3/30/2007

Willow (yanagi) and Ippen

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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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3/29/2007

Sugar Moon / Sap Moon

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Sugar Moon / Sap Moon

***** Location: North America, Canada
***** Season: Spring
***** Category: Heaven


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Explanation


Please read the main entry HERE:

Maple Syrup

It officially referes to the March full moon in reference to maple tapping but
there are at least a few song lyrics that refer it to the June moon in reference to sugar cane.

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Maple Sugaring
by Andy Baker

Maple trees, family Aceraceae, are one of the few trees whose sap is easily processed to produce sugar. And the sugar maple Acer saccharum, which exists only in North America, has the sweetest sap with a sugar content averaging 2.2%. Although no written documentation exists for the origins of maple sugaring, native linguistic references and mythologies suggest a long association betweensugaring and a number of Native North American tribes. Several tribes refer to the first full moon in March as the Maple or Sugar Moon and have stories thatrelate the origins of maple sugaring. The Iroquois attribute the discovery to aparticular squaw who used the sap for boiling food and found that the liquid became sweeter as it boiled.

Maple Sugaring / lake metro parks

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Sap Moon
by Jessica Prentice

Just before the first thaw after the cold winter, comes the Sap Moon.
Though snow and ice still cover the ground throughout the North, the very first movements of spring stir within the forest trees. The sap of renewed life begins to rise up through the trunks, making its slow and steady way to the outermost tips of the branches where it will nurture the buds that will become new leaves.

While all northern trees produce sap at this time of year, the sugar maple in particular inspired the naming of the Sap Moon. Maple sap runs from the first sign of thaw until the first buds appear on the trees -- a period of four to six weeks, depending on the weather.
When the sap was running it was time to head for your nearest grove of sugar maples -- called a sugar bush -- begin tapping the trees, collecting sap, and pouring it into large pots for sugaring.
(Another name for this moon was the Sugar Moon.)
http://www.awakenedwoman.com/prentice_sap_moon.htm

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Full Worm - March Moon

As the temperature begins to warm and the ground begins to thaw, earthworm casts appear, heralding the return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this Moon as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signaled the end of winter; or the Full Crust Moon, because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night.

The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. To the settlers, it was also known as the Lenten Moon, and was considered to be the last full Moon of winter.
http://www.farmersalmanac.com/astronomy/fullmoonnames.html

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Lyrics for Song: Sugar Moon
Lyrics for Album: You Don't Know Me: Songs of Cindy Walker
(Bob Wills/Cindy Walker)

When it's sugarcane time
And around about June
I'll be walkin' with my sugar
'Neath that old sugar moon

All the lovin' I missed
I'll be gettin' it soon
I'll be gettin' it from my sugar
'Neath that old sugar moon

I can see us right now
Get the calendar down
(And) Draw a circle around
The day we're heaven bound
When it's sugarcane time
And around about June
All the birds will be singin'
'Neath that old sugar moon

I can see us right now
Get the calendar down
(And) Draw a circle around
The day we're heaven bound
When it's sugarcane time
And around about June
All the birds will be singin'
'Neath that old sugar moon

When it's sugarcane time
And around about June
I'll be walkin' with my sugar
'Neath that old sugar moon

Sugar Moon
Year 1910
Music by Percy Wenrich
Words by Stanley Murphy

Jerome H. Remick & Co.
New York and Detroit

First Verse
Lindy Lou and Jasper in the fields of sugar cane, Down in Loosiana, Jasper was so love sick, that his heart was filled with pain For his Lindy Lou. When the sun was shining bright, He'd make love with all his might, Lindy'd say: "You're acting like a loon, Don't come fussin' 'round at noon, Nighttime is the time to spoon, Underneath the sugar moon."

Second Verse
Jasper says to Lindy: "Won't you be my lovin' bride?" Sugar moon am shinin', Lindy says "Uh huh", and cuddles closer to his side, Wedding mighty soon. Gwine to have a barbecue, Gwine to roast an ox or two, Possum pie 'simmon jam and coon. Can't you hear the banjos ring, Can't you hear Miss Lindy sing, Underneath the sugar moon?

Chorus
When the sugar moon am moonin,' You can spoon and keep on spoonin,' Croon a tune and keep on croonin' When you croon, croon a tune, that a coon can croon in June. For I love to hear you hummin', And I dearly love to spoon; But my lovin' coon, turtle dovin' coon, Underneath the sugar moon.

http://www.halcyondaysmusic.com/may/may2002.htm

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CD Album- Sugar Moon Sugar Moon
Song- Satoukibibatake, Sugar Cane Field
http://www.a-cappella.com/product/1076/world-japan


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Things found on the way



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HAIKU


sugar moon
licking
a maple icicle


sugar moon
a clear bead
on the broken twig

susan delphine delaney, plano, texas


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Related words

***** Maple Syrup

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3/25/2007

Maple syrup Kaede

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Maple syrup

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


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Explanation

Researching the history of our township Maple Valley ...

The following quotes were compiled by Michael Baribeau .



© PHOTO www.smilingcountry.com/pickens

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The Maple Valley Name
by Bertha (Mrs. Carl) Johnson

Valley Of The Maples. Where did Maple Valley get its name? When the first settlers came in 1858, the area was thickly forested with beautiful maple groves and pine trees. Many romances blossomed in the sugar bushes, as they were called, when the sap from the maple trees was gathered in buckets, boiled down in huge vats over a blazing fire and became maple syrup and sugar. It became the place to go for young folks to watch the process.

Sap started flowing the first warm days of spring. It was time for farmers to tap the trees and hang the buckets to catch the sap. Maple Syrup and sugar became the first crop of the year for many farmers who had settled in the valley.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~mimontca/townships/maple.htm

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Maple syrup and sugar are among the oldest agricultural commodities produced in the United States. Native Americans are generally credited with discovering how to convert maple sap into maple syrup. The importance of maple products for local trade was established well before the arrival of the first European settlers in North America. Maple syrup production is confined to the northeastern portion of the United States, with the largest amounts produced in Vermont and New York.
http://web1.msue.msu.edu/imp/modft/26179701.html

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Michigan makes about 80,000 gallons of maple syrup a year.

Michigan is ranked at number 7 in terms of quantity of production (and number 1 with quality!)

There are an estimated 500 commercial maple syrup producers in Michigan with some 2,000 additional hobby or home use producers.

Michigan's law requires that a processor of maple syrup be licensed.

It takes about 40 gallons of maple sap to make just 1 gallon of maple syrup.

For the best maple sap, a maple tree should be 40 years old with a diameter of 10 inches before tapping is recommended.

Average sugar concentration of maple sap is about 2.5 percent.

Maple season in Michigan runs from February to April.

Freezing and thawing temperatures create pressure and force the sap out of the tree.

while budding makes the maple syrup taste bitter, thus production ceases.

Maple syrup is 100 percent pure - no additives, no coloring, and no preservatives.

Maple syrup has 50 calories per tablespoon.

Maple syrup has many minerals per tablespoon: 20 milligrams of calcium, 2 milligrams of phosphorus, .2 milligrams of iron, 2 milligrams of sodium and 35 milligrams of potassium.
http://www.mda.state.mi.us/Kids/pictures/sap/fact.html

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TAPPING THE TREE.
The flow of sap is highly dependant upon weather conditions. Flow does not begin until after a time of hard freeze, followed by several sunny days with temperatures in the 40s. The peak flow occurs early in the sugaring season when it freezes at night and is bright and sunny the next day with the temperature in the 40s. The flow will stop when daytime temperatures do not go above freezing, or when night temperatures do not go below freezing.

The flow usually lasts roughly three to four weeks. While it flows, collect daily the sap, preferably late afternoon. If the trees are tapped too soon and flow does not begin, it is possible that the holes will seal over and subsequent flow is inhabited significantly. The holes may have to be redrilled in this case.
http://www.biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/buds_and_bark/tapping_sugar_maple_index.html

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Several species of maple trees grow in Michigan.
Though all produce sap suitable for the production of maple syrup, two species of sugar maple (acer saccharum) and black maple (acer nigrum), are the source of sap for most commercial maple production. Sap suitable for conversion into syrup may also be obtained from red and silver maples, though such sap usually has a lower sugar content.
http://www.mi-maplesyrup.com/Activities/activities_homemade.htm


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HAIKU


Although I don't know anyone personally who taps maples I do know the Old Order Amish in our area are doing it...

Amish farm
the maple syrup sign
still not out


Michael Baribeau



The Amish (Pennsylvania Dutch: Amisch, German: Amische),
sometimes referred to as Amish Mennonites, are a group of traditionalist Christian church fellowships that form a subgroup of the Mennonite churches. The Amish are known for simple living, plain dress, and reluctance to adopt many conveniences of modern technology. The history of the Amish church began with a schism in Switzerland within a group of Swiss and Alsatian Anabaptists in 1693 led by Jakob Ammann.
Those who followed Ammann became known as Amish.
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !

. The North American Saijiki Project .   


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a fly feasts
on the maple syrup
reckless teenager


Victor P. Gendrano, 2002

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end of winter
already the maple tree
awakes from sleep

maple syrup
on breakfastpancakes -
spoiling the children


Patricia Prime, 2004, tinywords

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breakfast of champions
she pours maple syrup on
her pancakes


Copyright © 1996-2002 by Heather Madrone .


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sugaring off-
the staccato tapping sound
of a woodpecker


honourable mention, the Betty Drevniok Award 2008

- Shared by Pamela Cooper, Canada -
Joys of Japan, 2012


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Related words

***** Sugar Moon / Sap Moon Full Worm - March Moon. North America


***** Canada Saijiki

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kigo for late autumn

kaede 楓 (かえで) maple tree
fam. Acer


momiji もみじ Momiji tree
kaerude かえるで

kaede momiji 楓紅葉(かえでもみじ)
red autumn leaves of the maple tree
.... koofuu 紅楓(こうふう)

- - - - - many special and local varieties :

Takao Momiji 高尾紅葉(たかおもみじ)maples at Mount Takao, Tokyo
..... Takao kaede 高尾かえで(たかおかえで)
Iroha kaede いろはかえで
Yamamomiji 山紅葉(やまもみじ)
Chirimem kaede 縮緬かえで(ちりめんかえで)
kirenishiki きれにしき
hauchiwa kaede 羽団扇かえで(はうちわかえで)
meigetsu kaede 名月かえで(めいげつかえで)
asa no ha kaede 麻の葉かえで(あさのはかえで)
Itaya kaede 板屋かえで(いたやかえで)
Too kaede 唐かえで(とうかえで)
mine kaede 嶺かえで(みねかえで)

mitsude kaede 三つ手かえで(みつでかえで)
hitotsude kaede 一つ葉かえで(ひとつばかえで)


. Red Autumn Leaves 紅葉 momiji .
and more about differene maple varieties,
including the Latin names for the varieties above.


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3/24/2007

Ati-Atihan Festival

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Philippines Saijiki

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Ati-Atihan Festival

***** Location: Philippines, Aklan
***** Season: Mid-Winter
***** Category: Observance


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Explanation

In Aklan, every year on the third sunday of January, we Aklanons celebrate Ati-Atihan in Kalibo --the capital of Aklan.

It is a merry-making, street-dancing activity from sunrise to sundown. This is done in honor of Senor Sto. Nino, young Jesus Christ.

This festival is one of the most famous and most colorful festivals in the Philippines. Thousands of tourists from all over the world come and join in this yearly festival.

The several groups, called tribes, that join in this festival paint their bodies with soot from the back of frying fans. (When one uses firewood in cooking, one will see black soot at the back of frying fan.) They carry a lot of things from empty bottles to empty cans that make a lot of noise as they walk around the streets of Kalibo.

But one of the most important things they carry is the image of the Infant Jesus.

Melchor F. Cichon

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A 13th century (c.1212AD) event explains the origins of the festival. A small group of Malay datus, fleeing Borneo, were sold some land by the Ati people, the original inhabitants of Panay Island. The new arrivals celebrated the event at a great feast by painting themselves black to look like them.

The Ati are still distinguishable today by their dark skin and curly hair, and the name "Ati-Atihan" translates as "To be like an Ati". It is considered to be, along with the Sinulog of Cebu, "The Mother of all Philippine Festivals" which was eventually copied by other similar celebrations across the Philippines such as the:

Dinagyang of Iloilo
Halaran of Capiz
Binilirayan of Antique
Maskarahan of Bacolod.

And also Ati-Atihan's of several nearby smaller towns of Aklan, Antique, and Capiz.
Ati-Atihan was originally a pagan festival. Missionaries gradually added Christian meaning. Today, Ati-Atihan is celenbrated in honor of the Christ Child, the Santo Niño. Three days of parades lead up to the main procession that starts in the church on Sunday afternoon. The parades are colorful and vibrant, much like the Mardi Gras carnival in Brazil.

More is here:
© Wikipedia

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© PHOTO Kenilio

Click HERE to see all these colorful tribes !


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HAIKU


homing herons--
the streets of Kalibo
still filled with dancing tribes


Melchor F. Cichon


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ati drums...
the dust from our soles
our sooted prayers


- Shared by Alee Imperial Albano -
Haiku Culture Magazine, 2013


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Related words

***** Philippines Saijiki

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3/23/2007

Spring at the beach (haru no umi)

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Spring at the beach (haru no umi)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Spring
***** Category: Earth


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Explanation

There are so many things to enjoy when the days get warmer and we can play at the beach again ! This kigo carries a lot of joy and pleasure.

Let us look at some kigo in this context.
harunoumi
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spring at the sea, haru no umi 春の海
the sea in spring, sea of spring, ocean in springtime
This is also the title of a famous song about the Tomonoura coast on the Inland Sea.

spring at the beach, haru no hama 春の浜(はるのはま)
..... haru no nagisa 春の渚(はるのなぎさ), haru no iso 春の磯(はるのいそ), haru no umi 春の湖(はるのうみ)

tide in spring, haru no shio 春の潮
..... shunchoo 春潮 しゅんちょう

waves in spring, haru no nami 春の波
..... shuntoo 春濤(しゅんとう), haru no nami 春の浪(はるのなみ)
waves in spring in the river, haru no kawanami
春の川波(はるのかわなみ)

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Other things we find on the beach in spring as kigo

cherryblossom shrimp, sakura ebi
さくらえび,桜蝦, 桜えび



© PHOTO Isokoma

This is a speciality of the Suruga Bay, Sagami Bay and a few others, where they are fished and dried on the shores, with Mt. Fuji in the background, as you can see in the photo above.
They are eaten in many ways, tempura is one of them. Eating them brings the pleasant feeling of spring, even in winter.


Click on the PHOTO to see more dishes!


. Shimizu Stationlunch 清水駅弁 .
with more news about the Sakura-ebi.


ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo


crabs of spring, shiomaneki しおまねき,潮招/望潮

The males have a strong claw at one hand to scratch in the sand. This looks as if they were begging the tide to come back, hence the name, literally meaning "begging the tide, inviting the tide". But it may be rather ment for the females to come closer.



Click on the PHOTO to see more !

ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo


firefly squid, hotaru ika 蛍いか、 蛍烏賊、ほたるいか

A small type of squid, no more than 5 cm, but it can flicker like a firefly. They come to the shallow seabed to lay eggs and are a pretty sight. Japanese also love to eat them.



Click on the PHOTO to see more !

ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo



Gathering Shellfish at Low Tide at Susaki (Susaki shiohi-gari),
Hiroshige II

gathering shellfish at low tide, shiohigari
しおひがり/ 潮干狩り/ 潮干狩


A pleasure for the whole family on warm spring holidays. Even in the Bay of Tokyo there are now clean places where we can enjoy this.



Click on the PHOTO to see more !

ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo


poles for growing seaweed, norisoda のりそだ,海苔粗朶

The poles are of wood or bamboo and help keep seaweed growing there. The seaweed is harvested by hand, from small shallow boats gliding between the poles. On the photo you can see the crude oil combinates in the background of Tokyo Bay.


© Photo Suikiban Mikumo, Mie Pref.

ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo


sea anemone of the beach, iso ginchaku 
磯巾着, いそぎんちゃく


They are quite prickely when you touch them. They swing open and close in the shallow water and are therefore also called: "stone peonies" ishibotan 石牡丹.



Click on the PHOTO to see more !

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Things found on the way


A great collection in Japanese:
Haiku about the Sea
Umi no mieru haiku 海の見える俳句

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HAIKU


- - - - - Yosa Buson - - - - -

Composed at Suma

春の海ひねもすのたりのたりかな
春の海終日のたりのたり哉
haru no umi hinemosu notari notari kana
about 1757

hinemosu, shuujitsu 終日 "end of day"
day and night, the whole day, all day long

spring sea
surging swelling
all day long!

Tr. Ad G. Blankestijn


- quote
The spring sea,
Rising and falling
All day long.


Where is the poetry in that? It is just a statement of what is happening.
snip
when we look at the spring sea there is poetry in it, and R. H. Blyth tells us clearly and correctly why:

“There is a poetry independent of rhyme and rhythm, of onomatopoeia and poetic brevity, of cadence and parallelism, of all form whatsoever. It is wordless and thoughtless even when expressed in words and notions, and lives a life separate from that of so-called poetry. It is the seeing we do when a white butterfly flutters by us down the valley, never to return.”
(Eastern Culture)

To summarize all of this quite simply, hokku is not what we ordinarily think of as poetry (so-called), but hokku lives a life separate from that of so-called poetry. There we have it in a nutshell.
Tr. and comment by David Coomler



The spring sea:
all day long
undulating, undulating.

Tr. Anita Virgil


The sea in spring-- Ever so slow and idle All day long. (tr. Nelson)
Spring sea, All day long, Gently moves up and down. (Tr. by Shoji Kumano)
The sea of spring, Rising and falling, All the day long. (Tr. by R. H. Blyth)
spring sea-- all day, light waves upon waves (Tr. by Herbert Jonsson)
spring sea; rising softly, softly subsiding, all day ... (Tr. by Michael Haldane)
The springtime sea all the day long tossing and tossing! (Tr. Sawa/ Shiffert)
The spring sea rising and falling, rising and falling all day.
(Tr. Robert Hass)
The spring sea Waves undulating and undulating All day long.
(Tr. Yuzuru Miura)
The springtime sea: all day long up-and-down, up-and-down gently.
(Tr. by H. G. Henderson)

On the spring ocean, see the waves, the waves all day long.
The spring sea, all day ebb and flow, ebb and flow
On the spring ocean, see the waves, the waves all day long.
Spring ocean rises and falls calmly all day long ...
spring sea surging swelling all day long!
spring ocean, rolling in rushing out throughout the day
The spring sea, Gently rising and falling, The whole day long.
Tides of the spring sea, tide after indolent tide drifting on and on...
the spring sea all day long undulates and quiet
The spring sea… all day long waves are undulating calmly... calmly…
source : terebess


- - - Comment by James Karkoski

春の海ひねもすのたりのたりかな
haru no umi hinemosu no notari notari kana

Spring/ 's/ sea/ all day long/ 's/ leisurely

The first thing that one notices about this haiku is its lack of Chinese characters. There are only two of them in the haiku and both of them are in the opening image ("spring and "sea"). Since Japanese is a language where no spaces are used between words, reading phrases
and sentences without Chinese characters is a slow process because you have to stop and figure out what the words are as you go along, especially when they are in a long line like the one above. This slowed pace perfectly matches with the "all day long leisurely" sentiment that completes the haiku.

The cutting word is "kana," which is a spoken particle that expresses the speakers admiration or wonder at the scene they are describing. It is almost exclusively used at the end a haiku and it cuts the haiku by highlighting a phrase or an image that is already grammatical cut.
Here the break occurs after "sea" (umi). A literal translation of the haiku is:

The sea in spring:
all day long a leisurely loll and sway!


The season word (kigo) is "the Spring sea" (haru no umi) which is a trope that supplies the image of a calm sea with a breeze where the fish are waking from the cold of the winter to start feeding in the peaceful glittering waters. The islands are turning greener and
greener while the coming and going of the white sails of ships increases.

Now that we know the tropes, we can begin to fill in some of the imagery.

A peaceful spring sea....
all day long
the leisurely roll
of the glittery waves!


The way "peaceful" rings against "leisurely" across the break strikes the emotional tone that is in the original. If we put the color that the trope supplies into the opening, together with the colloquial for the passing of time in a day:

A calm glittery sea....
a leisurely loll
all the
live long day!


we get a version that captures the alliteration pretty well. Including fishing boats into the imagery:

A spring sea marked
with fishing boats....
slow and leisurely
all through
the calm day!


gives a version that captures the passing of the day better. Everyone has the experience of watching boats on the sea and then noticing how they've changed positions when they look at them later. The moving of the boats and the sea are now tied together through time and since the boats do move, the hint of a breeze also creeps into the haiku, as well as the glint of the water.

The Chinese characters for the word "hinemosu" is a compound that literally reads as "finished sun," and although Buson didn't use the Chinese characters for it is also something that is can be considered as part of the haiku:

The sea in spring...
all day long
the leisurely sway
of a now
setting sun!


but this one isn't as quite as sublime as the others.

The particle "kana" can also be read as implying that the speaker is wondering about something as well as being wondered by something.
Reading the particle as wondering about something:

The spring sea...does it leisurely loll and sway all day?

but the tone and tenor of the original doesn't lend itself to reading "kana" like this, and this translation falls flat, mainly because its hard not to imagine the speaker looking at the scene. Then again, it does give you a way to hint at the vagaries of the season:

The spring sea... will it leisurely loll and sway all day?


source : holms727.at.webry.info

. Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 in Edo .


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煙突の一本高し春の海  
entotsu no ippon takashi haru no umi

one chimney
so very high -
sea in spring


Takahama Kyoshi  高浜虚子  

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春潮のひびきて白き月の暈
haru shio no hibikite shiroki tsuki no kasa  

so white in the roaring
of the sea in spring -
halo around the moon 
     

Higashi Sanae 東早苗

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桜えびすしに散らして今日ありぬ 
sakura ebi sushi ni shirashite kyoo arinu

cherryblossom shrimps
sprinkled on my sushi -
what a fine day !  
    

Hosomi Ayako 細見綾子

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磯巾着とれば抜け穴ありぬべし
iso ginchaku toreba nukeana arinu beshi

beach sea anemone -
don't make a hole when
picking them


Koono Saki 神野紗希


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天上にちちはは磯巾着ひらく
tenjoo ni chichi haha iso ginchaku hiraku

in heaven
there are my father and my mother -
a sea anemone opens


- Torii Mariko 鳥居真里子


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Related words

***** Spring (haru) Japan


. Beach and shore ... in all seasons  

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3/19/2007

Rice plant (ine)

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Rice plant (ine, sanae )

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


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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 .


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. 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


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............... 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)


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............... 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)


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............... 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)


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


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


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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.

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Worldwide use

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

Rice, Basmati Rice


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Philippines

Rice in the Philippines


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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


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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


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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/

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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 .


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grains of new rice
each one blessed with
a greenish tint

shinmai no tsubutsubu aomi watari keri

by Koji

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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


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planting rice
the earth as brown
as my hands


- Shared by Ella Wagemakers -
Joys of Japan, 2012


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Harvesting rice


Utagawa Kuniyoshi 歌川国芳 
『百人一首之内 天智天皇』


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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

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