Fog, Mist, Haze and More

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Fog, Mist and more hazy words
Nebel, Dunst


http://iyashi.midb.jp/search/?id=2&mode=word
Oze Swamp in Spring

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Explanation

Fog and mist are well known phenomen, mostly during the whole year, but seasonally special in some areas. The Japanese kigo are well defined, but their translation in English might not bring the same familiar seasonal ring.

As a general rule, the Japanese words kasumi and oboro are haze and mist of spring, whereas kiri is the fog of autumn and winter.

Smog usually builds up in the summer months in big cities.

Misty memory, hazy mind and such use of adjectives are not considered kigo.

For more details, read the extensive explanations here, page 191 - 194:
Haiku World: An International Poetry Almanac
William J. Higginson

All these kigo belong the the category of HEAVEN (天然）.

Let us look at the physical nature of these phenomen first.

Fog, mist and haze are not precipitation as they don't fall to the ground. Reduced visibility near the ground is caused by tiny particles suspended in the air. Water droplets that cause a moderate reduction in visibility are called mist. Those causing a serious visibility problem are called fog. Mists and fogs often form over seas, rivers, and lakes. Particles of dust, smoke or salt that affect the clarity of the air are collectively known as haze.

Fog - visibility below 1,000 m (1,100 yards) - mainly affects aircraft.
Thick fog - visibility 50-200 m (55 - 220 yards) - dangerous for road traffic.
Dense fog - visibility below 50 m (55 yards) - seriously disrupts all forms of transport.



.. .. .. Three types of Fog

Radiation fog occurs when the land radiates heat into space and the air rapidly cools to the dew point. Radiation fog tends to collect in valleys and other ‘frost hollows' causing motorway pile-ups sometimes because drivers do not slow down enough in foggy conditions.

Sea fog - often known as 'steam' fog (over fresh water) or sea smoke (over the sea) forms when cold air is over much warmer water. This is the same effect as cold air turning to steam over a hot bath or hot sink. There needs to be about 9 degrees C difference for this to happen. True steam occurs when the temperature is 100 degrees C.

Advection fog occurs when warm moist air is cooled by a cooler surface, such as over a cool sea in the spring. Fog banks are common in the northwest Atlantic where they form over cold, shallow, offshore waters, such as the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. It also happens when warm moist air blows over a cold sea or lake.

Smog: (smoke-laden fog)
Dirty fog produced by air pollution in cities, and often occurring beneath a temperature inversion. The action of sunlight can produce photo-chemical smog.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/weatherwise/factfiles/basics/precipitation_fog.shtml

Weather Terms Glossary
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/weatherwise/glossary/

The great Smog of London in 1952
http://weather.about.com/library/weekly/aa121402a.htm

Links about FOG
http://weather.about.com/sitesearch.htm?terms=fog&SUName=weather&TopNode=4018&type=1

Links about HAZE
http://weather.about.com/sitesearch.htm?terms=haze&SUName=weather&TopNode=4018&type=1

Links about MIST
http://weather.about.com/sitesearch.htm?terms=mist&SUName=weather&TopNode=4018&type=1

Malaysia hazy
A smokey haze is creating profound problems in Malaysia, according to the Agence France Press. The haze, which is the result of forest fires on the nearby island of Sumatra, is delaying airline flights and creating health problems.

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Graves in Morning Mist
Read the Haiku Collection of Gabi Greve
http://happyhaiku.blogspot.com/2004/10/lonely-graves-in-mist.html


Now let us go back to the kigo related to these words.

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Spring

Mist, Spring mist, Spring mistiness ,
Spring haze, Spring haziness : kasumi　霞　

According to Higginson
Spring haziness focusses on obscured vision at night, whereas Spring haze refers to any haze or mist, usually during daytime hours.

evening haze : kasumi yo 霞夜
thin spring haze : usugasumi 薄霞
morning haze: asagasumi 朝霞
haze in the offing : kasumi no oki　霞の沖
veil of haze : kasumi-gakure 霞隠れ
haze in the distance : too-kasumi 遠霞
wild plants in the haze : kusa kasumu 草霞む

Mist could also be used as a translation for for the above terms.

In the following MIST seems the appropriate translation:

sleeves of mist : kasumi no tamoto 霞の袂
nets of mist : kasumi no ami 霞の網
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sitting on a
blanket of mist,
stone buddha

Robert Wilson

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Spring haziness, Spring mistiness , haze, hazy
oboro 朧

kigo with OBORO are usually refering to evening and night phenomenon.
When the temperatures rise during daytime, some moisture in the air shows a hazy landscape in the evening, especially when the moon is bright.



hazy moon : oborozuki, tsuki oboro 朧月(all spring)
hazy evening : oboroyo 朧夜
hazy moonlight evening : oborozukiyo 朧月夜
looking hazy : oboro meku 朧めく
distant mulled sound of the temple bell : kane oboro 鐘朧, kane kasumu 鐘霞む
Here the feeling of haze includes the deep sound of a distant Japanese temple bell.

The hazy Spring moon, the cloudy moon in a veil of clouds is a well-loved expression in Japanese literature since ancient times.


http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~nr8c-ab/zzz.htm

おぼろ月松出ぬけても出ぬけても
oboro-zuki matsu denukete mo denukete mo

hazy moon--
the pine passing through
passing through

Issa
http://cat.xula.edu/issa/searchissa.php?colors=T&show_c=T&haiku_id=081.15a


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Summer

summer fog, summer mist :
natsu no kiri, natsugiri 夏霧
summer haze, summer mist : natsugasumi 夏霞


Thick fog often builds in the Sea of Ohotsk in Hokkaido.　To find their way ships use their horns and whistles.
fog at sea, sea fog : umigiri, jiri 海霧
ship's whistle in the fog, fog horn (foghorn),
Nebelhorn : muteki 霧笛

Look at a photo of the FOGHORN by Paul Conneally


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Autumn


http://www.uroncha.com/04wata/04wata11/0411-1.html


Fog : kiri 霧
Autumn fog : akigiri 秋霧
morning fog : asagiri 朝霧
evening fog : yuugiri　夕霧
night fog : yogiri　夜霧

scent in the fog, smell :
kiri no ka, kiri niou 霧の香、霧匂う
The scent is often from fires burning fallen leaves or weeds.


kiri ni noru metsuki shite iru karasu kana

looking to ride
the mist...
a crow

Issa
http://webusers.xula.edu/dlanoue/issa/index.html



autumn sunset -
on the misty mountain
a final sunray

Gabi Greve
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/happyhaiku/message/638

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Look at a great collection of Morning Fog photos from Japan.
http://iyashi.midb.jp/search/?id=2&mode=word


asagiri ya shashin o mireba genki no deru

morning mist -
just looking at the photos
makes me happy

Gabi Greve


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Yuugiri, Yugiri, Evening Fog
is a famous character in the Genji Monogatari.

Fragment of the Takeya Edition of the Yûgiri Chapter of The Tale of Genji
http://www.emuseum.jp/cgi/bunsyutu.cgi?SyoID=5&ID=w027&SubID=s029&Link=w027x001


http://www.pref.kyoto.jp/2008genji/1183089639569.html : 夕霧（ゆうぎり）


夕霧や馬の覚し橋の穴
yuugiri ya uma no oboeshi hashi no ana

evening fog -
the horse remembers
the holes in the bridge

Issa
Tr. Gabi Greve
Discussing the translation



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Winter

winter fog : fuyugiri 冬霧 , fuyu no kiri 冬霧（ふゆぎり）

winter mist : fuyugasumi 冬霞
... fuyu no kasumi 冬の霞（ふゆのかすみ）
... fuyu kasumu 冬霞む（ふゆかすむ）、

winter haze : fuyu no moya 冬の靄
cold haze : kanai 寒靄


itegasumi 凍霞（いてがすみ）freezing mist

sumogu スモッグ smog
... enmu 煙霧（えんむ）


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New Year


hatsugasumi 初霞 (はつがすみ) first mist (of the year)
... niigasumi 新霞（にいがすみ）


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More Haiku

Haze at a distance-
flock of storcks are threading
one's way southwards

Vasile Moldovan

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Some placenames in Japan contain fog and mist, since this is the main feature of the local weather.

Kasumi-ga-Ura 霞ヶ浦
Kasumigaura is located in the southeastern section of Ibaraki Prefecture.
As a single lake, Kasumigaura is second only to Lake Biwa in size in Japan, and provides the basis for the region's residential and industrial development.



About 200,000 years ago in the middle of the Pleistocene Epoch, the area surrounding Kasumigaura was a part of the ocean referred to as Old Tokyo Bay that extended across the Kanto region. Over time the shallow sea floor that accumulated in Old Tokyo Bay changed into land, forming a plateau 20-40m above sea level that extends across present-day Kasumigaura.
English Reference


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http://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.com/

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