice paddy on the grounds of the Imperial Palace.
. shinden 神田 saiden 斎田 - paddies for rituals .


::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


. Farmers work in Summer
MORE about planting the fields and paddies 



humanity kigo for mid-summer

naetori 苗取 (なえとり) getting seedlings
..... sanae tori 早苗取(さなえとり)getting rice seedlings


. planting rice in the paddies, taue 田植


. rice-planting woman, saotome 早乙女 さおとめ


. geta sandals for rice planting, tageta 田下駄 たげた


.................................................................................


............... kigo for late summer



young rice seedlings, sanae 早苗 さなえ

rice seedling, tamanae 玉苗(たまなえ)
carrying the seedlings, na hakobi 苗運び(なえはこび)

distributing seedlings for planting, nae kubari 苗配り(なえくばり)、nae mawashi 苗まわし(なえまわし), oonae uchi 大苗打ち(おおなえうち)、nae uchi 苗打ち(なえうち)、konae uchi 小苗打ち(こなえうち)、konae kubari 小苗配り(こなえくばり)
children holding seedlings, naemochi kodomo 苗持子供(なえもちこども)
boat holding seedlings, sanaebune 早苗舟(さなえぶね)

bundle of seedlings, sanae taba 早苗束(さなえたば)
too many seedlings (for one planting row) amari sanae 余り苗(あまりなえ)
sute nae 捨苗(すてなえ)

basket for carrying seedlings, sanae kago 早苗籠(さなえかご)、naekago 苗籠(なえかご)


苗かご sanae kago


observance kigo for mid-summer

aogitoo 青祈祷 (あおぎとう) purification of green rice fields

on the day of the ox on the sixth lunar month

Amulets from the local shrine are brought to the fields with the wish for a good harvest.

. OBSERVANCES – SUMMER SAIJIKI .



. aota, aoda 青田 green (rice) fields .
aotamono 青田面(あおたのも)
wind on the green fields, aotakaze 青田風(あおたかぜ)
green fields like waves, aota nami 青田波(あおたなみ)
path between the green fields, aotamizhi青田道(あおたみち)
time of the green fields, aotadoki 青田時(あおたどき)


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


............... kigo for early autumn

flowers of the rice plant, ine no hana 稲の花(いねのはな)
..... ine no hanadoki 稲の花どき time of the rice flowers
..... tomigusa no hana 富草の花(とみくさのはな)


.................................................................................


............... kigo for mid-autumn

wase 早稲 (わせ) early rice
early-ripening variety of rice

wase no ka 早稲の香(わせのか)fragrance of Wase
wase no ho 早稲の穂(わせのほ)ears of Wase
wase karu 早稲刈る(わせかる)harvesting Wase
waseda 早稲田(わせだ)field with Wase
..... wasada 、わさ田(わさだ)


.................................................................................


............... kigo for all autumn



rice plants, ine 稲
rice plants in autumn, ine no aki 稲の秋

ears of a rice plant, inaho 稲穂 (いなほ)
..... ine no ho 稲の秀(いねのほ)
..... yatsugaho 八束穂(やつかほ)

paddy with grown rice plants, inada 稲田

fragrance of the rice plants, ine no ka 稲の香、いねのか

leaves of rice, inaba 稲葉(いなば)

ine no nami 稲の波(いねのなみ)waves of rice
when the green rice is moved by the wind

okabo 陸稲 (おかぼ) dry-land rice
..... rikutoo 陸稲(りくとう)


稲穂


jakoomai 麝香米(じゃこうまい)Jako variation of rice

kaboshiko かばしこ Kaboshiko variation of rice

mochi ine 糯稲(もちいね)Mochi variation of rice
..... mochigome もちごめ
..... mochi もち
special glutinous rice to make mochi rice cakes.

okabo 陸穂(おかぼ)Okabo variation of rice

urushine 粳稲(うるしね)Urushi variation of rice
..... uruchi, urushi うるち、うるし


other local names for rice plants and variations

harumono はるもの
nogome のごめ
kobito ine こびといね
shine しね
ina いな
ta no mi 田の実(たのみ)"fruit of the fields"
mizukage gusa 水影草(みずかげぐさ)"plant in the shadow of water"
tomikusa 富草(とみくさ)"plant to make us rich"
sumeramigusa すめらみぐさ
taminohagusa たみのはぐさ


::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

............... kigo for late autumn



nakate 中稲 (なかて) mid-early ripening rice
There are three varieties, wase, nakate and okute 早稲・中稲・晩稲.

okute 晩稲, oku おく、oshine おしね、muro no oshine 室のおしね(むろのおしね)


fallen rice ears, ochibo 落穂
collecting, gathering fallen rice plants, ochibo hiroi 落穂拾い


harvesting, cutting rice plants, inekari 稲刈
kari ine 刈稲(かりいね)

man cutting rice, akishi 秋師(あきし)、woman cutting rice, aki onna 秋女(あきおんな)、

harvesting a field, ta kari 田刈(たかり)、harvesting a small field, oda karu 小田刈る(おだかる)
harvesting an autumn field, akita karu 秋田刈る(あきたかる)
harvesting at night, yoruta kari 夜田刈(よるたかり)


harvest, tori ire 収穫(とりいれ)
car for collecting the harvested rice, ine guruma 稲車(いねぐるま)
picking rice plants, ine tsumu 稲積む(いねつむ)
boat for collecting the plants, inabune 稲舟(いなぶね)


rice growing green stumps again after cutting, hitsuji 穭 (ひつじ)
hitsujiho 羊穂(ひつじほ)、hitsuji ine 穭稲(ひつじいね)
field with green rice stumps , hitsuji ta, hitsujita 穭田(ひつじた)
(field after the harvest)
(also spelled hitsujida) 穭田(ひつじだ)


harvest is finished, kari age 刈上(かりあげ)
offering at the end of the harvest, kari age no sekku
..... 刈上の節供(かりあげのせっく)
rice cakes for the offering, kari age mochi 刈上餅(かりあげもち)


. sickle for cutting rice plants by hand   
inekarigama, inekari gama 稲刈鎌(いねかりがま)
offering for the sickle, kama iwai 鎌祝(かまいわい)
thanksgiving for the sickle, after having used it to cut the rice plants by hand.





drying the rice plants, ine hosu 稲干す

kariboshi 刈干(かりぼし)
hanging the plants for drying, inekake 稲掛(いねかけ), hoshi ine 干稲(ほしいね)、kake ine 掛稲(かけいね)
mound of rice plants, inazuka 稲塚(いなづか)、pile of rice plants, ina nio 稲堆(いなにお), inamura 稲叢(いなむら
inagaki 稲垣(いながき)fence to protect the rice plants


shelf for drying rice plants, haza, 稲架 はざ
They vary from region to region within Japan.



hasa, はさ、hate, はで、hatsuki はつき、hasaki はさ木(はさき)、inagi 稲木(いなぎ)、inagi
稲城(いなぎ)、tamogi 田茂木(たもぎ)、nio 積(にお)、botsuchi 稲棒(ぼつち)


threshing rice, ine koki 稲扱き いねこき
ine uchi 稲打(いねうち)
maschine for threshing, dakkoku ki 脱穀機(だっこくき)、ine kokiki 稲扱機(いねこきき)
dust from threshing, inahokori 稲埃(いなほこり)


chaff; rice husks, momi 籾 もみ
The chaffs are dried and used for many purposes in the farmer's life. They are even packed into sleeping cushions.

drying the chaffs, momi hosu 籾干す(もみほす)、
mat for drying chaffs, momi mushiro 籾筵(もみむしろ)

burning chaffs, momigara yaku 籾殻焼く(もみがらやく)

polishing husks, momisuri 籾摺 もみすり , momisuri 籾磨(もみすり)
momi hiki 籾引(もみひき) hulling rice
maschine for polishing husks, momisuri ki 籾摺機(もみすりき)
mortar for polishing the husks, momisuri usu 籾摺臼(もみすりうす)、momi usu 籾臼(もみうす)

dust from polishing, momi bokori 籾埃(もみぼこり)
song whilst polishing the husks, momisuri uta 籾摺唄(もみすりうた)



yoniwa 夜庭 (よにわ) "garden at night"
asaniwa 朝庭(あさにわ)"garden in the morning"
ooniwa 大庭(おおにわ)"big garden" (when husking 3 koku of rice)
koniwa 小庭(こにわ)"small garden" (when husking 1 koku of rice)
niwa age 庭揚げ(にわあげ)
These are obsolete kigo which refer to the custom of husking the grains by hand, where the whole family was busy in the farm garden. Now we have maschines for this job.


. . . . . STRAW

shinwara 新藁 (しんわら) new straw
kotoshi wara 今年藁(ことしわら) straw of this year

CLICK for more photos
warazuka 藁塚 わらづか mound of straw
. . . nio 晩秋 にお、wara nio 藁にお(わらにお)、waraguru 藁ぐろ(わらぐろ)、waragozumi 藁こづみ(わらこづみ)


tawara ami 俵網 (たわらあみ) making straw bags



. . . Good harvest, bad harvest


::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

new rice, shinmai 新米 (しんまい)
first rice crop of the year

In many rural areas it is the custom to throw a handful of grains over the statues in the local shrine or temple to thank the deities for their support. This is one reason why many old wooden Buddha statues are quite "nibbled" at, since in winter the mice come to pick up the grains from all the folds of the robes.

The first rice cooked from the first grains is also offered at the family Buddhist altar for the ancestors.

rice grains from this year, kotoshi mai 今年米(ことしまい)
..... wase no meshi 早稲の飯(わせのめし)
old rice from last year, komai 古米(こまい)
rice from two years ago, kokomai 古古米(ここまい)

new rice cakes, shin mochi 新糯(しんもち)

new rice bran, shin nuka 新糠(しんぬか)


A newcomer or beginner of something is also called "Shinmai", Mr. New Rice.

*****************************
Worldwide use

India
The rice harvesting area in India is the world's largest.

Rice, Basmati Rice


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Philippines

Rice in the Philippines


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Among the cereals, rice and wheat share equal importance as leading food sources for humankind. Rice is a staple food for nearly one-half of the world's population.

Food of the World, RICE : by Te-Tzu Chang


*****************************
Things found on the way


. Inari 稲荷 Fox Deity, Rice Deity .


. Toyouke no Ookami 豊受大神
The Great Deity that gives Bountiful .

Deity of Rice and Food



Japanese LINK
Photos, Haiku and more about Rice


*****************************
HAIKU


一斉にそよぐ畠の稲穂哉
issei ni soyogu hatake no inaho kana

all at once
the field is rustling...
heads of rice

Issa (Tr. David Lanoue)
http://cat.xula.edu/issa/

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


新米の 坂田は早し もがみ河
shinmai no Sakata wa hayashi Mogamigawa

new rice
in Sakata town, so fast
the Mogami river




source : npowaro/raku-58

ひつぢ田に紅葉ちりかゝる夕日かな
hitsujida ni momiji chirikakaru yuuhi kana

on the green stumps in the rice fields
red maple leaves are scattering
in the evening sunshine . . .


This poem has the cut marker KANA at the end of line 3
and the segments 5 8 5.




source : www.katazome.com

山颪早苗を撫て行衛かな
yamaoroshi sanae o nadete yuku e kana

wind down from the mountain
caresses the rice seedlings
and passes on . . .


The cut marker KANA is at the end of line 3.


. WKD : Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 in Edo .


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

grains of new rice
each one blessed with
a greenish tint

shinmai no tsubutsubu aomi watari keri

by Koji

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

村挙げて呑めや唄への鎌祝 
mura agete nome ya uta e no kama iwai

the whole village
let us drink, let us sing
thanksgiving for the sickles 
   

© か / Poesy Site


::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


planting rice
the earth as brown
as my hands


- Shared by Ella Wagemakers -
Joys of Japan, 2012


::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::




Harvesting rice


Utagawa Kuniyoshi 歌川国芳 
『百人一首之内 天智天皇』


*****************************
Related words

. WASHOKU
Rice Reis, meshi, gohan, dishes with cooked rice
 

. Types of Japanese rice / Reissorten  


. Makomo 菰 wild rice in all seasons .


***** Rice fields, rice paddies (ta)

***** Pounding Rice (mochi tsuki)


***** Inari, the Fox God to protect the rice


***** Farmers work in Autumn

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 

[ . BACK to DARUMA MUSEUM TOP . ]
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

3/18/2007

Heat shimmers (kageroo)

[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO TOP . ]
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Heat shimmers (kageroo)

***** Location: Japan, other areas
***** Season: All Spring
***** Category: Heavens


*****************************
Explanation

heat shimmers, kageroo 陽炎, kagiroi かぎろい

kageroo moyuru 陽炎燃ゆる(かげろうもゆる)
"playing threads" itoyuu 糸遊(いとゆう)、yuushi 遊糸(ゆうし),
seishi 晴糸(せいし)
"wild horse" yaba 野馬(やば)
yooen 陽焔(ようえん), 陽炎

mirage, shinkiroo 蜃気楼, kaishi 海市
"shell tower" kai yagura 貝櫓, kairoo 貝楼
People of old believed that a clam shell (hamaguri) would cough up air and produce a tower in the air. Other stories say it was a huge frog who belched.

Kiken Castle (kikenjoo) The living quaters of the deity Taishaku-Ten in the Buddhist paradise. (Another expression for "mirage).


In American English, they are sometimes called "heat waves" or "heat haze".

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


© PHOTO fromto.cc/hosokawa/diary/2003/20030428-kohama3/

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

An optical mirage is a phenomenon associated with the refraction of light in the gaseous (cloud-free) atmosphere. During mirage a visible image of some distant object is made to appear displaced from the true position of the object. The image is produced when the light energy emanating from the distant source travels along a curvilinear instead of a rectilinear path, the curvilinear path, in turn, arises from abnormal spatial variations in density that are invariably associated with abnormal temperature gradients.

The visible image of the mirage can represent shape and color of the "mirrored" object either exactly or distorted. Distortions most commonly consist of an exaggerated elongation, an exaggerated broadening, or a complete or partial inversion of the object shape. Frequently, mirages involve multiple images of a single source. Under special conditions, refractive separation of the color components of white light can enhance the observation of a mirage. Atmospheric scintillation can introduce rapid variations in position, brightness, and color variations of the image.

When both the observer and the source are stationary, a mirage can be observed for several hours. However, when either one or both are in motion, a mirage image may appear for a duration of only seconds or minutes.

Although men have observed mirages since the beginning of recorded history, extensive studies of the phenomenon did not begin till the last part of the 18th century. Since that time, however, a large volume of literature has become available from which emerges a clear picture of the nature of the mirage.
© William Viezee


The heat shimmers and optical mirages of the Toyama Bay 富山湾 in Japan are especially well known. The warm sun of spring heats up the cold water and produces some kind of steam. The temperature gradients between water, air and winds from the snow-covered mountains help to produce these mirages.

Fata morgana phenomenon of the variuos deserts are also well known.

*****************************
Worldwide use

MONGOLIA


camel caravan
floating in a mirage . . .
water dream


Nadala Purevdorj

Look at the illustration HERE:
. Camels and Heat Shimmers .


. MONGOLIA SAIJIKI .


*****************************
Things found on the way


The Kagero Diary. Kagero Nikki 陽炎日記 / 蜻蛉日記
A Womans Autobiographical Text from Tenth-Century Japan
Kageroo Nikki

Michitsuna no Haha (ca. 935-95)

Usually translated as THE GOSSAMER YEARS, Michitsuna no Haha's intensely personal account of her unhappy marriage to Fujiwara Kaneie can be regarded as the predecessor of all the diaries produced by the illustrious Heian woman writers. In many ways it has not been surpassed by any of those in subtlety of expression, stark honesty of emotion, and the author's changing attitudes toward her own existence.

As is common to these writings, the author's real name is not known and she has come down in history as simply "Michitsuna's mother." She was an aristocrat but came from a minor Fujiwara branch of provincial governors. She seemed to reach dizzying heights when she married Kaneie, who was to become Regent (and who is also the father of the most powerful Fujiwara Michinaga). Her marriage, however, was unhappy and it is the anti-romantic relationship with her husband that occupies most of the diary.

She also failed to realize the political potential of this marriage by producing only one son in an age when multiple progeny was the path to success. In that she was outstripped by Tokihime, who can be loosely regarded as Kaneie's principal wife.

- source - wikipedia
kageroo nikki


. The Heian Period 平安時代 Heian jidai (794 - 1185) .
- Introduction -

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


”かぎろひの丘”Kagiroi no Oka
A hill near Nara where you can look over the Yamato plains.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


*****************************
HAIKU


陽炎にさらさら雨のかかりけり
kageroo ni sara-sara ame no kakari keri

through heat shimmers
the murmuring
rain



陽炎や草の上行くぬれ鼠
kagerô ya kusa no ue yuku nure nezumi

heat shimmers--
to the top of the weed
a wet mouse



陽炎やむつましげなるつかと塚
kagerô ya mutsumashigenaru tsuka to tsuka

heat shimmers--
they look like dear friends
the two graves


Issa
More kagerô haiku, translated by David Lanoue



:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


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


枯芝やややかげろふの一二寸
kareshiba ya yaya kageroo no ichi ni-sun

withered grass--
faint heat waves
one or two inches high


. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - .
Tr. Barnhill

Barnhill says:
"In 'Knapsack Notebook'. In an earlier version, instead of 'faint' ('yaya') the second line has 'still' ('mada'), which suggests more directly the transitional nature of the image: heat waves are a spring image, but withered grass is winter. Spring is just beginning."

.............................................................................


かげろうふの我肩に立かみこかな
かげろふの我が肩に立つ紙子かな
kageroo no waga kata ni tatsu kamiko kana

Second year of Genroku, Second Month, at Toozan's lodging
Oku no Hosomichi

heat waves
shimmering from the shoulders
of my paper robe

tr. Barnhill


heat waves shimmer
on the shoulders of my
paper robe

tr. Ueda

Written on the 7th day of the 2nd lunar month, 元禄2年2月7日 at a lodging with とう山 Tozan, a haikai friend of Boku-in 木因 from Ogaki, Sora and others.
One hokku of the collection 七吟歌仙, written at the lodging.

kamiko was a robe to keep Basho warm on the trip, but then he realized it was already warm and heat shimmers were around, so he could take it off and enjoy some warmth.

. Dresses made of paper, kamiko 紙子 - 紙衣 .

Preparing his trip "Oku no Hosomichi"
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .


.............................................................................


陽炎や柴胡の糸の薄曇り
kageroo ya saiko no ito no usugumori

heat waves--
the saiko's threadlike leaves
in a thin haze

Barnhill

Barnhill:
"The saiko plant is a perennial medicinal herb with very thin leaves and a yellow blossom. Another term for heat waves is 'itoyuu', 'thin play'."
or
okinagusa 翁草 (おきなぐさ)

Written in spring of 1690 元禄3年春.

Mishima saiko ミシマサイコ / 三島柴胡
Bupleurum scorzonerifolium
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


.............................................................................


入りかかる日も糸遊の名残かな
irikakaru hi mo itoyuu no nagori kana

At Muro no Yashima 室の八嶋

with threads of
heat waves it is interwoven:
the smoke

Bashoo, tr. Barnhill

Barnhill:
"Muro no Yashima is a Shinto shrine (now Oomiwa Shrine in the city of Tochigi).
The 'kami' enshrined there is Konohana Sakuya Hime (Princess of the Blossoming Trees), consort of the deity Ninigi no Mikoro. After he suspected that her pregnancy was not by him, she gave birth locked in a burning room in order to prove the divine nature of her offspring.
As a result, poems related to this shrine often mention smoke."

Written in 元禄2年, Oku no Hosomichi
hi mo is the origin of whe word 日も=紐 thread.



Muro no Yashima
source : ee4y-nsn

"Doorless Shrine of the Cauldron"
tr. by Keene

.............................................................................


丈六にかげろふ高し石の上
jooroku ni kageroo takashi ishi no ue

sixteen foot Buddha:
heat wave rising
from the stone base


. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 .
, tr. Barnhill
"In 'Knapsack Notebook' Oi no Kobumi."

According to Ad G. Blankestijn:
"In "A Japanese Pilgrimage", I have already written about Narita Shinshoji Temple, and in Inter Cultural Japan I have introduced the museums in the temple grounds (Narita, more than airport). Now I visit the haiku stones in the temple and first come to a kuhi by Basho, standing in green grass. By the way, this haiku was not written in Narita, but when Basho traveled in Western Japan.

"By chance, the metereological circumstances of my visit are the same as those expressed in the haiku. The summer heat is severe, so much that the hot air reverberates and creates a mirage above a flat stone: Basho imagines the stone is the pedestal of a large Buddha statue and in the hot air seems to discern its figure...
Jooroku 丈六 (jouroku Jōroku) is a measure for Buddhist sculpture, one jo and six roku, which corresponds roughly to 4.8 meters. So it is a huge statue that looms up before Basho's eyes in the steaming heat, a veritable mirage..."
[There is a picture of the haiku stone included]


written at temple Shin Daibutsu-Ji 新大仏寺

quote
Shin-daibutsuji Temple in Iga-shi Mie Pref
Shin means new. Daibutsu means Big Buddha. That is, new Big Buddha is enshrined in Shin-daibutsuji Temple.

In 1180, Big Buddha in Todaiji Temple of Nara Pref was fired due to a war. To repair the statue, a lot of money was necessary. Todaiji Temple built seven temples to gather money from all over Japan. One of seven temples is Shin-daibutsuji Temple.
The Big Buddha statue was originally created in the Kamakura period. But, only the face remains, that is, the body was re-created in the Edo period.
source : kannon33.blogspot.jp


quote

Rushana Buddha 本尊木造 廬舎那仏坐像
The head of the Buddha was made in Kamakura Era and the body in Edo. National important cultural property.
with more photos of the temple :
source : morihiro01.dreamlog.jp



BIG BUDDHA = DAIBUTSU 大仏 Statues in Japan
Jōroku 丈六
One jo and six shaku (about 4.8 meters)
Jo-roku (or joroku) is equivalent to roughly 4.8 meters. Many "standing" sculptures in the early years of Japanese Buddhism are made to this specification. Jo is a unit of length, about three meters, and Roku means "six," and this refers to six shaku (shaku is another Japanese unit of length, about 0.30 meters). Thus, Jo-roku is equivalent to roughly 4.8 meters.
Actually, if the sitting statue of the Asuka Daibutsu could stand up, it would be taller than five meters.
source : Mark Schumacher



. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Oi no Kobumi .

.............................................................................


From the HIA (Haiku International Association) Fifth Haiku Contest, translated from the Japanese by Miyashita Emiko and Lee Gurga:

oashisu ni kite nigemizu mo yasumi keri

arriving at an oasis--
the road mirage, too
at rest


Amaoka Utsuhiko

"Nigemizu (road mirage) is a spring kigo, and it is similar to shinkiroo(mirage) and kageroo (heat haze). In this time of internationalization, this haiku has captured the nigemizu (literally `the run-away-water') in the midst of a desert and not in the Musashino fields famous for this phenomenon. At an oasis where a caravan rests, it seems the nigemizu is taking a rest, too, with the human beings. Nigemizu is a spring kigo in Japan, but the feeling of the whole haiku is strongly that of summer. After taking a rest, the caravan has to go out into the scorching desert again. This haiku captures well the nature of the desert."



itoyu ya kojiki zôkangô arimasu

heat haze:
we carry a special number
of the Ancient Chronicle


Nakada Satomi

"If we interpret this in a traditional way, we would read it as follows: A special number of Kojiki, The Ancient Chronicle is displayed in a storefront, or has been issued in the present Heisei
Era. However, if we read it in the modern way, we would interpret it differently: The image of itoyu (heat haze) symbolizes the special number of Kojiki, The Ancient Chronicle.

In other words, these two images are equated and the special number is nothing more than a heat haze in this world. In order to give the haiku freshness, the poet used an archaic word, itoyuu The individual reader might want to freely enjoy the image one gets from this poem, which cannot be fully appreciated with a traditional interpretation.

Poetry is an attempt to depict things which are ambiguous and difficult to express in lines, therefore this kind of haiku is also welcome. Haiku of this breadth is being encouraged by the Modern Haiku schools."
http://www.haiku-hia.com/nyusen_en05.html


... ... ...


kageroe-ba too-yama hikuku nari-ni-keri

heat waves shimmering
the distant mountains
have become lower

Hoshino Tsubaki
(English version by Susumu Takiguchi & D. W. Bender]

kagero=filament of air, shimmering of heated air, air-waving with heat; kageroe-ba=if or when such kagero occurs; too-yama= distant mountains; hikuku/hikui=low, nari-ni-keri=have become, or became
http://www.worldhaikureview.org/3-1/vintage_tsubaki.shtml

Compiled by Larry Bole

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Kageroo ya ... by Chiyo-Ni


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


陽炎や賀茂の大橋浮き沈み
kageroo ya Kamo no oohashi uki-shizumi

heat shimmers -
the great bridge over Kamo river
bobs up and down


Hyakushoo 百姓
WKD : Bridges and Haiku


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Fata morgana
Distant snow-covered mountains.
Nunavut. Our Land.


Kevin Murphy
http://www.dlrcoco.ie/library/Feile05/EnglishAdultShort.htm


::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


shimmering heat
black ribbons of crow
weaving in and out


- Shared by Sandi Pray -
Joys of Japan, 2012



*****************************
Related words

***** Ephemera, kageroo, kagerō, hiomushi 蜉蝣



[ . BACK to DARUMA MUSEUM TOP . ]
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 

Mother in Law Day

[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO TOP . ]
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Mother in Law Day

***** Location: Worldwide
***** Season: Early Winter
***** Category: Humainty


*****************************
Explanation

November 23
World Mother-in-Law's Day, Mother-in-Law Day

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Jokes and Stories about Mothers in Law

I was out shopping the other day when I saw six women beating my MIL up. As I stood there and watched, her neighbor, who knew me, said, "Well, aren't you going to help?" I replied, "No. Six of them is enough".
Mother-In-Law Stories

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Mother-in-law, father-in-law, just like that
is a topic for haiku and senryu.



*****************************
Worldwide use

Germany

Tag der Schwiegermutter

Schwiegervater

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


India

Are they out-laws or in-laws?
Why has the world made this position of a woman look so horrid?
Is this man’s making or is this our own making?

India is known for its joint family system. For generations families have lived together harmoniously – learning to let go and share love, which is the most important thing in life?

With the advent of modern living, seeking jobs outside one’s country this need to adjust in a joint family is fast becoming redundant.

But does that make a mother-in-law’s position any less important?

mother-in-law:
she arrives to see
a loaded fridge

Kala Ramesh

*****************************
Things found on the way


The Reluctant Mother in Law

Parvati's Quest: Understanding the Essence of Shiva

It is a time honored tradition in India that the groom, riding a mare, leads a procession of friends and dear ones to the bride’s home, where he is given an auspicious welcome at the door by his mother in law and other women of the household. On one such occasion, a lady stood welcoming the congregation, eagerly looking out for her son in law. Before the groom entered, she witnessed numerous of his friends going in. All were beautiful, handsomely dressed and immaculately turned out. What would the groom himself be like, when those preceding him were so attractive? She couldn’t suppress her excitement.

Here comes the bridegroom," someone whispered in her ears. She hopefully raised her head and immediately shrieked out in terror. There he was - his body smeared with gray ash fresh from the cremation grounds, riding a bull, holding a skull in his hands, his eyes rolling as if intoxicated and looking utterly disheveled and untidy, like he had not had a bath for several days. The mother in law wailed, lamenting her beautiful daughter’s choice of husband:

"O daughter what have you done, you have ruined your family. Surely you were not in your senses when you made your choice. Why did I not remain a barren woman rather than give birth to you who has bought ill fame to the whole family. You have put away sandal paste and instead smeared yourself with mud, throwing away rice you have eaten the husk."


The Marriage Procession of Shiva and Parvati

© Exotic India Com
Read the full article here.

*****************************
HAIKU and SENRYU


the visiting mother-in-law
re-arranges the furniture


- Shared by Alan Pizzarelli -
Joys of Japan, 2012

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 


mother's sharp tongue... my wife her whetstone

my full Italian mother... my wife whispers, "pasta this!"

my mother-in-law's German... but, I like sourkraught


- Shared by Chibi Dennis Holmes -
Joys of Japan, 2012


::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 


mother-in-law's tongue--
taking the houseplants
to our new home


- Shared by Linda Papanicolaou -
Joys of Japan, 2012


::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 


Still I fear her
mother-in-law
with altzheimers


- Shared by Alexis Rotella -
Joys of Japan, 2012


::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 


*****************************
Related words

***** Mother (o-fukuro) Japan
... ... Mother's Day
... ... Mothering Sunday, Laetare (Europe)
... ... Mother Goddess in all cultures

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Father-in-law day

July 30

- Reference


::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

3/17/2007

Hawk (taka)

[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO TOP . ]
- Collecting Legends in the comments -
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Hawk (taka)

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


*****************************
Explanation

Kigo for Winter

Hawk (taka 鷹 たか)

hawk in the cold, kandaka 寒鷹(かんだか)
wild hawk arataka 荒鷹(あらたか)
young hawk, wakataka 若鷹(わかたか)

"Bear Hawk" kumataka 熊鷹(くまたか)
common buzzard のすり
peregrine, falcon, hayabusa 隼(はやぶさ)
small falcon, kohayabusa 小隼(こはやぶさ)
marsh harrier, chuuhi ちゅうひ
Eurasian kestrel 長元坊(ちょうげんぼう)
magusodaka 馬糞鷹(まぐそだか), magusotsukami 馬糞つかみ(まぐそつかみ)
鷂(はいたか)、European sparrow hawk hashitaka はしたか
sparrow hawk, tsumi 雀鷂(つみ)
sashiba 刺羽(さしば)

hawk flying over, migrating hawk, taka wataru 鷹渡る
konori 兄鷂(このり), essai 悦哉(えっさい)

big hawk, ootaka 大鷹(おおたか)
small hawk, kotaka 小鷹


morogaeri 蒼鷹(もろがえり)


takagari 鷹狩 (たかがり) hunting with hawks and falcons and related kigo


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


© PHOTO yoshimi-photo.a-thera.jp/

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Kigo for Autumn

Hawks where used for hunting during the Edo period.

hawk leaving his sleeping place, haka no toya de
鷹の塒出 (たかのとやで)

..... toyade no taka 塒出の鷹(とやでのたか)
..... hashitaka 箸鷹(はしたか)
..... toya masari 鳥屋勝(とやまさり, taka toya 片鳥屋(かたとや), morotoya 両鳥屋(もろとや)

wild, bad-tempered hawk, arataka 荒鷹 (あらたか)
hawk covered by a net, amigake no taka 網掛の鷹(あみがけのたか)

hawks leaving the mountains, taka no yamawakare
鷹の山別 (たかのやまわかれ)

..... yama wakare 山別(やまわかれ)
..... wakaredori 別れ鳥(わかれどり)
"going back to the mountain", yama gaeri 山帰り(やまがえり)

hawks migrating, taka wataru 鷹渡る (たかわたる)

CLICK for more paintingsCLICK for more photos


*****************************
Worldwide use


*****************************
Things found on the way



“Duck Hawk”

the bird was originally known as the Peregrine Falcon since very early times (even in Latin and in Old French) and the use of “Duck Hawk” in early 19th-century America is due to an error by the Scots-American ornithologist Alexander Wilson and perpetuated in his book American Ornithology.

Wilson, while recognizing the identity of the American bird with the species that had “long been known in Europe” (i.e. the Peregrine Falcon), nonetheless made a serious error: He refused the term “peregrine” because, he wrote, “The epithet “peregrine” is certainly not applicable to our hawk, which is not migratory, as far as our most diligent inquiries can ascertain….”

Of course today we know Wilson was quite wrong about that. It is in fact a migratory bird, which is why the name has been CORRECTED AND RESTORED TO ITS OLD FORM of “Peregrine Falcon”.

source : David Coomler, THF Viral 6.5


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


. Otakapoppo お鷹ぽっぽ toy hawk
from Yonezawa, Yamagata. Sano Ittobori carving


*****************************
HAIKU


鷹一つ見付てうれしいらご崎
taka hitotsu mitsukete ureshi Iragosaki

By a singular stroke
Of luck, I saw
A solitary hawk circling
Above the promontory of Irago.

Matsuo Basho
Tr. Nobuyuki Yuasa


Iragozaki 伊良湖崎


© PHOTO 牛久市森田武
There is also a stone memorial of this haiku at Iragozaki on this LINK.

.............................................................................

Discussing the translation of the above haiku

From an essay by Kazuyoshi Enozawa, Keio University, Japan, titled "A Japanese Perspective on English Poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins."

Enozawa says of this translation:
"The genius of the translator saw that it would not do to put the one line of the original verse into the customary three lines. So he cleverly expanded the key idea in the original into four English lines. Why did the translator need four lines of English to translate a single-line Japanese verse? ...

"The original Haiku line contains just one verb and one adjective, which together constitute the middle word-group. The verb is mitsukete, and the adjective is ureshi. As is usual with Japanese, there is no explicit word denoting the subject of the verb and the adjective. The implied subject is the pronoun 'I', as the Japanese reader judges immediately. Hence the 'I' in the English version.

There is a cause-effect relation between the verb and the adjective, so that the meaning of the middle word-group in the original would be something like 'I was delighted to find . . .'.

"Any reader but the dullest would instantly sense the flatness of such a paraphrase. ... What comes to me as a striking expression in Professor Yuasa's translation is the idiomatic 'By a singular stroke / Of luck, I saw . . .'. The object of the poet's observation is of course a hawk, that is, Taka hitotsu. This phrase literally means 'just one hawk', or 'a single hawk'.

"Again this paraphrase would look poor: it suggests in effect that there was no more than just one bird in flight. The translator obviously wanted to evoke some such emotion as 'loneliness' in the reader by deliberately choosing the emotive adjective 'solitary' instead of a mere numerical 'one' or 'single'. What then did the poet see a hawk doing? The original verse says nothing. It is left entirely to the reader's imagination to decide the supposed action of the bird. Here the translator has chosen a verb very appropriate to the scene: 'circle' in its (present) participial form 'circling'.

Irago-zaki is simply a place name referring to 'the promontory of Irago'. Here again, one has a need to supply some appropriate preposition for the noun phrase irago-zaki. And the appropriate preposition within the context that comes most naturally alike to the translator and to the reader is 'over' or 'above' and there is no question about it."
http://www.gerardmanleyhopkins.org/studies/japanese.html


Basho's "taka hitotsu" appears in "Oi no Kobumi" ("Knapsack Notebook," title translated by David Barnhill).
Barnhill says about this haiku:

"Cape Irago, at the tip of a peninsula, was famous in waka for its hawks. It also was associated with the exiled Prince Oomi in the early 'Man'yoshu' poetry collection..."


When Basho wrote this haiku, he was also visiting a disciple, Tokoku, who was living there. Barnhill describes Tokoku as having "moved to Irago after suffering financial difficulties."

But others describe Tokoku as being in exile there (Shirane), and having his hideout there (Sanga). Some commentators suggest that seeing a hawk is a veiled reference to Basho seeing Tokoku there.

Compiled by Larry Bole

Here are other translations of Basho's haiku:

finding a hawk
fills me with pleasure
here at Cape Irago

tr. Ueda


one hawk
the joy of finding it
at Irago Point

tr. Shirane


a lone hawk:
finding it brings such joy
at Cape Irago

tr. Barnhill


Cape Irago -
I am so happy to observe
a solitary hawk

Tr. Gabi Greve


::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


いらご崎 にる物もなし 鷹の聲
Iragozaki niru mono mo nashi taka no koe

Irako Point -
nothing even resembles
the voice of the hawk.

(Tr. Donald Keene)
iragozaki, iragosaki, irakosaki. いらござき にるものもなし たかのこえ

....................

This appears in Basho's haibun, "The Village of Hobi" (title tr. by David Barnhill), which is near Cape Irago. Barnhill translates the haiku:

Cape Irago:
nothing can match
the hawk's cry


Although Barnhill gives the literal meaning of 'niru' as 'resemble', which is the meaning that Keene uses in his translation, Barnhill uses "match" in his translation.

I don't think Keene's use of "resembles" is good. He means it in the senes of "comes close to being like," but it can also mean "is like." One COULD interpret him to mean that there were no hawks there at all; that there was no hawk's cry to be heard. Whether it's correct or not, Barnhill's version makes more sense to me.

Comment by Larry Bole


Basho visited Iragozaki 伊良湖崎, 伊良古崎 in November 1687, with three of his students.
The area is also famous for an old kiln, where the roof tiles for the temple Todai-Ji in Nara have been made.
It is situated on Atsumi Peninsula 渥美半島.
Irago Misaki 伊良湖岬(いらごみさき)


.............................................................................



夢よりも現の鷹ぞ頼もしき 
yume yori mo utsutsu no taka zo tanomoshiki

. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - for Tsuboi Tokoku 坪井杜国 .


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


bright autumn sky -
the shadow of a hawk
on my hands


Gabi Greve, Sep 26, 2006



my mountain life -
the hawk sails slowly
in the morning mist



This year we have Mr. and Mrs. Hawk, sitting on the tree stumps near the mailbox, waiting for me to come up.
Then they take off and sail up and down the valley in all their splendor.

Sometimes we whistle to each other and they fly very low over my head!


December 2011


::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


office lunch -
a hawk comes to the window
with a fish

Zhanna P. Rader
(Canadian Zen Haiku canadien, vol. 2, #4, 2004)


::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


flying hawk -
children running after
its shadow


Siboko Yamame
Kenya, January 2011

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


the hawk takes off -
a shower of blossoms
pink but not sakura


Johannes Manjrekar
Joys of Japan, January 2012


*****************************
Related Images


Kozan Toei



CLICK for more of his drawings !

Nakayama Sûgakudô 中山嵩岳堂 Nakayama Sugakudo (act. 1850–1860)
Forty-eight Hawks Drawn from Life
生写四十八鷹図  (Shô utsushi yonjûhachi taka).

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

***** Birds of Autumn

***** Birds of Winter

***** The BIRD SAIJIKI


[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO TOP . ]
- #taka #hawk -
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

3/11/2007

Snail (katatsumuri)

[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO TOP . ]
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Snail (katatsumuri)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: All Summer
***** Category: Animal


*****************************
Explanation

After a good rain, we can see even more of them !

rainy season -
snails double
with each raindrop


the empty shell
of a tiny snail ...
pulling out weeds


Gabi Greve, Japan




all my friends, Daruma san, the Basho frog, a snail . . .


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


snail, land snail 蝸牛 (かたつむり)
..... katatsuburi かたつぶり、dedemushi ででむし、dendenmushi でんでん虫(でんでんむし)
maimai まいまい

Click HERE to see some PHOTOS !



© PHOTO shopping veryname

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 

quote
Snail
is a common name which is applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails.
The word snail without any qualifier is however more often applied to land snails than to those from the sea or freshwater. Snail-like animals that naturally lack a shell, or have only an internal shell, are often called slugs, and land species that have only a very small shell (that they cannot retract into) are called semislugs.
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !


*****************************
Worldwide use

Australia

"love season for snails"
kigo for the wet season
With respect to the "love season for cats" ...


snails
kigo for spring
In Spring they come out to procreate and eat all the fresh shoots! They seal themselves off from the heat in Summer, and they are not noticed much in Winter.
Lorin Ford, 2009


slowly,
the earth moves. . .
snails in love


© Lorin Ford, 2009
Modern Haiku,40.3, Autumn 2009


*****************************
Things found on the way





Puppies and snail
Kamisaka Sekka  神坂雪佳  (1866-1942)


*****************************
HAIKU



. Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 in Edo .
Tr. David Lanoue


かたつぶり気がむいたやらごろり寝る
katatsuburi ki ga muita yara gorori neru

the snail does just
as he pleases...
curled to sleep




ともかくもあなた任せかかたつぶり
tomokaku mo anata makase ka katatsuburi

come what may
won't you trust in the Buddha
snail?



:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


a snail
dallies under a leaf --
empty mailbox


Laryalee Fraser, tinywords 2005


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


picking snails
from the shiitake -
dinner is waiting


Spend the whole afternoon picking minismall white snails from the logs with the shiitake mushrooms behind the house. Mushrooms growing and the snails seem to smell it from afar, coming in long lines, almost like the ants...

Gabi Greve, 2004

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

tiny white snails
invading the porch -
long autumn rain


winzige weisse Schnecken
eine Invasion auf der Terrasse
langer Herbstregen

aki no naga-ame, long autumn rain, is also a kigo. When it happens, many days of rain follow and the snails, just less than one centimeter maybe but bright shining white houses, come out all of a sudden, munching the last of vegetables overnight and causing my cats to tiptoe even more carefully!

Gabi Greve



wanderlust ...
a small snail
on the fresh green moss

© Gabi Greve, June 2008

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


the empty shell
at the slime-trail's end --
a statue of Buddha


"chibi" (pen-name for Dennis M. Holmes)
Kigo Hotline, June 2008


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Tomislav Maretić 01

a tiny snail looks
at the world down
from the bindweed


© Photo and Haiku
Tomislav Maretić, June 2008

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 



and you, snail...
sculpturing leaves
with now


- Shared by Louis Osofsky -
Joys of Japan, 2012
photo : CJ Samson



*****************************
Related words

***** Mud snails, paddy snails (tanishi)

***** Earthworms's song (mimizu naku)  

***** Spiders ... (kumo)

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 

[ . BACK to DARUMA MUSEUM TOP . ]
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

3/08/2007

Octopus (tako)

[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO TOP . ]
. tako 蛸と伝説 Tako Legends about Octopus .
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Octopus (tako)

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


*****************************
Explanation

In the Edo period, money was called "o-ashi" 足 legs,  
and things with many legs, like ika cuttlefish and tako octopus were considered auspicious gifts.

ta ko, written like this 多幸 is a pun for
"a lot of happiness"



source : www.shippodoscroll.com

Octopus by Megata Kaian 目賀田芥庵


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Japanese people like to eat octopus. One speciality of Western Japan is "fried octopus bits in a coat of batter" octopus balls, takoyaki. The octopus from Akashi (near Kobe) is most famous. Akashidako 明石蛸.

The animal has eight "legs", but in fact, they are the arms arranged around the mouth. These arms are full of round sucking discs,suckers (kyuuban 吸盤). A female giant octopus is said to have 280 suckers on each arm.
At the other side of the body, there is an opening where the animal can also discharge a black liquid, called "ink" (takosumi 蛸墨) in Japanese. This again is used in dishes like "noodles with octopus ink sauce". But the ink of squid (ikasumi イカ墨) is used more often for food.
Click HERE to look at some black squid dishes !


I once ordered octopus sushi in a small pub. The cook took a plastic bag with a life animal out of a small aquarium, grabed the tako, whacked off one limb in front of my eyes, squeezed the squeaming animal back into the bag and the aquarium and then cut the one arm into small slices, kneading them on my sushi.
By the time it was served to me we had decided to leave the place.
Yet, freshness of food is highly valued in Japanese quisine.

Octopus is also used as a lure for halibut fishing.

There are various kinds of octopus in the sea around Japan. All these names are kigo, but some for other seasons. Some saijiki place octopus also in the SPRING season.

By the way, the bald head of a Buddhist priest leads to the nickname of "Octopus Priest, tako boozu 蛸坊主 ". This is also the name of a famous race horse right now.

.................................................................................




Tako kokeshi こけし wooden doll
- from ebay -

.................................................................................


auspicious octopus

tako, written like this 多幸 is a pun for
"a lot of happiness"
and a red-white boiled octopus is essential for an auspicious dish of the New Year.


hipparidako ひっぱり蛸 "pulling octopus"
pulled and stretched out and fixed on bamboo to dry, also a pun for a person who can "pull others" for an active, profitable life.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

In the plains around Nara, octopus is served at a feast after rice planting to all who helped, with the wish that the plants will suck up water and nutrients, like an octopus with its many sucking disks, and grow to a good harvest.

Gabi Greve

...

Click HERE for photos of the famous
Giant Octopus !



:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Cabbage and octopus pickled in vinegar.

This dish was served to guests by high ranking samurai.
By using a combination of cabbage which was a valuable medicine and the lucky octopus, they wished for the prosperity of the guests' descendants and happiness and health for the guests.

source : Samurai Gourmet, facebook

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


© Photo Luis Miguel Bugallo Sánchez


The octopus (Greek oκτάπους, 'eight-legs') is a cephalopod of the order Octopoda that inhabits many diverse regions of the ocean, especially coral reefs. The term may also refer to only those creatures in the genus Octopus. In the larger sense, there are 289 different octopus species, which is over one-third of the total number of known cephalopod species.

Read more details in the
© Wikipedia

.............................................

In Japan, octopus are lured into pots (takotsubo 蛸壺) over night and then the pots are fished out. Fresh octopus dishes are a speciality in many port cities.


http://www.city.yokosuka.kanagawa.jp/gyokou/gyoho/index.html



http://www.niigata.info.maff.go.jp/toukei/sonota/suisan/gyohou/torikata.htm

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Kigo for Spring

Iidako いいだこ 飯蛸
Octopus ocellatus

a baby octopus; webfoot octopus. Literally it means "cooked rice octopus"
About 30 cm long, with a light yellow-beige color. Between his eyes there is a golden spot. She lays eggs from winter to early spring, which are eaten as a speciality.

Written like this 望潮魚 iidako literally means "full moon tide fish".


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Kigo for all Summer

octopus, pl. octopi, tako たこ 章魚、蛸, 鮹

pots for fishing octopus, takotsubo 蛸壺



kigo for mid-summer

mugiwaradako 麦藁章魚 (むぎわらだこ)
"octopus in wheat straw"
..... 麦藁蛸(むぎわらだこ)
Name of the octopus in the season when the wheat starts ripening.


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



Quote By Simon Rowe
..... in this fishing village on the island of Shodoshima, in Japan's Seto Inland Sea, where hard-bitten fishermen, called ami moto, guzzle hot sake by the bucket and talk of fluctuating prices of octopus and squid.

Fishing tradition and seafaring charm remain strong in the wet markets of Akashi, 30 minutes by train west of Osaka. More than any other town on the Seto, it prides itself on octopus cuisine; its tako-yaki (octopus dumplings) rate as one of the most popular late-night snacks in southwest Honshu.

Akashi's obsession with eight legs is hard to ignore. Streets and alleys are festooned with octopus paraphernalia: hoop nets and the oblong clay pots called tako tsubo, which used to lure octopus, hang in store windows; countless racks of drying tentacles line the shopping lanes.
Copyright © 1999 the International Herald Tribune

Read the full story here
http://www.iht.com/articles/1999/10/29/sea.2.t.php

*****************************
Worldwide use


*****************************
Things found on the way



© PHOTO Flute Kreis

"Octopus Cedar" at Mt. Takao
with roots like an octopus.
Octopus Cedar, by Gabi Greve

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Daruma as an Octopus

© ダルマーレ

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

. Kakinomoto no Hitomaro 柿本人麻呂 or 柿本人麿 .



from Shrine 柿本神社 Kakinomoto Jinja, Akashi, Hyogo

okutopasu - オクトパス - oku to pass - octopus
if you put it up there (on your desk) you pass the examination !

There are two shrines dedicated to Kakinomoto
島根県益田市 / 兵庫県明石市

Kakinomoto no Hitomaro 柿本人麻呂 or 柿本人麿
(c. 662 – 710)
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !


. WKD : Kakinomoto .




. . . CLICK here for Photos !

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

. TAKO Yakushi 多幸薬師 and
the Octopus for good luck .

成就院(たこ薬師)Temple Joju-In, Meguro, Tokyo

TA 多 - much, a lot
KO (koo) 幸 - happiness, good luck

A play on the sound of TAKO.


*****************************
HAIKU


The Japanese have a saying that the octopus is a symbol for people who have too much to do.



© Photo and Artwork by : locamotion

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


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

蛸壺やはかなき夢を夏の月
takotsubo ya hakanaki yume o natsu no tsuki

an octopus pot ---
inside, a short-lived dream
under the summer moon


"An octopus that has entered the pot is content with the small world of its own and enjoys a night's dream, never suspecting that it might be pulled up in the morning. A man born into this world is like that, too, as he lives a life as brief as a dewdrop. Such a view is presented in this poem. In view of the site, there may be historical allusions, too."
Koseki


"Isn't it impossible to imagine that Basho had completely entered the mind of an octopus inside the pot? He became an octopus, so to speak."
Watsuji


And still another interpretation:

"In the Japanese poetic tradition, those who complain of the shortness of the summer night are, above all, lovers who have to part in the morning. Basho drew upon that that traditional mood of romantic love and applied it to the life of an octopus dreaming a short dream in a pot, thereby turning it into humor."
Yamamoto

Translations and commentary by
- Makoto Ueda -



source : i-kimoto/Furusato
clay bell from Hyogo prefecture



octopus pots -
fleeting dreams
under the summer moon

Tr. Ad G. Blankestijn



The jars of octopus -
brief dreams
under the summer moon.
Tr. Robert Hass





By Basho 1688, 45 years old
He read this hokkku at Suma of the Seto Inland Sea (Seto Naikai) , where noble Heike and their family died jumping to the sea at Dan no Ura. Basho was reminded of the fact.

Heike mo tako mo onaji yume miru
平家も蛸も同じ夢見る

Noble Heike and octopus
dream the same dream.


Haiga and renku by Sakuo Nakamura


This haiku reminds us of the tsuwamono
- Summer Grass Haiku from Hiraizumi - .


Basho, Oi no Kobumi 笈の小文 , written at at Akashi 明石夜泊
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .



The battle of Dan-no-ura (壇ノ浦の戦い, Dan-no-ura no tatakai) was a major sea battle of the Genpei War, occurring at Dan-no-ura, in the Shimonoseki Strait off the southern tip of Honshū.
On April 24, 1185, the Genji (Minamoto) clan fleet, led by Minamoto no Yoshitsune, defeated the Heike (Taira) clan fleet, during a half-day engagement.
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


old octopus pot:
does a dream from long ago
still linger inside?


Larry Bole

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

haunted lobster pot
woven of watery dreams
and insect menus


John

*****************************
Related words

***** "cherry blossom squid" , hana ika 花烏賊
sakura ika 桜烏賊
kigo for late spring



FISH and SEAFOOD  - - SAIJIKI

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::




CLICK for more photos - from Yamagata.
「猫に蛸」山形県/米沢市

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 

. tako 蛸と伝説 Tako Legends about Octopus .

[ . BACK to DARUMA MUSEUM TOP . ]
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::