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- Oku no Hosomichi - 奥の細道 - おくのほそ道
The Narrow Road to the Deep North -
. Oku no Hosomichi - 奥の細道 - Introduction .
More hokku by Basho and background information:
. WKD : Matsushima 松島 .
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- - - Station 20 - Shiogama - - -
Stopping briefly at the River Noda no Tamagawa and the so-called Rock in the Offing, I came to the pine woods called Sue no Matsuyama 末の松山, where I found a temple called Masshozan and a great number of tombstones scattered among the trees. It was a depressing sight indeed, for young or old, loved or loving, we must all go to such a place at the end of our lives. I entered the town of Shiogama hearing the ding-dong of the curfew. Above was the darkening sky, unusually empty for May, and beyond was the silhouette of Migaki ga Shima Island* not far from the shore in the moonlight.
The voices of the fishermen* dividing the catch of the day made me even more lonely, for I was immediately reminded of an old poem which pitied them for their precarious lives on the sea. Later in the evening, I had a chance to hear a blind minstrel singing to his lute. His songs were different from either the narrative songs of the Heike or the traditional songs of dancing, and were called Okujoruri (Dramatic Narratives of the Far North). I must confess that the songs were a bit too boisterous, when chanted so near my ears, but I found them not altogether unpleasing, for they still retained the rustic flavor of the past.
The following morning, I rose early and did homage to the great god of the Myojin Shrine of Shiogama. This shrine had been rebuilt by the former governor of the province* with stately columns, painted beams, and an impressive stone approach, and the morning sun shining directly on the vermillion fencing was almost dazzlingly bright. I was deeply impressed by the fact that the divine power of the gods had penetrated even to the extreme north of our country, and I bowed in humble reverence before the altar.
I noticed an old lantern in front of the shrine. According to the inscription on its iron window, it was dedicated by Izumi no Saburo in the third year of Bunji (1187). My thought immediately flew back across the span of five hundred years to the days of this most faithful warrior. His life is certain evidence that, if one performs one's duty and maintains one's loyalty, fame comes naturally in the wake, for there is hardly anyone now who does not honor him as the flower of chivalry.
It was already close to noon when I left the shrine. I hired a boat and started for the islands of Matsushima. After two miles or so on the sea, I landed on the sandy beach of Ojima Island.
Tr. by Nobuyuki Yuasa
- - - - - Explanations
Noda no Tamagawa
Noda no Tamagawa is an Uta Makura. This is one of six famous Tamagawas in Japan. Noin wrote a famous poem about it, Shinkokinshu #643: Come evening briny air starts flowing in with plovers crying over Tama's stream at Noda in Michinoku (H.H. Honda, p. 173)
Rock in the offing
A poem by Nijoin in the Senzaishu twists the meaning of this Uta Makura: -- The reference is to a stone in a small pond at Hachiman Jiohi at Taga Castle.
Sue no matsuyama
This is also an Uta makura. Among the Azuma Uta of the Kokinshu is: -- Another poem from Goshuishu by Kiyohara no Motosuke (One of the 36 poetic geniuses of the Heian period, he was also a skilled player of the koto. He was editor of the Gosen Waka Shu ((909-990)): --
Masshozan
This word is written with the same characters as "Sue no Matsuyama," so the place name and temple name reinforce each other.
End of our lives
This is a reference to the poem "Everlasting Sorrow" by Po Chu-i.
Old poem
This is an allusion to one of the Azuma Uta in the Kokinshu which goes:--
Okujoruri
Okujoruri is a kind of old style joruri, also called "Sendai Joruri" or "Okuni Joruri." In this style one narrates a story to the rhythm of a fan or biwa.
Past
In Japanese the line literally says: "He beat it with a rustic rhythm and he did it close by my pillow, but at any rate it was a tradition of this area and I could not put it from my mind, and so it seemed commendable."
Myojin Shrine
This Myojin Shrine was built by Date Masamune (1567-1639). He had inherited the Mutsu domain from his father. In 1590 he had an audience with Toyotomi Hideyoshi at his camp at Odawara and was received as a retainer of the Taiko. Later, at Sekigahara and at the seige of Osaka Castle he led attacks for Tokugawa Ieyasu and was later given the Sendai domain. He built the Shiogama Myojin shrine in 1597.
Izumi no Saburo
Izumi no Saburo was the third son of Fujiwara no Hidehira (?-1187) who built the powerful Fujiwara presence at Hiraizumi in the late Heian period. From there he ruled the north. Hidehira opposed Minamoto no Yoritomo and favored Yoshitsune. On his death bed Hidehira ordered his sons to protect Yoshitsune from Yoritomo. Saburo tried to do so and was murdered by his treacherous older brother. He died at the age of 23.
Five hundred years
Literally this passage reads: "The ghosts of 500 years ago came floating before my eyes now." This is an echo of the 1000 year old stone monument he had seen earlier at Taga Castle.
source : terebess.hu/english
末の松山 Sue no Matsuyama
それより野田の玉川沖の石を尋ぬ。 末の松山は寺を造りて末松山といふ。松のあひ／＼皆墓はらにて、はねをかはし枝をつらぬる契の末も終はかくのごときと悲しさも増りて、塩がまの浦に入相のかねを聞。五月雨の空聊はれて、夕月夜幽に、籬が嶋もほど近し。蜑の小舟こぎつれて、肴わかつ声／＼に、つなでかなしもとよみけん心もしられて、いとゞ哀也。其夜、目盲法師の琵琶をならして奥上るりと云ものをかたる。平家にもあらず、舞にもあらず。ひなびたる調子うち上て、枕ちかうかしましけれど、さすがに辺土の遺風忘れざるものから、殊勝に覚らる。
塩釜明神 Shiogama Myoojin
早朝塩がまの明神に詣。国守再興せられて、宮柱ふとしく彩椽きらびやかに石の階、九仭に重り、朝日あけの玉がきを かゞやかす。かゝる道の果塵土の境まで、神霊あらたにましますこそ、吾国の風俗 なれどいと貴けれ。神前に古き宝燈有。かねの戸びらの面に文治三年和泉三郎寄進と有。五百年来の俤今目の前にうかびて、そゞろに珍し。渠は勇義忠孝の士也。佳命今に至りて、したはずといふ事なし。誠人能道を勤、義を守べし。名もまた是にしたがふと云り。日既午にちかし。船をかりて松嶋にわたる。其間二里餘、雄嶋の磯につく。
. 源の義経 Minamoto no Yoshitsune (1159 - 1189) .
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Tr. Britton
The following morning, I rose early and did homage to the great god of the Myojin Shrine of Shiogama. This shrine had been rebuilt by the former governor of the province with stately columns, painted beams, and an impressive stone approach, and the morning sun shining directly on the vermillion fencing was almost dazzlingly bright. I was deeply impressed by the fact that the divine power of the gods had penetrated even to the extreme north of our country, and I bowed in humble reverence before the altar.
I noticed an old lantern in front of the shrine. According to the inscription on its iron window, it was dedicated by Izumi no Saburo in the third year of Bunji (1187). My thought immediately flew back across the span of five hundred years to the days of this most faithful warrior. His life is certain evidence that, if one performs one's duty and maintains one's loyalty, fame comes naturally in the wake, for there is hardly anyone now who does not honor him as the flower of chivalry.
It was already close to noon when I left the shrine. I hired a boat and started for the islands of Matsushima.
More about Izumi no Saburo 泉三郎 and a stone lantern in his honor
. WKD : Shiogama jinja 鹽竈神社 Shrine Shiogama .
and the Salt-making Deity
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松島やああ松島や松島や
Matsushima ya
aa Matsushima ya
Matsushima ya
attributed to Kyoka-Writer Monk Tahara Bo
狂歌師田原坊 (Tawara Boo, Tawarabo)
Read more about the discussion of this poem:
. WKD : Matsushima 松島 .
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Saigyo visiting the grave of Fujiwara Sanekata, a Heian period poet who was exiled in the North:
He has left nothing
but an undying name
in this world . . .
On his grave in the withered moor
pampas grass is all I see.
Tr. Ueda
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The sound of wind
brings the dew to the fields
on Miyagino
To the tiny bush clover
I convey my message.
If ever I should change my mind
and banish you from my heart
then let great ocean waves
rise and cross
Sue no Matsuyama
Tr. Kamens
. Basho and Saigyo 芭蕉と西行法師 .
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. Oku no Hosomichi - 奥の細道 - Introduction .
. WKD - Shiogama 塩竃市 - Sail-cord Festival .
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