WKD - Matsuo Basho Archives

15/11/2012

Oku Station 20 - Shiogama

- - - 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 Station 21 - Matsushima

source :　1000ya.isis.ne.jp

Basho and Sora on the way to Oshima 雄島 (Matsushima)
Painting by Buson
蕪村筆「奥の細道画巻」

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- - - Station 21 - Matsushima 松島 - - -

Much praise has already been lavished on the wonders of the islands of Matsushima. Yet if further praise is possible, I would like to say that here is the most beautiful spot in the whole country of Japan, and that the beauty of these islands is not in the least inferior to the beauty of Lake Dotei or Lake Seiko in China. The islands are situated in a bay about three miles wide in every direction and open to the sea through a narrow mouth on the south-east side. Just as the River Sekko in China is made full at each swell of the tide, so is this bay filled with the brimming water of the ocean and the innumerable islands are scattered over it from one end to the other.

Tall islands point to the sky and level ones prostrate themselves before the surges of water. Islands are piled above islands, and islands are joined to islands, so that they look exactly like parents caressing their children or walking with them arm in arm. The pines are of the freshest green and their branches are curved in exquisite lines, bent by the wind constantly blowing through them. Indeed, the beauty of the entire scene can only be compared to the most divinely endowed of feminine countenances, for who else could have created such beauty but the great god of nature himself? My pen strove in vain to equal this superb creation of divine artifice.

Ojima Island where I landed was in reality a peninsula projecting far out into the sea. This was the place where the priest Ungo had once retired, and the rock on which he used to sit for meditation was still there. I noticed a number of tiny cottages scattered among the pine trees and pale blue threads of smoke rising from them. I wondered what kind of people were living in those isolated houses, and was approaching one of them with a strange sense of yearning, when, as if to interrupt me, the moon rose glittering over the darkened sea, completing the full transformation to a night-time scene. I lodged in an inn overlooking the bay, and went to bed in my upstairs room with all the windows open. As I lay there in the midst of the roaring wind and driving clouds, I felt myself to be in a world totally different from the one I was accustomed to. My companion Sora wrote:

Clear voiced cuckoo,
Even you will need
The silver wings of a crane
To span the islands of Matsushima.

I myself tried to fall asleep, supressing the surge of emotion from within, but my excitement was simply too great. I finally took out my notebook from my bag and read the poems given me by my friends at the time of my departure - Chinese poem by Sodo, a waka by Hara Anteki, haiku by Sampu and Dakushi (Jokushi濁子 / 蜀子) , all about the islands of Matsushima.

I went to the Zuiganji temple on the eleventh. This temple was founded by Makabe no Heishiro after he had become a priest and returned from China, and was later enlarged by the Priest Ungo into a massive temple with seven stately halls embellished with gold. The priest I met at the temple was the thirty-second in descent from the founder. I also wondered in my mind where the temple of the much admired Priest Kenbutsu could have been situated.

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

抑ことふりにたれど、松嶋は fuuso 扶桑第一の好風にして、凡洞庭西湖を恥ず。東南より海を入て、江の中三里、浙江の湖をたゝふ。嶋／＼の数を尽して、欹ものは天を指、ふすものは波に葡蔔。あるは二重にかさなり三重に畳みて、左にわかれ右につらなる。負るあり抱るあり、児孫愛すがごとし。松の緑こまやかに、枝葉汐風に吹たはめて、屈曲をのづからためたるがごとし。其景色えう然として美人の顔を粧ふ。ちはや振神のむかし、大山ずみのなせるわざにや。造化の天工、いづれの人か筆をふるひ詞を尽さむ。

雄嶋が磯は地つゞきて海に出たる嶋也。雲居禅師の別室の跡、坐禅石など有。将松の木陰に世をいとふ人も稀／＼見え侍りて、落穂松笠など打けぶりたる草の庵閑に住なし、いかなる人とはしられずながら、先なつかしく立寄ほどに、月海にうつりて昼のながめ又あらたむ。江上に帰りて宿を求れば、窓をひらき二階を作て、風雲の中に旅寝するこそ、あやしきまで妙なる心地はせらるれ。

松嶋や鶴に身をかれほとゝぎす曾良

予は口をとぢて眠らんとしていねられず。旧庵をわかるゝ時、素堂松嶋の詩あり。原安適松がうらしまの和哥を贈らる。袋を解てこよひの友とす。且杉風濁子が発句あり。

十一日、瑞岩寺に詣。当寺三十二世の昔、真壁の平四郎出家して、入唐帰朝の後開山す。其後に雲居禅師の徳化に依て、七堂甍改りて、金壁荘厳光を輝、仏土成就の大伽藍とはなれりける。彼見仏聖の寺はいづくにやとしたはる。

. Nakagawa Jokushi 中川濁子 / 蜀子 .

Basho uses Fuso in the Matsushima section. Cid Corman, in his version, has it as Mulberry Land, which might seems odd, but it seems the choice he made is based on a legend, also in China, that the people of Fuso eat mulberry.
. fusooka 扶桑花（ふそうか） .
hibiscus, bussooge 仏桑花 (ぶっそうげ)

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- - - - - Peipei Qiu writes:

Bashô avoids writing a poem on Matsushima, though he praises it as “the most beautiful place in Japan.”
He writes:
“Matsushima must have been made by the Mountain God in the distant past when the deities created the world. Who could capture this heavenly work of zôka with his brush and words?”

This passage reveals that Bashô’s silence before such a magnificent landscape is intended to demonstrate the inadequacy of language in comparison with the creation of zôka.

source : Basho-and-the-Dao- Peipei-Qiu

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Kenbutsu Hijiri 彼見仏聖

Kenbutsu Hijiri built a hermitage on Ojima and practiced austerities there for 12 years. He read the Lotus Sutra repeatedly and was admired by the Emperor Toba. Saigyo was quite fond of this man and came here to visit him and ended up spending three months.
Notes by Yuasa - Terebess

. Hijiri　ひじり【聖】"holy men"　 .

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source :　kibitantan

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natsuyasumi
aa natsuyasumi
natsuyasumi

summer holidays
aa, summer holidays
summer holidays

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Matsushima Seen from Katsura Island (Katsurashima Matsushima)
Kawase Hasui (1883-1957)

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. WKD : Matsushima 松島 .

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Oku Station 22 - Ishinomaki

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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 .

12th day of the fifth month, now June 29

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- - - Station 22 - Ishinomaki 石の巻 Ishi-no-Maki - - -

I left for Hiraizumi on the twelfth. I wanted to see the pine tree of Aneha and the bridge of Odae on my way. So I followed a lonely mountain trail trodden only by hunters and woodcutters, but somehow I lost my way and came to the port of Ishinomaki. The port is located in a spacious bay, across which lay the island of Kinkazan, an old goldmine once celebrated as 'blooming with flowers of gold. There were hundreds of ships, large and small, anchored in the harbor, and countless streaks of smoke continually rising from the houses that thronged the shore. I was pleased to see this busy place, though it was mere chance that had brought me here, and began to look for a suitable place to stay.
Strangely enough however, no one offered me hospitality. After much inquiring, I found a miserable house, and, spending an uneasy night, I wandered out again on the following morning on a road that was totally unknown to me. Looking across to the ford of Sode, the meadow of Obuchi and the pampas-moor of Mano,
I pushed along the road that formed the embankment of a river. Sleeping overnight at Toima, where the long, swampish river came to an end at last, I arrived at Hiraizumi after wandering some twenty miles in two days.

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

十二日、平和泉と心ざし、あねはの松緒だえの橋など聞傳て、人跡稀に雉兎蒭ぜうの往かふ道、そこともわかず、終に路ふみたがえて石の巻といふ湊に出。こがね花咲とよみて奉たる金花山海上に見わたし、数百の廻船入江につどひ、人家地をあらそひて、竃の煙立つゞけたり。思ひがけず斯る所にも来れる哉と、宿からんとすれど、更に宿かす人なし。漸まどしき小家に一夜をあかして、明れば又しらぬ道まよひ行。袖のわたり尾ぶちの牧まのゝ萱はらなどよそめにみて、遥なる堤を行。心細き長沼にそふて、戸伊摩と云所に一宿して、平泉に到る。其間廿余里ほどゝおぼゆ。

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奥の細道: Basho's Narrow Road to a Far Province
Dorothy Britton - Ishi-no-Maki
- source : books.google.co.jp

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Aneha　姉歯の松 Aneha-no-Matsu - Big Sister Pine
Aneha no matsu pine tree of Aneha - is written with the characters for "Elder sister's teeth," whatever that means.
Ise Monogatari makes a reference to "Kurihara no Aneha no matsu."

source : krzo.blog110.fc2.com

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Odae - Odae-bashi - 　緒絶橋　Thong-breaking Bridge
"Odae no hashi" is referred to in a poem by Sakyo Daifu Michinori in the Goshuishu #751:
Michinoku no/ Odae no hashi ya/ korenaramu/ fumimi fumazumi/ kokoro matowasu.
Both this and "Aneha no matsu" mentioned above are utamakura. Although Basho did not actually visit these places he wanted to refer to them as famous poetic sites.

source and more photos :　basyo.okunohosomichi.net

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Ishinomaki　石巻
According to Sora's detailed account it was no accident that they visited Ishinomaki and no fictional account either. The only fiction is the claim that they were lost.

source :　www.bashouan.com

Basho and Sora 日和山公園の芭蕉と曽良の像

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Flowers of gold - kogane hana 黄金花
The blooming flowers of gold refers to a poem by Otomo Iemochi in the Manyoshu #4097:

sumerogi no miyo sakaemu to azuma naru
michinoku yama ni kogane hana saku

すめろぎの、御代（みよ）栄えんと東（あづま）なる、みちのく山に黄金（こがね）花咲く

The story is that in the reign of the Emperor Shomu (749) a tribute of gold was brought to the court from Okushu accompanied by the above poem by Iemochi.

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Mano　真野
There is a whole list of utamakura here; Sode no watari, Obuchi no maki, and mano no kayahara.
Basho was not really lost here, but pretends a poetic confusion in real space to emphasize his familiarity with poetic space. On this last is a famous poem by Lady Kasa in the Manyoshu:

陸奥の真野のかや原遠けども面影にして見ゆといふものを

Michinoku no mano no kayahara toukedomo
omokage ni shite miyu tofu mono o

Far off as the reed-plain of manu
Lies in 'Road's End'
Yet in vision, they say,
It comes near.

Sora says they visited all these places on the 10th rather than on the 12th.

source :　blog.goo.ne.jp/manyou-kikou

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. Japan after the BIG earthquake 2011 .

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Oku Station 23 - Hiraizumi

Kamisaka Sekka 神坂雪佳 (1866-1942)

- - - Station 23 - Hiraizumi 平泉　 - - -

It was here that the glory of three generations of the Fujiwara family passed away like a snatch of empty dream. The ruins of the main gate greeted my eyes a mile before I came upon Lord Hidehira's mansion, which had been utterly reduced to rice-paddies. Mount Kinkei alone retained its original shape. As I climbed one of the foothills called Takadate, where Lord Yoshitsune met his death, I saw the River Kitakami running through the plains of Nambu in its full force, and its tributary, Koromogawa, winding along the site of the Izumigashiro castle and pouring into the big river directly below my eyes.

The ruined house of Lord Yasuhira was located to the north of the barrier-gate of Koromogaseki, thus blocking the entrance from the Nambu area and forming a protection against barbarous intruders from the north. Indeed, many a feat of chivalrous valor was repeated here during the short span of the three generations, but both the actors and the deeds have long been dead and passed into oblivion. When a country is defeated, there remain only mountains and rivers, and on a ruined castle in spring only grasses thrive. I sat down on my hat and wept bitterly till I almost forgot time.

A thicket of summer grass
Is all that remains
Of the dreams and ambitions
Of ancient warriors.

I caught a glimpse
Of the frosty hair of Kanefusa
Wavering among
The white blossoms of unohana
- written by Sora

The interiors of the two sacred buildings of whose wonders I had often heard with astonishment were at last revealed to me. In the library of sutras were placed the statues of the three nobles who governed this area, and enshrined in the so called Gold Chapel were the coffins containing their bodies, and under the all-devouring grass, their treasures scattered, their jewelled doors broken and their gold pillars crushed, but thanks to the outer frame and a covering of tiles added for protection, they had survived to be a monument of at least a thousand years.

Even the long rain of May
Has left it untouched -
This Gold Chapel
Aglow in the sombre shade.

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

三代の栄耀一睡の中にして、大門の跡は一里こなたに有。秀衡が跡は田野に成て、金鶏山のみ形を残す。先高館にのぼれば、北上川南部より流るゝ大河也。衣川は和泉が城をめぐりて高館の下にて、大河に落入。康衡等が旧跡は衣が関を隔て南部口をさし堅め、夷をふせぐとみえたり。偖も義臣すぐつて此城にこもり、功名一時の叢となる。国破れて山河あり。城春にして草青みたりと笠打敷て、時のうつるまで泪を落し侍りぬ。

夏草や兵どもが夢の跡 - natsukusa ya

卯の花に兼房みゆる白毛かな曾良 - u no hana ni - Sora

兼て耳驚したる二堂開帳す。経堂は三将の像をのこし、光堂は三代の棺を納め、三尊の仏を安置す。七宝散うせて、珠の扉風にやぶれ、金の柱霜雪に朽て、既頽廃空虚の叢と成べきを、四面新に囲て、甍を覆て風雨を凌。暫時千歳の記念とはなれり。

五月雨の降のこしてや光堂 - samidare no furi nokoshite Hikari Doo

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夏草や兵どもが夢の跡
natsukusa ya tsuwamonodomo ga yume no ato

summer grass -
that's all that remains
of brave warriors' dreams
Tr. Gabi Greve

The "tsuwamono", Yoshitsune, his companion monk Benkei and the Fujiwara clan samurai
義経、弁慶、藤原

MORE - extensive discussion of this hokku
including many translated versions :
. WKD : Brave Warrior (tsuwamono) .

. 源の義経　Minamoto no Yoshitsune (1159 - 1189) .

natsukusa, in my part of Japan, would be the all-encroaching
"summer weeds".

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

Summer grasses —
all that remains of soldiers
ancient dreams

Basho stood at Takadashi Castle, recollecting the tragic death of the old soldier Yoshitsune.
Combining this with lines from Tu Fu’s poem A Spring View, which he incorporated into the text of his journal:

The nation broken and defeated
But mountains and rivers remain
Springtime at the old castle, grass deep.

- Tr. and Comment : Bill Wyatt

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五月雨の降りのこしてや光堂
samidare no furi nokoshite Hikari Doo

unchanged by the rain
of many rainy seasons -
the Golden Hall
Tr. Gabi Greve

Hikari doo 光堂 "the Shining Hall"

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quote
Hiraizumi (平泉町, Hiraizumi-chō) is a town located in Nishiiwai District, Iwate, Japan.
It was the home of the Hiraizumi Fujiwaras for about 100 years in the late Heian era and most of the following Kamakura period. At the same time it served as the de facto capital of Oshu, an area containing nearly a third of the Japanese land area. At its height the population of Hiraizumi reached 50,000 or more than 100,000, rivaling Kyoto in size and splendor.

In about 1100, Fujiwara no Kiyohira moved his home from Fort Toyoda in present day Esashi Ward, Oshu City to Mount Kanzan in Hiraizumi.
Kiyohira built the large temple complex on Kanzan known as Chūson-ji 中尊寺 Chuson-Ji.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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- - - - - from the diary of Sora, written by Basho

蛍火の昼は消えつつ柱かな
hotarubi no hiru wa kie-tsutsu hashira kana

these pillars
getting paler like fireflies
during the daytime
Tr. Hideo Suzuki

like firefly light at noon
so too fades the luster
of these pillars!
Tr. Dennis Chibi

Written in the fourth lunar month, 元禄2年4月 at the Golden Hall in Hiraizumi.

Basho refers to the chippings of the gold foil at the pillars of the hall.
After enjoying the view in the samidare rain, he went inside and looked closely at the interior decoration in the mid-day gloom.

MORE - - hotaru 蛍 (ほたる) firefly, fireflies -
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .

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source :　www.bashouan.com

Painting by Buson 蕪村筆「奥の細道画巻」

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source :　www.iwanichi.co.jp
from a local newspaper in July 2013 - 緑のキャンバスに俳聖くっきり平泉
Basho and Sora as "field art" 田んぼアート , rice art 「ライス・アート」

. WKD : Rice Field Art 田んぼアート　 tanbo aato .

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. Oku no Hosomichi - 奥の細道 - Introduction .

. WKD : Hiraizumi Fujiwara Festival 平泉藤原祭 .

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Oku Station 24 - Dewagoe

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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 24 - Dewagoe 出羽越え - - -

Turning away from the high road leading to the provinces of Nambu, I came to the village of Iwate, where I stopped overnight. The next day I looked at the Cape of Oguro and the tiny island of Mizu, both in a river, and arrived by way of Naruko hot spring at the barrier-gate of Shitomae 尿前の関 which blocked the entrance to the province of Dewa. The gate-keepers were extremely suspicious, for very few travellers dared to pass this difficult road under normal circumstances. I was admitted after long waiting, so that darkness overtook me while I was climbing a huge mountain. I put up at a gate-keeper's house which I was very lucky to find in such a lonely place. A storm came upon us and I was held up for three days.

Bitten by fleas and lice,
I slept in a bed,
A horse urinating all the time
Close to my pillow.

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.

What the gate-keeper had told me turned out to be true. The mountains were so thickly covered with foliage and the air underneath was so hushed that I felt as if I were groping my way in the dead of night. There was not even the cry of a single bird to be heard, and the wind seemed to breathe out black soot through every rift in the hanging clouds. I pushed my way through thick undergrowth of bamboo, crossing many streams and stumbling over many rocks, till at last I arrived at the village of Mogami after much shedding of cold sweat. My guide congratulated me by saying that I was indeed fortunate to have crossed the mountains in safety, for accidents of some sort had always happened on his past trips. I thanked him sincerely and parted from him. However, fear lingered in my mind some time after that.

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

尿前の関 Shitomae no Seki
南部道遥にみやりて、岩手の里に泊る。小黒崎みづの小嶋を過て、なるこの湯より、尿前の関にかゝりて、出羽の国に越んとす。此路旅人稀なる所なれば、関守にあやしめられて、漸として関をこす。大山をのぼつて日既暮ければ、封人の家 (hoojin no ie) を見かけて舎を求む。三日風雨あれて、よしなき山中に逗留す。

蚤虱馬の尿する枕もと - nomi shirami

あるじの云、是より出羽の国に大山を隔て、道さだかならざれば、道しるべの人を頼て越べきよしを申。さらばと云て人を頼侍れば、究境の若者反脇指をよこたえ、樫の杖を携て、我／＼が先に立て行。けふこそ必あやうきめにもあふべき日なれと、辛き思ひをなして後について行。あるじの云にたがはず、高山森〃として一鳥声きかず、木の下闇茂りあひて夜る行がごとし。雲端につちふる心地して、篠の中踏分／＼、水をわたり岩に蹶て、肌につめたき汗を流して、最上の庄に出づ。かの案内せしおのこの云やう、此みち必不用の事有。恙なうをくりまいらせて、仕合したりと、よろこびてわかれぬ。跡に聞てさへ胸とゞろくのみ也。

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the house of the hoojin, keeper of the gate 関を守る- 封人の家

尿前の関（宮城県玉造郡鳴子町） Shitomae no Seki
source : vakira/newpage13

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蚤虱 ( のみしらみ ) 馬の尿 ( ばり ) する枕もと
nomi shirami uma no bari suru makuramoto

fleas and lice
and a horse pissing
next to my pillow
Tr. Gabi Greve

Written on the 17th day of the 5th lunar month, 1689- 元禄2年5月17日
at the border station Shitomae no seki 尿前の関, Naruko, Miagi
Shitomae, lit "before pissing".

Snow in Shitomae, by Shiro Kasamatsu (1898-1991)

quote
Here Basho was on his best-known pilgrimage .. recorded in 'The Narrow Way Within' .. at the northern turn of his travels. In a mountainous region, about to pass the barrier between two provinces, he was obliged by bad weather to spend three days at the home of a barrier guard. He counted himself lucky to have any accommodation at all in such a remote place, but the comforts were meager.

Most translators of this haiku interpolate some feeling of disgust. Donald Keene, who usually can be trusted to translate dispassionately, renders the verse:

Plagued by fleas and lice
I hear a horse stalling
what a place to sleep!

That is not what Basho said or meant at all, for he was using that suffering; he was not used by it. Not a single syllable in his original words reflects self-pity. It was just Nip! Ouch! Pshhh!

How does one understand suffering?
Our practice in the Diamond Sutra is not easy. But if there are the tears of sincere pain, they carry precious virtue. Self-pity sullies this virtue, and when self-pity is projected, we have needless dissension in the sangha, the community. The virtue itself shines forth with incisive spirit that drives through the darkness. The pain itself is just that pain.

© Henro Tracks, a Basho Bash
Henro Tracks discusses pain in the haiku of Basho.

fleas lice
horse pishing
by the pillow
Tr. Corman and Kamaike

- - - - -

quote
Basho loved to play with place names in his haiku. This haiku was　written at Shitomae　Barrier. "Shitomae" literally means, according to David Barnhill, "before the urine."

Basho had to stay there for two nights because of heavy rain (a　horse pissing?). According to Ueda, " 'Shitosuru' is a verb referring to a child's urination." Ueda quotes a commentator, Imoto, as saying this gives humor to the poem.

Although in "The Narrow Road to the Deep North," Basho says he stayed at a "barrier-keeper's house," he actually stayed at the house of a village headman, according to Ueda.
Shirane points out that the haiku is split into three parts even　though it doesn't have a cutting word.

Larry Bole

. WKD : Fleas (nomi) / Lice (shirami) / Tick (dani).

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quote

Donald Richie about the translation of Jane Reichhold:

"nomi shirami / uma no shitosuru / makura moto."

This is romanized by Reichhold as,
"fleas lice horse's pissing pillow close by" and is translated as,

"fleas and lice
now a horse pisses
by my pillow."

This lyric seems to communicate all that a haiku ought - a salient shift of observation, a seasonal sensibility, an open-ended experience. The translator is to communicate this as economically as did the poet. Here are some attempts.

Nobuyuki Yuasa translates it as:
"Bitten by fleas and lice,
I slept in a bed,
A horse urinating all the time
Close by my pillow."

Dorothy Britten gives it as:
"Fleas and lice did bite;
and I'd hear the horse pass water
Near my bed at night."

Donald Keene has versified it as:
"Plagued by fleas and lice I hear the horses staling -
What a place to sleep!"

Toshiharu Oseki gives it as :
"Plagued by fleas and lice,
Still worse, hearing the horse urinating
Close by my pillow!"

David Bamhill recently translates the haiku as:

"Fleas, lice,
a horse peeing
by my pillow."

Japan Times, May 4, 2008

. WKD : Pissing (shooben, shoben 小便) .

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Crossing the pass Natagiri Tooge 山刀伐峠

The walk over the steep pass takes more than 3 hours. Basho hired a young guide to make sure he would not loose his way. From the top of the pass you can see Mount Gassan in the background.

Look at more photos
source : akkamui21.blog39

Look at a painting of the strong young man :
. tsue 杖　Basho and the walking stick .

Further down the pass, there is the hot spring Akakura Onsen 赤倉温泉.
But Basho did not stop there.

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Hoojin no ie 封人の家」訪問の図高嶋祥光
Painting of the house of the border warden.
source : www.bashouan.com

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Oku Station 25 - Obanazawa

Basho also stayed at temple Yoosenji 養泉寺 Yosen-Ji.

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- - - Station 25 - Obanazawa 尾花沢 - - -

I visited Seifu in the town of Obanazawa.
He was a rich merchant and yet a man of a truly poetic turn of mind. He had a deep understanding of the hardships of the wandering journey, for he himself had travelled frequently to the capital city. He invited me to stay at his place as long as I wished and tried to make me comfortable in every way he could.

I felt quite at home,
As if it were mine,
Sleeping lazily
In this house of fresh air.

Crawl out bravely
And show me your face,
The solitary voice of a toad
Beneath the silkworm nursery.

With a powder-brush
Before my eyes,
I strolled among
Rouge-plants.

In the silkworm nursery,
Men and women
Are dressed
Like gods in ancient times. -- Written by Sora

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

尾花沢にて清風と云者を尋ぬ。かれは富るものなれども、志いやしからず。都にも折々かよひてさすがに旅の情をも知たれば、日比とゞめて、長途のいたはり、さま％＼にもてなし侍る。

涼しさを我宿にしてねまる也
涼しさを我が宿にしてねまるなり

這出よかひやが下のひきの声

まゆはきを俤にして紅粉の花

蠶飼する人は古代のすがた哉曾良 Sora
蚕飼

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source :　tomoshiho_oonm

涼しさを我宿にしてねまる也
suzushisa o waga yado ni shite nemaru nari

coolness
is now at my lodgings
and I take a rest

The greeting hokku for his host, the rich merchant Seifuu 清風 Seifu and to the temple where Basho lodged.
The cut marker NARI is at the end of line 3.
nemaru is the local dialect of the region. It can denote to sleep, rest or sit around.

鈴木清風 Suzuki Seifu
(1651 - 1721) . Suzuki Michiyuu 鈴木道祐
残月軒清風
He traveled a lot to Edo and Osaka and was a patron of many haiku poets.
In 1685 and in 1686 he met Basho in Edo at Koishikawa. In 1688 his wife died. In 1692 his father retired and at age 49 he had to take over the family business. In 1711 he retired himself at age 61.

His home was about 700 meters away from the temple Yosen-Ji.
He was a dealer in safflowers (benibana), a speciality of the region. Their extract was an important ingredient in cosmetics and for dying cloths since the Heian period.
When Basho and Sora arrived it was just the high time of the safflower harvest, so he could not spent enough time with his haikai friends and lodged them in the nearby temple.

. WKD : Safflower (benibana 紅花).

quote
. . . considering that Seifu was probably not adequately hospitable to Basho and Sora, Basho may have described in this hokku the comfort he and his friend found in Yosei Temple.
Bashō's Narrow Road: Spring & Autumn Passages : Two Works
source : books.google.co.jp

鈴木清風について
source : bashouan.com/pxSeihuu.htm

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At temple 養泉寺 Yosen-Ji, 涼塚 "the Cool Lodging"

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source :　www.bashouan.com

這出よかひやが下のひきの声
hai-ide yo kaiya ga shita no hiki no koe
haiide yo kaiya ga shita no hiki no koe

crawl out!
beneath the silkworm shed
the croak of a toad
Tr. Haldane

kaiya　飼屋, 蚕室 shed where the silkworms were kept
In many regions, the silk worms were kept in the second floor of a farmhouse.

. WKD : kaiko 蚕 silkworm .

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まゆはきを俤にして紅粉の花
mayuhaki o omokage ni shite beni no hana

reminiscent
of eyebrow brushes –
safflower blossoms
Tr. Haldane

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Matsuo Basho also included a haiku by Sora about silkworms :

蚕飼する人は古代のすがた哉
. kogai suru hito wa kodai no sugata kana .

. . .

Also discussed in the above link is the following hokku:

五月雨や蠶煩ふ桑の畑蚕
samidare ya kaiko wazurau kuwa no hata

summer rains--
a silkworm ill
in the mulberry field
Tr. Barnhill

It has been suggested that Basho saw himself in the sick silkworm.
The haiku was written in 1694, the last year of Basho's life.

kaiko 蚕 / 蠶 silkworm

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Look at more photos here:
source : ojun/okunohosomiti

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Basho Seifu History Museum (Suzuki family residence)
This museum opened on July 3, 1983.
The museum buildings are the former house and sake shop belonging to Yahei Suzuki, which were moved and reconstructed here. They provide a precious glimpse into a merchant's home of the Edo period, in this town where Basho spent ten nights.
source : english.yamagata-museum.jp

芭蕉 - 清風資料館 - Basho and Seifu Museum
尾花沢市中町5番36号

A quizz for the modern traveller.
source : city.obanazawa.yamagata.jp

source :　www.visitjapan-tohoku.org
おくの細道尾花沢そば街道

While Basho stayed at the Suzuki residence, he is sure to have eaten the local speciality, offering soba buckwheat noodles to visitors そば切り振舞 (sobakiri furumai).

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- Further English Reference -

one painting for each station :
source : binyou/basyou8

鳴子から新庄へ（二人旅）with many photos
source : yosi-emon

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While staying in Obanazawa for a while to rest after a difficult part of his journey, people talked to him about the mountain temple Yamadera, Ryushaku-ji - 立石寺 - Risshaku-ji, which he decided to visit next.

BACK TO
. Oku no Hosomichi - 奥の細道 - Introduction .

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Oku Station 26 - Ryushakuji

source :　www.ayomi.co.jp

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Ryushakuji, Risshakuji 立石寺 Risshaku-Ji, Yamadera　山寺

- - - Station 26 - Ryushakuji - - -

There was a temple called Ryushakuji in the province of Yamagata.
Founded by the great priest Jikaku, this temple was known for the absolute tranquility of its holy compound. Since everybody advised me to see it, I changed my course at Obanazawa and went there, though it meant walking an extra seven miles or so. When I reached it, the late afternoon sun was still lingering over the scene. After arranging to stay with the priests at the foot of the mountain, I climbed to the temple situated near the summit. The whole mountain was made of massive rocks thrown together and covered with age-old pines and oaks. The stony ground itself bore the color of eternity, paved with velvety moss. The doors of the shrines built on the rocks were firmly barred and there was no sound to be heard. As I moved on all fours from rock to rock, bowing reverently at each shrine, I felt the purifying power of this holy environment pervading my whole being.

In the utter silence
Of a temple,
A cicada's voice alone
Penetrates the rocks.

Tr. by Nobuyuki Yuasa

This temple is said to have been founded by Jikaku Daishi in 860 on orders from the Emperor Seiwa after Jikaku had completed his studies in China and returned to Japan.

source : terebess.hu/english

山形領に立石寺と云山寺あり。慈覚大師の開基にて、殊清閑の地也。一見すべきよし、人々のすゝむるに依て、尾花沢よりとつて返し、其間七里ばかり也。日いまだ暮ず。梺の坊に宿かり置て、山上の堂にのぼる。岩に巖を重て山とし、松柏年旧土石老て苔滑に、岩上の院々扉を閉て物の音きこえず。岸をめぐり、岩を這て仏閣を拝し、佳景寂寞として心すみ行のみおぼゆ。

閑さや岩にしみ入蝉の声 - shizukasa ya iwa ni shimi-iru semi no koe

. shizukesa ya iwa ni shimi-iru semi no koe .
Discussion of this hokku.

. Jikaku Daishi Ennin 慈覚大師仁円 .

shizukasa ya iwa ni shimi-iru semi no koe 閑さや岩にしみ入蝉の声

Basho makes skillful use of the III sounds, iwa ni shimi-iru semi, imitating the semi calls. This shows his great skill with the choice of words, sounds and the language.

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The Yamadera Basho Memorial Museum (山寺芭蕉記念館, Yamadera Bashō Kinenkan)
was established in 1989 as part of the cultural building boom in Yamagata celebrating the 100 year anniversary of the founding of the city. Located about 20 minutes by train (Senzan Line between Yamagata and Sendai) from Yamagata Station, it sits on the south side of the steep river valley facing Yamadera to the north, the historic temple founded in 860 which is one of the area's most beloved sacred sites and top sightseeing destinations.

The Museum focuses on the life of Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694) who perfected the art of haiku, the concise 5-7-5 syllable verse form now appreciated and written around the world. Many treasures from Basho's own hand and writing brush are regularly displayed, along with works of literati and artists from his time, and of those who followed later. Special exhibitions on related themes are also regularly mounted in the gallery.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

ema 絵馬 votive tablet from the temple

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quote

How tranquil it is!
Penetrating into the rocks
the sound of cicadas.

This poem appears to be strictly about nature: no trace of man is found in the tableau to disturb the profound tranquility of the universe. Yet there is obviously a beholder, through whose senses the eternal tranquility is observed, internalized, and expressed. The opening phrase, in particular, conveys the beholder’s admiration of the landscape with an emphatic cutting word (kireji) “ya.”
“Shizukasa ya” is derived from shizuka, an adjective that means quiet, still, or tranquil. The word is commonly written with a kanji character whose Chinese-origin reading is “sei,” but in this verse Bashô uses a different kanji whose Chinese-origin reading is “kan,” meaning “leisure” or “idle.” The implications of the latter kanji, as we have seen earlier, are highly valued by Daoist thinkers, and Bashô’s choice is not a coincidence. Textual studies show that this poem has gone through careful revisions.

A mountain temple—
seeping into the stones,
the sound of cicadas.

yamadera ya/ishi ni shimitsuku/semi no koe

This version seems to be more “impersonal.” Comparing this verse with the earlier one, it is clear that the revision was more intended to convey the poet’s perception of the stillness of the landscape, as Bashô describes in the prose preceding the poem:
“Wandering along the coast, climbing the rocky mountains, and visiting Buddhist temples—the profound tranquility of the beautiful landscape penetrated deeply into my heart.”

By carefully choosing a kanji whose connotations are celebrated in the Daoist texts to transliterate the word “shizukasa,” Bashô expresses simultaneously the tranquility of the external world and the carefree serenity of the speaker’s mind, presenting not only a picture of the landscape but also an aesthetic evaluation of it, one informed by Daoist discourse. This aesthetic landscape embodies the beholder’s attitude toward the world, and it is in this landscape that the poetic self merges into zôka. It is worth noting that, besides the two drafts cited above, the cicada poem has another version that opens with a different word, “sabishisa” rather than “shizukasa.”

How solitary it is!
Permeating into the rocks—
the sound of cicadas.

sabishisa ya/iwa ni shimikomu/semi no koe

“Sabishisa,” a word derived from the adjective “sabishi,” conventionally implies loneliness in Japanese literature. Bashô, however, often uses the word in close relationship with “shizuka.”

MORE :
source : Basho-and-the-Dao - Peipei-Qiu

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. Japanese Legends - 伝説　民話　昔話 – ABC-List .

....................................................................... Miyagi 宮城県　
仙台市 Sendai city 太白区 Taihaku ward

. Akiu Otaki 秋保大滝 Akiu Great Falls .
Priest Jigaku Daishi 慈覚大師 prayed to Fudo Myo-O at the temple 山寺立石寺 Yamadera Risshaku-Ji.

....................................................................... Nagano 長野県
飯田市 Iida city

立石の七不思議 Seven wonders of Risshaku
立石という石は竜宮の頭に届くほど深い
立石寺の香煙は衆生を救う
御手洗いに祈ると小蛇が出て大雨を降らす
立石寺の池の田螺は巻き目がない
迦楼塔の鰐口は無くなってもすぐ戻ってくる
松が抱き合う姿の縁結びの松がある
meoto sugi 夫婦杉がある

....................................................................... Shiga 滋賀県　
甲賀郡 Koka district

三郎諏方 Saburo Sugawara (former 甲賀三郎 Koga Saburo) became the regent of Yamato.
There he married 春日姫 Kasuga Hime.
Once when he was away his wife was kidnaped by a Tengu.
So he gave up his position and went to search her.
. Tengu 天狗と伝説 Tengu legends "Long-nosed Goblin" .
立石寺観音堂の縁起

- quote -
Kōga Saburō (甲賀三郎)
is a character in Japanese folklore associated with the Suwa region.
Many variants on the basic story exist; the following summary is based on the earliest literary version of the tale found in the Shintōshū.
The third son of a local landlord of Kōka District in Ōmi Province, a distinguished warrior named Kōga Saburō Yorikata (甲賀三郎諏方) was searching for his lost wife, Princess Kasuga (春日姫 Kasuga-hime) in a cave in Mount Tateshina in Shinano, with his two elder brothers.
The second brother, who was jealous of Saburō's prowess and fame and who coveted Kasuga, traps the latter inside the cave after they had rescued the princess.
With no way out, Saburō has no other choice but to go deeper into the cave, which was actually an entrance to various underground realms filled with many wonders. After travelling through these subterranean lands for a long period of time, he finally finds his way back to the surface, only to find himself transformed into a giant snake or dragon.
With the help of Buddhist monks (who turn out to be gods in disguise), Saburō regains his human form and is finally reunited with his wife. Saburō eventually becomes Suwa Myōjin, the god of the Upper Shrine of Suwa, while his wife becomes the goddess of the Lower Shrine.
This version of the legend explains the origin of the name 'Suwa' (諏訪 or 諏方) via folk etymology as being derived from Saburō's personal name, Yorikata (諏方).
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

. Suwa Jinja 諏訪神社 Suwa Shrines and their Legends .

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- reference : Nichibun Yokai Database -

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Oku Station 27 - Oishida

- - - Station 27 - Ooishida 大石田 Oishida - - -

I wanted to sail down the River Mogami, but while I was waiting for fair weather at Oishida, I was told that the old seed of linked verse once strewn here by the scattering wind had taken root, still bearing its own flowers each year and thus softening the minds of rough villagers like the clear note of a reed pipe, but that these rural poets were now merely struggling to find their way in a forest of error, unable to distinguish between the new and the old style, for there was no one to guide them.
At their request, therefore, I sat with them to compose a book of linked verse, and left it behind me as a gift. It was indeed a great pleasure for me to be of such help during my wandering journey.

Tr. by Nobuyuki Yuasa

River Mogami
The Mogami River is one of Japan's three fast flowing rivers. It has its source in Azumayama on the border of Fukushima Prefecture. It flows north through Yamagata, then turns west entering the Japan Sea near Sakata.
According to Sora's diary they left the Ryushakuji on the 28th Day of the Fifth Month and went to Oishida where they stayed the 29th and 30th and held a poetry meeting. On the First Day f the Sixth Month they left Oishida and went to Shono and on the 3rd they left there heading for Motoaikai where they boarded a boat and started down the Mogami River.

source : terebess.hu/english

最上川のらんと、大石田と云所に日和を待。爰に古き俳諧の種こぼれて、忘れぬ花のむかしをしたひ、芦角一声の心をやはらげ*、此道にさぐりあしゝて、新古ふた道にふみまよふといへども*、みちしるべする人しなければと*、わりなき一巻残しぬ。このたびの風流、爰に至れり。
最上川は、みちのくより出て、山形を水上とす。ごてん・はやぶさ*など云おそろしき難所有。板敷山の北を流て、果は酒田の海に入。左右山覆ひ、茂みの中に船を下す。是に稲つみたるをや、いな船といふならし。白糸の滝は青葉の隙々に落て、仙人堂、岸に臨て立。水みなぎつて舟あやうし。

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The following is not covered in Oku no Hosomichi.

source :　itoyo/basho
Memorial Stone at the Hachiman Shrine 新庄市鳥越鳥越八幡神社

水の奥氷室尋ねる柳哉
水の奥氷室尋る柳哉
mizu no oku himuro tazunuru yanagi kana

at this water’s source
I would seek for an ice house:
willow tree
Tr. Barnhill

Written on the first day of the 6th lunar month 1689 元禄2年6月1日.

Basho stayed at the home of Fuuryuu 風流 Furyu on his way from 大石田 - 新庄　Oishida to Shinjo.
Fuuryuu, a very rich merchant, his name was 澁谷甚兵衛 Shibuya Shinbei. Basho hat met Furyu first at Obanazawa a few days ago.
There was a small river with willow trees, providing the feeling of coolness as if it had come right our of an ice storage. The place was called "Yanagi no kiyomizu" 柳の清水 "Clear water from the willow tree".

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

On the following day Basho visited the brother of Shinbei, Shibuya Seishin 澁谷盛信

. WKD : himuro 氷室 (ひむろ) icehouse, ice house, ice cellar, Eiskeller .
kigo for summer

新庄資料写真と解説(1) - 新庄資料写真と解説(2)
Photos from 鳥越 and 柳の清水. also 渋谷風流宅跡 - 芭蕉広場 - Motoaikai 本合海
source : www.bashouan.com

大石田・最上川の章段
source : www.bashouan.com

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