WKD - Matsuo Basho Archives

06/06/2012

Shiba no To

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- Shiba no To 柴の戸 Brushwood Gate -

Essay "Shiba no To" 柴の戸 Brushwood Gate
真蹟懐紙

Buson on the anniversary of Basho's death

西吹けば東にたまる落ば哉
nishi fukeba higashi ni tamaru ochiba kana

blowing from the west
fallen leaves gather
in the east

Further Reference

Remark by Larry Bole:

Since the above was written on the anniversary of Basho's death,
I suspect that it may have been inspired by Basho's:

柴の戸に茶の木の葉掻く嵐かな
shiba no to ni cha o konoha kaku asashi kana

against the brushwood gate
it sweeps the tea leaves:
windstorm
Tr. Barnhill

Against the brushwood gate
Dead tea leaves swirl
In the stormy wind.
source :　www.meister-z.com

Toward my brushwood door
sending tree leaves for my tea -
the stormy wind

The lines Basho cites in the passage are from Bo Juyi's (772 - 846) poem.
"Farwell to Hermit Zhang on His Return to Songyang".
Basho compares Chang'an, the ancient capital of Tang China, to the city in which he had lived and links his renunciation of profit and fame to the Chinese poem.

Peipei Qiu
source : http://books.google.co.jp

toward the brushwood gate
it sweeps the tea leaves -
stormy wind
Tr. Ueda

At my brushwood gate
drinking tea, leaves are swept up
by a stormy wind

In one of his earliest haibun, written in the late autumn of 1680 Basho writes, “Having lived an austere life for nine springs and autumns, I decided to move to the banks of the Fukagawa River. Having the same feelings as that poet of old, who once said,
‘Since Chang-an has long been a place for those who seek fame and fortune, a place tough on those who are empty-handed and penniless.’ Maybe that’s why I can appreciate his sensibility?”
Tr. and Comment : Bill Wyatt

Written in winter 延宝8年冬　Basho age 37
Basho had lived here and there in Edo and finally come to live in a small hut in Fukagawa.
He is reminded of a Chinese poem about the Chinese capital Chang An and his own poor lifestyle.

長安は古来名利の地、
空手にして金なきものは行路難し

柴の庵と聞けば賤しき名なれども
世に好もしきものにぞありける

source : itoyo/basho

"Shiba no To" 柴の戸 Brushwood Gate

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quote

shiba no io to kikeba iyashiki nanaredomo
yo ni konomoshiki mono ni zo arikeru

Brushwood hut:
the words sound so despicalbe and yet
in this world it is
a thing of true delight

This poem, included in the Sankashu, was written by the priest Saigyō when he visited a monk named Amidabō living in the Higashiyama district of Kyoto. I delighted in wondering what kind of person that monk was.
Here I offer a poem to a monk who now spends his life in a grass hut.

柴の戸の月やそのまま阿弥陀坊　
shiba no to no tsuki ya sono mama Amida boo

this brushwood hut's
moon; just as it was
for Amidabō

Tr. Barnhill
source : books.google.co.jp

Written about 貞亨元年, Basho age 41 or older

source :　yamatono_dorei_m
clay bell with this hokku 芭蕉土鈴

西行堂・西行庵・芭蕉堂
Saigyo Do Hall, Basho Do Hall in Higashiyama, Kyoto
. - Bashoo doo 芭蕉堂 Basho Do Hall - .

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. Cultural Keywords used by Basho .

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Susan Shand

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- Susan Shand about Basho -

source : www.geantreepress.com

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ditties, doggerel and jingles

What counts as "good" haiku? One commentator in one of the newer bazaars today posted this...

"The use of the word 'hokku'
is ideological here in that its use is to distinguish serious short form poems as adapted by the poetic sensibilities of certain Japanese poets from the wide range of short ditties, doggerel and jingles spewed out in a constant stream from all manner of originators. [...] The public perception of haiku is that anyone can write one so that the art becomes a mere plaything that would never be taken as a serious form of poetry. The penetration of the word haiku, as I have just identified it, has become over time the default meaning of the word by the general populace. Using the word 'hokku' is a statement to the general populace that the poem being identified as such was written as a serious piece of creative writing bearing a discernible relationship with the poetic tradition exemplified in the best works of Basho, Chiyo-ni, Buson and Issa."
- Hansha Teki

This is rather like someone complaining that because the postings on Poetry.com are so appallingly bad we are, in future, going to distance ourselves from that by calling *our "good" poetry* by the new title "Sonnet".

Not only is this an "us and them" elitist group identification, (can I join your posh group please? I don't want to be thought to be a pleb or nuthin, innit?) but it is a completely unnecessary re-defining of words which are already in use under clear definitions.

"HAIKU
Definition: A haiku is a short poem that uses imagistic language to convey the essence of an experience of nature or the season intuitively linked to the human condition." -- HSA[1]

"HOKKU
Definition: A hokku is the first stanza of a linked-verse poem." -- HSA [1]

Anyone who has a problem with those definitions needs to address the defining authority or come up with a better definition which can be supported by consensus.

If there is a problem in the standard of work being posted in internet groups or published in journals then the solution to that problem is NOT to redefine the categories so as to make yourself look like a *real poet* and thus to make all the others look like idiots. We are ALL students! No one that I know of is an accredited Master in western haiku. Creating false categories will not improve your work or anyone elses. Anyone who writes haiku is free to post their work anywhere they like and free to submit to journals as they please. Anyone who wants to sit in judgement over the standard of work displayed would be wise to remember that we are all just where we are (and maybe one day their early work could come back to bite them on the derriere too) and we all have to learn somehow.

The solution of the problem of poor quality, is to teach. To help out the novice by seeking to improve their craft in appropriate ways. That is not to say that simply re-writing a poor example is going to help anyone. That too just makes you look like an 'expert' patronising a learner. Writing any genre of poetry, or indeed any art-form, requires the learning of the CRAFT of that form. Despite some of the exhibits in the Tate Modern which tend to suggest otherwise, enduring art is usually backed by skill as well as inspiration. The development of skill takes time and practice.

Personally, I welcome "all manner of originators" the more the merrier! - but I don't think I am better than anyone else just because I've been learning this skill for decades and they have been at it for ten minutes. I think that anyone CAN write one - then they learn how to write better ones. Art IS a plaything - and the more playful we can be the better the quality is likely to be. That haiku as a genre IS a serious form of poetry - but need not necessarily be approached with a serious demeanor. That the word "penetration" is a peculiarly Freudian slip which might benefit from a re-think.

Susan

(stardate 20130106)

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The Big Banana

Who is Basho, what is he, that all the swains commend him?

You CAN write haiku without ever reading another haiku poet, just as you could write a sonnet without ever reading Shakespeare. However, no serious student of English Literature will NOT have read at least some of the English classics. Reading the work of classical haiku poets will immeasurably improve your own work, both in the breadth and scope, and in the craft. In addition, reading good modern poets, both Japanese and western, should give you a good balance of perspective.

We would be diminished as modern poets if we only ever read Shakespeare, and poetry.com is teeming with people who have never read any poets at all. The idea is not to glorify these writers, but to recognise their part in the canon of literature upon which we hope to build.

A note of caution, The translation of Japanese haiku into English is difficult, it often says more about the translator than it does about the original work. Check out a few different versions of anything that interests you.

So here are a few of my favourites...

Basho

Basho is the Big Banana of haiku, the cultural equivalent of Shakespeare. His work is varied and easily available in translation. It spans everything from the immediacy of a sudden exclamation; to the complicated interweaving of inference, literary references, dual readings, and puns.

"... he wrote about any subject that came along his daily experience, from the pissing horse (when sleeping at a pass called "pissing") to .. you name it, daily life in Edo Japan comes to live.
It is not all about the bees and the butterflies, far from it.
For Basho, all expressions of the human experience seemed to be fodder for his poetry."
-- Gabi Greve

There is a fairly comprehensive and informative history here http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Basho.aspx

and some comparative transations here
http://www.haikupoetshut.com/basho1.html

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MORE by Susan
source : www.geantreepress.com

. Cultural Keywords used by Basho .

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sode and kosode - sleeve

source :　ameblo.jp/ee-kimono

under construction
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借りて寝ん案山子の袖や夜半の霜
karite nen kakashi no sode ya yowa no shimo
- - - - - 借りて寝む karite nemu

to sleep I want
to borrow the sleeve of a scarecrow -
frost at midnight

Written between 1688 貞亨元年 and his death, probably as a text on a painting.
Sleeping on the road, Basho was depending on the offers of his host family or lodging.

sode 袖 can also mean the whole robe of the scarecrow.

This is an allusion to a waka of the 古今集 Kokinshu collection .

きりぎりす鳴くや霜夜の狭筵に衣片敷き独りかも寝む
kirigirisu naku ya shimo-yo no samushiro ni
koromo kata-shiki hitori kamo nemu

When the crickets
cry in the frosty night,
on the cold reed-mat,
spreading out my robe just for one
must I sleep alone?
Tr. Joshua S. Mostow

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無き人の小袖も今や土用干
. naki hito no kosode mo ima ya doyoo boshi .
at the death of Mukai Chine 向井千子

猿引は猿の小袖を砧哉
. saruhiki wa saru no kosode o kinuta kana .
little coat for a trained monkey

袖よごすらん田螺の海士の隙を無み
. sode yogosuran tanishi no ama no hima o nami .
dirty sleeves of fishermen

語られぬ湯殿にぬらす袂かな
. katararenu Yudono ni nurasu tamoto kana .
my wet sleeve

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in memoriam of the father of Senka 仙化が父追善

袖の色よごれて寒し濃鼠　
sode no iro yogorete samushi koi nezumi

the color of his sleeve
dirty and so cold
in dark gray

Written between 1688 貞亨元年 and his death.

Senka was his disciple in Edo and author of the collection Kawazu Awase 蛙合 (1686).

koinezu color code #4f455c, actually a shade of dark purple
koinezu color code #4f455c, actually a shade of dark purple
koinezu color code #4f455c, actually a shade of dark purple
- source : www.colordic.org

. WKD : nezu-iro 鼠色 the color gray / grey and haiku .

Kawazu Awase 蛙合 (1686)

- - - Senka 仙化

Not much is known about this poet. Some of his hokku:

一葉散音かしましきばかり也　（『あら野』Arano ）

起起の心うごかすかきつばた　（『猿蓑』Sarumino ）

おぼろ月まだはなされぬ頭巾かな　（『炭俵』Sumidawara ）
氣相よき青葉の麥の嵐かな　
みをのやは首の骨こそ甲なれ　
螢みし雨の夕や水葵　
一枝はすげなき竹のわかば哉　

三尺の鯉はねる見ゆ春の池　（『續猿蓑』Zoku Sarumino ）

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. Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 in Edo .

紙子の袖 - kamiko no sode
. hanken no shayoo kamiko no sode no nishiki kana .

たもとして払ふ夏書の机哉
. tamoto shite harau ge-gaki no tsukue kana .

ゆきたけを聞で流人の袷哉 / 裄丈
. yukitake o kikade runin no awase kana .

夕雲雀鎧の袖をかざしかな
. yuuhibari yoroi no sode o kazashi kana .

秋の夕べ袂して鏡拭く女
aki no yuube tamoto shite kagami fuku onna

autumn evening -
with the sleeve a woman
wipes her mirror

雛の燈にいぬきが袂かかるなり
雛の燈にいぬきが袂かかるなり
hina no hi ni inuki ga tamoto kakaru nari

Lamps of ‘hina’ dolls,
Inuki's sleeves
Screen.

"Inuki" is a young girl, called Inukimi(犬君), who serves Murasaki, one of the female leading characters in The Tale of Genji (in the Heian Period) (794-1192). In the Tale the girl is so full of curiosity that she sets free a caged bird and makes Murasaki feel so sad.
- source : Shoji Kumano

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. kigo with kimono Japanese robes .

. Cultural Keywords used by Basho .

. - KIGO used by Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - .

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Basho Inari Jinja

source :　www.tesshow.jp/koto/shrine_tokiwa
With more photos !

The deity in residence is
宇迦魂命 Kamimusubi no Mikoto

On the red flag it reads

芭蕉稲荷大明神　　Basho Inari Daimyojin

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source :　www.bashouan.com
With more photos !

Stone memorial of the Basho-An 芭蕉庵跡碑

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quote
Basho Inari Jinja Shrine
It is said that after Basho wrote his famous frog haiku, he was given a stone frog by one of his disciples. Basho treasures it so much that he placed it near his hermitage. With time, it was lost, but re-appeared after a typhoon in 1917. The local citizens, in honor of Basho, built a shrine at the location and dedicated it to Basho's spirit and to the god Inari. Unfortunately the shrine was burnt down during the WWII air raids, and was rebuilt in its present form in 1975. Replicas of the frog have also been placed around the shrine. Basho Inari Jinja Shrine has been designated historic site by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

Matsuo Basho Memorial Park
Just a few meters from the shrine is Matsuo Basho Memorial Park. This small park is an elevated one and is reached after climbing a short flight of rugged stone stairs. On reaching this terrace garden, one cannot but hold one's breath at the beautiful scene it offers of the river below with Kiyosu Bridge spanning it. In the center of the park is a bronze statue of Basho placed on top of a pedestal. All around are bamboo and banana trees and a large variety of other plants. Several Basho-themed sketches have also been placed around the park.

Matsuo Basho Museum
Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), born Matsuo Kinsaku, and also known by his samurai name of Matsuo Munefusa, was a travel writer and a poet of the early Edo period. He is best known as the poet who brought haiku to the level of an art. Basho originally lived in the nearby area of Fukagawa, but moved to Morishita in 1680 as he wanted a quieter place to write in. He made his hermitage, named Basho Iori Hermitage, in a place along Sumida River between Shin-Ohashi and Kiyosu Bridges. It is in this same hermitage that Matsuo Basho Museum is located.
The small Matsuo Basho Museum exhibits all materials and artifacts related to Basho and his writings. Of particular mention are the detailed maps that Basho used for his travels on foot in the then under-developed region of Honshu. The museum also serves as a literary center for research and regularly holds meetings on the art of haiku.
source : tokyo-tokyo.com/Morishita

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CLICK for enlargement !

source : Photos shared by Rob Geraghty - facebook

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quote
Walking the path of a legendary poet

The accompanying 1830s woodcut print is the image of the great haiku poet Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), rendered by Hasegawa Settan 長谷川雪旦 (1778-1843).

Depicting a legendary scene in which the poet was inspired to pen one of his masterpieces, Basho is seated at his writing desk in a humble cottage thatched with straw. A brushwood fence in the foreground on the right-hand side, moss-covered stepping stones in the garden, a pond overgrown with reeds, and stark surroundings suggested by thick horizontal lines in the background, all combine to conjure up the image of a hermit in seclusion from worldly concerns. Pausing in his work, the poet casts a glance at the pond and sees a frog leap into the water, creating ripples. This was the birth of his famous haiku:

“Listen! a frog,
Jumping into the stillness,
Of an ancient pond!”
(Translation by Dorothy Britton).
The print is completed with the poem written at the top.

In 1680, Basho moved to Fukagawa on the east bank of the Sumida River to escape the din and bustle of Nihonbashi, near the center of the city, where he had lived for nine years. In those days, Fukagawa was a sparsely populated piece of reclaimed land beyond the boundary of Edo City.

With no bridge yet built on the Sumida, boats plied busy waterways during the day, but early in the morning and evening silence prevailed in the area and Basho could hear the gongs of temple bells ringing in Ueno and Asakusa, 4 km away. Nearby was a Zen temple, Rinsen-ji, where he was admitted to practice meditation. The whole set-up was to his taste and met his needs so Basho made Fukagawa his base in Edo until his death in 1694. It was from here that he struck out on his many travels. (See this column, June 3, 2005).

He was especially pleased by a banana tree planted in the garden and used the plant name, basho, to call his cottage Basho-an. He also changed his pen name from Tosei to Basho. The plant, which had been introduced from China for medicinal purposes and to get fiber for weaving, was probably loved for the sound it made when raindrops pattered.

skip
For now, however, let us hurry to cross the bridge and look for Basho Inari-jinja shrine on a lane to the left. Though dedicated to Inari, the god of rice harvest and business prosperity, the shrine is a Tokyo Metropolitan Government-designated historic site that commemorates Basho’s abode.

As Basho moved twice within Fukagawa, and the whole area underwent drastic changes in land ownership in modern times, the exact locations of all the Basho-related sites were forgotten and became difficult to determine. However, when a large tsunami hit the area in 1917, a stone frog was discovered at this spot, suggesting the possibility that his last cottage stood here, especially as the poet had a fondness for the amphibian. Local citizens under the lead of Iida Gentaro 飯田源太郎 then decided to dedicate a shrine to his spirit as well as to the Inari god whose shrine was marked here on the old area map. As the original wooden building was burnt down by the 1945 air raids, they built a new one in concrete.

The poet is honored by another, more modern memorial nearby. At the end of the lane, a pocket-size park is tucked away behind a wooden gate and short flights of rugged stone steps. Ascending to an airy terrace on the very edge of the Sumida, visitors would hold their breath at the sight of Kiyosubashi Bridge straddling the broad expanse of the river water as boats passed by underneath it, with their white wakes. A bronze statue of Basho on a pedestal is installed at the center of the platform, surrounded by bamboo, banana trees and other plants that sway in the wind, as well as reproductions of Basho-themed old sketches.

- - - nearby is Fukagawa Edo Museum
source : Japan Times 2005 - Sumiko Enbutsu

More photos
source :　tetsuyosie

- - - reference : Basho Inari Shrine - - -

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. - Bashō-An 芭蕉庵 Basho-An in Fukagawa　深川　- .

. Cultural Keywords used by Basho .

. - KIGO used by Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - .

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Shrines visited

source :　blog/sendai
Basho and Sora on the road

under construction
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. Atsuta Jinguu 熱田神宮 Atsuta jingu .

. Ise Grand Shrine　伊勢神宮 .
- - - - - and
. tootosa ni mina oshi-ainu gosenguu .
Ise gosenguu 伊勢御遷宮 transposition of the shrine's sanctuary
- - - - - and
. Nehan-e ya shiwade awasuru juzu no oto .
- - - - -
蓬莱に聞かばや伊勢の初便り
. hoorai ni kikabaya Ise no hatsudayori .

. Kashima Jinguu 鹿島神宮 Kashima Jingu .
- Kashima Kikoo 鹿島紀行 - A Visit to the Kashima Shrine -

. Kehi Jingu 気比神宮 Kehi Shrine in Tsuruga .
Kei Shrine (Barnhill)

. Ryuuguu 龍宮 Ryugu Dragon Palace .

. Tada Jinja 多太神社 . 　　Komatsu, Ishikawa

. Usaka jinja 鵜坂神社.
and - Usaka matsuri 鵜坂祭 Usaka Festival

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- - - - - hoya 穂屋 "shrine hut with a thatched wall"

at Shrine Misayama Jinja 御射山神社 and the "Lower Shrine 下社" of Suwa.
In early autumn, there is the hoya matsuri 穂屋祭 "Festival of the thatched hut"

雪散るや穂屋の薄の刈り残し
yuki chiru ya hoya no susuki no karinokoshi

snow falling—
miscanthus for the shrine hut
still uncut
Tr. Barnhill

scattering snowflakes --
tufted reeds left uncut
for the thatched prayer hut
Tr. Chris Drake

Written in 元禄3年作, Basho age 48. at
. Suwa Taisha 諏訪大社 Grand Suwa Shrine .

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- - - - - miyamori 宮守 shrine warden

宮守よわが名を散らせ木葉川
. miyamori yo waga na o chirase konohagawa .

宮人よ我が名を散らせ落葉川 / - - in 笈日記
miyamori yo waga na o chirase ochibagawa

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- - - - - okorago 御子良子 shrine maidens

御子良子の一本ゆかし梅の花　
. okorago no hitomoto yukashi ume no hana .

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. Buddhist Temples visited by Matsuo Basho .

. - Matsuo Basho and Kami 神　- Shinto deities - .

. WKD : Shinto Shrine .

. WKD : Japanese deities (kami to hotoke) .

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05/06/2012

Tsuboi Tokoku

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- Tsuboi Tokoku 坪井杜国 -

? - 1690.4.28 - ?元禄3.3.20 ? 2月20日）
承応二年（1653）～元禄三年（1690）
The dates are varying.

He was only 34 when he died.

Tokoku was from Nagoya. His name was Shoobei 庄兵衛.
He was a grain merchant and ward supervisor in Misono Ward 御園町.

In 1684 he became a disciple of Basho, but in the following year he was banned from Nagoya (because of some fraud) and moved to the village Hobi 保美村 at the Hobi peninsula in Aichi.
貞亨2年8月19日

He traveled with Basho for a while, even to Yoshino and Mount Koya, as written in

. 笈の小文 Oi no Kobumi. .

During these trips he used the name 南彦左衛門 and 野人 or 野仁.

He had a very friendly and probably special male relationship with Basho.
Basho used to call him by his boyhood name, 万菊丸 Mangikumaru.

Even after his death, Basho dreamed about him and shed tears.

此ものを夢に見ること謂所念夢也
夢の中で杜国を思い出し、涙で目がさめた

Basho also wrote this hokku about their relationship, when he spent a night in Toyohashi talking with his disciple Etsujin 越人:

寒けれど二人寝る夜ぞたのもしき
samukeredo futari neru yoru zo tanomoshiki

even if it is cold
sleeping together on such a night
is quite a pleasure

. nanshoku、danshoku 男色 homosexuality in the Edo period . 　　

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

Basho also longed for his friend:

By the middle of the second month, I longed to depart for Yoshino, where cherries already blossomed in my memory. A friend, Tokoku, promised to join me in my journey, and we met at Ise.

"No home in the world - we are two wanderers"

吉野にて桜見せうぞ檜木笠
. Yoshino nite sakura mishoo zo hinoki-gasa .

It won't be long till
you'll see Yoshino cherries,
my bark-woven hat!

Mangiku-maru wrote:

It won't be long till
I show my bark-woven hat
to Yoshino cherries!

Narrow Road to the Interior and other writings
By Matsuo Basho / Tr. Sam Hamill
source : books.google.co.jp

. Basho in Yoshino 吉野 .

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Oi no Kobumi 笈の小文. Written on December 14, 1677
When visiting Tokoku 杜国 in Mikawa, Toyohashi. 三河豊橋。

Basho at the home of Tokoku wrote

. go o taite tenugui aburu samusa kana .

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In 1685, Basho age 42, Tokoku age 30 :

白芥子に羽もぐ蝶の形見哉
白げしにはねもぐ蝶の形見哉
shirageshi ni hane mogu choo no katami kana

for this white poppy
the butterfly tears off its wings
as a keepsake . . .
Tr. Gabi Greve

Here Basho sees Tokoku as a white poppy and himself as a parting butterfly. This is a strong expression of his feelings toward Tokoku.
This combination of flower and animal is quite unusual.

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

On the 19th day of the 8th lunar month in this year, Tokoku had to go into exile.

Read more comments about this hokku by Ueda:
source : http://books.google.co.jp

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His grave is at the temple Rinkoozan Choo-onji 潮音寺 Cho-on Ji.

愛知県渥美郡田原市福江の隣江山潮音寺

His most important hokku

朝月夜紙干板に明そめて

つゝみかねて月とり落す霽かな　（『冬の日』）
曙の人顔牡丹霞にひらきけり　（『春の日』）

足跡に櫻を曲る庵二つ　（『春の日』）

馬はぬれ牛ハ夕日の村しぐれ　（『春の日』）

この比の氷ふみわる名残かな　（『春の日』）

吉野いでて布子売りたしころもがへ　（『笈の小文』）

麥畑の人見るはるの塘かな　（『あら野』）

霜の朝せんだんの實のこぼれけり　（『あら野』）

八重がすみ奥迄見たる竜田哉　（『あら野』）

芳野出て布子賣おし更衣　（『あら野』）

散花にたぶさ恥けり奥の院　（『あら野』）

こがらしの落葉にやぶる小ゆび哉　（『あら野』）

木履はく僧も有けり雨の花　（『あら野』）

似合しきけしの一重や須广の里（『猿蓑』）
source : itoyo/basho

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- - - - - Matsuo Basho wrote for Tokoku:

まづ祝へ梅を心の冬籠り
mazu iwae ume o kokoro no fuyu-gomori

Anyway celebrate I will
This winter hibernation
With apricot blossoms in my heart.
Tr. Takafumi Saito

Written in 貞亨4年, Basho age 44

Tokoku had been put in exile for a crime he did not even commit. So if he would stay in hiding maybe next spring things will turn out better.

. WKD : fuyugomori 冬篭り winter confinement, winter isolation, wintering .

さればこそ荒れたきままの霜の宿
sareba koso aretaki mama no shimo no yado

well indeed
just a wild, rough home
in the frost

The living conditions of Tokoku were even worse than Basho had expected.

Emotions expressed by Basho :
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .

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Basho was visiting Iragozaki, a place famous for its hawks.

His disciple Tsuboi Tokoku 坪井杜国 (? - 1690) lived there.
This hokku shows his pleasure of meeting his friend, who had been in exile since about 1 year and a half earlier.

Barnhill describes Tokoku as having
"moved to Irago after suffering financial difficulties."

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

At Iragozaki, Tokoku also wrote

うれしさは葉がくれ梅の一つかな

行く秋も伊良古をさらぬ鴎かな

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Homepage of temple Cho-on Ji
source : plala.or.jp/rikan

俳人杜国　供養祭　　平成24年４月25日（水）

Every year on the 25th of April there is a memorial service for Tokoku with a haiku meeting.

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. Cultural Keywords used by Basho .

. - Persons introduced by Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - .

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[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
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tootoi holy, respectful

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- tootoi とうとい尊い / 貴い holy, noble respectful -
tōtoi, with awe
tootosa, tattosa 貴さよ how noble, how inspiring

This is an expression difficult to translate.

sonkei そんけい【尊敬】respect, esteem

gijin きじん【貴人】 a nobleman

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あらたふと青葉若葉の日の光
. ara tooto aoba wakaba no hi no hikari .

It was with awe
That I beheld
Fresh leaves, green leaves,
Bright in the sun.
Tr. Nobuyuki Yuasa

Nikko was the 5th station on Basho's travel to the deep North of Japan.

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source :　itoyo/basho

尊がる涙や染めて散る紅葉
tootogaru namida ya somete chiru momiji

my respectful
tears - coloring
the falling red leaves

Written on the 30 day of September or first of October in 1691 元禄4年, Basho age 48.

This is a greeting hokku for the head priest Ryu of temple Menshooji 明照寺 Mensho-Ji in Hikone at Hirata 彦根の平田.

Koono Ryu 河野李由 Kono Ryu Kono Michitaka
(1662 - 1705, 22th day of the sixth lunar month)
He was the head priest in the 14th generation of this famous temple. He had visited Basho during his stay at Rakushisha 落柿舎, the hermitage of Kyorai in Kyoto, to become his disciple.
He died at age 44.
Priest Ryu had built two memorial stones with the hokku of Basho, on a hill of the temple compond called "Kasazuka" 笠塚 (straw hat mound), where he later buried the straw hat of Basho given to him as a memento of the master.

Myoohoozan Menshooji 妙法山明照寺 Mensho-Ji (also Meisho-Ji)
Temple of the Jodo Shinshu, built in 1393 by the priest Yuukai 祐海 Yukai.

This hokku has the cut marker YA in the middle of line 2.

Another hokku by Basho written during this visit,
when observing an old woman threashing rice:

. ine koki no uba mo medetashi kiku no hana .

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

Another hokku from temple Mensho-Ji - 元禄4年10月

It has the foreword:
This temple has been moved here from 平田 Hirata village about 100 years ago. The old temple records quote:
竹樹密に、土石老いたり
bamboo and trees grow thickly, earth and rocks have become old.
This is indeed an old forest and I a deeply moved by its appearance.

source :　itoyo/basho

百歳の気色を庭の落葉かな
momo tose no keshiki o niwa no ochiba kana / momotose

A hundred-year-old landscape -
In the garden
Fallen leaves.
Tr. Takafumi Saito

The old aspect of
A hundred years, discernible by
Heaped fallen leaves
Tr. Ooseko

A hundred years'
landscape in the garden's
fallen leaves kana
Tr. Helen Shigeko Isaacson

hundreds of years / one hundred years
of the view of this garden
with fallen leaves . . .
Tr. Gabi Greve

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

momotose can indicate 100 years of age or symbolize the passing of time and seasons in general.

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source :　www.erizen.co.jp
by Sadahide 玉蘭斎貞秀 (Utagawa Sadahide) (1807 - 1879)

尊さに皆おしあひぬ御遷宮
tootosa ni mina oshi-ainu gosenguu

For holiness,
Everyone has pushed others in the crowd.
The Shrine Removal !
Tr. Oseko

Written on the 13th day of the 9th lunar month in 1689
元禄2年9月13日

After finishing his travels in Oku, he went to see this ceremony at the Grand Shrine at Ise.
One ceremony of the Inner Shrine had already ended on the 10th day of the 9th lunar month, but he was able to see the one of the Outer Shrine on the 13th day.

Ise gosenguu 伊勢御遷宮 transposition of the shrine's sanctuary
. . . . . gosenguu 御遷宮（ごせんぐう）Gosengu Ceremony
observance kigo for mid-autumn

This takes plase every 20 years, started more than 1300 years ago.
The shrine buildings at the Naiku and Geku, as well as the Uji Bridge, are rebuilt every 20 years. This is part of the Shinto belief of the death and renewal of nature and the impermanence of all things (wabi-sabi). It is also an opportunity to pass on building techniques from one generation to the next.
The next rebuilding of Ise Shrine is due in 2013.

. WKD : Ise Grand Shrine 伊勢神宮 Ise Jingu .

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たふとさや雪降らぬ日も蓑と笠
. tootosa ya yuki furanu hi mo mino to kasa .

so respectful !
even on the day when it does not snow
a mino-raincoat and a rain-hat

. . . . .when seeing the ragged image of
Ono no Komachi, Sotoba Komachi 卒都婆小町 the Beauty Komachi on a grave marker.

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tootoi, tattoi 尊─・貴─

稲妻にさとらぬ人の貴さよ
. inazuma ni satoranu hito no tattosa yo .
(autumn) lightning. no enlightenment. how admirable

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[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]

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tsue walking stick

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- - - - - Mourning for the death of Matsukura Ranran 松倉嵐蘭 - - - - -

秋風に折れて悲しき桑の杖
akikaze ni orete kanashiki kuwa no tsue

in the autumn wind
it lies, sadly broken -
a mulberry stick
Tr. Ueda

Ranran (1647 - 93) was one of Basho's oldest students in Edo . . .
He died suddenly on September 26.

Basho had depended on him, more than upon any other disciple, as his supporting "stick".

"A mulberry bow" is part of an old Chinese phrase wishing future success for a boy. It has its origin in an ancient Chinese ritual, in which the father of a newborn boy would shoot an arrow with a mulberry bow as a token of his good wishes.
source : books.google.co.jp

Written in 1693, on the 27th of the 8th lunar month.
元禄6年8月27
On the death of Ranran 嵐蘭.
(? - 1693 - 元禄6年8月27日)
Ranran lived in Asakusa, Edo.
The mulberry stick has a hole in the middle and now, when broken, is as empty as the heart of Master Basho.

Basho wrote another poem about this great loss
in a message to the younger brother, Ranchiku 嵐竹宛書簡

見しやその七日は墓の三日の月
mishi ya sono / nanuka wa haka no / mika no tsuki

And a hokku by Ranran himself

. tsuki mo naki yoi kara uma o tsurete kite .
From a three-link sequence Basho wrote with Kyoriku and Ranran in 1692

. - Morikawa Kyoroku / Kyoriku 森川許六 - .

quote
Bashô’s admiration for the Seven Worthies of the Bamboo Grove and Tao Qian is clearly evident in his writings.
One essay dedicated to his deceased disciple, Matsukura Ranran (1647–1693), for example, mentions that the Master had named Ranran’s young son after Wang Rong, one of the Seven Worthies. Wang Rong is one of the less famous of the Seven Worthies; Bashô’s choice therefore demonstrates his familiarity with the tradition as a whole.

Bashô, in the same essay, also praises Ranran in light of the Daoist spirit:
“He had the spirit of Lao and Zhuang and dedicated his whole heart to poetry.”
Though a very brief statement, the connection he draws between the Daoist spirit and the dedication to poetry here demonstrates a deep understanding of the Wei-Jin fengliu (風流) tradition.
source : Basho-and-the-Dao - Peipei-Qiu

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家はみな杖に白髪の墓参り
. ie wa mina tsue ni shiragami no hakamairi .
his family members with canes and white hair

and one more about his own "white hair"
. shiraga nuku makura no shita ya kirigirisu .
(autumn) crickets. white hair under my pillow

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The slope Tsuetsukizaka 杖突坂 "Walking-stick Hill"
Tsuetsuki Pass

鶯やつえつき坂に老を啼

source :　www.humi.keio.ac.jp
Hiroshige

歩行ならば杖突坂を落馬哉
歩行ならば杖つき坂を落馬哉
kachi naraba Tsuetsuki-zaka o rakuba kana

"I rented a horse at the village of Hinaga ... so I could ride up Walking-stick Hill. But my pack-saddle overturned and I was thrown from the horse.

if only I had walked
Walking-stick Hill:
falling from my horse
Tr. Barnhill

Written in 1693 元禄6年, Basho age 50
On his way to Iga Ueno
Other sources quote
Written in 1687 (貞享4年).
. Oi no Kobumi 笈の小文 .

This hokku has no season word. The cut marker KANA is at the end of line 3.
It is difficult to translate, keeping the meaning of the place name understandable without a long footnote.

if I had walked -
I fell from my horse
at (this steep slope) Tsuetsuki-zaka

if only I had walked
the steep slope Tsuetsuki-zaka
(but even though,) I fell from my horse
Tr. Gabi Greve

if only I'd walked --
I fell from my horse
on walking stick slope [Tsuetsuki-zaka*]

* the name of the slope means 'walking stick slope'
Paraphrase Elaine Andre, FB

source :　sekisen_tsurezure

The slope Tsuetsukizaka, "slope to climb with a walking stick"
is in Mie prefecture, Yokkaichi, between the villages Uneme and Ishiyakushi, on the way to the great shrine at Ise　伊勢神宮.
采女町と鈴鹿市石薬師町.

After the legendary hero Yamato Takeru no Kami 日本武尊 had fougt with the wild deities of Mount Ibukisan , he was so tired that he had to use a stick to walk this slope.

. Yamato Takeru 日本武尊, first Deity of Renku .
Shrine Sakaori no Miya 酒折宮　

Basho at Mount Ibuki
. Mount Ibuki 伊吹山 Ibuki-yama .

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

その形見ばや枯木の杖の長
sono katachi miba ya kareki no tsue no take

from its form
I imagine - from withered wood
your long staff
Tr. Gabi Greve

Before the onset of winter in 1688, Basho had promised to meet the Buddhist layman Doo-En 道円居士 Do-En of Daitsu-An Hermitage 大通庵 (Daitsuu-an) .

Written in the 10th lunar month1688, 元禄元年10月
On the 30th day of the 9th lunar month,道円 Do-En had passed away
"like the frost of an early winter night."
The staff must have been extremely long and remarkable, since Basho mentions its form in line 1 and its length in the last line.

This hokku has the cut marker YA in the middle of line 2.

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宿りせん藜の杖になる日まで
yadorisen akaza no tsue ni naru hi made
yadorisemu, yadori sen

I will stay here
until the day this pigweed
has become a walking cane
Tr. Gabi Greve

Summer of 1688, 貞亨5年5月, Oi Nikki 笈日記
Written in Kajikawa, Gifu at temple Myooshooji 妙照寺 Myosho-Ji.
At the home of Kihaku 己百, where Basho stayed for a short while.
This is a greeting hokku for his host. He must have felt very comfortable there.
Kihaku later visited Basho in Kyoto and in Mino.
Kihaku / Shuuboo 己百 / 秋芳 Shubo, priest at Myosho-Ji
Two of his hokku are known.

I would lodge here
until the days the goosefoot
has grown a staff
Tr. Barnhill

Here I'll stay until the day
This goosefoot plant
Into a walking stick is made.
Tr. Saito / Nelson

akaza 藜 / アカザ pigweed
It is used in Asia to make canes, and refers to the Gods of Long Life.
Canes of the thorny shrub. Sometimes seen as a phallic symbol.

source and more photos :　ibikitaro.no-blog.jp

Basho is making a reference to the Chinese poet
. WKD : Du Fu 杜甫 (712–770) .

藜を杖いて世を嘆ずる者は誰子ぞ

holding an akaza cane
he grieves over this world -
who might he be ?

. akaza 藜 (あかざ) pigweed .
Chenopodium album var. centrorubrum
fat-hen, goosefoot, nickel greens, smearwort
lambsquarters, Lamb's-quarters
- kigo for all summer
. . . . . but
akaza no mi 藜の実 (あかざのみ) fruit of the pigweed
- kigo for early autumn

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His walking stick, mentioned in Oku no Hosomichi　奥の細道　

I wanted to see what remained of the hut, and so,
walking-staff in hand, I set out.

. Station 8 - Unganji 雲岸寺 .

- - - - -

The chestnut is a holy tree, for the Chinese ideograph for chestnut is Tree placed directly below West, the direction of the holy land. The Priest Gyoki is said to have used it for his walking stick and the chief support of his house.

. Station 11 - Sukagawa 須賀川 .

- - - - -

source :　www.intweb.co.jp/basyou

According to the gate-keeper there was a huge body of mountains obstructing my way to the province of Dewa, and the road was terribly uncertain. So I decided to hire a guide. The gate-keeper was kind enough to find me a young man of tremendous physique, who walked in front of me with a curved sword strapped to his waist and a stick of oak gripped firmly in his hand.
I myself followed him, afraid of what might happen on the way.

. Station 24 - Dewagoe　出羽越え .

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Basho Tsue no Ato 芭蕉杖跡 Remains of his walking staff

Basho left his walking stick at tempel 本隆寺 near Irogahama, Tsuruga.
source :　nipponn-daisuki.seesaa.net

小萩散れますほの小貝小盃　
. ko hagi chire Masuho no ko-gai ko sakazuki .

- - - - -

芭蕉の杖跡―おくのほそ道新紀行
森村誠一　Morimura Seiichi

元禄２（１６８９）年、全行程２４００ｋｍに及ぶ「おくのほそ道」の旅に出た松尾芭蕉。そして３００年余りを経た現在、ミステリー小説の巨匠であり、“写真俳句”で俳句の新たな可能性を追求する森村誠一が「蕉跡」を追う。
芭蕉の時代、東日本大震災以降と何が変わり、何が変わらなかったのか。
How did the Tohoku region change after the great earthquake of March 2011?
What is left from the region which Basho has seen?
Morimura on a quest in Tohoku.
source :　www.yodobashi.com

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henrotsue, henro tsue 遍路杖 Pilgrm's Staff, the alter-ego of Kobo Daishi
kongootsue, kongoo tsue　金剛杖　"diamond staff"
. WKD : Henro 遍路 Shikoku Pilgrimage .

. WKD : Usaka no tsue 鵜坂の杖 Holy Sakaki stick of Usaka .
and a festival hitting the unfaithful ladies . . .

. WKD : kayuzue 粥杖 "rice gruel stick" .

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Exhibition - Daruma to Tsue 達磨と杖

-- Reference --

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. Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 in Edo .

息杖に石の火を見る枯野哉
ikizue ni ishi no hi o miru kareno kana

from the walking stick
sparks on the stone are seen
in the withered field . . .
Tr. Gabi Greve

Written in 1778, Buson age 63.
The cut marker KANA is at the end of line 3.

ikizue , lit. "breathing stick", is the walking stick of porters of palanquins or luggage.
Maybe the lower end of the stick was enforced with iron, which made sparks when placed on a stone. This poem shows the love for details observed by Buson.

source :　isenakachans

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. kasezue 鹿杖 "walking stick of deer horn" - shika no tsue 鹿の杖 .
Legend about 小野一万大菩薩 Ono Ichiman Daibosatsu

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. Traveling with Matsuo Basho .

. Cultural Keywords used by Basho .

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[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
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