WKD - Matsuo Basho Archives: OOO

Showing posts with label OOO. Show all posts

10/12/2014

OOO

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- O O O -

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. One sentence /theme hokku with three segments 5 7 5 .

. Onomatopoetic expressions used by Basho .

. Okinadoo, Okina Doo 翁堂 Okina Hall for Matsuo Basho . Gichu-Ji
okina 翁 "elder", honorable word for Matsuo Basho
(ogina)

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. ochi kuru ya Takaku no shuku no hototogisu .
(summer) hototogisu. the station of Takaku. (Oku no Hosomichi, Nasu)

- - - - - . ogi 荻 ogi reed - Miscanthus sacchariflorus . - - - - -

. ogi no ho ya kashira o tsukamu Rashoomon .
(autumn) ogi reed. it grabs my head. Rashomon gate (Kyoto)

荻の声こや秋風の口うつし
ogi no koe / koya akikaze no / kuchi utsushi

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- - - - - . oi 笈, oibako 笈箱 backpack of the Edo period . * - - - - -

. oogi nite sake kumu kage ya chiru sakura .
(spring) falling cherry blossoms. drinking sake. handfan (ōgi)

. oi mo tachi mo satsuki ni kazare kami nobori .
(summer) carp streamers, paper streamers. satchel and sword. the Sato family. Hosomichi 14

. Oi no Kobumi 笈の小文 Notes from my Knapsack - Backpack Notes .

老の名のありとも知らで四十雀
oi no na no / ari tomo shirade / shijūkara

起きあがる菊ほのかなり水のあと
okiagaru / kiku honoka nari / mizu no ato

. okiyo okiyo waga tomo ni sen neru kochoo .
(spring) butterfly. get up. my friend. sleep.

. okoraago no hitomoto yukashi ume no hana . - okorago 御子良子 *
(spring) plum blossoms. Okorago shrine maidens. how enjoyable.

. okuraretsu okuritsu hate wa Kiso no aki .
(autumn) at Kiso 木曽, seeing friends off

. omeikoo ya abura no yoo na sake go masu . 御命講 *
(autumn) Omeiko 御命講 ceremony for Saint Nichiren 日蓮. ricewine
O-Meiko

- - - - - . omizutori, O-mizutori お水取り water-drawing ritual . * - - - - -

思ひ立つ木曾や四月の桜狩り / 思ひ出す木曾や四月の桜狩 - omoidasu / Kiso ya shigatsu no / sakura-gari
. omoitatsu Kiso ya shigatsu no sakuragari .
(spring) hunting for cherry blossoms.in Kiso . I am resolved

. omokage ya oba hitori naku tsuki no tomo .
(autumn) moon. old woman, weeping
at Mount Sarashinayama 更科山

- - - - - omoshiroi 面白い how interesting, exciting, amusing funny - - - - -

. omoshiroki aki no asane ya teishuburi .
(autumn) light sleep, my host

. omoshiroote yagate kanashiki ubune kana.
(summer) boat for cormorant fishing, interesting, sad

. omoshiro ya kotoshi no haru mo tabi no sora.
(spring) this year, a traveller's sky

面白し雪にやならん冬の雨　
omoshiroshi / yuki ni ya naran / fuyu no ame
rain in winter

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. ono ga hi o kigi ni hotaru ya hana no yado .
(summer) fireflies. turning trees into blossom-viewing inns

. ono-zumi ya tenarau hito no hai zeseri . - 小野炭 *
(winter) charcoal from Ono. a student of calligraphy scribbles in ashes

- - - - - . oogi, ōgi, ogi 扇 handfan, hand fan . * - - - - -
and uchiwa 団扇

. oogi nite sake kumu kage ya chiru sakura .
(spring) cherry blossoms. my hand fan. I pretend to drink sake

- - - - -

大比叡やしの字を引いて一霞　
oohie - Ô-Hie ya / shi no ji o hiite / hito kasumi
Hieizan Kyoto

. Oo-Hie ya shi no ji o hiite hito kasumi .
(spring) mist. Mount Oo-Hiei 大比叡. like the letter SHI し.

. ooji oya mago no sakae ya kaki mikan .
(autumn) persimmons. mikan. grandfather, father, grandchildren . . .(at Katata 堅田)

- - - - - . Oomi 近江 89 poems written in Omi, Shiga - ###. - - - - -
yuku haru o Oomi no hito to oshimikeru

. Oomi-gaya / ase ya sazanami yoru no toko . - 近江蚊帳 *
(summer) mosquito net from Omi. sweat. bed at night

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. Ootsu e no fude no hajime wa nani botoke . - 大津絵　*
(New Year) first use of the brush. Otsu-e paintings. Buddha image

. Oranda mo hana ni ki ni keri uma ni kura .
(spring) blossoms. Dutch delegation in Edo. saddle my horse

- - - - - ori ori, oriori 折々 now and then - - - - -

折々に伊吹を見ては冬籠り
ori ori ni / ibuki o mite wa / fuyu-gomori

. ori ori wa su ni naru kiku no sakana kana .
(autumn) chrysanthemum. vinegar. appetizer

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幼名や知らぬ翁の丸頭巾
. osana na ya shiranu okina no maruzukin .
(winter) hood. name for a boy. round hood of an old man I never met
for Matsunaga Teitoku 松永貞徳

. otoroi ya ha ni kuiateshi nori no suna .
(spring) laver seaweed. teeth. sand in the seaweed. declining strength

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30/11/2012

Oku no Hosomichi

source with haiku :　basho/footmark

In 1689 - 元禄2年3月27日 - 9月6日

He leaves for "Oku no Hosomichi"奥の細道
on the 27th day of the 3rd lunar month and reaches Ogaki
on the 6th day of the 9th lunar month.

The dates for the Gregorian calendar are given with varying dates,
starting from May 6 to May 24.

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Road measurements are given in ri　理.
1 ri - 36 choo　町　- about 3,9 km.
Most official roads of the Edo period had a stone marker and tree on a mound at each ri.

ichirizuka 一里塚 mound at each RI
(equivalent of a milestone)

These mounds were a mark for a restplace, travelers could rest in the shade of the tree.
Usually they were pine (sugi　杉 or matsu　松), or
. enoki 榎 nettletree, Chinese hackberry tree . .

Basho's trip took 600 Ri in 150 days,
about 2400 kilometers of walking.

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. Oku no Hosomichi - NHK 2007 .

. Was Basho a ninja or onmitsu spy? .
Onmitsu : Oku no Hosomichi 隠密 - 奥の細道
Sora, Kawai Sora 河合曾良

奥 OKU - what does this stand for?
. Michinoku, Mutsu 陸奥 region in Tohoku .

Basho traveled to the Tohoku region, where he had less friends than in Kansai, but could visit places in memory of
. Priest Saigyo Hoshi 西行法師 .
and
. Priest Noin Hoshi 能因法師 (Nooin Hooshi)　 .
(988-1051)

. - His outfit as a traveler in the Edo time - . 　　

with 23 pairs
source : www.yumekougei.com

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蕪村筆「奥の細道画巻」
Paintings by Yosa Buson
- Reference with paintings -

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The first poem of the trip begins with

yuku haru 行く春 spring is ending

The last poem ends with

yuku aki 行秋 autumn is ending

This shows Basho's keen appreciation of the seasons.

quote
In the actual journey that Basho took in the spring of 1689, he had extremely limited success in finding new disciples in Michinoku.
- snip -
Basho, in short, made no significant new contacts in the northeast, the original destination of the journey, and his style and school did not take root in this area (Yamagata).
By contrast, Dewa and the area facing the Japanese Sea, particularly the Shonai region (northwest Yamagata. . .) and the Hokuriku area - Echigo, Etchu, Kaga and Echizen (Fukui) - proved to be a haikai goldmine.
Although Basho had almost no connections in the Shonai region, he encountered a number of young and talented poets:
- snip -
- Shirane, Traces of Dreams, page 250
source : books.google.co.jp

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Kuniharu Shimizu
source : tfship.net/bookstore

西本鶏介

天野吉則 Amano paintings on the way

芦原伸
taking the train, Basho on my weekends
CLICK for more samples of Japanese books !

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Oku no Hosomichi - Karuta 奥の細道かるた

Basho karuta -
study your culture
while you play

. WKD : HAIKU KARUTA .

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Basho speaks paradoxically about how the gods have motivated his decision to travel.
He refers to two types of gods.

The first is Sozorogami, the other are the Dosojin　道祖神.

Vom Kofferpacken und dem Gott des Fernwehs.

sozorogami そぞろ神 / そヾろ神 / 漫ろ神
suzurugami すずろがみ / 漫神
sowasowa no kami　そわそわの神
. WKD : Aruki-gami 歩行神 God of Wandering .

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"Unfortunately, Japanese haiku loses a lot in translation ... "

おくのほそ道: Oku No Hosomichi - Professor Donald Keene
- source : http://books.google.co.jp

Narrow Road to the Interior:
And Other Writings
Bashō Matsuo, Sam Hamill

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Oku no Hosomichi - Haiku and Senryu
おくのほそ道・俳句・川柳
田中貴子

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External LINKS - ENGLISH

Notes to the transalations
source : terebess.hu/english

Barnhill, David Landis Barnhill
Basho's Journey: The Literary Prose of Matsuo Basho - 2005
- source : books.google.co.jp

Britton, Dorothy Britton (1941 - September 16, 2014)
- source : http://books.google.co.jp

Cid Corman and Kamaike Susumu
Back Roads To Far Towns:
Basho's Travel Journal (Companions for the Journey)
- Full Text - PDF file -

Sato, Hiroaki Sato - Bashō's Narrow Road: Spring & Autumn Passages : Two Works
- source : http://books.google.co.jp

Yuasa, Nobuyuki Yuasa
Matsuo Basho's "Narrow Road to the Deep North"
with extensive literature links
source : terebess.hu/english

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Chilcott, Translation - bilingual by Dr Tim Chilcott
source : Simply Haiku

Utamakura: Storied Places
Bashō’s Oku no Hosomichi (Narrow Roads of Oku)
with google map and all !
source : Dennis Kawaharada

Oku no hosomichi - Wikipedia
With a long list of all the publications, books etc.
source : en.wikipedia.org

Oku no Hosomichi - Wiki Travel
Narrow Road to the Deep North
source : http://wikitravel.org/en/Narrow_Road

- Further Reference -

Basho in Akita Prefecture　秋田県
source : Akita International Haiku Network

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JAPANESE

The Text of Basho's Oku no hosomichi
source : etext.virginia.edu

Detailed Itinerary with all the dates and distances
source : itoyo/basho/okunohosomichi

Translation into modern Japanese - Rodoku
with sound track to listen to roodoku　おくのほそ道」の朗読
source : hosomichi.roudokus.com

source :　www.e-hon.ne.jp

神社仏閣一覧 shrines and temples visited during Oku no Hosomichi
source : komichan/tanbou

みちのくの足跡
source : www.bashouan.com

おくのほそ道芭蕉・曽良句集 - with beautiful images
source : www.bashouan.com kushuu

私の芭蕉紀行 - 私の「おくのほそ道」
source : intweb.co.jp/miura

walking along, drawing paintings . . .
source : hide-tabi.blog

- Further Reference - おくのほそ道

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External LINKS - DEUTSCH - GERMAN

Auf schmalen Pfaden durchs Hinterland
Geza S. Dombrady and Ekkehard May - Dieterich’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung Mainz 1985
(Vollstaendiger Text)
http://www.k5.dion.ne.jp

Bashô (1644 - 1694) und sein Tagebuch "Oku no Hosomichi"
Hans Ueberschaar
source : books.google.co.jp

Landschaft und Erinnerung: Zu Bashōs Oku no Hosomichi
Robert F. Wittkamp
- - - - - mit Holzschnittbildern aus dem Bashō-ō Ekotoba-den
source : deutsche-ostasienstudien.de

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source : www.yasudaya-kagu.com

Paper Umbrella with Basho and Sora
wagasa from Gifu 和傘 - 岐阜

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. Enpitsu de Oku no Hosomichi - えんぴつで奥の細道 .
Tracing the Narrow Road to the Deep North with a Pencil

. Oku no Hosomichi - NHK 2007 .

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Izakaya Oku no Hosomichi 居酒屋おくのほそ道 - 太田和彦, 村松誠 -

. Sake no Hosomichi のほそ道 "The Narrow Roads of Ricewine".
Manga by Razuweru Hosoki ラズウェル細木 Rozwell Hosoki

Mochi no Hosomichi　もちの細道 in Memory of Basho
. Mochi Rice Cakes　餅　 .

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Novel by Richard Flanagan

The Narrow Road to the Deep North
by Roger Pulvers
The time line of Richard Flanagan’s new novel, “The Narrow Road to the Deep North,” slips back and forth from prewar Tasmania, Melbourne and Adelaide to postwar Sydney, among other locations. Yet there is only one stark, unrelenting and everlasting present — “the Line,” the 415-km-long Burma-Thailand railway that was built between June 1942 and October 1943 by more than 300,000 prisoners of war under the command of the Japanese. One in three prisoners’ lives was lost on that arch-brutal forced march. Of those who perished, 90 percent were Asian, primarily Burmese and Malayans, but also Chinese, Tamils, Thais and Javanese. Nearly 3,000 Australians were among those killed. Richard Flanagan’s father was one of the lucky POWs who survived.
snip
This being a newspaper published in Japan, it seems appropriate to mention that some of the haiku appearing in the novel are badly mistranslated. (The novel’s title comes from Basho’s classic and, as such, haiku play a key role in the narrative.)

The translation of Issa’s haiku about “the world of dew” that forms a chapter heading in the novel renders kenka as “struggle,” when what the poet means here is “quarrel.” Issa was commenting on a dispute of inheritance he had with his family. “Struggle” might be more meaningful in the context of wartime suffering, but it’s not what the original expresses and it sends the wrong signals.

The first chapter of the novel is preceded by Basho’s haiku about a bee emerging from the depths of a peony. The translation used has the bee “staggering out” of the peony, while in the original, from “Nozarashi Kikō,” tells us that the bee is coming out of the flower not staggering but with reluctant regret. Basho (the bee) is expressing gratitude to his hosts who took such good care of him on the road, telling them how sad he is to leave them.
- source : /www.japantimes.co.jp - November 2013

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kojiki no yo 乞食の世　 "A Beggar's world"
. Travels by Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶　.

. WKD : Calendar Systems .

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18/11/2012

Oku Station 1 - Prologue

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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 .

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- - - Station 1 - Prologue 出発まで - - -

Days and months are the travellers of eternity. So are the years that pass by. Those who steer a boat across the sea, or drive a horse over the earth till they succumb to the weight of years, spend every minute of their lives travelling. There are a great number of the ancients, too, who died on the road. I myself have been tempted for a long time by the cloud-moving wind- filled with a strong desire to wander.

It was only toward the end of last autumn that I returned from rambling along the coast. I barely had time to sweep the cobwebs from my broken house on the River Sumida before the New Year, but no sooner had the spring mist begun to rise over the field than I wanted to be on the road again to cross the barrier-gate of Shirakawa in due time. The gods seem to have possessed my soul and turned it inside out, and the roadside images seemed to invite me from every corner, so that it was impossible for me to stay idle at home.

Even while I was getting ready, mending my torn trousers, tying a new strap to my hat, and applying moxa to my legs to strengthen them, I was already dreaming of the full moon rising over the islands of Matsushima. Finally, I sold my house, moving to the cottage of Sampu, for a temporary stay. Upon the threshold of my old home, however, I wrote a linked verse of eight pieces and hung it on a wooden pillar.

The starting piece was:

Behind this door
Now buried in deep grass
A different generation will celebrate
The Festival of Dolls.

Tr. by Nobuyuki Yuasa

- - - - - Notes
Eternity, in time, generations, voyagers
This is an allusion to a work by the Chinese poet Li Po.

Road, travelling, journey, journeyed
Basho's respected models all died on the road; Saigyo at Kawachi, Sogi at Hakone Yumoto, Li Po at Kiukiang, and Tu Fu who died at Lake Dotei. Where did Noin die?

Corner, road gods, Dosojin, spirits of the road
The Dosojin are pairs of male and female deities that protect travellers. These statues are located beside the roads.

Pillar, hut, cottage
A renga would be written on multiple sheets of paper with the first eight verses coming on the first page, so that is what Basho posted up. This renga no longer exists.

Dolls, well, house
By using the line "hina no ie" Basho suggests that whoever moves into this place has either a wife or a daughter. Since Basho has neither, the poem expreses how different his situation is from that of the new occupant.
source : terebess.hu/english

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月日は百代の過客にして、行かふ年も又旅人也。
舟の上に生涯をうかべ馬の口とらえて老をむかふる物は、日々旅にして、旅を栖とす。古人も多く旅に死せるあり。予もいづれの年よりか、片雲の風にさそはれて、漂泊の思ひやまず、海浜にさすらへ、去年の秋江上の破屋に蜘の古巣をはらひて、やゝ年も暮、春立る霞の空に、白河の関こえんと、そヾろ神の物につきて心をくるはせ、道祖神のまねきにあひて取もの手につかず、もゝ引の破をつヾり、笠の緒付かえて、三里に灸すゆるより、松島の月先心にかゝりて、住る方は人に譲り、杉風が別墅に移るに、

草の戸も住替る代ぞひなの家 - kusa no to mo zumikawaru yo zo hina no ie
面八句を庵の柱に懸置

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- - - - - Translation by Donald Keene

The months and days are the travellers of eternity.
The years that come and go are also voyagers.

Those who float away their lives on ships or who grow old leading horses are forever journeying, and their homes are wherever their travels take them. Many of the men of old died on the road, and I too for years past have been stirred by the sight of a solitary cloud drifting with the wind to ceaseless thoughts of roaming.

Last year I spent wandering along the seacoast. In autumn I returned to my cottage on the river and swept away the cobwebs. Gradually the year drew to its close. When spring came and there was mist in the air, I thought of crossing the Barrier of Shirakawa into Oku. I seemed to be possessed by the spirits of wanderlust, and they all but deprived me of my senses. The guardian spirits of the road beckoned, and I could not settle down to work.

I patched my torn trousers and changed the cord on my bamboo hat. To strengthen my legs for the journey I had moxa burned on my shins. By then I could think of nothing but the moon at Matsushima. When I sold my cottage and moved to Sampū’s villa, to stay until I started on my journey, I hung this poem on a post in my hut:

kusa no to mo sumikawaru yo zo hina no ie

Even a thatched hut
May change with a new owner
Into a doll’s house.

This became the first of an eight-verse sequence.
source :　en.wikipedia.org

- - - - - Translation by Barnhill :

Months and days are the wayfarers of a hundred generations,
the years too, going and coming, are wanderers.
For those who drift life away on a boat, for those who meet age leading a horse by the mouth, each day is a journey, the journey itself home. Among Ancients, too, many died on a journey. And so I to—for how many years—drawn by a cloud wisp wind, have been unable to stop thoughts of rambling. I roamed the coast, then last fall brushed cobwebs off my winter hut. The year too gradually passed, and with a sky of spring’s rising mist came thoughts of crossing the Shirakawa Barrier.
Possessed by the spirits of roving which wrenched the heart, beckoned by Dōsojin, unable to settle hand on anything, I mended a tear in my pants, replaced a cord in my hat, burned my shins with moxa, and then with the moon of Matsushima rising in my mind, I handed on my hut to another and moved to Sanpū’s cottage.

a grass hut
has a season of moving:
a doll’s house 　

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- - - - - - - - - - MORE translations of the "months and days"

Moon & sun are passing figures of countless generations,
and years coming or going wanderers too.
Drifting life away on a boat or meeting age leading a horse by the mouth, each day is a journey and the journey itself home. Amongst those of old were many that perished upon the journey.
(translated by Cid Corman and Kamaike Susumu, Back Roads to Far Towns)

The sun and the moon are eternal voyagers; the years that come and go are travelers too. For those whose lives float away on boats, for those who greet old age with hands clasping the lead ropes of horses, travel is life, travel is home. And many are the men of old who have perished as they journeyed.
(translated by Helen Craig McCullough, The Narrow Road to the Interior)

The passing days and months are eternal travellers in time.
The years that come and go are travellers too.
Life itself is a journey; and as for those who spend their days upon the waters in ships and those who grow old leading horses, their very home is the open road. And some poets of old there were who died while travelling.
(translated by Dorothy Britton, Narrow Road to a Far Province)

source : ngm.nationalgeographic.com

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kusa no to mo sumikawaru yo zo hina no ie

the grass door too
turning into
a doll’s house
Tr. Corman and Kamaike

My old grasshut
Lived in now by another generation
Is decked out with dolls.
Tr. Earl Miner

This rude hermit cell
Will be different now, knowing Dolls’
Festival as well.
Tr. Dorothy Britton

Even my grass-thatched hut
will have new occupants now:
a display of dolls.
Tr. Helen Craig McCullough

Even a thatched hut
May change with a new owner
Into a doll’s house.
Tr. Donald Keene

In my grass hut the residents change:
now a doll’s house
Tr. Hiroaki Sato

Even this grass hut
may be transformed
into a doll’s house.
Tr. Sam Hamill

even this grass hut
could for the new owner be
a festive house of dolls!
Tr. Tim Chilcott

The full translations are all here
source : www.bopsecrets.org

this old thatched hut
will change inhabitants now -
a home with hina dolls
Tr. Gabi Greve

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The months and days are wayfarers of a hundred generations,
and the years that come and go are also travellers.

Tr. Hiroaki Sato

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The moon and sun are eternal travelers.
Even the years wander on.
A lifetime adrift in a boat, or in old age leading a tired horse into the years,
every day is a journey,
and the journey itself is home.

Following Basho's Footsteps
source : Will Aitken

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Months and days are the wayfarers of a hundred generations, the years too, going and coming, are wanderers. For those who drift life away on a boat, for those who meet age leading a horse by the mouth, each day is a journey, the journey itself home. Among ancients, too, many died on the journey. And so I too--for how many years--drawn by a cloud wisp wind, have been unable to stop thoughts of rambling.

Here death is always followed by life, as life is followed by death. This is neither the cyclical change in which spring goes and then returns nor the karmic cycle of rebirth. The images of days, months, and years suggests that what passes will not return: a year once gone is gone forever. The ancients, too, have come and gone, dying on their life's journey, to be followed by other poets and religious practitioners. Now Bashō journeys, and the implication is that he too will die--and that others will follow him. The balance between the acute sense of death with strong sense of historical continuity gives this passage a pronounced tone of solemn celebration.

For Bashō, mujô is the central aspect of his religious worldview. Worldview has been defined as what a "religion affirms about the ultimate nature of reality" and it functions as a frame of perception, a symbolic screen through which experience is interpreted.3 For Bashō, mujô shaped his vision of how life ultimately is and it lead to his view of how it ought to be, which he embodied in his wayfaring lifestyle.

THE JOURNALS OF MATSUO BASHŌ
source : Barnhill

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kusa no to mo sumi—kawaru yo zo hina no ie

Even my grass hut
has changed into a home
for colourful dolls

This is from the opening haiku to Basho’s Narrow Road to the Deep North, which forms the first section of a renga sequence, consisting of 8 links, which Basho left on the outside post. The haiku is preceded by an adaptation to the preface of a poem by Li Po entitled On a Spring Night, Holding a Banquet at the Peach and Plum Gardens,

“Heaven and earth are like an inn, for all things are contained within the universe,
light and shadow are the travellers of a thousand generations,
Making this life nothing more than a floating dream.".

Legend and poetic myth record how Li Po, after a night of wine and poetry, boating on a lake, saw the reflection of the moon on water. In attempting to grasp it, he fell overboard and drowned.

- Tr. and Comment : Bill Wyatt

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The sponsor of Basho
. Sugiyama Sanpu, the crying Fishmonger .

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source :　kiraku88.blogspot.jp

sanri ni kyuu 三里に灸 moxabustion on the point "sanri"

ashi no sanri　足の三里　the point SANRI on the leg, ST36
there is another one on the arm.

. WKD : day for the moxabustion, kyuu suebi 灸据え日 .
kigo for mid-spring

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Oku Station 2 - Departure

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. Edo - Senju 千住 Senju district .
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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 .

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source :　www.yumekougei.com

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- - - Station 2 - Departure 旅立 at Senju　千住　 - - -

It was early on the morning of March the twenty-seventh that I took to the road. There was darkness lingering in the sky, and the moon was still visible, though gradually thinning away. The faint shadow of Mount Fuji and the cherry blossoms of Ueno and Yanaka were bidding me a last farewell. My friends had got together the night before, and they all came with me on the boat to keep me company for the first few miles. When we got off the boat at Senju, however, the thought of three thousand miles before me suddenly filled my heart, and neither the houses of the town nor the faces of my friends could be seen by my tearful eyes except as a vision.

The passing spring
Birds mourn,
Fishes weep
With tearful eyes.

With this poem to commemorate my departure, I walked forth on my journey, but lingering thoughts made my steps heavy. My friends stood in a line and waved good-bye as long as they could see my back.

Tr. by Nobuyuki Yuasa
source : terebess.hu/english

弥生も末の七日、明ぼのゝ空朧々として、月は在明にて光おさまれる物から不二の峯幽にみえて、上野谷中の花の梢又いつかはと心ぼそし。むつまじきかぎりは宵よりつどひて舟に乗て送る。千じゆと云所にて船をあがれば、前途三千里のおもひ胸にふさがりて幻のちまたに離別の泪をそゝく。

行春や鳥啼魚の目は泪 - yuku haru ya

是を矢立の初として、行道なをすゝまず。人々は途中に立ならびて、後かげのみゆる迄はと見送なるべし。

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tears in the eyes of fish, maybe the most misunderstood line . . .

Sugiyama Sanpu was an official fish merchant of the Bakufu government in Edo. He was also an ardent haikai poet and supported Matsuo Basho in many ways, helping him to establish his Basho school of haikai.
He was one of the Basho jittetsu 芭蕉十哲 10 most important followers.

When starting out to the long and dangerous trip of "Oku no Hosomichi", Basho wrote this famous haiku in his honor :

行く春や鳥啼き魚の目は泪
yuku haru ya tori naki uo no me wa namida

spring is leaving ..
birds sing
tears in the eyes of (my friend called) Fish
Tr. Gabi Greve

yuku haru - Basho himself is leaving in spring.

tori ga naku is a normal expression for the birds singing. It is written with the beautiful Chinese character 啼 , and not with the normal character for "to cry" , naku　泣く weeping when humans are sad.
This bird of spring is the hototogisu with his gentle warbling.

uo no me : the eye of fish - And what kind of fish is this?
Maybe the sawara 鰆, Spanish mackerel, which has the character for SPRING　春 in its name?
Or shirauo, 白魚 the white fish, which is a delicacy of this region and was a favorite dish of Basho himself.
uo no me 魚の目, the "eye of a fish" is also an expression for a corn on the sole of the foot. Basho is maybe thinking about the long journey ahead and the many corns he has to tend to on the way.
In fact, fish is haiku shorthand、a kind of kakekotoba, for his friend, the fish dealer.

The sponsor of Basho in Edo
. Sugiyama Sanpu, the crying Fishmonger .

This famous hokku even made it to a stamp.

departing spring—
birds cry, in the fishes’
eyes are tears
Tr. Barnhill

the spring is passing -
the birds all mourn and fishes'
eyes are wet with tears
Tr. Chalicott

departing spring
the birds at their cries fishes'
eyes Amida tears
Tr. Corman/Kamaike

departing spring -
birds weep, and fishes' eyes
are tearful
Tr. Ueda

A primavera acabou
os pássaros cantam e os olhos dos peixes
estão cheios de lágrimas
- Tr. Jose Queiroga, fb -

Painting by Buson : Basho and Sora

Basho is also alluding to Chinese poems:

Tu Fu "Spring View"

In grief for the times, I shed tears at the sight of flowers.
Resentful of parting, I brood over the cries of birds.

Tao Chien "Returning to Live in the Country"

A migrant bird longs for its native woods.
A fish in the pond recalls the mountain pond it came from.

Bashō and his interpreters, Makoto Ueda, Bashō Matsuo

Discussion with Chen-ou Liu about the "Chinese background"
and further translations :
. Translating Haiku Forum .

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YATATE

是を矢立の初として、行道なをすゝまず。

This was the first time I used my travel writing implements,
and I was still reluctant to venture farther.
Tr. Hiroaki Sato

Basho uses his YATATE writing utensils for the first time
in Senjuu　千住　Senju.
There is now a memorial stone of this event at the modern bridge of Senju.

. yatate 矢立 portable writing utensils .
Basho and his traveler's outfit.
With a statue of Basho using his YATATE.

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source : itoyo/basho

鮎の子の白魚送る別れ哉　
ayu no ko no shirauo okuru wakare kana

young ayu sweetfish
are seeing off the whitefish
and say good bye . . .
Tr. Gabi Greve

Written in 1689 元禄2年3月.
The whitefish are the first to go upstream to spawn, the ayu follow them one month later.
Basho and Sora (whitefish) are ready to depart for "Oku no Hosomichi"
and he has to leave his young disciples (ayu no ko) behind at Senju.

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

. WKD - trout (ayu and masu 鮎　- 鱒) .

. WKD - whitebait, icefish (shirauo 白魚) . 　　

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LINKS

Oku no hosomichi (opening) - - -with Notes by Royall Tyler
source : www.meijigakuin.ac.jp

More online translations
- - - birds are weeping
of fish there are tears

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. - wakare 別れ　Basho parting with friends　 - .

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- #okunohosomichi #senju -
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Oku Station 3 - Soka

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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 .

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- - - Station 3 - Sooka 草加 Soka - - -

I walked all through that day, ever wishing to return after seeing the strange sights of the far north, but not really believing in the possibility, for I knew that departing like this on a long journey in the second year of Genroku I should only accumulate more frosty hairs on my head as I approached the colder regions. When I reached the village of Soka in the evening, my bony shoulders were sore because of the load I had carried, which consisted of a paper coat to keep me warm at night, a light cotton gown to wear after the bath, scanty protection against the rain, writing equipment, and gifts from certain friends of mine. I wanted to travel light, of course, but there were always certain things I could not throw away either for practical or sentimental reasons.

Tr. by Nobuyuki Yuasa
source : terebess.hu/english

ことし元禄二とせにや、奥羽長途の行脚、只かりそめに思ひたちて呉天に白髪の恨を重ぬといへ共耳にふれていまだめに見ぬさかひ若生て帰らばと定なき頼の末をかけ、其日漸早加と云宿にたどり着にけり。痩骨の肩にかゝれる物先くるしむ。只身すがらにと出立侍を、帋子一衣は夜の防ぎ、ゆかた雨具墨筆のたぐひ、あるはさりがたき餞などしたるはさすがに打捨がたくて、路次の煩となれるこそわりなけれ。

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During the times of Basho this was a small postal town with about 120 homes and maybe 5 or 6 lodgings. There was a tofu shop, dealers for salt, oil, dumplings, mochi rice cakes and a public bath and hairdresser. The other houses were farmers.

草加宿と芭蕉
- source : www.imayo-sokasyuku.com/history

Map with memorial stones and statue of Basho
- source : www.bashouan.com/YA_Map

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Soka Matsubara,
an avenue with a row of more than 600 pipe trees, is a well-known sightseeing spot in Soka.This place, also called Sembon Matsubara (lit. 1,000-tree Matsubara), has been a notable site along the highway since olden days, and is known as well for its deep relationship with haiku (a very short form of Japanese poetry typically characterized by having just three lines).
You can also enjoy stone tablets inscribed with haiku written by famous Japanese haiku poets, such as Matsuo Basho and Masaoka Shiki.
Soka Matsubara, where the green of the pine trees and the blue of the river show a beautiful combination, quietly speaks of the history of the Japanese road. .

- source : www.sainokuni-kanko.jp

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Oku Station 4 - Muronoyashima

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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 .

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- - - Station 4 - Muronoyashima, Muro no Yashima 室の八嶋 - - -

I went to see the shrine of Muronoyashima. According to Sora, my companion, this shrine is dedicated to the goddess called the Lady of the Flower-Bearing Trees, who has another shrine at the foot of Mt.Fuji. This goddess is said to have locked herself up in a burning cell to prove the divine nature of her newly-conceived son when her husband doubted it. As a result, her son was named the Lord Born Out of the Fire, and her shrine, Muro-no-yashima, which means a burning cell.
It was the custom of this place for poets to sing of the rising smoke, and for ordinary people not to eat konoshiro, a speckled fish, which has a vile smell when burnt.

Tr. by Nobuyuki Yuasa

- - - - - NOTES
Burning cell
The story from the Nihongi is this:
"The August Grandchild accordingly favored (i.e., married) her, whereupon in one night she became pregnant. But the August Grandchild was slow to believe this, and said:- 'Heavenly deity though I am, how could I cause anyone to become pregnant in the space of one night? That which thou hast in thy bosom is assuredly not my child.' Therefore Ka-ashi-tsu-hime was wroth. She prepared a doorless muro (called utsumuro), and entering, dwelt therein. Then she made a solemn declaration, saying: -
'If that which is in my bosom is not the offspring of the Heavenly Grandchild, it will assuredly be destroyed by fire, but if it is really the offspring of the Heavenly grandchild, fire cannot harm it.'
So she set fire to the muro. The child which was born from the extremity of the smoke which first arose was called Ho no Susori no mikoto (he was the ancestor of the Hayato)..." [W.G. Aston, p. 71-3]
The Heavenly Grandchild here is the deity who descended from the high plain of heaven to Takachiho and thus provides the living link between heaven and earth.

According to another version of the story, the princess secluded herself in a cave which became a birthing room and purified it with fire to insure a safe birth. She gave birth to three deities: Hosuseri, Hoakari, and Hohodemi.

Burnt
They say that this fish when cooked gives off the smell of burning human flesh and therefore is associated with the Lady of the Flowerbearing Trees. This is also why people are forbidden to eat this fish.

source : terebess.hu/english

室の八嶋に詣す。同行曾良が曰、「此神は木の花さくや姫の神と申て富士一躰也。無戸室に入て焼給ふちかひのみ中に、火々出見のみこと生れ給ひしより室の八嶋と申。又煙を讀習し侍もこの謂也」。将このしろといふ魚を禁ず。縁記の旨世に傳ふ事も侍し。

. the fish konoshiro コノシロ　(Konosirus punctatus) .

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The eight "islands" of Muro 室の八嶋

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 the word 日も＝紐 thread.

Muro no Yashima
source : ee4y-nsn

"Doorless Shrine of the Cauldron" - tr. by Keene

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糸遊に結びつきたる煙哉
itoyuu ni musubitsukitaru kemuri kana

with threads of
heat waves it is interwoven:
the smoke
Tr. Barnhill

. WKD : itoyuu 糸遊, 、yuushi 遊糸"playing threads" heat shimmers .

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- further reference -

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