Plum blossoms (ume)

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Plum Blossoms (ume)

***** Location: Japan, other countries
***** Season: Early Spring, others see below
***** Category: Plant, others see below

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Explanation



Next to the Cherry blossom, the plum blossoms are loved by Japanese poets and where enjoyed even more than the cherry in the Heian peroid.
They are a symbol of refinement, purity and nobility and also a reminder of past love.
Sugawara Michizane was especially known for his love of the plum blossoms shared in many Tanka poems. More about him below.

Ume, Prunus mume, is biologically of the apricot family.
For kigo of other seasons related to the plum fruit, see below.

quote
The plum blossom, which is known as the meihua (梅花), is one of the most beloved flowers in China and has been frequently depicted in Chinese art and poetry for centuries.
The plum blossom is seen as a symbol of winter and a harbinger of spring. The blossoms are so beloved because they are viewed as blooming most vibrantly amidst the winter snow, exuding an ethereal elegance, while their fragrance is noticed to still subtly pervade the air at even the coldest times of the year.
Therefore the plum blossom came to symbolize perseverance and hope, but also beauty, purity, and the transitoriness of life.
In Confucianism, the plum blossom stands for the principles and values of virtue. More recently, it has also been used as a metaphor to symbolize revolutionary struggle since the turn of the 20th century.
Because it blossoms in the cold winter, the plum blossom is regarded as one of the "Three Friends of Winter", along with pine, and bamboo.

poet Lin Bu (林逋) of the Song Dynasty (960–1279)

When everything has faded they alone shine forth,
encroaching on the charms of smaller gardens.
Their scattered shadows fall lightly on clear water,
their subtle scent pervades the moonlit dusk.

Snowbirds look again before they land,
butterflies would faint if they but knew.
Thankfully I can flirt in whispered verse,
I don't need a sounding board or winecup.

As with the literary culture amongst the educated of the time, Lin Bu's poems were discussed in several Song Dynasty era commentaries on poetry.

JAPAN
Japanese tradition holds that the ume functions as a protective charm against evil, so the ume is traditionally planted in the northeast of the garden, the direction from which evil is believed to come.
The eating of the pickled fruit for breakfast is also supposed to stave off misfortune.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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More kigo with the plum blossoms

ume 梅 (うめ) plum (blossom)

white plum blossom, hakubai 白梅 (shira-ume)
wild plum blosoms, yabai　野梅
plum with hanging branches, shidare ume 枝垂れ梅
old plum tree, roobai 老梅


. red plum blossom, koobai　紅梅 　
mikai koo 未開紅（みかいこう）not yet open red
usukoobai 薄紅梅（うすこうばい）light red plum


bonbai 盆梅（ぼんばい）bonsai tree of a plum


garyoobai 臥龍梅（がりょうばい）"lying down dragon plum tree"
its blossoms are slightly pink.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

seiryoobai 青龍梅（せいりゅうばい）"green dragon plum tree"
usually an old tree with a gnarled trunk
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

tobiume, tobi-ume 飛梅（とびうめ）"flying plum"
a tree which Michizane planted himself, according to legend, in Dazaifu.


ooshukubai 鶯宿梅（おうしゅくばい）"plum which houses nightingales"
short for "uguisu no yadoru ume" 鶯（うぐいす）の宿る梅
Legend says, it was planted in the home of the daughter of Ki no Tsurayuki 紀貫之 at the time of Murakami Tenno (926 - 967).

. Ki no Tsurayuki 紀貫之 and the Plum .


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plum plantage, plum park, bairin　梅林
plum park, baien bai-en　梅園

plum blossoms in the last snow, zansetsu bai 残雪梅（ざんせつばい）
plum blossoms in the last moon, zangetsu bai 残月梅（ざんげつばい）


village with plum blossoms, ume no sato
梅の里（うめのさと）
home with plum blossoms, ume yashiki 梅屋敷（うめやしき）
lodging with plum blossoms, ume no yado 梅の宿（うめのやど）
owner of a plum blossom grove, ume no aruji 梅の主（うめのあるじ）


Fragrance, smell of plum blossoms (ume ga ka 梅が香（うめがか）


Talking about a white plum blossom the reader will still feel the cold of winter, while a red blossom implies the warmth of spring.
The fragrance of the plum (ume ga ka 梅が香)　brings fond memories and an old plum tree refers to old age and loneliness. Just one flower on a tree ume ichirin (梅一輪）or one all white flower （umemasshiro, 梅真っ白）well that seems like a fair maiden.　

The plum blossom viewing (ume-mi, kan-bai 梅見、観梅) is more of an　individualistic　endeavor, different from the noisy, crowded cherry blossom parties. Many temples and famous estates have a special ground for plum blossom viewing (see below).


plum blossom viewing in the evening, yoru no ume
夜の梅（よるのうめ）
plum blossom viewing in the dark, yami no ume 闇の梅（やみのうめ）


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kigo for late winter


early plum blossoms, soobai 早梅 (そうばい)
..... ume hayashi 梅早し（うめはやし）
..... hayazaki no ume 冬 早咲の梅（はやざきのうめ）
winter plum blossoms, fuyu no ume 冬の梅（ふゆのうめ）

kanbai 寒梅 (かんばい) plum blossoms in the cold
kankoobai 寒紅梅（かんこうばい） red plum blossoms in the cold


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toojibai 冬至梅 (とうじばい)
plum blossoms at the winter solstice
kigo for mid-winter


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. muro no ume 室の梅（むろのうめ） plum blossoms in the greenhouse 　
kigo for all winter




also the name of a sweet set for winter tea ceremony.


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"month for plum blossom viewing", umemizuki
梅見月（うめみづき）
..... umetsusazuki 梅つさ月（うめつさづき）
now march
kigo for mid-spring


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hassakubai, hassaku bai 八朔梅 (はっさくばい)
plum blossom on the first of August
..... karakurenai からくれない
kigo for mid-autumn

This is a kind of red plum which double red blossoms (yae) in autumn, it was introduced from China.



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Famous Plum parks in Japan

The Kairaku-En Park in Mito is the most famous, I guess, for Plum Viewing.
The famous Feudal Lord, Mito Komon loved plums very much (for their medical purposes, I guess). Plum trees have been introduced to Japan via China as a medicine quite a long time ago.

Plum Festival in Mito, Kairaku-En Park　水戸偕楽園



http://www.mitokoumon.com/maturi/ume/ume.htm
http://homepage3.nifty.com/kazu_kawamura/kairakuen.html
http://homepage3.nifty.com/kazu_kawamura/kairakuen2.html

http://ww7.tiki.ne.jp/~inabah/deki0013.htm
http://www.geocities.co.jp/Hollywood-Miyuki/6603/umemi.html
http://www4.zero.ad.jp/ucchy/other/other/kannbai/kanbai.htm




fusuma sliding door at Kobuntei, Kairaku-en

under plum blossoms
and the full moon
sleep paces til dawn

- Shared by Kit Nagamura -
Haiku Culture Magazine, 2013


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Yugawara Plum blossom Festival


http://fine.tok2.com/home/nakae/nikki/2003/20030302/page0001.htm

Atami Plum Festival, Ume-matsuri

梅まつりＡ　→ Plum Viewing
梅まつりＢ　→ Plum Viewing

More Plum Viewing
With a waterfall at the entrance of the park
http://www2.tokai.or.jp/triangle/atami-ryojyou/a-atamibaien1409/baien1409/b-umeminotaki.htm
http://www2.tokai.or.jp/triangle/atami-ryojyou/a-atamibaien1409/baien1409/samuneiru.html


Look at this Plum Viewing Park in Kume Town,
very near my home.

taking a nose walk
in the plum park -
Kume no Sato

Gabi Greve, 2006

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When the east wind blows,
Send me your perfume,
Blossoms of
the plum:
Though your lord be absent,
Forget not the spring.

- Sugawara Michizane

trs. G. Bownas A. Thwaite
http://www.ahapoetry.com/ahalynx/172bkrv.htm


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Worldwide use

Kenya

Plum Fruit


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Taiwan

Mount Yangming, Yang-ming shan and plum blossoms



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Things found on the way

All about Sugawara Michizane and the Tenmangu Shrines.

observance kigo for early spring,
refering to the PLUM in memory of Michizane

Kitano Baikasai 北野梅花祭（きたのばいかさい）
Plum festival at the Kitano Shrine
baiga goku 梅花御供（ばいかごく）
memorial service in the plum blossom time


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Prune

A prune is a dried fruit of various plum species, mostly Prunus domestica. It is wrinkly in shape, unlike its non-dried counterpart.
　© wikipedia


The German ZWETSCHGE is also a different fruit.


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HAIKU





plum blossoms
and Daruma dolls –
the Joys of Japan


Join the poetry group on FB by clicking on the image.


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even the heavenly gods
crowd' round
plum blossoms

Kobayashi Issa
Tr. David Lanoue


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ume ichi-rin ichirin hodo no atatakasa

..... Hattori Ransetsu (1654-1707)

one plum blossom
brings us just one more
step to the warmth

(Tr: Gabi Greve)

Read more about this famous haiku
and look at one plum blossom.

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. Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 in Edo .




白梅に明くる夜ばかりとなりにけり
shira ume ni akuru yo bakari to nari ni keri

The night almost past,
through the white plum blossoms
a glimpse of dawn.
source :　Dave Bonta


pure white plum blossoms
slowly begin to turn
the color of dawn
source :　online reference

This haiku has the cut marker KERI at the end of line 3.



白梅や誰が昔より垣の外　
shiraume ya taga mukashi yori kaki no soto
(1775)

A white apricot tree--
From whose old days
Outside the fence?
Tr. Nelson/Saito


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sooan 草庵 at my grass hut (humble dwelling)

二もとの梅に遅速を愛す哉
futamoto no ume ni chisoku o aisu kana

My two plum trees are so gracious . . .
see, they flower
One now, one later
Tr. Peter Beilenson


Two ume trees in my garden
Bloom at a different time;
How dear the difference!
Tr. Shoji Kumano


Two flower branches of plum,
one early, on late,
oh deeply loved.
Tr. Sawa/ Shiffert

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

This poem might refere to a Chinese poem mentioned in the collection Wakan Roeishu.
Two willow trees are dropping their leaves at different times.

Wakan Rōeishū 和漢朗詠集
Collection of Japanese and Chinese Poems for Singing
- reference : wikipedia -

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梅遠近南すべく北すべく　
ume ochikochi minami subeku kita subeku

Plum flowers far and near.
Shall I go to the south?
Shall I go north?
Tr. Sawa/ Shiffert

. Buson and the Four Directions .



白梅や墨芳しき鴻臚館
hakubai ya sumi kanbashiki koorokan

White plum flowers!
The fragrance of an inkstone
in the Chinese guesthouse.
Tr. Sawa/ Shiffert

. Koorokan 鴻臚館 Koro-Kan, Chinese Guesthouses .
for embassies from China and for Japanese on their way to China



うぐいすや梅踏みこぼす糊盥
. uguisu ya ume fumikobosu nori darai .
noridarai 糊盥 glue tub

. Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 in Edo .


- MORE at terebess

hi o okade hito aru sama ya ume no yado
kanbai o taoru hibiki ya oi ga hiji
minomushi no furu su ni soute ume nirin
mizu ni chirite hana nakunarinu kishi no ume
mukutsukeki boku tomo shitaru ume-mi kana
mume no ka no tachinoborite ya tsuki no kasa
shirami toru kojiki no tsuma ya ume ga moto
shiraume ni akuru yo bakari to nari ni keri
shiraume no kareki ni modoru tsukiyo kana
sumizumi ni nokoru samusa ya ume no hana
ume chiru ya raden koboruru taku no ue
ume ga ka ni yugure hayaki fumoto kana
ume ga ka no tachinoborite ya tsuki no kasa
ume orite shiwade ni kakotsu kaori kana - wrinkled hands
ume sakite chiisaku narinu yuki maroge - snowman



青梅に眉あつめたる美人哉
ao ume ni mayu atsumetaru bijin kana

Among green plums trees.....
a lovely beauty gathering
her eyebrows up!!

So, why is this beautiful woman gathering her eyebrows up?
One of the haiku readers I have says that although Masaoka Shiki and Takahama Kyoshi read this action as meaning that the girl had eaten one of the very sour green fruits that the plums grow, Buson probably had the legendary Chinese beauty Xi Shi in mind when he wrote the haiku.
The book '蕪村と漢詩' (Buson and Chinese Poetry) takes the Chinese connection further by arguing that Buson is alluding to a short poem by the poet Li Bai (李白), titled 'Resentment', that has a women roll up the curtain to her window, gather her eyebrows up and start crying. The use of the present participle here brings out the allusion because it describes the woman as being in the act of knitting her eyebrows, which then returns us to Li Bai's poem to fill out the image with the fact that she is about to cry.
The link gives a translation and a reading of the original poem:
http://www.chinesetolearn.com/tang/

- Tr. and comment : James Karkoski / facebook -


Looking at green plums
a beauty pulls a face
as she recalls how sour they are.
Tr. Sasaki, McCabe, Iwasaki
in the book "Chado: The Way of Tea"


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koobai ni miageru sora no aosa kana

between red plum blossoms
looking at the sky
so blue, so blue!

© Photo and Haiku, Gabi Greve



ume ichirin kao ni kakarishi Amida kana

.. .. .. .. .. one plum blossom
.. .. .. .. .. clinging to the face
.. .. .. .. .. of a stone Buddha

..... Gabi, Kamakura Tookei-ji Temple, 1991

For details about Amida Nyorai, check this link
http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/amida.shtml


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learning from the plum -
never give up
spring blossoming

The tree in my garden is so crooked and full of greenish moss, so old and fragile during winter

> > > AND YET
> > > come spring
> > > come blossoms

© Photo and Haiku by Gabi Greve


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old plum tree
the road crew unloads
a bulldozer

Laryalee Fraser, WHCworkshop


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Japanese Haiku about the Plum
梅,梅林,白梅　

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Related words

***** green plum, ao-ume, ao ume 青梅 (the fruit),
ume no mi, mi-ume 梅の実、実梅　

niume, ni ume 煮梅（にうめ）boiled plum
Bungo ume 豊後梅（ぶんごうめ）plum from Bungo
Shinano ume 信濃梅（しなのうめ）plum from Shinano
Kooshuu uma 甲州梅（こうしゅううめ）plum from Koshu

koume 、小梅（こうめ）small plum
miume, mi ume 実梅（みうめ） fruit of the plum tree

kigo for mid summer

. 金剛寺の青梅 Kongo-Ji no Ome .
The name Ome comes from just one plum tree. It had fruit which stayed green until autumn and never changed color.
People thought this very strange and called the tree
"green plum tree" - ao ume 青梅, soon shortened to Ome.
There is a legend linking this strange plum tree to Taira no Masakado.


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dryed plums,ume boshi 梅干 (うめぼし)
..... hoshi ume 干梅（ほしうめ)
kigo for all summer

to dry plums, ume hosu 梅干す（うめほす）
to pickle plums, umezuke 梅漬（うめづけ）
..... ume tsukeru 梅漬ける（うめつける）

mat to spread plums to dry, ume mushiro 梅筵（うめむしろ）


Umeboshi (literally "dried ume") are pickled ume fruits. Ume is a species of fruit-bearing tree in the genus Prunus, which is often called a plum but is actually more closely related to the apricot. Umeboshi are a type of tsukemono, or traditional Japanese pickled food, and are very popular in Japan.
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !


. WASHOKU : umeboshi, pickled plums 　


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tanbai 探梅 (たんばい) looking for plum blossoms
searching for plum blossoms
..... ume saguru 梅探る（うめさぐる）
tanbaikoo 探梅行 (たんばいこう) excursion to seek plum blossoms
shunshin 春信（しゅんしん）spring is coming soon, signs of spring
haru no tayori 春の便り（はるのたより) message from spring

kigo for late winter


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umemi, ume-mi 梅見 (うめみ) viewing plum blossoms
..... kanbai 観梅（かんばい）


Mizuno Toshikata 水野年方　(1866　-　1908)

umemijaya 梅見茶屋（うめみぢゃや）tea house for watching plum blossoms

Viewing plum blossoms was most popular in olden times, even more popular than viewing cherry blossoms (hanami).

kigo for early spring (humanity)

.SAIJIKI ... HUMANITY
Kigo for Spring 　

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observance kigo for early spring
February 11
baikasetsu 梅花節 / 梅佳節（ばいかせつ）
"plum blossom season"
Kenkoku kinenbi 建国記念日 (けんこくきねんび)
National Foundation Day of Japan
..... kenkoku no hi 建国の日（けんこくのひ）
..... kenkoku sai 建国祭（けんこくさい）
kigensetsu 紀元節（きげんせつ)

This is listed as a kigo under the kidai of kenkoku kinenbi 建国記念日, Memorial day of the foundation of the state, National Foundation Day.
In Japan it refers to February 11, 660 BC (according to the Kojiki) and later in 1889, when the Meiji Constitution 大日本帝国憲法 was written.
Staatsgründungstag

- - - - - not to mix up with

Kenpoo Kinenbi 憲法記念日 (けんぽうきねんび) Constitution Day
May 3



Naitoo Meisetsu 内藤鳴雪 Naito Meisetsu
1847 - 1926, February 20
. "Old Plum Tree Day", Roobai Ki 老梅忌（ろうばいき） 　
Memorial Day for Meisetsu



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kigo for late spring (observance)


Nishiyama Soin (Soo-In) 西山宗因
（1605 - May 5, 1682）
. baioo ki 梅翁忌（ばいおうき）
"memorial day of the old man who loved plum blossoms" 　



Umewakamaru (Plum (blossom) Boy 梅若丸)
. Umewaka Memorial Day, umewaka ki 梅若忌 　
and more kigo for Umewakamaru


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kigo for late spring

***** yusuraume, yusura ume 梅桜（ゆすらうめ）
"plum and cherry"
Nanking cherry; Prunus tomentosa
yusura ゆすら、英桃（ゆすら）
yusura no hana 山桜桃の花 (ゆすらのはな)blossoms of the Nanking Cherry


. . . CLICK here for Photos !



***** niwaume no hana 郁李の花 (にわうめのはな)
..... 庭梅の花（にわうめのはな）"garden plum blossoms"
kooume no hana こうめの花（こうめのはな）
..... niwazakura にわざくら"garden cherry"
Prunus japonica Thunb

. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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***** plum wine, plum liqueur (umeshu　梅酒）
non-seasonal topic

Ume liquor, also known as "plum wine", is popular in both Japan and Korea, and is also produced in China. Umeshu (梅酒, sometimes translated as "plum wine") is a Japanese alcoholic drink made by steeping green ume in shōchū (燒酎, clear liquor).
It is sweet and smooth. The taste and aroma of umeshu can appeal to even those people who normally dislike alcohol.
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !


a toast to the sun
as it plops in my cup
of plum wine

b'oki


Cheers Plum Wine !
Never too late
to give in....

Gabi
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/happyhaiku/message/208


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***** Sour plum, Prunus spinosa, Spinosa sumomo スピノサスモモ


***** "yellow plum" 黄梅 （おうばい) oobai, winter jasmine
geishunka 迎春花（げいしゅんか）flower to welcome spring
Asminum nudiflorum


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- #umeplum #plumume -
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Pine (matsu)

[ . BACK to worldkigo TOP . ]
. Tengu to matsu 天狗と松 / 天狗松 the Tengu pine .
. pine 松と伝説 Legends about the pine tree .
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Pine (matsu)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Various, see below
***** Category: Plant

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Explanation

The Pine itself is not connected to any special season, but there are many other words used as kigo, using the pine as a part of it. There also various types of PINE in Japan.

First read this essay by Linda Inoki about the pine in Japan.


©
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/images/photos2005/fe20050106lia.jpg

Matsu (Pine) By LINDA INOKI

From high in the sky,
The snow making its way down
Following the pine.

By Seishi Yamaguchi, quoted in "The Essence of Modern Haiku" by Takashi Kodaira and Alfred H. Marks (Mangajin)

With the onset of winter, many Japanese gardens start to feature strange and ethereal "sculptures" made of string: These are the yukitsuri, or "snow lines." Although their purpose is to protect pine trees from heavy snow, they are so airy and attractive that they seem to invite it to fall from the skies! This practical idea has been turned into a piece of garden artistry, and even in regions where snow rarely falls, gardeners cannot resist adding these graceful touches to the winter scene.

I sketched this small pine tree with its high snow ropes in a Tokyo garden. It is a goyomatsu ( Pinus pentaphylla; Japanese white pine), which you can identify by its silvery bark and pine needles growing in groups of five. White pines are slow-growing and are popular for training into bonsai or specimen trees in the garden. Being tough, long-lived and evergreen, pine trees are important symbols of endurance and eternity in Oriental culture. With their year-round foliage, they also bridge the seasons of winter and spring, and although we live in a material world it is good to see that many people still decorate their gateways with the traditional branches of pine to greet the New Year.
The Japan Times: Jan. 6, 2005
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fe20050106li.htm



Yukitsuri, trees in bondage.
By Alice Gordenker, Japan Times Feb. 2007


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"Three friends of Winter", Pine, Bamboo and Plum
Shoo-chiku-bai 松竹梅
shoochikubai, shochikubai. Sho-Chiku-Bai

. . . CLICK here for Photos !


saikan sanyu 歳寒三友 Three Friends of Winter
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


They are an auspicious assembly used since olden times in Chinese art, later in Japanese art too. The symbolic meaning of the Pine Tree is "Long Life".
Pine trees show abundand green even in the fiercest of winter and hardly dry out, so they have been a symbol of long life in China since old times. They also represent friendship and constancy during times of advertsity. As symbol of good luck and agelessness this tree has stood in veneration and together with the bamboo and plum tree as become an expression of celebration and joy, especialy in the New Year season.

Sometimes the pine tree symbolizes one of the Chinese gods of happiness and long life, Shou Hsing.

In Japan, we have the couple of Joo (尉) and hers is Uba (媼)
"The Pine of Sumi-no-e" (住吉の松) and the Takasago Legend


. . . CLICK here for decorative Photos !


shoochikubai kazaru 松竹梅飾る (しょうちくばいかざる)
decoration of pine, bamboo and plum
kigo for the New Year
WKD : New Year Decorations (o-kazari)


. WASHOKU
Sho-Chiku-Bai on the Menu 　


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New Year Kigo

. kadomatsu 門松と伝説 Legends about pine decorations .

Gate Decoration with Pine, kadomatsu 門松
placed one each at the gate or entrance of a home. Their size reflects the richness of the owner. They are put out on December to welcome the Deities and burnt on January 6 or 14 (matsu osame 松納め) .
..... Pines by the corners, kado no matsu 門の松

Kadomatsu and New Year Decorations ... KIGO List

鎌倉の古き宿屋の松飾り
Kamakura no furuki yadoya no matsukazari

these pine decorations
at the old inns
of Kamakura

Takahama Kyoshi, 1949




Temple Tanjo-Ji, by Gabi Greve



pine decorations, matsu kazari 松飾り
..... kazari matsu 飾り松
bamboo decorations, kazari take

Click HERE to have a look at some more photos !


..... Pulling Pine Seedlings (komatsu hiki)

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. WKD : Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 .

the 5th: cloudy, cold wind blowing, snow from around 4 p.m. -- a foot deep

chiru yuki ni tachiawasekeri kado no matsu

New Year's pines
alone together now
with falling snow
Tr. Chris Drake

This hokku is from 1/5 (Feb. 15) in 1804, when Issa was traveling around in the area just east of Edo. His diary states the situation in a headnote. In the 12th month people stood a pair of New Year's pines in buckets or on stands in front of their doors and gates. People with money used taller pines and also added a third crossbar pine so that it connected the tops of the two vertical pines and created a symbolic gate resembling the wood or stone torii gate at the entrance to the precincts of a Shinto shrine. Sometimes a shamanic rope or the horizontal crossbeam above the gate entrance itself served this purpose.

In Issa's time many people also put various lengths of bamboo and sometimes other kinds of limbs and flowers in with the pines. Pine trees were believed to be the tree that gods favored when they came down from the sky/other world, and these "gate pines" were regarded as invitations to the god of the new year (toshigami) to visit the house and bring good fortune to it during the new year. In fact, the shrine-gate shape of the gate pines suggests that they symbolically turned each house into a temporary shrine for the year's god and for other gods. Many people put the pines up on 12/13 and kept them up until 1/15, when they were burned in sacred bonfires under the first full moon of the new year and sent back to the invisible world of the gods.

In this hokku it has begun to snow hard, and few people walk through the dim, snowy streets, giving the pines and snow some space and time together. The pines and the falling snow somehow seem aware that they are now together with each other. It doesn't snow that much in the Edo/Tokyo area, so this may be the first time. Perhaps it's a bit like two shy teenagers who like each other and suddenly find themselves next to each other. Of course Issa doesn't know exactly how the pines and snow feel, but there is an uncanny resemblance between descending snow and the descent of various gods of good fortune at New Year's. The pines have been put up above all in order to wait for these gods and to welcome their visits, and now something is happening. Perhaps Issa wonders if the pines can sense gods drifting down in the snow. Or perhaps it's more intimate, since the snow may be falling directly onto the pines, lying on their limbs.

A couple of more versions, the first literal and the second a stab, using an aural image, at what Issa might be getting at:

New Year's pines
find themselves together
with falling snow

New Year's pines
overhear
snow falling

Here is a photo of gate pines of the types common in Issa's time:



- Chris Drake -
Translating Haiku Forum



小一尺それも門松にて候
ko-isshaku sore mo kadomatsu nite sooroo

foot-high pines
stand tall by the door
at New Year's
Tr. Chris Drake

This hokku is from the 1st month (February) of 1812, when Issa was staying in the area just east of Edo. It evokes a scene Issa saw at or around New Year's, when people stood a pair of pine trees just outside their doors. One pine was placed on each side of the door, suggesting divine gateposts down which a shamanic god (or a pair of gods) could descend, and at the houses of the rich and powerful a third pine or a string with decorations was often placed horizontally, linking the tops of the two vertical pines, a shape resembling the divine gates or torii at Shinto shrines. Thus the twin pines symbolically made each house or apartment into a temporary small Shinto shrine. Above all, the pines were set up to invite the god of the new year to make a visit to the house and bring good fortune to it during the coming year.

However, Edo and the towns around it were filled almost to bursting with poor immigrants from the country -- such as Issa -- who came to Edo to escape difficult conditions, poverty, or even starvation in their farm villages. Most of these people couldn't afford a pair of pine trees 5 or more feet tall, so they bought cheap one-foot sections of a pine limb and stood these vertically on each side of their doors using stands or small pots, often with decorations placed on them. Issa uses the term "short shaku" (equal to 99.4% of a foot) to evoke the commercial nature of these measured and precisely cut sections that poor people had to make do with at New Year's, probably because he wants to stress just how irrelevant physical length is to the spiritual value of the limbs.

Issa uses a very polite form for the verb "are" to show his admiration for the people who did what they could and stood the pine limbs in front of their door as an expression of respect for the gods and for all who pass by -- and to show his admiration for the pine limbs themselves, which are just as spiritually imposing at New Year's as the tall pine trees standing in front of the gates of large mansions. The polite verb form suggests Issa isn't writing about his own doorway but is expressing his great respect for the poor family that set up the one-foot pines that in their new context seem so tall.

Chris Drake


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shared by Yoshinobu Takemura FB-JOJ

warau kado ni wa fuku kitaru - 笑う門には福来る
Fortune comes in by a merry gate.

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observance kigo for mid-winter

matsu mukae 松迎え (まつむか)
"welcoming the pine decorations"
matsubayashi 松ばやし（まつばやし）"festival music for the pines"
kadomatsu oroshi 門松おろし（かどまつおろし）

On the 13th day of the 12th lunar month, the pine branches were cut in the local forest and brought home to make the decorations. This was accompanied with music on the way and food afterwards.
Nowadays it occurs often on the 8th day of December.
In some temples and shrines, ritual dances were also performed on this day.


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SPRING KIGO

young green, wakamidori 若緑 is a general term for the pines when they start growing.
also called
green of the pine, matsu no midori　松の緑,
first green, hatsu midori 初緑
green starts to stand up, midori tatsu 緑立つ

and finally

松の芯　matsu no shin, center of the pine growing, pine candles:
kigo for late spring

matsu no SHIN can also be interpreted as the strong will of the pine (human) to keep going in adverse situations, so this expression is well loved in Japanese poetry.



© Gabi Greve

松の花 まつのはな matsu no hana, pine flowers


. . . CLICK here for more Photos !


松花粉 まつかふん matsu kafun, pine pollen
This is a growing problem in Japan these days.

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松囃子　matsubayashi, music and dance performance
http://ww7.tiki.ne.jp/~agari/matubayasi-syasinn.html
http://www.city.fukuoka.jp/contents/7d14c213111/7d14c21311110.htm

お松明 おたいまつ o-taimatsu pine torch [used in the ceremony] for O-Mizu Tori ceremony


Read more about this festival here:
http://www.mahoroba.ne.jp/~vrk-nara/omizutori/shunie-e.html

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SUMMER KIGO

Pine needles falling down, matsu ochiba 松落ち葉

松漁 かつお katsuo bonito [kanji literally "pine fish"]

松蝉 [まつぜみ] matsuzemi, pine-tree cicada

松葉牡丹 まつばぼたん matsubabotan portulaca / rose moss
lit. "pine-needle peony"
Portulaca grandiflora
..... hiderigusa 日照草 ひでりぐさ sun plant


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AUTUMN KIGO

matsuba 松葉 pine needles

irokaenu matsu 色変えぬ松 (いろかえぬまつ) pines not changing colors
late autumn

松手入 まつていれ matsu teire,
pruning pines [literally "pine maintenance"]
kigo for late autumn


松ぼくり（まつぼくり）pinecones, pine cones
新松子 (しんちぢり) shinchijiri, new pinecones
..... 松ふぐり（まつふぐり） matsu fuguri
青松毬（青松笠） あおまつかさ aomatsukasa ao matsukasa, green pinecone
late autumn


. Matsutake 松茸 pine mushroom .
Armillaria edodes. VERY expensive.
松茸飯　matsutake meshi, rice with matsutake mushrooms, a very expensive delicacy


松虫 matsumushi, pine bug
lit. "insect in waiting", a symbol for a lady waiting for her lover.
- Matsumushi Haiku -


松虫草 matsumushi-soo, pine, bug grass


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WINTER KIGO

early winter kigo

shiki matsuba 敷松葉 (しきまつば) spreading pine needles
In the garden, to protect other bulbs and moss. This would give the garden an elegant look. Especially used for tea room gardens.

. . . CLICK here for Photos !

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late winter kigo

yukitsuri 雪吊　（ゆきつり）supporting trees with strings
yukizuri

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late spring kigo

yukitsuri toku 雪吊解く（ゆきづりとく）taking down the support strings


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Worldwide use

Kiefer, Rotkiefer


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Things found on the way



茂岡の神さび立ちて栄えたる
千代松の樹の歳の知らなく

Shigeoka no kamu sabitachite sakaetaru
chiyo matsu no ki no toshi no shiranaku

The pine, the tree that waits for a thousand reigns,
that flourishes and stands godly at Shigeoka, knows no year.

Manyo-Shu Poetry Collection - 紀朝臣鹿人　

Haruo Shirane - Japan and the Culture of the Four Seasons
source : books.google.co.jp

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. The Pine Tree Where Yoshitsune Rested .
kurakake matsu 経鞍掛松
Yoshitsune rested at this location and placed his saddle on the pine tree.


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matsu pine of a Noh butai stage - 能舞台 松

. butai hajime 舞台始（ぶたいはじめ）first stage .


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Matsu are a favorite for Bonsai too. Look at some nice pictures.
http://homepage3.nifty.com/plantsandjapan/page033.html

MATSU 待つ　can also mean: to wait for somebody.
Here is a story about Daruma and the Pine, waiting...
http://www.amie.or.jp/daruma/Matsu-2.html

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HAIKU

僧朝顔幾死返る法の松
soo asagao ikushi ni kaeru nori no matsu

Monks and morning glories;
How many have died and returned!
The Dharma pine.

Matsuo Basho

... this verse may be in the form of hokku, but it is not really hokku. It is a religious verse, and when we try to "preach" religion in hokku, the result inevitably fails. Also, this verse requires a kind of prologue just to be understood, which compounds the problem because it cannot "stand on its own feet."

Bashô saw a great and very old pine tree at a temple. It reminded him of the story of the Chinese Daoist Zhuangzi (Chuang-tzu) about a tree that survived the years because its wood was useless. That set Bashô off on a train of thought about how many monks had come and gone, like morning glories that bloom in the dawn and die in the evening, and yet the great pine, protected on the temple grounds by the "Dharma," had survived to very old age.
Writing about such things has its place, but it does not fit hokku.

© David Coomler


Hoo no Matsu, nori no matsu, the Pine of the Buddhist Law.


. Basho at temple Taimadera 　



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. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .


門松やおもへば一夜三十年
kadomatsu ya omoeba ichiya sanjuunen

pine decorations -
thinking about it, one night
feels like thirty years

Written in 延宝5年, Basho age 34.
In this year, Basho had decided to become a haikai master in Edo.



幾霜に心ばせをの松飾り
iku shimo ni kokoro Baseo no matsukazari

frost comes and goes
on the pine decoration
of my home
(tr. Gabi Greve)

kokorobase is a word play Basho uses to imply himself (Baseo), someone with a sincere heart.
How often the frost comes on the pine, the green does not change and stands there in endurance.


Written in 1686 貞亨３年, New Year

MORE - - kokoro こころ　－　心　 "heart", mind, soul -
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .


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matsu tatete sora honobono to akuru kado

putting up the pines,
dawn sky breaks,
at the gates

Natsume Sooseki

Read more Haiku here !
University of Virginia Saijiki

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... ... ... ... ... Pine Candles



pine candles
on a sandy beach -
power of life

© Gabi Greve Beachflowers

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pine candles -
day by day
they lengthen

© Linda Papanicolaou

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浜道や砂から松の若みどり　
hamamichi ya suna kara matsu no waka midori

beach raod -
from the sand emerging
young green

Choo Mu 蝶 夢（died 1795）

This haiku captures the same mood as I experienced in Yonago in 2004. This kigo usually discribes a scene of light and warmth and hope.

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The following haiku where kindly suggested by Etsuko Yanagibori.
cherrypoetryclub

ame no ka ni tachimasarikeri matsu no shin

fragrance of rain -
growing up eagerly,
the pine candles

Watanabe Suiha (1882 - 1946)

.....

Musashino no tori kuru matsu no shin mugen

birds of Musashino plain
coming to the pine candles -
infinity

Hasegawa Kanajo (1887 ~ 1969)

.....

赤松は芯　黒松は花 こぼしけり

Akamatsu wa shin Kuromatsu wa hana koboshikeri

Red pine candles
Black pine flowers
so abundantly

Fujita Akegarasu 藤田あけ烏
http://www.d2.dion.ne.jp/~t_katou/goroku0.html


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Related words

***** komo こも【薦】straw mats around the tree trunks
to prevent insects to hurt the tree during winter time.


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The Pine Tree of Priest Rennyo at Morinomiya
(Morinomiya Rennyo-matsu)
Utagawa Yoshitaki (1841-1899)
- from the series "One Hundred Views of Osaka" (Naniwa hyakkei), 1860.
— Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.


Saint Rennyo 蓮如
(1415-1499) 8th abbot of the Jōdo Shinshū sect. Temple Hongan-Ji
Rennyo-Ki 蓮如忌　（れんにょき）Memorial Day
Yoshizaki moode 吉崎詣（よしざきもうで）Yoshizaki pilgrimage

. WKD : Memorial Days .

. Honganji 本願寺 Hongan-Ji, Hongwanji .
Kyoto

. pine 松と伝説 Legends about the pine tree .

. Tengu to matsu 天狗と松 the Tengu pine .
Legends

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[ . BACK to DARUMA　MUSEUM　TOP . ]
- #matsupine #pinematsu #kadomatsu -
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Phenology

[ . BACK to TOP . ]

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Phenology

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Explanation

What is phenology?
Phenology is the study of observable and measurable events that tend to occur annually. Types of annual events at the Lakeshore Nature Preserve include:

* the dates that Lake Mendota freezes in the winter and thaws in the spring, or
* the date in early spring when male redwing blackbirds first, begin singing to declare their territories in the vicinity of University Bay.

Phenology can be enjoyed by everyone, no matter how much or how little they know about natural history. Small children can understand its core concepts, and senior scientists still experience wonder at the insights it generates. Phenological observations are also used to understand how our climate is changing.

The science called phenology, which studies natural events—season to season and year to year—in an effort to understand the natural cycles of ecosystems.

Watching the seasonal cycles of its plants, animals, and physical systems is a fascinating way to deepen your appreciation and understanding of a natural area.

Spring phenology
Summer phenology
Fall phenology
Winter phenology

©　University of Wisconsin

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LINKS about Phenology

Nature's Calendar
http://www.phenology.org.uk/

Phenology Software
http://www.sws-wis.com/lifecycles/

Sustainable Agriculture Resource Portal
http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/phenology.html


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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


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Related words

***** Seasons and Categories Learn the Basics of World Kigo.

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Please send your contributions to Gabi Greve
worldkigo .....

Back to the Worldkigo Index
http://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.com/

Peony (botan) - Clematis

[ . BACK to Worldkigo TOP . ]
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Peony (botan)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Early Summer and others
***** Category: Plant

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Explanation

peony, tree peony, botan, bootan
ぼうたん、ぼたん、 牡丹)
Paeonia suffruticosa, Pfingstrose

bootamu ぼうたむ is not used nowadays.
botamu, ぼたむ
It is an old spelling, found by Buson.

shakuyaku 芍薬 (しゃくやく) Shakuyaku peony
"lit. "like a medicine spoon"
Paeonia lactiflora



© PHOTO :　Gabi Greve, June 2010


white peony, hakubotan 白牡丹
red peony, hi-botan (hibotan) 緋牡丹
peony park, botan-en 　牡丹園

Peonies have large, gorgeous flowers, but they last only very short. In haiku, they carry the feeling of permanence and transition, often used as substitute for a beautiful lady.

Their area of origin is North-West China, but they have long been known in Japan. They are also a frequent pattern in Chinese and Japanese art. They were the national flower of T'ang China.

Gabi Greve


Facts in the WIKIPEDIA !

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Famous Peony Parks in Japan are at the temple Hasedera (close to Nara) and the Taimadera.
Hasedera 長谷寺



『立てば芍薬、座れば牡丹、歩く姿は百合の花』
Tateba Shakuyaku
Suwareba Botan Aruku
Sugata wa Yuri no Hana (Otome)

This describes a beautiful woman:

when standing, she is like a a herbaceous peony
(shakuyaku)
when seated, she is like a peony (botan)
when walking, she is like a lily

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Temple Taimadera 当麻寺




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Worldwide use

Pfingstrose

Noteworthy Characteristics:
The tree peony species is a deciduous, woody shrub that typically grows 3-5' tall with a 4' spread. The true species features large flowers (6-8" across) with pink to white petals, each petal having a purple basal patch. Many cultivars of this species have been developed, with a wide range of petal colors including red, pink, purple, white and yellow. Cultivar flower forms range from single to semi-double to double. Blooms in early spring (May in the St. Louis area). Medium green foliage is deeply divided into oval to lance-shaped leaflets and remains attractive throughout the growing season.
http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=F110


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Things found on the way


"The Peony Show"
Katsushika Hokusai, about 1799



source : ja.ukiyo-e.org/image
Women Admiring Peonies under a Wisteria Trellis
Hosoda (Chôbunsai) Eishi 細田栄之 (1756-1829)


. Join the Ukiyo-E friends on facebook ! .



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Famous Chinese Opera
"The Peony Pavillion" Botan Tei . . . 牡丹亭

This has been revived in 2008 in a co-performance with Kabuki actor Bando Tamasaburo.
WKD : The Peony Pavillion


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HAIKU

- - - - - Kobayashi Issa - - - - -

putting up
with my tumble-down house
...peony-


掃人の尻で散たる牡丹かな
haku hito no shiri de chiritaru botan kana

petals scattered
by the sweeper's butt...
peony
Tr. David Lanoue

- - - - -

おのづから頭の下たるぼたん哉
onozukara zu no sagaritaru botan kana

I find myself
bowing to a naturally
bowing peony
Tr. Chris Drake

This apparently gratitude-filled hokku is from the 5th month (June) of 1818, soon after the birth of Issa's daughter Sato, whose death is evoked the next year in Year of My Life. The hokku can be read in two different ways, a complexity that Issa seems to have deliberately put into the hokku in order to suggest that the difference between observer and observed is temporarily displaced if you read the hokku in both ways at (about) the same time. Read literally, the verb sagaritaru, '[head] has dropped down; bowing' in the second line modifies the peony in the last line, creating an image of a peony that faces downward in such a natural way it seems to be respectfully bowing its head in awe or admiration of its surroundings, including people who come near it. As opposed to deliberately bowing or lowering your head, the intransitive verb refers to spontaneous or passively experienced action: you are overwhelmed by respect or admiration and naturally bow your head before you know it in response to this deep feeling.

Onozukara, 'spontaneously, naturally,' intensifies this quality of the verb and is often used together with the verb to describe oneself or others unconsciously and sincerely bowing before Amida or another Buddha. The downward-tilting peony has grown naturally into a very long bow without even knowing it, and in response to this totally sincere and total bowing Issa seems to have discovered himself bowing, too, as if the peony has awakened a very natural part of his mind. Since Japanese often omits explicit subjects of verbs, it's possible to read an implicit subject, such as I, being placed before the beginning of the hokku. In this case, the modifying relationship of the verb to the peony in the last line means something like "the peony which impressed and moved me and unintentionally caused me to find myself unconsciously already bowing to it."

It seems possible that Issa regards this relationship of sudden mutual recognition between different forms of being as a version of "other power" or spontaneous and sincere trust in and reliance on Amida Buddha in all aspects of life that is taught by True Pure Land Buddhism, but there is nothing explicitly about this belief in the hokku.

Chris Drake

. Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 Issa in Edo .


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. YOSA BUSON 与謝蕪村 (1716 - 1783) .


方八里雨雲よせぬ牡丹かな
ho hachiri amagumo yosenu botan kana

on all sides,
the peony wards off
rain clouds
Tr. Kimiyo Tanaka - shiki




地車のとどろとひびく牡丹かな
jiguruma no todoro to hibiku botan kana

the noisy rumbeling
of festival floats . . .
these peonies

. Jiguruma - festival floats .



the laden wagon runs
bumbling and creaking
down the road
three peonies tremble
source : Peter Beilenson 1955

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牡丹散て打かさなりぬ二三片
botan chirite uchikasanarinu nisanpen

peonies scatter . . .
two or three petals fall
on top of each other
Tr. Gabi Greve


Peony petals fell
Piling one upon another
In twos and threes.
Tr. ?

Peony having scattered
two or three petals lie
on one another.
Tr. ?




source :　www.rakanneko.jp/buson074

虹を吐て　ひらかんとする　牡丹かな
niji o haite hirakan to suru botan kana

this peony
exhailing a rainbow
while opening up . . .

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

. Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 in Edo .


. . . . .


牡丹百二百三百門一つ
botan hyaku nihyaku sambyaku mon hitotsu


one hundred peonies
two hundred, three hundred ...
and only one gate


Awano Seiho 阿波野青畝 (1899-1992)

Maybe he is visiting one of the famous peony temples of Japan.


. WKD : Numbers used in Haiku


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楊貴妃の寝起顔なる牡丹哉
Yooki-Hi no neoki-gao naru botan kana

like the face of Yang Guifei
when she awakens -
this peony

Masaoka Shiki 正岡子規
Tr. Gabi Greve

source : 俳句例句データベース（季語 )

Yang Guifei (Yang Kuifei, Yang Kuei-Fei, Yang Kwei Fei) (719-756) Yookihi
Famous Beauty of Ancient China
Her Lover, Emperor Gensoo, called her face "so beautiful even if she has not slept enough"
寝起きの楊貴妃を「寝たらず」と言った.


Discussion of this Haiku / Translating Haiku Forum

. Princess Yokihi 楊貴妃 .

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sono kuraki yo o shizuka naru botan kana
Kyorai

English is here : Translating Haiku Forum


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near my birthday
the deep magenta
of mother's peonies

Dietmar Tauchner
(GINYU, No.19, July 2003)

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Pfingstrosen am Weg –
auf rotem Teppich
zum Geliebten

peonies on the wayside -
on a red carpet
to my lover
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

Roswitha Erler
http://kulturserver-nds.de/home/haiku-dhg/Archiv/Buchbesprechungen/vjs_buch66.html


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In German, the Peonies are called Pfingstrosen, Pfingsten is the name of Pentecost. The following haiku is a play of words in German.

Ach, am Gartenzaun
verblühen die Pfingstrosen
Tage vor dem Fest.

Oh, near the garden fence
the peonies are blooming their last -
days before pentecost
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

Adelheid Treffer
http://www.haiku-heute.de/Galerie/Adelheid_Treffer/body_adelheid_treffer.html


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peonies
in the lattice window
a blaze of colours

Geert Verbeke
http://happyhaiku.blogspot.com/2004/01/friends-geert-verbeke.html


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Related words


***** Peony in the Cold (kan botan (寒牡丹)
fuyu botan 冬牡丹 (ふゆぼたん) winter peony
kigo for winter

Curtesy to the Japan Times
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fe20050120li.htm


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

. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .


. botan kuyoo 牡丹供養（ぼたんくよう) memorial service for peonies


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......... Winter Peony

By LINDA INOKI
(C) All rights reserved

In the stillness,
Between the arrival of guests,
The peonies.

By Buson (1715-83), quoted in "Haiku" by R.H. Blyth (Hokuseido Press)

At this time of year, you wouldn't expect to see peonies in leaf, let alone in bloom. However, the Japanese so loved this plant that they developed the unusual, winter-flowering kanbotan, which literally means "cold peony." Cultivated peonies were introduced to Japan from China in the Nara Period (710-784). The roots provided a valuable herbal medicine for the relief of fever, pain and bleeding. But people also prized the plant for its exquisite blooms, and during the Genroku Era (1688-1703) there was even a "peony boom": One gardening manual listed nearly 500 types of tree peonies.

Peony fanciers competed, trying to grow the most sensational flowers, and townspeople enjoyed gorgeous displays of red, pink, white and yellow blooms in late spring. When someone discovered a remontant, or twice-flowering peony, people could also admire the "king of flowers" in the auspicious New Year season, too. The sight of a peony braving the cold still inspires admiration, and, in Tokyo, the winter peonies at Hamarikyu Garden near Shiodome in Minato Ward are a sight to behold, followed by another fine display there in April and May.

The Japan Times: Jan. 20, 2005
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fe20050120li.htm

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The famous Winter Peony Park in Kamakura, Hachiman-Gu
鎌倉の八幡宮、寒牡丹


source : isaonaka2.web.infoseek.co.jp



CLICK for more photos !

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***** Peony Snow, botan-yuki
(botanyuki 牡丹雪)
kigo for winter

Snow falling in huge soft flakes like Peony petals.

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***** "Pine-needle Peony", Matsuba Botan
(松葉牡丹), （ポーチュラカ）
kigo for late summer


Rose Moss, Portulaca grandiflora. They flower for a long time and are loved as garden flowers from late summer to autumn.


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***** Peony buds, botan no me 牡丹の芽
kigo for early spring
Paeonia suffruticosa


***** botan no newake 牡丹の根分 (ぼたんのねわけ) dividing the roots of peonies
kigo for mid-autumn


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***** "Peony Stew", wild boar stew,
botan nabe 牡丹鍋
kigo for winter



Peony here is used for the meat of the wild boar, arranged in a way it looks like the red and white petals of a peony. This is a dish we can enjoy only in the winter season. It warms body and soul and is very popular in the mountainous areas on a cold evening.


botan nabe - yutaka na mori no megumi kana
.
botan nabe - hatake arashi no batsu no kana
.
wild boar stew -
the fertile woods bestowing
delicious benefits
.
wild boar stew -
devastating the fields
you end up here!

Gabi Greve, 2004
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/happyhaiku/message/775


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杉山の墨絵ぼかしに牡丹鍋
sugiyama no sumi-e bokashi ni botan nabe

the ink painting
of a cedar forest in all gradations -
wild boar stew

Kiuchi Shooshi 木内彰志 Kiuchi Shoshi
(1935 - 2006）


. Sumie paintings and Haiku .


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***** nobotan 野牡丹 (のぼたん) "wild peony"
hime nobotan 姫野牡丹（ひめのぼたん）
kusa nobotan 草野牡丹（くさのぼたん）
ノボタン - Melastoma candidum

kigo for late summer


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***** kusa botan 草牡丹 (くさぼたん) Clematis stans

kigo for ealry autumn


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Clematis クレマチス (kuremachisu)
is a genus of about 300 species within the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. Their garden hybrids have been popular among gardeners, beginning with Clematis jackmanii, a garden standby since 1862; more hybrid cultivars are being produced constantly.
They are mainly of Chinese and Japanese origin.
Most species are known as clematis in English, while some are also known as traveller's joy, a name invented for the sole British native, C. vitalba, by the herbalist John Gerard; virgin's bower for C. viticella; old man's beard, applied to several with prominent seedheads; and leather flower or vase vine for the North American Clematis viorna.
The genus name is from Ancient Greek clématis, a climbing plant, most probably a periwinkle. There are approximately over two hundred and fifty species and cultivars, often named for their originators or particular characteristics.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !






your picture -
the heady fragrance
of clematis

- Shared by Rosie Mann -
Joys of Japan, 2012


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. kani botan, kani-botan 蟹牡丹 crab and peony
- kamon 家紋 crest patterns .

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

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Pemmican

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Pemmican (Pastramă, Romania)

***** Location: Romania
***** Season: Autumn
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

Thicker than the American version and inextricably associated (by cityfolk) with sweet wine, it is eaten in the same locales and atmosphere as described above. Shepherds and peasants eat it all the time during autumn anyway.

Cristian Mocanu
Romanian Saijiki

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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

the misanthropist—
sweet wine, pemmican lure him
to a side table

challenging new tunes
sweet wine gives strength and glamour
to merry songs of old

munching pemmican
and lost in contemplation—
the two old shepherds

Cristian Mocanu

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Related words

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Parang

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Parang Serenaders

***** Location: Trinidad and Tobago
***** Season: Tropical rainy season
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

House to house serenade telling stories about the birth of Christ, sung in a Spanish dialect; using such instruments as:, box bass, shac shacs, guitars quatros and mandolins. Both the music and the songs form the Parang. The singers are called Paranderos (men and women). Traditionally Parang is presented in Three forms: The AGUINALDO which tells the Navitity story, The GUARAPO which cover a wide rang of more secular issues and the DESPENDIDA which is a parting song as the paranderos leave the house. Homes welcomed the paranderos with rum and Christmas delicacies. In olden days it was common for a wife, not to see their husbands for days on end, if he was a parandero.

A newer version now appears, alongside the traditional parang: Soca Parang; sung in the English dialect, and influenced by the calypso rhythm; moving outside of the birth of Christ to inform on happenings, traditions, and life style within the Christmas Season in Trinidad and TobagoToday Parang is sung also in many Competitons at Parang Competition sites.

The "Parang Season" is at its height by November but as early as the last week in September Parang songs are aired on the radio. The late Daisy Voisin, a doyenne of the Parang, always sang holding a bunch of flowers in her hands.

Gillena Cox
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Parang as a word is an interpretation of the word "Parranda" - this means basically "the action of merry-making, group of serenaders". In Spanish this word is used in the form "andar de parranda" or "parrandear" (used in Venezuela), meaning basically "to go Paranging". Originally the "Paranderos" - as the singers and players of instruments are called - went carol singing and playing from house to house in the neighbourhood, serenading family and friends spontaneously. These would in return often serve some food and refreshments such as pastels or other snacks and ponche-a-creme to the merrymakers, and the resulting atmosphere would be that of happy togetherness and the joy of a good Christmas lime that could continue to early hours of the morning.

The usual instruments that were (and are still) used in Parang were mainly string-instruments, such as the Guitar, the Cuatro (a four-stringed small Guitar), the Violin, the Mandolin and the Bandolin, accompanied by some light rhythm-instruments such as the Chac-chac (or Maracas) and possibly some other light rattlers to keep the beat. The rhythm is what can be loosely described as Hispanic or Latin-based, though it is distictively different from other well-known Latin rhythms such as Montuno, Son, Cumbia or Merengue.

HISTORY OF PARANG
There are a few theories about how Parang music came to be in Trinidad. One is that it all started during the Spanish rule (from 1498 to 1797) and the Spanish and French creoles kept the music alive after the British took over. Another commonly supported view states that Parang came to be in Trinidad from Spain but via Venezuela. Without a doubt, interactions with the people of Venezuela (where Parang music is also played) have helped to keep the tradition alive throughout the years.
After Trinidad's independence in 1962, a gradual revival of Parang music (as well as many other local arts) began to take place. Competitions on a national scale started and the National Parang Association was formed in 1971. Parang music also has had it's stars, most notably Daisy Voisin. Though she sadly passed away in 1991, she is still referred to as the queen of Parang by many fans.
http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Shores/9089/

Another Link:
http://www.trinicenter.com/historicalviews/parang.htm

Songs about Christmas and Parang
to listen to online

http://www.ecaroh.com/christmas/

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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

enjoying parang ~
hankering for cooler nights
October musings
2004

rainy night --
parang songs on the radio
late October
2003

parang ... parang parang
on the radio ...Christmas time is here
2002

Gillena Cox
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Related words

Daisy Voisin, Christmas, Paranderos, Auinaldo, Guarapo, Despendida, Rum.

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Proposed by: Gillena Cox

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Additions for March 2006

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..................................................................... March 2006

Weasel (itachi) Japan
Ambedkar Jayanti, Memorial Day India
Tukaram Celebrations India
Dragon, a non-seasonal topic of Eastern Art
Eagle(washi) Japan
..... including other birds of winter, fuyu no toriWater birds (mizudori　水鳥) ; Hawk (taka　鷹), Winter wild goose (fuyu no kari　冬の雁) , Winter skylark (fuyu hibari　冬雲雀), Midwinter sparrow (kan suzume　寒雀) , Midwinter crow (kan garasu　寒烏) Owl (fukuroo　梟) , Duck (kamo　鴨), Plover (Chidori　千鳥) , Hooded gull (miyakodori, yurikamome　ユリカモメ), Winter gull (fuyu kamome　冬鴎), Wren (misosazai　ミソサザイ), Crane (tsuru　鶴)Swan (hakuchou　白鳥) , Grebe (Kaitsuburi　カイツブリ)

Butterbur sprouts (fuki no too) and butterbur (fuki) (Japan)
Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara), Europa Butterbur Dandelion, fuki tanpopo (Japan)

Grape Hyacinth, Europa muscari, Lampenputzer
Gutsy Radish (dokonjoo daikon) Japan

Kite flying, India and Pakistan
Haiku in Bhutan INDIA SAIJIKI
Daffodil, Narcissus and Jonquils Europa

Spring light, spring shining (shunkoo) Japan
..... wind shining (kaze hikaru) JapanVeronica, field speedwell, Europa inufuguri (Japan)
Girl Scout Cookies USA

Bahati Haiku Club Meeting, March 2006 Kenya
Bahati Haiku Club Records since January 2006 Kenya

Jizobon, Jizoo Bon 地蔵盆
..... including Coming of Age and Fire Rituals, Sagichoo 左義長

O-Mizutori, Omizutori Ceremony, お水取り） Shuni-E Ceremony 修二会 Nara, Japan
..... Including "Sending off Water from Wakasa" Wakasa no O-Mizu Okuri.Hawaiian Spirit
Vailankanni (Velankanni), Festival in Chennai, India
Doll Festival (hina matsuri) Japan Peach Festival, Girl's Festival
Surfer, Surfing, Surf Hawaii, worldwide

Homeland, Hometown (furusato) Japan Heimat, Fatherland, Motherland

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worldkigo .....

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