Article - Philosopher

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- The Great Eastern Philosophers: Matsuo Basho -


Bibliotherapy, Mind & Body, Soul

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In the West, we have a vague sense that poetry is good for our ‘souls’, making us sensitive and wiser. Yet we don’t always know how this should work. Poetry has a hard time finding its way into our lives in any practical sense. In the East, however, some poets—like the 17th-century Buddhist monk and poet Matsuo Bashō—knew precisely what effect their poetry was meant to produce: it was a medium designed to guide us to wisdom and calm, as these terms are defined in Zen Buddhist philosophy.

Matsuo Bashō was born in 1644 in Uego, in the Iga province of Japan. As a child he became a servant of the nobleman Tōdō Yoshitada, who taught him to compose poems in the ‘haiku’ style. Traditionally, haikus contain three parts, two images and a concluding line which helps to juxtapose them. The best known haiku in Japanese literature is called ‘Old Pond’, by Bashō himself:

Old pond . . .
A frog leaps in
Water’s sound

It is all (deceptively) simple – and, when one is in the right, generous frame of mind, very beautiful.

After Yoshitada died in 1666, Bashō left home and wandered for many years before moving to the city of Edo, where he became famous and widely published. However, Bashō grew melancholy and often shunned company, and so until his death in 1694 he alternated between travelling widely on foot and living in a small hut on the outskirts of the city.

Bashō was an exceptional poet, but he did not believe in the modern idea of “art for art’s sake.” Instead, he hoped that his poetry would bring his readers into special mental states valued by Zen. His poetry reflects two of the most important Zen ideals: wabi and sabi. Wabi, for Bashō, meant satisfaction with simplicity and austerity, while sabi refers to a contented solitude. (These are the same mindsets sought in the well-known Zen tea ceremony defined by Rikyu). It was nature, more than anything else, that was thought to foster wabi and sabi, and it is therefore unsurprisingly one of Bashō’s most frequent topics. Take this spring scene, which appears to ask so little of the world, and is attuned to an appreciation of the everyday:

First cherry
budding
by peach blossoms

Bashō’s poetry is of an almost shocking simplicity at the level of theme. There are no analyses of politics or love triangles or family dramas. The point is to remind readers that what really matters is to be able to be content with our own company, to appreciate the moment we are in and to be attuned to the very simplest things life has to offer: the changing of the seasons, the sound of our neighbours laughing across the street, the little surprises we encounter when we travel. Take this gem:

Violets—
how precious on
a mountain path

Bashō also used natural scenes to remind his readers that flowers, weather, and other natural elements are—like our own lives—ever-changing and fleeting. Time and the changing of weathers and scenes need to be attended to, as harbingers of our own deaths:

Yellow rose petals
thunder—
a waterfall

This transience of life may sometimes be heartbreaking, but it is also what makes every moment valuable.

Bashō liked to paint as well as write, and many of his works still exist, usually with the related haikus written alongside them. This one depicts the above haiku. (“Yellow rose petals…”)

In literature, Bashō valued “karumi,” or “lightness”. He wanted it to seem as if children had written it. He abhorred pretension and elaboration. As he told his disciples, “in my view a good poem is one in which the form of the verse, and the joining of its two parts, seem light as a shallow river flowing over its sandy bed.”

The ultimate goal of this “lightness” was to allow readers to escape the burdens of the self —one’s petty peculiarities and circumstances—in order to experience unity with the world beyond. Bashō believed that poetry could, at its best, allow one to feel a brief sensation of merging with the natural world. One may become – through language – the rock, the water, the stars, leading one to an enlightened frame of mind known as muga, or a loss-of-awareness-of-oneself.

We can see Bashō’s concept of muga or self-forgetting at work in the way he invites us almost to inhabit his subjects, even if they are some rather un-poetic dead fish:

Fish shop
how cold the lips
of salted bream

In a world full of social media profiles and crafted resumes, it might seem odd to want to escape our individuality—after all, we carefully groom ourselves to stand out from the rest of the world. Bashō reminds us that muga or self-forgetting is valuable because it allows us to break free from the incessant thrum of desire and incompleteness which otherwise haunts all human lives.

Bashō suffered for long periods from deep melancholy; he travelled the dangerous back roads of the Japanese countryside with little more than writing supplies, and he spent some truly unglamorous nights:

Fleas and lice biting;
awake all night
a horse pissing close to my ear

Yet muga freed Bashō—and it can also free us—from the tyranny of glum moments of individual circumstance. His poetry constantly invites us to appreciate what we have, and to see how infinitesimal and unimportant our personal difficulties are in the vast scheme of the universe.

Bashō’s poetry was a clever tool for enlightenment and revelation – through the artfully simple arrangement of words. The poems are valuable not because they are beautiful (though they are this too) but because they can serve as a catalyst for some of the most important states of the soul. They remind both the writer and the reader that contentment relies on knowing how to derive pleasure from simplicity, and how to escape (even if only for a while) the tyranny of being ourselves.


Posted by The Philosophers' Mail on 26 September 2014
no author quoted
- source : www.theschooloflife.com


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. Cultural Keywords used by Basho .

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


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Oku Station 5 - Nikko

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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 5 - Nikko 日光 - - -

I lodged in an inn at the foot of Mount Nikko on the night of March the thirtieth. The host of my inn introduced himself as Honest Gozaemon, and told me to sleep in perfect peace on his grass pillow, for his sole ambition was to be worthy of his name. I watched him rather carefully but found him almost stubbornly honest, utterly devoid of worldly cleverness. It was as if the merciful Buddha himself had taken the shape of a man to help me in my wandering pilgrimage. Indeed, such saintly honesty and purity as his must not be scorned, for it verges closely on the perfection preached by Confucius.

On the first day of April l3, I climbed Mt. Nikko to do homage to the holiest of the shrines upon it. This mountain used to be called Niko. When the high priest Kukai built a temple upon it, however, he changed the name to Nikko, which means the bright beams of the sun. Kukai must have had the power to see a thousand years into the future, for the mountain is now the seat of the most sacred of all shrines, and its benevolent power prevails throughout the land, embracing the entire people, like the bright beams of the sun. To say more about the shrine would be to violate its holiness.

It is with awe
That I beheld
Fresh leaves, green leaves,
Bright in the sun.

Mount Kurokami was visible through the mist in the distance. It was brilliantly white with snow in spite of its name, which means black hair.

Rid of my hair,
I came to Mount Kurokami
On the day we put on
Clean summer clothes.

--written by Sora

My companion's real name is Kawai Sogoro, Sora being his pen name. He used to live in my neighborhood and help me with such chores as bringing water and firewood. He wanted to enjoy the views of Matsushima and Kisagata with me, and also to share with me the hardships of the wandering journey. So he took to the road after taking the tonsure on the very morning of our departure, putting on the black robe of an itinerant priest, and even changing his name to Sogo, which means Religiously Enlightened. His poem, therefore, is not intended as a mere description of Mount Kurokami. The last determination to persist in his purpose.

After climbing two hundred yards or so from the shrine, I came to a waterfall, which came pouring out of a hollow in the ridge and tumbled down into a dark green pool below in a huge leap of several hundred feet. The rocks of the waterfall were so carved out that we could see it from behind, though hidden ourselves in a craggy cave. Hence its nickname, See-from-behind.

Silent a while in a cave,
I watched a waterfall
For the first of
The summer observances

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

仏五左衛門
卅日、日光山の梺に泊る。あるじの云けるやう、「我名を佛五左衛門と云。萬正直を旨とする故に人かくは申侍まゝ、一夜の草の枕も打解て休み給へ」と云。いかなる仏の濁世塵土に示現して、かゝる桑門の乞食順礼ごときの人をたすけ給ふにやとあるじのなす事に心をとゞめてみるに、唯無智無分別にして正直偏固の者也。剛毅木訥の仁に近きたぐひ気禀の清質尤尊ぶべし。

卯月朔日、御山に詣拝す。往昔、此御山を「二荒山」と書しを空海大師開基の時「日光」と改給ふ。千歳未来をさとり給ふにや。 今此御光一天にかゞやきて恩沢八荒にあふれ、四民安堵の栖穏なり。猶憚多くて筆をさし置ぬ。

あらたうと青葉若葉の日の光

黒髪山は霞かゝりて、雪いまだ白し。

剃捨て黒髪山に衣更 曾良 - Sora

曾良は河合氏にして、 惣五郎と云へり芭蕉の下葉に軒をならべて予が薪水の労をたすく。このたび松しま象潟の眺共にせん事を悦び、且は羈旅の難をいたはらんと旅立暁髪を剃て墨染にさまをかえ惣五を改て宗悟とす。仍て黒髪山の句有。「衣更」の二字力ありてきこゆ。

廿餘丁山を登つて瀧有。岩洞の頂より飛流して百尺千岩の碧潭に落たり。 岩窟に身をひそめて入て]滝の裏よりみれば、うらみの瀧と申傳え侍る也。

暫時は瀧に篭るや夏の初

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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

so holy:
green leaves, young leaves,
in sun's light
Tr. David Landis Barnhill

Comment by Barnhill:
Basho is at Mt. Nikkoo, which literally means "sun's light." It is the site of an ancient Buddhist temple established by Kuukai as well as a Shinto shrine [Tosho Shrine] and mausoleum of the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate, Ieyasu (1542-1616). The original version reads:
"so holy: / down even to the darkness beneath the trees, / the sun's light"
('ara tooto / ko no shitayami mo / hi no hikari').

hi no hikari 日の光 / Nikkoo 日光

. WKD : Basho in Nikko - Introduction .
with more translations of this famous poem in various languages.

The Basho Haiku Stone Monument in Nikko / 日光の句碑

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しばらくは瀧にこもるや夏の初め
shibaraku wa taki ni komoru ya ge no hajime

for a while
I will sit behind the waterfall -
summer retreat begins
Tr. Gabi Greve


Read another hokku about
Urami no taki 裏見の滝 - 裏見の瀧 "Back- view waterfall"
near Nikko, with a cave behind the waterfall for mountain ascetic practises.

. ango 安吾 (あんご) intensive retreat .

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Hotoke Gozaemon 仏五左衛門 Honest Gozaemon
- source : www.bashouan.com

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. Nikko Toshogu Shrine 日光の東照宮 Nikkō Tōshō-gū .
with the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu 徳川家康 . (1543 - 1616)
.
During the time of Basho, this Shrine was off limits for normal people. So Basho must have had a special permit from a high-ranking official in the government.
Speculation says
Basho (and his companion Sora) in 1689 had the secret order to check about the repair work of the buildings, carried out by the 伊達藩　Date clan of Sendai, after an earthquake in 1683 had damaged the Shrine.
The Bakufu government had ordered the Date clan, to have it spent a lot of money on the repair and thus not be able to spent money on preparing another war . . .
Date Masamune even donated a pair of special metal lanterns 南蛮鉄燈籠, which he had gotten from Portugal, placed in front of the stone steps to the Yommei-Mon gate.
By the way, two more lanterns were made from bronze 唐銅灯, dedicated by the lord of Shimazu. 島津家久 .

After visiting Nikko, Basho was on his way to Sendai to check out more about the Date clan.
He must have had a lot on his mind, since he did not write many haiku until he had left Sendai. He even passed Matsushima . . .

... おそらく、芭蕉は、日光の修復の状況及び伊達藩のその後の動きを偵察する目的を持っていた ...
- reference : shibayan1954.blog10 -


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

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


. Shirakawa Daruma 白川だるま .



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Oku Station 28 - Mogamigawa

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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 28 - Mogamigawa 最上川 - - -

The River Mogami rises in the high mountains of the far north, and its upper course runs through the province of Yamagata. There are many dangerous spots along this river, such as Speckled Stones and Eagle Rapids, but it finally empties itself into the sea at Sakata, after washing the north edge of Mount Itajiki. As I descended this river in a boat, I felt as if the mountains on both sides were ready to fall down upon me, for the boat was tiny one - the kind that farmers used for carrying sheaves of rice in old times - and the trees were heavily laden with foliage. I saw the Cascade of Silver Threads sparkling through the green leaves and the Temple called Sennindo standing close to the shore. The river was swollen to the brim, and the boat was in constant peril.

Gathering all the rains
Of May,
The River Mogami rushes down
In one violent stream.


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


最上川のらんと、大石田と云所に日和を待。爰に古き誹諧の種こぼれて、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。 こ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。白糸の瀧は青葉の隙／＼に落て仙人堂岸に臨て立。水みなぎつて舟あやうし。

五月雨をあつめて早し最上川


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五月雨を集めてはやし最上川
samidare o atsumete hayashi Mogamigawa

collecting the June-rain
running so fast -
the river Mogamigawa
Tr. Gabi Greve

Read the discussion of the hokku here
. WKD : Rain in various kigo .

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Sennindoo　仙人堂 Sennin Do (外川神社 Togawa Jinja）
This Hall is upstream from Shiraito Waterfall. It is a shrine in honor of Yoshitsune's retainer Hitachibo Kaison.



. Hitachibo Kaison Sennin 常陸坊海尊仙人 .


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

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奥の細道図屏風　- Yamagata - Byobu images

山形美術館所蔵－長谷川コレクション Hasegawa Collection
source : www.bashouan.com


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Oku no Hosomichi
. - - - Station 31 - Sakata 酒田 - Tsurugaoka 鶴が岡 - - - .

暑き日を海にいれたり最上川
atsuku hi o umi ni iretari Mogamigawa

- - - - - The original version of the MOGAMIGAWA poem, praising the view from the house of his host, the rich merchant Terajima Hikosuke 寺島彦助:

涼しさや 海にいれたる 最上川
suzushisa ya umi ni iretaru Mogamigawa


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最上川河童舟下り A Kappa going down the river Mogamigawa


source :　kappauv.com/sub3/hakubutu/ - Kappa Museum

. Mahoroba Kappa Matsuri　まほろば河童まつり Festival .

this old river -
the sound of water
as the Kappa jumps

Gabi Greve, 2015


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- Hosomichi 2007 - BACKUP

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BACKUP only
December 2012

Original

. WKD : Oku no Hosomichi 2007 .



The main entry is now HERE

Oku no Hosomichi - 奥の細道 - おくのほそ道
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉　Archives of the WKD .





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walking
a long, long path -
haiku


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Oku no Hosomichi 奥の細道　... 2007



月日は百代の過客にして、行かふ年も又旅人也。
つきひははくたいのかかくにして
つきひはひゃくだいのかきゃくにして

tsukihi wa hakutai no kakaku ni shite
(tsukihi wa hyakudai no kakyaku ni shite)
yukikau toshi mo mata tabibito nari.

Days and months are the travellers of eternity.
The years that pass are also but travellers in time.



松尾芭蕉　
Basho was 46 when he started his tour on the 27 of March, 1689. (May 16 in the modern solar calendar.)
His tour took him over 2400 kilometers on foot! It took him five years to complete his report of this walk. It includes 51 hokku and is not a simple diary, but a work of literature, including fiction and philosophy.

He visited many "poetic pillows", uta makura 歌枕, famous places where poets before him had been visiting and writing poetry about.
While he was thus travelling the road of former famous poets like Saigyo, he was also travelling along his own life, even toward the future. He lived in a time when the age of 50 was considered a good time to die!
Jinsei, gojuu nen! 人生五十年！

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................................... Some general information


"All Things Must Pass" , nothing is eternal
sarvasamskara anityah in orignal Sanskrit
Shogyoo Mujoo 諸行無常 (しょぎょうむじょう) Mujo

. Barnhill : the concept of MUJŌ .
impermanence


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"permanence and change",
synthesis between tradition and innovation
Fueki Ryuukoo 不易流行（ふえきりゅうこう）

QUOTE:

fuga no makoto is a result or product of the dynamism of two colliding forces: fueki ryuko, which is another important teaching of Basho.
Fueki simply means "no change" and refers to values of a permanent and enduring nature.

Ryuko, on the other hand, means "changing fashions of the time" and refers to newness, innovation, originality or unconventional values that would break with old ways in a revolutionary manner.

For instance, Beethoven created new and innovative music, ushering in a new age and setting a new trend. However, he did not do so without first having been steeped in classical music of an old tradition. Thus he had fueki ryuko and left legacy of permanent value.
None of us is Beethoven, but all of us can become a little Beethoven! Fueki ryuko is an abbreviation of senzai-fueki ichiji-ryuko (eternal no-change and temporary fashion).

When fueki and ryuko collide and interact in a dynamic explosion of creative haiku writing, the result could be like a newly born baby taking after both parents but different from both. And there is a single ultimate value that lies beyond fueki ryuko, and that is nothing but fuga no makoto.

Susumu Takiguchi, WHR 2005

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Basho edited the haiku presented in "Oku no Hosomichi" according to the rules of RENKU, including moon, cherry blossoms and two about love.
　©　Etsuko Yanagibori

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A first ku (hokku) that can stand alone, usually with a mention of a special area, an independent hokku, is called
jihokku 地発句（じほっく）

The last ku of a linked verse is "ageku　挙句", and there is a popular Japanese proverb, ageku no hate 挙句の果て, at the last ku, meaning "at last".

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The walk starts in Edo.


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 and the eyes of fish
are full of tears

Basho at Senju 千住
in 1689, taking final leave from his friends.

. Yuku haru - spring is ending .


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江東区芭蕉記念館
KOTO CITY BASHO MUSEUM


Basho-An Homepage
臨川寺 Temple Rinsen-Ji


Nikko Kaido 日光街道
– Ancient Highway from Edo to Nikko

. Urami no Taki 裏見の滝 - 裏見の瀧 Waterfall .
and the summer retreat - ge 夏（げ）



Kurobane, Temple Joho-Ji, Friend Joboji
浄法寺桃雪邸跡


Basho Road at Kurobane, Basho no Michi, 芭蕉の道



Temple Daio-Ji, Kurobane, 黒羽町の大雄寺 Daioo-Ji

Temple Ungan-Ji 雲巌寺



"Murder Stone" 殺生石 Sesshoseki, a volcanic landscape



Willow Tree in memory of priest Yugyo (Ippen Shonin)

. WKD : 遊行柳 (ゆぎょうやなぎ ) Yugyoyanagi .
One of the famous "utamakura" places of Basho's travel. The tree has been re-planted many times over the years, but the atmosphere is still very much that of the Edo period.


Near Nikko is Mt. Dantai and a group of Jizo stones, called

O-Bake Jizoo 化け地蔵 the monstrous Jizo statues
Every time you count them, you get a different number.
Quite possibly Basho has tried to count them too !


含満ガ淵


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Shirakawa, "White River",
from here the Road to the North finally starts.


Shirakawa no Seki 白河の関 Border Station of Shirakawa

sangatsu ni seki no ashigaru oki-kaete
haiku by Kido (Kidoo 木導)



Oshu Kaido (Oushu Kaido) 奥州街道（おうしゅうかいどう）
– Ancient Highway from Nikko via Shirakawa to Sendai



Sakai no Myojin Shrine 境の明神(福島)

Two shrines at the border to the Northern Territories. One on each side of the frontier line. On the inner side a shrine for the female deity (Tamatsushima Myojin 玉津島) to protect the interior. On the outer side a shrine for a male deity (Sumiyoshi Myojin 住吉) to protect from enemies of the outside.　Travellers in the Edo period used to pray here for a safe trip and gave thanks after a trip was finished.

The local daimyo Matsudaira Sadanobu had a stone memorial built in memory of this frontier gate about 100 years after Basho passed the area.




白河小峰城, Shirakawa Komine Castle
Matsudaira Sadanobu was Lord of this castle. Lord Matsudaira (1759 - 1829) was well liked and did a lot for his people. He built the first park for commoners in Japan, the famous South Lake Park, Nanko Koen (Nankoo Kooen) 南湖公園 .



Sogi modoshi 宗祇戻しThe place where Sogi returned his steps

The famous poet Io Sogi (Soogi, Sougi 飯尾宗祇　いいおそうぎ) on his way to a poetry meeting for linked verse in Northern Japan met a poor girl here selling cotton. When he started talking to her, she answered him with a perfect waka verse. He felt quite ashamed at this and went back to Kyoto without attending the poetry meeting.

The waka
「阿武隈の川瀬にすめる鮎にこそ　うるかといえる　わたはありけれ」
Abuka no Kawa




Station 12 : Sukagawa and Asakayama : 安積山 In Memory of a Waka


The waka
安積香山影さへ見ゆる山の井の浅き心をわが思はなくに

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On his way

Waterfall Otsuji-ga-taki



Temple, Ioji (a temple visited by Basho) 医王寺 (Ioo-Ji)


at Station 11, Sukagawa
Memorial Stone, Mojizuri Ishi 文知摺石
English Explanation


Dresses made of paper, kamiko 紙子,紙衣

Paper clothing was used by poor peasants to keep warm in winter. Basho might have used one of these warm robes from Shiroishi.

GOOGLE : 白石　和紙　

In Osaka Kabuki, the main actor wears a robe made of paper, kamiko 紙衣. This does not flow naturally around the body and the actor has to make extra efforts to show a natural pose.

Kabuki and Haiku

GOOGLE : kamiko paper japan kimono

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Matsushima




松島やああ松島や松島や
Matsushima ya aa Matsushima ya Matushima ya

Matsushima!
Aaah! Matsushima!
Matsushima!

The real author of this haiku was ?????


Matsushima is one of the three most beautiful secnic areas of Japan.





. SENDAI
Iris Haiku

あやめ草足に結ん草鞋の緒
ayamegusa ashi ni musuban waraji no o



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Hiraizumi 平泉




夏草や兵どもが夢の跡
natsu-kusa ya tsuwamono domo ga yume no ato

summer grass!
only a trace of dreams
of ancient warriors

　Warriours, Samurai and Haiku

Basho followed in the footsteps of the tragic fate of the warrious Yoshitsune and Benkei (chinkon no nen 鎮魂の念) with this visit. He might also have used the travel to explore and find the depth and tragedy of his own being.

鎮魂の念


Takadachi 「高館(たかだち) at Hiraizumi was a castle that Fujiwara Hidehira had built for Minamoto Yoshitune.
Discussion of Takadachi and Tsuwamono
Haiku Translation Group


The "Shining Hall" is the golden mausoleum of three generations of the Fujiwara Clan. The rain of the rainy season has fallen on it for more than 500 years when Basho visited.

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

More photos from Hiraizumi.

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

kenkon no hen 乾坤の変
(the changing of heaven and earth)

The changing of heaven and earth is the heart of the nature spirit in haiku. Catch the changing of nature and you have what you need to write true haiku.

also discussed:
Haikai no makoto 俳諧の誠 (sincerity of haiku)
Koogo kizoku 高悟帰俗 (spiritual sense)
Kusa no Hana Haiku Group

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Natagiri Pass and Obanazawa 山刀伐峠 　

Entering into Dewa, Dewagoe 出羽超え.

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.
After the dangerous crossing, Basho stayed with the rich merchant Seifu (Suzuki Michiyu), who had made his fortune with
Safflower, saffron flower (benibana, beni no hana) .



芭蕉 山刀伐峠越の図 高嶋祥光

Farmers wear a specially shaped straw hat, called "natagiri なたぎり(photo) , in the shape of this pass.


Ginzan Hot Spring, Ginzan Onsen 銀山温泉


This is one of the few hot springs near a silver mine. The workers used to go there and heal their wounds or just rest and relax after the hard work in the mines.

Basho might have stayed there to rest after crossing the pass, before walking on to Obanazawa.



Tendo (Tendoo) 天童
now famous for its Shogi 天童将棋.


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River Mogamigawa, Mount Gassan

The Three Mountains of Dewa used to be part of a famous pilgrimage, representing LIFE (Haguro), DEATH (Gassan) and NEW BIRTH (at Yudono).



"As I sat reflecting thus upon a rock, I saw in front of me a cherry tree hardly three feet tall just beginning to blossom - far behind the season of course, but victorious against the heavy weight of snow which it had resisted for more than half a year.
I immediatley thought of the famous Chinese poem about 'the plum tree fragrant in the blazing heat of summer' and of an equally pathetic poem by the priest Gyoson, and felt even more attached to the cherry tree in front of me. "
Station 30 - Gassan

At Mt. Gassan, Basho saw the Mountaintop Cherry blossoms, minezakura 嶺桜.
They flower much later than the ones down in the valley. That is why on Mt. Gassan you can experience the three ingredients of Japanese ascetics, Snow, Moon and Cherry blossoms, (Setsugetsuka, Setsugekka 雪月花) at the same time.
SETSUGEKKA, Japanese Art and the Japanese View of Nature
by Isamu Kurita, MOA

Basho went on to Mt. Yudono, where it is forbidden to talk about your experiences there. I visited there many years ago.
Dewa Sanzan; 'Three sacred mountains of Dewa'
Gabi Greve

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Some thoughts from Etsuko Yanagibori

Basho made a greeting ku for the ascetic Egaku at Haguro San

arigataya yuki o kaorasu kaze no oto

thanks
for the wind
with the smell of snow

He changed this later and this is the official haiku now.

arigataya yuki o kaorasu minamidani

Thanks
for Minamidani
smell of snow

The original haiku has a kigo for summer, kaze kaoru. Basho visited the temple in early summer, June 4th.

Yudono is a very sacred plate for the Godess of Dewa.
We can read a romantic interpretation from this haiku

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

no speaking
in the place of Yudono-den
wet my cuff

When people enter the place of the goddess to pray the god, they put off their
shoes and walk around the rock of the gods without talking.

the hidden haiku reading ...

no talking
in the bathroom with you
only my cuff a little wet

. . . . .


So holy a place
The snow itself is scented
At southern Valley.


How cool it is here.
A crescent moon faintly hovers
Over Mount Haguro.


kumo no mine ikutsu kuzurete tsuki no yama

The peaks of clouds
Have crumbled into fragments
The moonlit mountain


I cannot speak of
Yudono, but see how wet
My sleeve is with tears.
Tr. Donald Keene

source : Haguro Brochure

"tsuki no yama" this is also the name of the mountain itself
Gassan　月山.

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Tsuruoka and Kisakata 鶴岡　と　象潟
(Kisagata)


Yamagata, Tsuruoka Basho Memorial




Akita, Kisagata


SAKATA

Minden Nasu / Eggplants

mezurashi ya yama o Dewa no hatsu nasubi

Welche Überraschung!
aus den Heiligen Bergen von Dewa kommend
hier die ersten Augerginen



象潟や料理何くふ神祭
Kisakata ya ryoori nani kuu kami matsuri

Oh now Kisakata !
What special food do they eat
at the shrine festival?

Kisakata an einem Festtag!
Was es hier wohl für
Spezialitäten gibt?

Sora 曾良

. Sora, Kawai Sora 河合曾良 . (1649 - 1710)
Basho's companion on the way.


Kisakata is a superb place to take a leisurely countryside walk.
Kanmanji is surrounded by a sacred grove of old-growth laurel trees (tabunoki たぶのき【椨】 Persea thunbergii or Machilus thunbergii).
MORE : Basho in Kisakata



Yamagata, Yamadera 山寺立石寺

閑かさや岩にしみ入る蝉の声
shizukasa ya iwa ni shimiiru semi no koe

oh in this quietude
seeping into the rock
the voices of cicadas




. YAMAGATA - On the path of poets .

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Izumosaki, Oyashirazu, Ichiburi .. Kanazawa

Izumo saki, Izumozaki 出雲崎　is the birthtown of priest Ryokan.
Ryokan memorial day and Haiku


荒海や 佐渡によこたふ 天河
araumi ya Sado ni yokotau ama no kawa

O'er wild ocean spray,
All the way to Sado Isle
Spreads the Milky Way

Tr. Dorothy Britton


Sado Province, Sado Island, Japan

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Ariso Umi 有磯海 Arisoumi
. . . wase no ka ya wakeiru migi wa Arisoumi


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


The difficult part of this journey, Oyashirazu 親不知　 (not minding your parents) and Koshirazu (not minding your children) , refers to an area along the coast between Niigata and Ichiburi where the mountains are right to the sea shore with their sheer cliffs. The waves drone against the base of the cliffs and the only way to get past this is to wait for the moment when the waves receede and then run for your life !



The grand old tree at Ichiburi

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Kurikara Pass 倶利伽羅峠

Kurikara means 'black dragon' in Sanskrit.
The temple Kurikara Fudo-son is located near Kurikara Pass, a place famous for the battle between the Heike Clan and Saso Yoshinaka during the 2nd year of the Eiju period (1183). The statue of Fudo Myo-O is said to be carved by Kobo Daishi.

CLICK for some photos here !


My Details are here
Kurikara, the Sword of Fudo Myo-o


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Komatsu ...... Natadera ..... Daishoji ..... Maruoka ..... Fukui


多太神社
Shrine Tada Jinja in Komatsu


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Tsuruga 敦賀 , Ogaki 大垣


Basho Memorial at Tsuruga




月いづく鐘は沈める海の底
tsuki izuku kane wa shizumeru umi no soko

. The mystery background story
of the bell at the bottom of the sea 　
(This haiku is not included in the Travelogue by Basho.)
Visit to the Shrine Kehi Jingu　気比神宮 with a haiku about the moon.



Oogaki
CLICK for some photos

Basho's travel with the wind (kaze no tabi) ends here in 1689.



Sora, who had left Basho earlier on the trip, had hurried to Ogaki to gather many haiku friends to celebrate the goal of the travels of Master Basho and make this a memorable ending of the long tour.



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The last haiku, written at Ogaki

蛤のふたみにわかれ行く秋ぞ
hamaguri no futami ni wakarete yuku aki zo

(like) a clamshell
divided in two we depart now
into this autumn . . .

. discussing : futami　二身 - 蓋身 two bodies .


. . . . .


At the end of the journey

Ukimido, 浮御堂 the Floating Hall and
Basho's Grave at Temple Gichu-Ji 義仲寺


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"The Narrow Road to the Deep North"
PDF-File
Translations by Haider A. Kahn and Tadashi Kondo



Reference : Oku no Hosomichi. Nobuyuki Yuasa



Beckoned by the cloud-scattering winds and Dōsojin, the male-female guardian god of the road, longing to see the moon rising over Matsushima, Matsuo Bashō (1644-1694) left Edo for Oku at the end of spring in the second year of Genroku (1689).

Roads of Oku: Travels in Japan
Reference : Utamakura: Storied Places
Dennis Kawaharada, 2011
(very extensive resource)


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Translation by Tim Chilcott
a PDF file.



Travels along the path of Matsuo Basho, Japan’s 17th-century haiku master, help bring his words to life.
On the Trail of a Ghost
©　National Geographic, Howard Norman, January 2008




Haiku by Matsuo, Basho, from "Narrow Road to Oku".
Dr. Donald Keene has generously given to me his permission to use his translation of the Basho's haiku.
I will be showing my haiga of all the haiku in "Narrow Road to Oku"
KUNI from Nara
source : seehaikuhere.blogspot.com


Walking with Basho in Japanese

「ゆるぱそ」ブログ　

Bashomichi
http://bashomichi.com/

Meishochi 名蕉地 100 famous spots walking with Basho
http://bashomichi.com/meisyouchi100/tokyo/


Morimura Seiichi sensei 森村 誠一
芭蕉道への旅
http://bashomichi.com/tabi/morimuraseiichi/

http://www.bs-j.co.jp/okunohosomichi/


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Stamps about "Oku no Hosomichi"

Click the image for more !


*****************************
Related words


Chen-ou Liu about
. The Narrow Road to the Interior .



***** Basho Memorial Day (Basho-Ki)

***** Matsuo Basho　松尾芭蕉 (1644 - 1694)


***** NHK and Haiku


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. Michinoku, Mutsu 陸奥 region in Tohoku .


[ . BACK to DARUMA　MUSEUM　TOP . ]
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]

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Kigo used by Basho

[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
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- Kigo and kidai used by Matsuo Basho
松尾芭蕉と季語（季題）- Jahreszeitenworte -

quote
With the dramatic growth of haikai in the seventeenth century, the number of new seasonal words grew rapidly.
- snip - ... while the number of seasonal words grew at an astounding pace, the number of seasonal topics remained relatively limited.

source : Haruo Shirane
Japan and the Culture of the Four Seasons:
Nature, Literature, and the Arts

seasonal words - read kigo
seasonal topics - read kidai

tatedai 縦題 -　竪題　"vertical dai"
yokodai 横題 "horizontal dai"

kigo 季語, short for kisetsu no kotoba　季節の言葉　- a word indicating the season
. WKD - Kidai and Kigo　季題と季語 .

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- - - Saijiki in the Edo period

Kitamura Kigin - Yama no I "Mountain Well" 北村季吟『山之井』 Yama no I
1624 -1705］comp. 1647-8
It contained 1300 kidai and season words.

............... later republished as
Zoo yama no i "Expanded Mountain Well "Yama no I" 1667



Kigin 季吟　was the haikai master and teacher of Matsuo Basho.

I assume that Basho and other disciples of Kigin studied these words in depth and knew all these kidai by heart after about one year (going through the four seasons) of their apprenticeship. After that time of study they passed the knowledge on to their own disciples.

Since seasonal references play an important role in the linked verse RENKU　連句, a haikai master like Basho had a lot to teach to his disciples.


. WKD : History of Japanese Saijiki 歳時記 . 　　


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. WKD : KIGO ABC INDEX .

The kigo used by Basho are usually marked in the ABC index of this archive.
Check the tabs on the right.

- - - - - (For now) I prepared three special Basho SAIJIKI , they comprise also most of the cultural keywords that also figure as kidai:

. Basho SAIJIKI - gyooji 行事 - observances and rituals .

. Basho SAIJIKI - seikatsu 生活 - daily life, humanity .


. Basho SAIJIKI - tenmon 天文 - heaven .


- - - - -

Here I will add a few more summaries of hokku by Basho with a certain kigo.


In the pre-Meiji era (before 1868), almost all hokku/haiku contained a kigo.
For example,
Japanese experts have classified
only 10 of Matsuo Bashō's hokku in the miscellaneous (zō) category
(out of about 1,000 hokku).
The kigo saijiki KIGOSAI lists 1031 hokku, three of them have no kigo.
Other poems of the 5 7 5 type by Basho appeared in the middle part of a renku or kasen, where no season word was required.
They would not be seen as HOKKU　発句 - first KU in a linked verse - in his time. (see below, zappai).


The fifth season of "New Year" had not been invented yet, since the Asian lunar calendar determined the seasons.
"First Spring" was the New Year's Day or New Year's season, which lastet 15 days until the full moon of the first lunar month.
. WKD : The Haiku Seasons - then and now .


. WKD - Kigo used in Haiku .

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Seasonal references were very important in the poetry of Japan since the Heian period. Manuals with collections of seasonal words grew as composing poetry moved on from the aristocracy to the townspeople of the Edo period.
For composing linked verses (renga) it was necessary to have a set of seasonal references.
Basho and his disciples played an important role in the growing interest of seasonal references, finding more and more seasonal items to include in their poetry.

This trend has been going on in our times, where modern words like "airconditioning" become a kigo as soon as a haiku poet makes use of the word in his poem.

On the other hand cultural kigo of the daily life popular in the Edo period have become obsolete, as the items themselves are not used any more.
This gives birth to even more saijiki to broaden our knowledge and understanding :

Enjoy Old Kigo ! by Uda Kiyoko
古季語と遊ぶ . 宇多喜代子

. History of Japanese Saijiki .


- - - - - Please try to read Haruo Shirane

Japan and the Culture of the Four Seasons
source : www.amazon.com

- quote
the main points:

Secondary Nature: cultural surrogates for primary nature
-- textual (poetry, tales, etc.)
-- cultivated (gardens, meisho, ikebana, bonsai, food, etc.)
-- visual representations (painting, ukiyoe, architecture, dress, etc.)
-- performative (noh, kauki, festivals, annual observances)


Contrastive Typographies of Nature
waka-based nature: elegant, highly encoded, emphasis on color, scent, and sound (birds, insects, deer), harmony.

Satoyama (farm village)-based nature: nature as bounty/harvest, nature as feared and worshipped,animals/plants as gods (kami), and everyday animals, birds, and plants


Below are relevant excerpts from Haruo Shirane's new book, Japan and the Culture of the Four Seasons: Nature, Literature, and the Arts:

One of the major reasons for the prominence of nature and the four seasons in Japanese literary and visual culture is the impact of Japanese poetry, particularly the thirty-one-syllable waka (classical poetry), the main literary genre of the premodern period. Indeed, all the major types of Japanese poetry -- kanshi (Chinese-style poetry), waka, renga (classical linked verse), and haikai (popular linked verse) -- use natural themes extensively.

Even those poems that appear on the surface to describe only landscape or nature serve to express particular emotions or thoughts. Japanese poetry rarely uses overt metaphor (for example, 'My love is a rose.'). Instead, the description of a flower, a plant, an animal, or a landscape became an implicit description of a human or an internal state.

Metonymy, especially the construction of a larger scene from a small detail, also played a crucial role, particularly in short forms like waka and seventeen-syllable hokku (opening verse of renga sequence). From the perspective of the reader, all such poetry will potentially have a surface (literal) meaning and a deeper meaning. Representations of nature in aristocratic visual culture -- whether painting, poetry, or design --- are thus seldom simply decorative or mimetic; they are almost always culturally and symbolically encoded, and that encoding tends to evolve with time and genre.

Each seasonal topic generated a cluster of associations, and the seasons (along with famous poetic places) developed associative clusters that became part of a cultural vocabulary.

The highly encoded system of seasonal representation created by poetry provided an enduring foundation for an increasingly complex and multilayered view of the four seasons.

In a country in which little original wilderness survives, reconstructed nature -- in the form of replanted forests, cultivated gardens, famous places (meisho), and shrinesand temple grounds -- has contributed to the greening of both the countryside and the urban environment. For city dwellers, who make up the vast majority of the population, representations of nature . . . raise awareness of the seasons . . . Although nature may be far away, it is relived or recaptured in the cultural imagination.

The pervasiveness of secondary nature in Japanese culture has often been mistaken for a closeness to or a belief in Japanese harmony with nature.
- source : neverendingstoryhaikutanka.blogspot.jp





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From this BLOG, entries with the lable KIGO
. Basho Archives - KIGO entries .


This is a growing list. Please come back again !
This part is under construction.
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. - aki no kure 秋の暮 - autumn dusk - .


botan　牡丹　peony
. WKD : botan　牡丹　peony .


. - cha 茶　tea - Tee - .


. - choo,蝶 choochoo 蝶々 butterfly - .
and the Chinese sage Chuang-Tsu (Chuang Tzu), Sooji 荘子 Soji、Zhuangzi


. fuyugomori 冬籠り winter confinement, winter isolation .


hagi 　萩 bush clover
. WKD : hagi 　萩 bush clover .



. hanami 花見 cherry-blossom viewing .
hanagoromo 花衣 robes for cherry-blossom viewing
hanamori 花守 warden of the cherry trees
hana no yado 花の宿 lodging with cherry blossoms
sakuragari 桜狩 "hunting for cherry blossoms"


. - hatsumono 初物 first things - .

. - hotaru 蛍 (ほたる) firefly, fireflies - .

. - hototogisu ホトトギス - .


. - izayoi 十六夜 moon on night 16 - sixteenth night moon - .



. - kari 雁 goose geese, wild geese - .

. - kiku 菊 chrysanthemum - .


kogarashi
. Withering Wind, Cold Gale (kogarashi 木枯らし, 木枯, 凩) .


. kusu no ki 楠木 camphor tree .
and the samurai Kusunoki Masashige 楠木正成


makuwa, makuwauri - Matsuo Basho liked makuwa uri very much and wrote quite a few haiku about them.
. WKD : makuwa uri 真桑瓜 Makuwa melon .

. - meigetsu 名月 harvest moon - .



. - nazuna 薺 sheperd's purse - . *

. - neko　猫　cat - .
neko no koi 猫の恋 cat in love
neko no tsuma 猫の妻 wife of the cat



. ran 蘭 orchid, orchids .


. - samidare　五月雨 - June rain .

. - semi 蝉 cicada / semi no koe　蝉の声 - . *

. - shigure 時雨 winter drizzle, sleet - .

shirauo, shira uo 白魚 whitabait
. WKD : Whitebait (shirauo 白魚) .

. - sumi 炭 charcoal - Ono-zumi小野 charcoal from Ono and more - .

. - suzushisa 涼しさ coolness - and suzumi　涼み －.




taki 滝 waterfall
. WKD : Waterfall, taki 滝 / baku 瀑 .


. Tanabata 七夕 Star Festival .
hoshi-ai, hoshi ai 星合 "the stars are meeting"


. - taue, ta-ue, ta ue 田植 rice planting - .

. - toogarashi 唐辛子 red pepper - .


. - toshi no kure 年の暮 end of the year - SAIJIKI humanity .

. - tsukimi 月見 viewing the full moon of autumn - .


. - tsuyu 露 dew, dewdrops - .



. - uguisu 鶯 nightingale, bush warbler - .

. - ume ga ka 梅が香 plum fragrance - .
and PLUM



. - yuugao 夕顔 bottle gourd - .
moonflower
- - - - - and
asagao 朝顔 morning glory

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- - - - - hokku with three kigo

春もやや気色ととのふ月と梅
. haru mo yaya keshiki totonou tsuki to ume .
spring, moon and plum blossoms


摘みけんや茶を凩の秋とも知らで
. tsumiken ya cha o kogarashi no aki to mo shirade .

(spring) picking tea leaves. winter storm. autumn.



- - - - - hokku with four kigo

冬牡丹千鳥よ雪のほととぎす
. fuyu botan chidori yo yuki no hototogisu .
(winter) snow. winter peonies, plover, hototogisu (4 kigo in one poem!)


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－－－－－　hokku and poems with NO kigo - muki 無季　- zappai　雑俳　
. - zappai　雑俳, zoo 雑 Zo - miscellaneous - .
Including middle poems of a renku, where no kigo was required.



季語別「芭蕉全句集」(1031句) - kigosai - Kigo Saijiki
List of 1031 hokku by Basho, according to the kigo he used.
Only 3 hokku listed do not have a kigo.
source : kigosai.sub.jp


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quote - Richard Gilbert
After haiku became a fully independent genre, the term "kigo" was coined by Otsuzi Ōsuga (1881-1920) in 1908.
"Kigo" is thus a new term for the new genre approach of "haiku."
So, when we are looking historically at hokku or haikai stemming from the renga tradition, it seems best to use the term "kidai."

Bashō regards kidai as a way to commune with the creative power of nature (zōka). Bashō does not regard kidai as a rule, but rather as a word or keyword establishing a relationship with kokoro (heart, mind). Kaneko Tohta paraphrases: “Bashō said to his disciples, ‘find kidai for yourself. If you are unable to do this, you cannot become a good haikaishi (haiku poet).’” Importantly, this is not because kidai is primary in itself, but rather that without finding an expression of language which unites Self with zōka, one cannot achieve a deep sense of heart (i.e. knowing).

Basho also has said, “Even if the word is not traditional kidai, in the case that the word has enough quality to be kidai, do choose it and use it. When you find a new kidai, it will be a great gift for the next generation” (Kyoraishō)."

The Heart in Season: Sampling the Gendai Haiku Non-season Muki Saij
source : Richard Gilbert - Simply Haiku 2006


. WKD : Kigo and Kidai 季語　- 季題　 .

Oosuga Otsuji 大須賀乙字 Osuga Otsuji
(?Seki Osuga), born in Fukushima.

季語といふも季題といふも実は同一の意味の言葉である。
source : www.miraiku.com/


. WKD - Kidai and Kigo　季題と季語 .

. WKD : KIGOs ABC INDEX .


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hototogisu little cuckoo

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- hototogisu 郭公 / ほととぎす -

This is one of the classical season words, used in the poetry of the Heian period.
Basho sometimes uses the word and adds a new twist, closer to the normal life of the normal people of his Edo.

hototogisu can be written with many Chinese characters:
ほととぎす【時鳥／子規／杜鵑／不如帰／郭公】

Basho uses the Chinese characters 郭公, which was common during the Heian period.
But now is often pronounced kakkoo, Japanese cuckoo, which is a different bird, Cuculus canorus.


. WKD : hototogisu ホトトギス, 時鳥 .
Little Cuckoo, Cuculus poliocephalis


Sometimes, even the bush warbler (uguisu　鶯) and the little cuckoo (hototogisu) get mixed up.






under construction
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曙はまだ紫にほととぎす
akebono wa / mada murasaki ni / hototogisu


冬牡丹千鳥よ雪のほととぎす
fuyu botan / chidori yo yuki no / hototogisu


ほととぎす今は俳諧師なき世哉
. hototogisu ima wa haikaishi naki yo kana .
(summer) little cuckoo. now a world without haikai masters


時鳥鰹を染めにけりけらし
. hototogisu katsuo o some ni keri kerashi .
(summer) little cuckoo. skipjack sashimi


ほととぎす消え行く方や島一つ
. hototogisu kieyuku kata ya shima hitotsu .
(summer) little cuckoo. it disappears. a single island

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郭公声横たふや水の上
hototogisu koe yokotau ya mizu no ue

cuckoo:
its call stretching out
across the water
Tr. Barnhill


sound of a cuckoo
whose cry now is stretching out
across the water
Tr. Chilcott


hototogisu––
the shriek lies stretched
across the water
Tr. Ueda

The cut marker YA is at the end of line 2.

Written in summer 1693 　 元禄六年四月二十九日.
Basho had gotten the news that his nephew and adopted son Toin had died. Basho was very shocked and vowed not to write about the hototogisu any more. His friends Sunpu and Sora tried to help him overcome his sorrow
愁情なぐさめばやと、杉風、曽良、水辺之ほとゝぎすとて、更ニすゝむるにまかせて


Basho also wrote

一声の江に横たふやほとゝぎす
hito-koe no e ni yokotau ya hototogisu

a single call
comes across the inlet -
hototogisu
Tr. Gabi Greve

Basho was referring to a poem by Su Dongpo, Su Dungpo 蘇東坡 (So Toba そ とうば)

白露江ニ横タハリ / 白露江に横たはる

“The gleaming water extends to heaven,
and the white mist lies stretched across the water.”

“White mist lay across the water;
the light from the water reached the sky. .”
source :　afe.easia.columbia.edu/song


quote
..... which strongly suggests that the lingering sound of the hototogisu echoes the vanishing spirit of the dead youth.
Shirane, Traces of Dreams


. Matsuo Basho - His nephew Tooin 桃印　Toin, To-In - .
(?1661 - 1693)

doobutsu no koe 動物の声　- a difficult expression to translate:
The voices of animals used by Basho -
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .


- Japanese Reference -

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郭公招くか麦のむら尾花
hototogisu / maneku ka mugi no / mura obana

時鳥正月は梅の花咲けり
hototogisu / matsuki wa ume no / hana sakeri


ほととぎす鳴く鳴く飛ぶぞ忙はし
hototogisu / naku naku tobu zo / isogawashi
so busy!


杜鵑鳴く音や古き硯箱
. hototogisu naku ne ya furuki suzuri-bako / suzuribako .
(summer) little cuckoo. old inkstone box

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ほととぎす鳴くや五尺の菖草
hototogisu naku ya go shaku no ayamegusa

hototogisu
cries –– a blade of iris
five feet tall
Tr. Ueda


the Hototogisu
is calling - some iris
of five Shaku hight
Tr. Gabi Greve



This hokku is a version of a poem from the Kokin Shu 古今集 collection, by an unknown author.

ほととぎす鳴くや五月のあやめぐさ あやめも知らぬ恋もするかな
hototogisu naku ya gogatsu no ayamegusa ayame mo shiranu koi mo suru kana

Basho has only changed the gogatsu to goshaku.

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ほととぎす大竹薮を漏る月夜
. hototogisu ootakeyabu o moru tsukiyo .
(summer) little cuckoo. bamboo, moon night



ほととぎす裏見の滝の裏表
. hototogisu Urami no Taki no ura omote .
(summer) little cuckoo. Urami no Taki waterfall (Nikko). back and front



烏賊売の声まぎらはし杜宇
. ika uri no koe magirawashi hototogisu .
(summer) squid vendor. hardly distinguishable. hototogisu. his voice


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source :　itoyo/basho


清く聞かん耳に香焼いて郭公
kiyoku kikan mimi ni koo taite hototogisu

the clear sound
of burning incense near the ear
hototogisu

天和3年, Basho age 40
koo o kiku, to "listen to incense" had become fashionable in the Genroku period.


The Way of Incense 香道　
As in the analogous tea ceremony, various instruments (many of them made of gold or silver) were called for. Diverse formalities were developed and a proper name for the activity was created: kodo.
Eventually even the act of smelling became too common.
Instead one "listened" to incense. (koo o kiku 香を聞く)
. WKD : Incense, O-Koo　お香 .


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木隠れて茶摘みも聞くやほととぎす
. kogakurete chatsumi mo kiku ya hototogisu .
(spring) picking tea leaves. to hear. hototogisu


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京にても京なつかしやほととぎす
. Kyoo ni te mo Kyoo natsukashi ya hototogisu .
Kyoo nite mo
(summer) little cuckoo, longing for Kyoto



待たぬのに菜売りに来たか時鳥
matanu no ni / na uri ni kita ka / hototogisu
vendor of leaves for food


野を横に馬牽きむけよほととぎす
. no o yoko ni uma hikimuke yo hototogisu .
(summer) little cuckoo, horse


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落ち来るや高久の宿の郭公
ochikuru ya Takaku no shuku no hototogisu

falling from high above -
at a Takaku lodging,
cuckoo
Tr. Barnhill

Oku no Hosomichi, Station 6 - Nasu　那須


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しばし間も待つやほととぎす千年
shibashi ma mo matsu ya hototogi su sennen
shibashi ma mo matsu ya hototogisu sennen

I wait only for a short while
for the hototogisu - it feels
like some thousand years

This is an allusion to the Chinese poet Li Po (701-762)

白髪三千丈

My white hair is three thousand joo 丈 long.
The waterfall falls down three thousand feet.

(One 丈 is about 3 meters).


Written in 1666 寛文7年, Basho age 24.
This poem has a particular meter, with the cut marker YA in the middle of line 2 and the structure 5 8 4, if HOTOTOGISU is seen as one word.

matsu, to wait, is also a pun with the auspicious 1000 year old pine, sennen no matsu 千年の松.
quite a few places, temples and shrines, have such a long-living pine.
hototogi susennen, ほととぎ 数千年 the bird - a few thousand years suu sennenn 数千年.
Basho is still experimenting with the hokku form.

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須磨の海士の矢先に鳴くか郭公
. Suma no ama yasaki ni naku ka hototogisu .
(summer) little cuckoo. fisherman as Suma


田や麦や中にも夏のほととぎす
. ta ya mugi ya naka ni mo natsu no hototogisu .
(summer) hototogisu in summer. fields. barley.


橘やいつの野中の郭公
tachibana ya / itsu no nonaka no / hototogisu


戸の口に宿札名乗れほととぎす
. to no kuchi ni yadofuda nanore hototogisu .
at the front entrance, hand out your visitor sign (yado fuda 宿札)


鳥刺も竿や捨てけんほととぎす
torisashi mo / kasa ya suteken / hototogisu



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. WKD : hototogisu ホトトギス, 時鳥 .
Little Cuckoo, Cuculus poliocephalis


. Cultural Keywords used by Basho .


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