Earthworm (mimizu) and mole cricket

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Earthworm (mimizu) and mole crickets (kera)

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

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Explanation


kigo for all summer

mimizu ミミズ　蚯蚓　(みみず) 　earthworm
きゅういん kyuuin

shima mimizu 縞蚯蚓（しまみみず）Eisenia foetida
(about 6 to 18 cm long)

mimizu izu 蚯蚓出づ（みみずいづ）earthworms coming out




The word seems to come from the expression

me ga mienai, me mizu　目見ず ... turned mimizu
(meaning : its eyes can not see)


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mimizu naku　蚯蚓鳴く（ みみずなく)
mole-cricket singing
lit "earthworms singing", "earthworms' song"

kigo for all autumn

This kigo lends itself to misundrestanding when translated literally. It refers to the sounds coming from insects on the earth (as opposed to the birds in the sky or the many four-legged animals.)
The verb naku can also be translated variously when used in conection with the sounds that animals make, see the link below for "Voices of animals".


In this kigo, it is NOT the earthworm, but most probably
the mole-cricket making a sound.


Gryllotalpa orientalis ケラ（螻蛄）kera
kera kigo see below

Mole crickets in the WIKIPEDIA !




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. Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 Issa in Edo .


古犬や蚯蚓の唄にかんじ顔
furu inu ya mimizu no uta ni kanji-gao

the old dog
looks as if he is listening...
a mole crickets song
Tr. Gabi Greve

... ... ...

Other translations of the old dog haiku are:

Sam Hamill:
The old dog listens
intently, as if to the
work songs of worms


Blyth:
The aged dog
Seems impressed with the sound
Of the earthworms.


Hass:
The old dog--
listening for the songs
of earthworms?

Read a short discussion about this haiku
Larry Bole, SimplyHaiku Forum 　

... ... ...


Back to Issa and his earthworm haiku:

細る也蚯蚓の唄も一夜づつ
hosoru nari mimizu no uta mo hito ya-zutsu

the earthworms' song
grows thinner...
night by night


其声のさっても若い蚯蚓哉
sono koe no satte mo wakai mimizu kana

that voice
he's a young one...
earthworm


夜々や涼しい連に鳴蚯蚓
yoru-yoru ya suzushii tsure ni naku mimizu

night after night
accompanying the coolness...
earthworms sing


One Japanese saijiki, a book of season words with examples, says the following about the expression
"earthworms sing" (mimizu naku):
"Earthworms don't sing. On autumn evenings, when one says one is hearing the 'jii-jii' song of earthworms, in fact they are referring to mole-crickets"; Kiyose (Tokyo: Kakugawa Shoten, 1984) 296.
Shinji Ogawa notes, in modern usage, the expression can refer to any
"unknown bugs" singing in the autumn.

More haiku by Issa about the Earthworm Song
Tr. by David Lanoue


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蚯蚓鳴くや土の達磨はもとの土
mimizu naku ya tsuchi no daruma wa moto no tsuchi

a mole cricket's song -
a Daruma from earth
goes back to earth
Tr. Gabi Greve

. Masaoka Shiki 正岡子規 - Matsuyama .




Tsuchidaruma o kobotsuji 土達磨を毀つ辞
正岡子規

. Tsuchidaruma 土達磨 and Masaoka Shiki .


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蚯蚓鳴く六波羅蜜寺しんのやみ
mimizu naku Rokuharamitsu-ji shin no yami


voices of earthworms -
temple Rokuharamitsu
completely dark

Kawabata Bosha (1897 - 1941)


Rokuharamitsuji 六波羅密寺 in Kyoto
and saint Kuya Shonin 空也上人


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source : shiguresha.com


kigo for all summer

kera 螻蛄 (けら) mole cricket
..... okera おけら
Gryllotalpa orientalis, Gryllota alpidae. Maulwurfsgrille


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kigo for all autumn

kera naku 螻蛄鳴く (けらなく) mole cricket singing
..... okera naku おけら鳴く（おけらなく）
The one introduced as mimizu naku above.



jimushi naku 地虫鳴く (じむしなく)
"earth insect singing"
..... sukumomushi すくもむし
it sound is jii jii to the Japanese ear.


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Other "worms" as kigo

kigo for all summer

yotoo 夜盗虫 (よとう) armyworm, cutworm
..... yatoo やとう
lit. "night stealing worm"
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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Worldwide use

Regenwurm
Maulwurfsgrille

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In Europe
the mole cricket is singing in spring
and is seen flying around in summer.

spring meadow -
a mole cricket's song comes
from the earth

dusk above the river --
a mole cricket flies off from
the angler's can


The anglers use the mole crickets as the best baits for the fish, and they put the poor mole crickets on their angles. But in the Summer the mole crickets have the wings and they could escape as this one did from the angler's can.

Tomislav Maretic, Croatia


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Things found on the way

Hailing the sensual night crawler
By HIROAKI SATO

EAST WIND MELTS THE ICE:
A Memoir through the Seasons, by Liza Dalby.
University of California Press, 2007,

"Earthworms twist" — "Prunella flourishes" —
"Load up fertilizers" — "Moss glows green."
What are these?

Well, in ancient China, around the time of Confucius, the notion took hold that the ruler must honor seasonal change exactly or else he would court disaster. The Chinese in those days (if not now) perceived subtle but vital shifts in the air, water, and earth every five days, so that became the minimal seasonal division (hou). A total of 72 such divisions, then, made up the whole year, by solar reckoning.

By the time of the father of the First Chinese Emperor (259-210 B.C.), each such division had acquired a succinct phrase describing the most notable phenomenon: "east wind melts the ice," "fish jump out of the cracks of the ice," "the otter offers prayers to the fish" (before devouring it), and so forth. So, the phrase "earthworms twist" (to turn themselves into knots deep in the earth) pointed to the five-day period of the winter solstice.

In the second half of the 17th century, when the Japanese decided to adopt the 72 calendar divisions, they saw that their clime was somewhat at variance with China's. So they modified many of the phrases, among them "earthworms twist." Japan has similar critters, yes, but the calendar adopters, all desk-bound scholars unable to imagine what these worms did underground perhaps, replaced it with "Prunella flourishes." Later, in one of a number of modern variations it became "Load up fertilizers."

Then, Liza Dalby, the American anthropologist-cum-gardener, worked out a whole new set of 72 descriptions for Berkeley, California, where she has lived for quite some time. As a result, you have "moss glows green" as the most distinguishing natural shift in today's Berkeley for the 5-day period in December where ancient Chinese saw "earthworms twist."
snip
Since she studied geisha in Kyoto for her Ph.D. thesis in the 1970s, she has often visited that country. The first time she went back for further study, it was to a tiny island in the Inland Sea. The eldest son of the family that took her in turned out to be a night crawler — no, not one of those "big, baitworthy, nocturnally active earthworms," but a practitioner of yobai, "night-crawling" — a young man sneaking into the room of a girl unspoken for, on all fours, we imagine, in the darkness of night. It is an ancient custom in Japan. It is first described in Japan's oldest extant book, the "Kojiki," compiled in 710. Prince Okuninushi yobau Princess Nunakawa.
snip
Naturally, she and he ended up spending "a large part of the following six months together, some of which was music lessons." And he taught her "a lot of intimate Japanese language during this time, including the best phrase for female orgasm I have ever come across:" mimizu-senbiki, a thousand earthworms. "The quaking and wriggling of a thousand worms twisting together. Exactly."
snip

Now, if you think of earthworms and seasonal change with a Japanese perspective in mind, you can't help noticing
the haiku term, mimizu naku, "earthworms sing."
Do they? Dalby thought that was a mere haiku conceit, until she came upon C. Merker. The German naturalist avowed that they do, in chorus, and he could actually hear them. So, worms are blessed with both copulatory and choral abilities. No wonder Dalby exclaims, "like Cleopatra, I worship worms."
source : Japan Times, April 2008

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and now to C. Merker

Night crawlers
More surprising still is his report that a German researcher, C. Merker, writing in the 1940's, astounded fellow scientists by asserting that earthworms have voices, and can actually sing, their faint sound being "rarely in a solo number, but generally in series marked by a definity and changing rhythm."

Dr. Merker claimed to be able to hear the sounds when within twelve feet of the worms, sounds produced not by chance but by the deliberate opening and closing of the earthworms' mouths.

How this could be, when earthworms have no lungs - breathing through the whole surface of their skin, moistened to dissolve oxygen, which is pumped through the bloodstream by five sets of double hearts in rings or segments close to the head - is all the more amazing.
source : www.microsoil.com


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Related words

***** . Voices of animals in Haiku


***** 72 calendar divisions
. . 72 seasonal points (shichinuniko 七十二候) as KIGO 　
72 seasonal spells

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. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .

Sometimes people are bewitched by a fox, badger or a Tengu.
They begin to eat earthworms thinking they are buckwheat noodles or Udon noodles and run round and round in the mountains.
Children lost in the forest for some time also tell about "eating noodles" while holding an earthworm in the hand when they are found, not starving in the woods.
. soba 蕎麦　伝説 Legends about buckwheat .

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oomimizu 大蚯蚓 / オオミミズ large earthworm

In the Tanba region of 兵庫県 Hyogo
there lived a huge earthworm of more than 1丈 (about 3 meters).
There had been a period of long rain and large mudslides, so the earthworms thrived. Another one must have been at least 4 meters, and another one maybe six meters !!

Near the Kumano Hongu Shrine of 和歌山県 Wakayama
the earthworm is called 加夫羅太伊 (カフラタイ) Kafuratai.
A man named 新兵衛 Shinbei from Hongu village once went to 大瀬山 Oseyama to cut wood. Suddenly he heared a strange voice and when he looked closer, he saw many huge earthworms of more than one meter long. His son caught them in a Bonito trap and carried them home, where they made a fire and burned them to prevent more harm.

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In many parts of Japan there are tales about 小便 peeing on an earthworm, which causes swelling of the penis. Therefore before peeing outside, men should spit on the place and thus inform the earthworms of their deed.
And if they peed on it by accident, they had to wash it carefully with clean water to avoid problems.


source : kabukumono
No peeing here !
赤い鳥居と立ち小便厳禁、蚯蚓に小便をかける...
These kinds of signs were quite common in the past.

If you pee on an earthworm, there will be a "punishment of the Gods" 神罰.

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Sometimes a woman gives earthworms to a blind relative,
telling them its Udon or Soba noodles.

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Sometimes a serpent shape-shifts into an earthworm (or vice-versa)
to make mischief in a village.

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In 青森県 Akita around Towada
if children throw a tantrum (kan no mushi), the mother has to make a tea with
tamakura mimizu タマクラミミズ, a large earthworm, to cure the child.

. kan no mushi 疳の虫 "insect of short-temperedness" .

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In 広島県 Hiroshima
a Samurai once wanted to shoot a pheasant which had just eaten a frog that had just eaten an earthworm. "Maybe someday my own life will be in peril" the Samurai thought and did not shoot after all.
Suddenly he heard a voice shouting
ee ian, ee ian エー思案、エー思案 "that is a good consideration".
When he looked back, he saw
hitotsume oonyuudo 一つ目の大入道 the Yokai Onyudo with one Eye
coming after him, so he fled as fast as he could.

. Oonyuudoo 大入道 O-Nyudo Monster .

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In 神奈川県 Kanagawa
sometimes people hear ミミズの歌う唄 an earthworm singing in the woods and a 鯉 carp is there dancing to the music. So the young folk of the village planned to go for an outing to watch the scene. But on that night there was no song and no carp dancing.
On the way back they saw a group of people carrying their wives in palanquins and they run fast for bewilderment. But in the end they realized they had been bewitched by a fox or badger.


In the Hata district of 高知県 Kochi
if the pee of an earthworm hits the eye, you will become blind.
And if a man pees on an earthworm, his penis will be swelling.
The child of 酒井玉喜 Sakai Tamaki once had a swollen penis. To heal it they caught an earthworm and while counting the years of the child washed it carefully in water. Then the earthworm was let free in the fields and the child was cured.

In 奥武山Onoyama of Okinawa
once an earthworm begun to cry loudly because he feared the earth of the place would disappear. Then he heard in the local animal grape-wine from a poisonous snake (habu ハブ) that on the other side on the beach there was much better earth and begun to move there. This is how earthworms begun to settle all over Okinava.

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If people in the Ina district of 長野県 Nagano catch a mole cricket, they chant this spell, rub their hands and hope for something interesting to happen:

おけらおけらおてんとう様おがめ
o-kera o-kera o-tentoosama ogame

honorable mole cricket, mole cricket,
now you can pray to the sun !

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- reference : nichibun yokai database 妖怪データベース -

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source : homepage2.nifty.com/ukiyo-e
mimizu no tenjoo 蚓（みみず）の天上　an earthworm goes to Heaven
This is just the moment when the earthworm turns into a dragon.
The earthworm was supposed to be the bait of an angler but . . .

From a collection of Hokusai Manga 北斎漫画十二編図（江戸摺）

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- #mimizu #earthworm -
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Thistle (azami)

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Thistle (azami)

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

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Explanation

Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterised by leaves with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles often occur all over the plant - on surfaces such as those of the stem and flat parts of leaves. These are an adaptation that protects the plant against herbivorous animals, discouraging them from feeding on the plant. Typically, an involucre with a clasping shape of a cup or urn subtends each of a thistle's flowerheads.

The term thistle is sometimes taken to mean exactly those plants in the tribe Cynareae (synonym: Cardueae), especially the genera Carduus, Cirsium, and Onopordum. However, plants outside this tribe are sometimes called thistles, and if this is done thistles would form a polyphyletic group.

Heraldry
In the language of flowers, the thistle (like the burr) is an ancient Celtic symbol of nobility of character as well as of birth, for the wounding or provocation of a thistle yields punishment. For this reason the thistle is the symbol of the Order of the Thistle, a high chivalric order of Scotland.
Another story is that a bare foot Viking attacker stepped on one at night and cried out, so alerting the defenders of a Scottish castle. Whatever the justification, the national flower of Scotland is the thistle. It is found in many Scottish symbols and as the name of several Scottish football clubs. Carnegie Mellon University features the thistle in its crest.

Carduus is the Latin term for a thistle (hence cardoon), and Cardonnacum is the Latin word for a place with thistles.

©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !




There are various KIGO with the thistle!

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kigo for late spring

azami 薊 (あざみ / アザミ) thistle
This name covers a wide variety of Cirsium plants.

azami no hana 薊の花（あざみのはな）thistle flowers
mayutsukuri, mayu tsukuri 眉つくり（まゆつくり）
"flower making eyebrows"
..... mayuhaki, mayu haki 眉はき（まゆはき）

noazami, no azami 野薊（のあざみ） "wild thistle"
Cirsium japonicum
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


maazami, ma azami 真薊（まあざみ）Cirsium sieboldii
(also called kiseru azami 煙管薊), thistle looking like a Japanese pipe)

hamagoboo, hama goboo 浜牛蒡（はまごぼう）
hamaazami, hama azami ハマアザミ（浜薊)
Cirsium maritimum


The most common is the "wild thistle" (no azami ノアザミ（野薊 Cirsium japonicum).

Noazami grows from 50 to 100 cm, flowers from May to August, sometimes earlier and sometimes even later, thus it is seen as a spring flower. It grows widely in Japan, along rivers and plains in Kyushu, Shikoku and Honshu island. It is also common on the Asian continent.



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kigo for all summer

natsu azami 夏薊 (なつあざみ) summer thistle

This refers to all the thistles given above.



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kigo for mid-autumn

aki azami 秋薊 あきあざみ autumn thistle
yama azami 山薊（やまあざみ）mountain thistle
oo azami 大薊（おおあざみ）big thistle





oni azami 鬼薊（おにあざみ） "demon thistle"
plumed thistle is another translation given for this name.

Cirsium borealinipponense
It grows up to one meter in hight and the thorns on the green leaves are very sharp.
It flowers from July to September, with drooping blossoms. It is widespread in Japan from the Kanto region to Nortern Japan, especially in the mountainous areas along the Sea of Japan.


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kigo for early winter


. azami goboo 薊牛蒡（あざみごぼう）
Phytolacca esculenta Van Houtte
pokeroot, pokeweed 山牛蒡 (やまごぼう) yamagoboo



kigo for all winter



kareazami, kare azami 枯薊（かれあざみ）
dried, withered thistle


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other names, not kigo


seiyoo oniazami セイヨウオニアザミ(西洋鬼薊)
"Western Oniazami Thistle"

amerika oni azami アメリカオニアザミ(亜米利加鬼薊)
"American Oniazami Thistle"
Cirsium vulgare (Savi) Tenore

jooshuu oniazami ジョウシュウオニアザミ（上州鬼薊)
"Thistle from the Joshu region"
Cirsium okamotoi

nanbu takane azami ナンブタカネアザミ（南部高嶺薊)
"Thistle from the Nambu Takane region"
Cirsium nambuense


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Worldwide use

Ireland

autumn thistles

The stems still upright and strong, but brown and lifeless, and the flower heads drooping downwards.

alone and bowed --
the brown autumn thistle
amidst golden leaves

Isabelle Prondzynski


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Yemen

The cardoon: Cynara Cardunculus
camel thorn, milk thistle, desert thistle, artichoke thistle.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

Artichoke thistle is the wild form of the cultivated globe artichoke.

Ardhi / Arthi > earth
schouk > thorn
--------------------
= earth thorn

eaten by camels, horses, goats and so on, they say it helps to stimulate the milk production.
The bud is more important than the flower!

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thorny-headed globe thistle
Echinops spinosissimus

. . . CLICK here for Photos !

a desert wildflower, which blooms in early spring after the winter rains, by the end of Ferbruary. Long skinny stems support round prickly heads on these plants. Despite their thorny heads, insects and bees are not deterred and can be found visiting these flowers; they are food for grazing camels and goats.


up from the wadi
we track the spring ...
thistle blossoms

Heike Gewi

WKD : Yemen Saijiki


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Things found on the way




Thistles and terraced rice fields
Gabi Greve, Ohaga, Japan


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. azami no uchimame jiru あざみの打ち豆汁
soup with thistles and beans



. oyamabokuchi オヤマボクチ ( 雄山火口)
Synurus pungens, a kind of smelly mountain thistle.


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HAIKU



Photo Gabi Greve


花は賎の目にも見えけり鬼薊
hana wa shizu no me ni mo mie-keri oni azami

these flowers can be seen
even with the eyes of lowly folks -
demon thistles

Matsuo Basho
Tr. Gabi Greve

This refers to the thought that demons are not visible to lowly people, an old saying
鬼は賎の目に見えない
oni wa shizu no me ni mienai

shizu 賎（しず）身分の低い者 a person of low standing,
meeserly, vulgar, despicable


"Even a lowly person like myself can see the beauty of these thistles."


the blossoms are seen
even by the eyes of the poor;
demon thistle
Tr. David Landis Barnhill



a flower
visible to the eyes of the poor
the plumed thistle ogre

It has been suggested that this verse has a connection to a phrase in the introduction to the imperial anthology of waka, Kokinwakashuu, by Ki no Tsurayuki:
"Only those acts which save people are called by the poor to have been done by an invisible ogre."
The play of words comes with the two meanings for oni ("plumed" or "ogre"), with azami ("thistle," Cirsium japonicum).
Tr. and Comment Jane Reichhold


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あざみ あざやかな あさの あめあがり

azami
azayaka na
asa no
ame agari

Taneda Santoka 山頭火


Click on the photo for the translation.


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on white canvas
the brush gets used to coffee...
autumn thistles

Heike Gewi
Kigo Hotline, October 2010


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AZAMI: Haiku in English
magazine, Ed. Iddoku Santo
Published in Osaka
source : shiki.archive, 1995




Thistle brilliant morning:
Shiki, Hekigodō, Santōka, Hōsai
translations from the Japanese William J. Higginson
Publisher: Paterson, N.J
ISBN: 0891200002


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Related words

***** . azami geshi, azamikeshi 薊罌粟（あざみけし）Mexican prickly poppy
Argemone mexicana L.　
gamboge thistle, St.Vincent yellow thistle



***** . Globe Artichoke (Cynara cardunculus)
a perennial thistle originating in southern Europe around the Mediterranean.
aatichooku アーティチョーク



***** . Safflower (benibana 紅花) 　


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Haiga from Heike Gewi, Yemen

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Shallot (rakkyoo)

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Shallot (rakkyoo)

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

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Explanation

rakkyoo 辣韮 (らっきょう) shallot

Allium chinense, Allium bakeri Regel



originated in China, in Japan known since the Heian period.

They are mostly eaten pickled in sweet vinegar or salt or soy sauce.
Often served as a side dish with curry rice.

They smell even stronger than Chinese chives (nira 韮).
The Chinese character for RA 辣 means: very hot (spicy) and strong.
They are good for the summer fatique, when you have no appetite. Many farmers grow a few for their own use.


A speciality from from Tottori (they grow near the sand dunes), and from Fukui.
hana rakkyoo 花辣韮, 花ラッキョウ "flower schalottes" grown over 3 years instead of 2, mostly in Fukui.
. . . CLICK here for hana rakkyoo Photos !


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kigo for all summer

rakkyoo 辣韮 (らっきょう) shallot
... rakkyoo 薤（らっきょう）、rakkyo らっきょ


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kigo for late autumn

rakkyoo no hana 辣韮の花 (らっきょうのはな)
flower of the shallot
..... 薤の花（らっきょうのはな）


Photo : Gabi Greve

They are very beautiful to look at. Some are also white.


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Worldwide use

Schalotte

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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

佐久山やらつきよの花に蝶がつく　　
Sakuyama rakkyoo no hana ni choo ga tsuku

Sakuyama !
a butterfly lands
on a shalotte flower
　　
Hosomi Ayako 細見綾子
(1907 -1997)

Sakuyama is a mountain and hot spring in Tochigi, Oota.
It is famous for the ruins of Sakuyama castle.


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辣韮や千里の砂丘を埋めつくす　　
rakkyoo ya senri no sakkyuu o umetsukusu

these shallots !
they are burying ten miles
of sand dunes

Mistunori 充伯



Take a look at my trip to the
. Tottori Sand Dunes 鳥取 砂丘


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辣韮の花咲く土や農奴葬　　　　　　　　　
飯田蛇笏

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
辣韮の花に砂丘の暮色濃し　　　　　　　
景山みどり

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

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Related words

***** Garlic chives (nira)


***** . VEGETABLE SAIJIKI 　


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TURKEY SAIJIKI

Saijiki and Kiyose for Turkey

Introducing Turkey, a page with many English links
http://www.mymerhaba.com/en/main/index.asp

This page is under construction.

.. .. .. SPRING .. .. Season .. .. Heaven .. .. Earth .. .. Humanity .. .. Observances Spring Picnic The first day of spring in Istanbul everyone goes to the Emirgan Woods and eats al fresco. The park overlooks the Bosporus and the annual Tulip Festival is held there too. .. .. Animals Sand smelt, Gümüş balığı Smelt, Osmerus mordax Fish in America, kyuuri uo (Japan) .. .. Plants

.. .. .. SUMMER .. .. Season .. .. Heaven .. .. Earth .. .. Humanity Hıdrellez Festival Turkish wrestling, yagli gúres mostly done in the summer months. .. .. Observances .. .. Animals .. .. Plants Hazelnuts.

.. .. .. AUTUMN .. .. Season .. .. Heaven .. .. Earth .. .. Humanity .. .. Observances .. .. Animals .. .. Plants Figs, Ficus carica Brown Turkey and Celeste are the most cold hardy varieties. They are also delicious when dried. http://www.alibaba.com/countrysearch/TR-suppliers/Figs.html WKD: Figs (ichijiku)　 チャイ添えて乾し無花果やトルコ市 chai soete hoshi-ichijiku ya toruko ichi with hot chay dry figs in a Turkish bazaar Nakamura Sakuo, Japan

.. .. .. WINTER .. .. Season .. .. Heaven .. .. Earth .. .. Humanity ihlamur tea (infusion of ihlamur) Made from lime and linden. The flowers are seen and picked in the spring, and dried for the folowing winter. .. .. Observances .. .. Animals Fish are mostly eaten as Winter Food. mackerel 'palamut' In Istanbul mackerel everywhere in the markets means November. sea bass 'levrek' is also eaten in November. Fish as Kigo Kofana (large bluefish), from September to January ***** Fish from Turkey .. .. Plants Oranges.

.. .. .. NEW YEAR .. .. Season .. .. Heaven .. .. Earth .. .. Humanity .. .. Observances .. .. Animals .. .. Plants

.. .. .. Non-seasonal Topics .. .. Season .. .. Heaven .. .. Earth . Anatolia . Istanbul 満月をあげてイスタンブールかな meigetsu o agete Istanbuuru kana the full moon hanging all over town - Istanbul Miyasaka Shizuo 宮坂静生 source :　句集　雛土蔵 .. .. Humanity . Barnabas Gospel, Turkey . .. .. Observances Berat Kandil (Leylatul Berat, Laylatul Barat) is the 14th/15th of the month of Shaban, night of the full moon before the beginning of Ramazan. World Kigo Database : Ramadan 　 .. .. Animals .. .. Plants

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Boosai Saijiki Disaster

[ . BACK to Worldkigo . TOP . ]
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Boosai Saijiki of Disasters and Catastrophies


by Miyazawa Seiji
宮澤清治の防災歳時記

source : www.bousaihaku.com


春 SPRING
「真夏の山火事」(「消防科学と情報」1996年夏号)
「山が燃える」(「消防科学と情報」1998年春号)
「笄(こうがい)の渡し」(「消防科学と情報」2001年春号)
「初夏の大霜害に泣いた農民」(「消防科学と情報」2004年春号)
「濃霧で紫雲丸が沈没す」(「消防科学と情報」2005年春号)
「虎が雨」(「消防科学と情報」2006年春号)
「照り降り人形で晴雨を占う」(「消防科学と情報」2007年春号)
「初夏の空は白っぽく見える」(「消防科学と情報」2008年春号)
「昇龍、江戸の町を襲う」(「消防科学と情報」2009年春号)
「五月晴れの空からひょうが降る(2000年5月24日の関東南部のひょう害)」(「消防科学と情報」2010年 春号)


夏 SUMMER
「白い雨と山崩れ」(「消防科学と情報」1995年夏号)
「豪雨は深夜に降りやすい」(「消防科学と情報」1997年夏号)
「にんじん状の雲から豪雨が降る」(「消防科学と情報」1999年夏号)
「山野に響く「ししおどし」」(「消防科学と情報」2000年夏号)
「悲しめる乙女の像」(「消防科学と情報」2004年夏号)
「元祖「集中豪雨の里」の水害記念碑」(「消防科学と情報」2005年夏号)
「深夜の土石流、集落を襲う」(「消防科学と情報」2006年夏号)
「禍福無門の戒め」(「消防科学と情報」2007年夏号)
「「せき止め湖」を考える」(「消防科学と情報」2008年夏号)
「海の水がせめて来た(伊勢湾台風から50年)」(「消防科学と情報」2009年夏号)
「キジも鳴かずば撃たれまい」(「消防科学と情報」2010年夏号) (最終回)



秋 AUTUMN
「霜夜に冴える鐘の音」(「消防科学と情報」1997年秋号)
「木枯らしの吹くころ」(「消防科学と情報」2000年秋号)
「ぶり起こし」の鳴るころ」(「消防科学と情報」2002年秋号)
「身代わり地蔵」(「消防科学と情報」2003年秋号)
「これで実況を打ち切ります」(「消防科学と情報」2004年秋号)
「酒田大火、復興の歌高らかに」(「消防科学と情報」2005年秋号)
「ねこまくり」に襲われた(「消防科学と情報」2006年秋号)
「江戸のおばあさん気象予報士」(「消防科学と情報」2007年秋号)
「「七五三」に台風が上陸した」(「消防科学と情報」2008年秋号)
「屋島丸台風は韋駄天だった」(「消防科学と情報」2009年秋号)


冬 WINTER
「雁木(がんぎ)が見える風景」(「消防科学と情報」2000年冬号)
「雪爭い」(「消防科学と情報」2001年冬号)
「津波かるた」(「消防科学と情報」2004年冬号)
「雪の重みで屋根が落ちた」(「消防科学と情報」2005年冬号)
「お節句に来た大津波」(「消防科学と情報」2006年冬号)
「巨大ぼたん雪が降る」(「消防科学と情報」2007年冬号)
「雪と闘ったキマロキ士」(「消防科学と情報」2008年冬号)
「やまじ風公園」(「消防科学と情報」2009年冬号)
「冬の嵐が列車を倒し船を沈めた(「昭和45年1月低気圧」)」
(「消防科学と情報」2010年冬号)


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Related words

***** . History of Japanese Saijiki .

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Cockscomb (keitoo)

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Cockscomb (keitoo)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: All Autumn
***** Category: Plant

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Explanation

cockscomb, keitoo 鶏頭 (けいとう)
Celosia cristata

ougeitoo 扇鶏頭（おうぎけいとう）"cockscomb like a fan"
hookeitoo 箒鶏頭（ほうきけいとう）"cockscomb like a broom"
yarikeitoo 槍鶏頭（やりけいとう）"cockscomb like a spear"
fusakeitoo 房鶏頭（ふさけいとう）"cockscomb like a tassle"



chabokeitoo ちゃぼ鶏頭（ちゃぼけいとう）
"cockscomb like a bantam rooster"

himokeitoo 紐鶏頭（ひもけいとう）"rope cockscomb"
Amaranthus, Velvet flower
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

kikeitoo 黄鶏頭（きけいとう）yellow cockscomb
sanshoku keitoo 三色鶏頭（さんしょくけいとう）
three-colored cockscomb

keitooka 鶏頭花（けいとうか）cockscomb flowers

kara ai no hana 韓藍の花（からあいのはな）
flower of the Korean indigo

. . . . .


hageitoo 葉鶏頭 (はげいとう) amaranth
lit. "leaf cockscomb"
kamatsuka かまつか
ganraikoo 雁来紅（がんらいこう）
Amaranthus tricolor. Fuchsschwanz; Gangessamaranth
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

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kigo for all winter

. karekeitoo, kare keitoo 枯鶏頭（かれけいとう） 　
withered cockscomb　



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Worldwide use

Hahnenkamm

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Things found on the way


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HAIKU




Masaoka Shiki

"teizen　庭前"　Front　Garden

鶏頭の十四五本もありぬべし
keitoo no juushigohon mo arinubeshi

"Before the Garden"

cockscombs
must be 14
or 15
trans. Beichman

Cockscombs--
I'm sure there are at least
Fourteen or fifteen stalks.
trans. Donald Keene

Cockscombs;
There should be
Fourteen or fifteen.
trans. Blyth



According to Beichman:
The headnote of the poem indicates that Shiki was on the veranda looking out at the garden. The poem is a comment on the cockscombs-- he has tried to count them and this is his estimate.

Cockscombs are a brilliant red autumn flower, about two feet tall and very straight. Their petals, bunched close together, look like masses of stiff, ruffled velvet, and they grow in clusters that would make it difficult to count their precise number. A group of them gives the impression of a fiery blaze of red.

Shiki wrote the poem at a haiku meeting attended by eighteen of his disciples on September 9, 1900. Only two of those present chose it as the best, which made it the least popular of all the poems submitted at the meeting. Takahama Kyoshi did not even consider the piece worth including in the collection of Shiki's haiku, 'Shiki Kushuu', that he compiled shortly after Shiki's death. The poem was first praised by Shiki's tanka disciple Nagatsuka Takashi (1879-1915) and later by the greatest tanka poet of this century [20th-century], Saitoo Mokichi (1882-1953).
It remains a controversial poem even today, however, with some critics maintaining that it is no more than a commonplace description in which the details of number and the variety of flower
are purely arbitrary, and others asserting that it is extremely moving.
[end of excerpt]

And according to Keene:
...ignored by most professional haiku critics for years, [this haiku] is now often acclaimed as his masterpiece...

This verse unfortunately loses everything in translation, but even the original excited derisive remarks from various poets who, questioning the absoluteness of its terms, made such substitutions as "seven or eight stalks" or "withered chrysanthemums" for "cockscombs." One critic defied anyone to define the difference between seven or eight stalks and fourteen or fifteen stalks; but, as Yamamoto Kenkichi pointed out, the sound of the words is important, and anyone who argues exclusively on the basis of meaning does not understand the nature of poetry. The slight differences in shading (rather than of meaning) given the haiku by the grammatical particles and verb endings also communicate overtones to a sensitive Japanese reader that cannot be analyzed in translation. Yamamoto wrote:

"Every masterpiece is a flower on a precipice to be picked only with spiritual danger. The risk is life itself. It is too much to hope every poetry-lover will unfailingly grasp all subtleties of the creative act, but no artistic masterpiece exists without the danger of its being misunderstood. It is a tremendous assertion for the poet to have said, 'There must be fourteen or fifteen stalks of
cockscomb.' After we read this poem we cannot imagine the possibility there could have been more or fewer cockscomb than fourteen or fifteen."
[end of excerpt]

And Blyth comments:
This is one of the most debated verses of Shiki, written in the 33rd year of Meiji during his last illness. ... Kyoshi and Hekigodoo, the editors of Shiki's verses, omitted this haiku, apparently thinking it was of no worth. The first to perceive its value was the poet Nagatsuka Takashi, who said to Saitoo Mokichi, "There are no haiku poets now who can understand this verse." However, this kind of haiku is not in the style of Buson or even Basho. We feel the weakness of Shiki compared with the violence of the red flowers. There is also the way in which Shiki transcends his own weakness, and even wishes to intensify the strength of the plants by increasing their number.
[end of excerpt]

and just one more

鶏頭の皆倒れたる野分かな
keitoo no mina taoretaru nowaki kana

Cockscombs--
all of them knocked flat
in the autumn storm
Shiki, trans. Burton Watson

Compiled by Larry Bole
Kigo Hotline


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In a recent documentary about the life of Shiki, I saw the cockscombs in his garden, a flower he liked very much. When he could not move around any more, his sister, who cared for him lovingly, planted the flowers a bit closer to the veranda. Later, when he had to be in bed all the time, she re-planted them again so that he could still see them when he uplifted his upper body, holding on to a crutch under his arm. Counting the blossoms was one of his daily joys in his sickbed.

When he became completely bedridden, she replanted many flowers, including the hechima gourds, directly on the veranda in pots, so he could see them while lying on his back in bed.

Gabi Greve, January 2010


. Shiki - His younger sister Ritsu 律 .


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Related words

***** WKD ... Numbers used in Haiku

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Oak trees Quercus

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Oak Trees / Quercus

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

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Explanation

The family Fagaceae, or beech family,
comprises about 900 species of both evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs, which are characterized by alternate simple leaves with pinnate venation, unisexual flowers in the form of catkins, and fruit in the form of cup-like (cupule) nuts.
The best-known group of this family is the oaks, genus Quercus, the fruit of which is a non-valved nut (usually containing one seed) called an acorn.

Castanea - Chestnuts
Castanopsis
Chrysolepis - Golden chinkapin
Colombobalanus
Fagus - Beeches
Formanodendron
Lithocarpus - Stone oaks
Quercus - Oaks
Trigonobalanus



An Oak is a tree or shrub
in the genus Quercus, of which about 600 species exist on earth.
The flowers are catkins, produced in spring. The fruit is a nut called an acorn, borne in a cup-like structure known as a cupule; each acorn contains one seed (rarely two or three) and takes 6–18 months to mature, depending on species.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !


Let us look at some types of Japanese oaks (kashi 樫) and their kigo.

The most important varieties:

akagashi アカガシ　（赤樫　別名：oogashi, オオガシ、oobagashi オオバガシ　学名：Quercus acuta）
arakashi アラカシ　Quercus glauca
hanagakashi ハナガカシ　Quercus hondae
ichiigashi イチイガシ　（一位樫　学名：Quercus gilva ）
kashi 樫 ... Quercus
kunugi 櫟 Quercus acutissima
shikubanegashi ツクバネガシ　（衝羽根樫　　学名：Quercus sessilifolia）
shirakashi シラカシ　（白樫・白橿　学名：Quercus myrsinifolia ）
ubamegashi ウバメガシ　（姥目樫　別名：イマメガシ・ウマメガシ　　学名：Quercus phillyraeoides）
urajirogashi ウラジロガシ　（裏白樫　　学名：Quercus salicina）

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kigo for late spring

kashi no hana 樫の花 (かしのはな) Kashi-oak tree blossoms


樫の木の花にかまはぬ姿かな
kashi no ki no hana ni kamawanu sugata kana

the Kashi oak
seems not to care about
the cherry blossoms . . .
Tr. Gabi Greve

The cut marker KANA is at the end of line 3.
Written in 1685, when Basho visited Mitsui Shuufuu 三井秋風 Shufu at Narumi.
(Shufu - 1646 - 1717) A rich kimono merchant and haikai poet from Kyoto.

Basho compares the Kashi oak to his independent-minded host (or rather, vice-versa).
Basho often uses the nature around him to imply a human condition also just now around him.

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


. Echigoya 越後屋 and Mitsui　三井 .

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. ichi-i no hana　 一位の花　いちいのはな flower of the yew tree
Taxus cuspida. ichii


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kigo for early summer

kashi wakaba 樫若葉 (かしわかば) young leaves of the Kashi-oak
..... kashi shigeru 樫茂る（かししげる）


kunugi no hana 櫟の花 (くぬぎのはな) flowers of the Kunugi-oak
..... tsurubami 橡（つるばみ）、ichii, ichi-i いちい
donguri no ki 団栗の木（どんぐりのき） "acorn tree)


shii wakaba 椎若葉 (しいわかば) young leaves of the Shii-oak
shii ochiba 椎落葉（しいおちば）fallen leaves of the Shii-oak
Castanopsis cuspidata. pasania. Shii-Castanopsis



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shii no hana 椎の花 (しいのはな) flowers of the Shii-oak
..... shihi no hana しひのはな
..... hana shii 花椎
kigo for mid-summer

. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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kigo for mid-autumn

tsukubane 衝羽根 (つくばね) Tsukubane-oak
..... tsukubane 突羽根（つくばね）
kogi no ko 胡鬼の子（こぎのこ）
hago no ki 羽子の木（はごのき）
Quercus sessilifolia

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kigo for late autumn

donguri 団栗 (どんぐり) acorn (from an oak tree)
..... kunugi no mi 櫟の実（くぬぎのみ）acorns from the Kunugi-oak tree
Quercus acutissima, Spitzeiche

dongurigoma 、団栗独楽（どんぐりごま）top made from an acorn
donguri mochi 団栗餅（どんぐりもち） rice cake with acorns
Eichel

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. ichi-i no mi　一位の実　(いちいのみ)
berry of the yew tree
Taxus cuspida. ichii



kashi no mi 樫の実 (かしのみ) acorn
from the evergreen Kashi-oak
..... 橿の実（かしのみ）



mochi no mi 黐の実 (もちのみ) ilex fruit
mochi no ki no mi もちの木の実（もちのきのみ）
toosei 冬青（とうせい）"winter green"
Quercus ilex. Steineiche




nara no mi なら (楢 ) の実　Japanese oak acorn
Quercus serrata / Quercus crispula

. nara momiji 楢紅葉（ならもみじ）Nara red autumn leaves .
Quercus serrata
- - - - - and
hahaso momiji 柞紅葉 Japanese Emperor Oak momiji
Quercus dentata




shii no mi 椎の実 (しいのみ) Shii-oak acorns
..... ochi shii 落椎（おちしい）fallen acorns
..... shii hirou 椎拾う（しいひろう）collecting acorns
pasania; chinquapin
Shii-Castanopsis, Castanopsis cuspidata


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kigo for all winter

fuyu kashiwa 冬柏 (ふゆかしわ) Kashiwa-oak in winter
kashiwa no kareha 柏の枯葉（かしわのかれは）dried leaves of Kashiwa
karekashiwa 枯柏（かれかしわ） withered kashiwa
Quercus dentata



kunugi karu 櫟枯る（くぬぎかる） withering Kunugi-oak

- - - - -



木がらしやいわしをくるむ柏の葉
kogarashi ya iwashi o kurumu kashiwa no ha

winter windstorm
wraps a big oak leaf
around a sardine
Tr. Chris Drake

This hokku is from the end of the seventh month (early September) in 1823. Japanese oak leaves fall off not in early winter but in summer, when new green leaves appear; a "winter oak" keeps its brown leaves on its branches, and the leaves make uncanny sounds in the wind while the limbs of other deciduous trees are bare. Because oaks normally keep their fairly large leaves in winter, they were widely believed to be the trees in which the tree-leaf protector god (hamori no kami 葉守の神) stayed during the winter months. The gale in the hokku, however, is so strong it rips even oak leaves off their limbs many months before they are ready to fall.

When Issa writes a hokku in his diary that evokes a season different from the season in which he is writing, he usually writes the character representing the season of the hokku above the hokku, but there is no such note above this hokku, so it can be taken either as an autumn or a winter hokku. A kogarashi, according to a popular folk etymology, is literally a "tree-withering blast" or cold, dry gale-force windstorm from the north or northwest, can be either a late autumn or an early winter image in both traditional waka poetry and in premodern haikai, though most contemporary haiku saijiki editors usually list it only as a winter image. These powerful windstorms usually begin to blow in late October and continue into December or even later.

Issa's diary for 1823, for example, has the first big windstorm taking place late in lunar autumn, on 9/24. A dried sardine, perhaps hanging with several others from a beam in the kitchen or a hallway, seems to have been blown onto the ground, and the wind pushes the sardine against a wall or fence and presses a large oak leaf around it.

Earlier, in the twelfth month (January) of 1818, Issa wrote a similar hokku, one that deals with ordinary fallen leaves:

kogarashi ya ko no ha ni kurumu shiozakana

withering winter wind
wraps a salted fish
in a dry leaf

Perhaps Issa rewrote it because he wanted to use the stronger image of the wind blowing down an oak leaf. The word order in the later hokku is also smoother.

Chris Drake

. Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 Issa in Edo .

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


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Worldwide use



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Things found on the way


Nuts from the Forest

Buna no mi ぶなのみ (欅／椈　の実）beechnut
Chestnut, sweet chestnut (kuri 栗)
Kurumi くるみ　(胡桃) walnuts
Nara no mi なら (楢 ) の実　Japanese oak acorns
Tochi とち (橡／栃／杼) horse chestnut
. Food from the Bountiful Woods
(Mori no Megumi) 　


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Karatsu no koma 唐津の独楽 spinning tops from Karatsu
made from strong local wood　マテバシイ mateba shii oak, Pasania edulis Makino.


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Kashiwa no Kami カシワの神 Deity of the Kashiwa-Oak
Geist und Beschützer der Eichen.

In the 吉城郡 Yoshiki district of Gifu, the deity カシワの神 Kashiwa no Kami, the Deity of Oak Trees, is venerated everywhere. He is said to use a walking stick and eat rice. He can also suppress an earthquake.

. jishin　地震 Legends about Earthquakes .


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HAIKU

shii 椎 the Shii-oak, Pasania
Castanopsis cuspidata. pasania. Shii-Castanopsis


MORE haiku about this tree and its blossoms
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .


まづ頼む椎の木もあり夏木立
mazu tanomu shii no ki mo ari natsu kodachi

First of all, my dear
Dependable tree of shii stands here
In the summer grove
Tr. Oseko

Summer grove –
pasania tree and I
find shelter.
Tr. Stryk


My temporary shelter,
a pasania tree is here, too,
in the summer grove.
Tr. Ueda

Written in 1690, at the end of Genju-An no Ki records (The Hu. Basho stayed with Suganuma Kyokusei 菅沼曲翠　曲水 of the Zeze domaine, after coming back from his long trip, Oku no Hosomichi.
Basho visited there from April 1690 till July 23.

While Basho stayed at this Hermitage, he wrote
" ... I wondered if I would become a Buddhist priest, but I rather wanted to suffer the winds of journey without a definite destination to enjoy nature with flowers, birds, winds and the moon . . . ."
Tr. Oseko


quote
In this hut where I live as a hermit, as a passing traveler, there is no need to accumulate household possessions. ... But I should not have it though from what I have said that I am devoted to solitude and seek only to hide my traces in the wilderness. Rather, I a m like a sick man weary of people, or someone who is tired of the world.. What is there to say? ...
I labor without results, am worn of spirit and wrinkled of brow. Now, when autumn is half over, and every morning and each evening brings changes to the scene, I wonder if that is not what is meant by dwelling in unreality.
And here too I end my words.


Among these summer trees,
a pasania --
something to count on.

source : www.hermitary.com


tanomu 頼む to ask a person to do something, to depend on, to count on

Basho wrote at Genju-An
quote from Peipei-Qiu
I don’t force myself to love idleness and solitude (kanjaku　閑寂), yet I am like a sick man who is weary of people, or a person who is tired of the world. How is it so? I have not led a clerical life, nor have I engaged in worldly undertakings; I am neither benevolent nor righteous. Ever since I was very young I have liked my eccentric ways, and once I made them the source of a livelihood, only temporarily I thought, I couldn’t put anything else in my mind and, incapable and talentless as I was, I have been bound to this single line of poetry.

In the poetry of Saigyô and Sôgi, the painting of Sesshû, and the tea of Rikyû, despite the differences of their talents, the fundamental principle is one. Without knowing, the autumn has half passed as I was pressing my back, rubbing my belly, and making a wry face. Human life is also like this, short as a brief dream. Again, I feel this must be what is meant by dwelling in unreality.

Let me stay for now
where there is a pasania tree—
the summer grove.

mazu tanomu/shiinoki mo ari/natsu kodachi


It doesn’t look like
they will die in a short time—
the sounds of cicadas.

yagate shinu/keshiki mo miezu/semi no koe

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


. - Genjuuan　Ki 幻住庵記 Genju-an Records - .
the Hut of the Phantom Dwelling
Unreal Hut
Hut of the Unreal Dwelling


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fallen oak leaf ...
one by one my friends
reach half a century

. . . . .

In the square where we live, nine oak trees add presénce. It is a joy to watch them grow new leaves in spring and then to watch these leaves fall in autumn.
Right now, the branches are draped with snow.

oak trees
my twenty-two years
as an immigrant

Ella Wagemakers
Philippines, Netherlands


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crescent moon --
snow-covered oak trees
float in the fog




Haiku and Photos
© Isabelle Prondzynski, Ireland
December 2010



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Related words

***** Berries and related kigo


. TREES as kigo .

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kunugi 櫟　/ クヌギ 伝説　Quercus acutissima oak legendｓ

. kunuki Daruma, ku nuki Daruma 苦抜き達磨
Daruma taking away the pain .
kunugi 櫟 Quercus acutissima - a pun with 苦抜き ku nuki, ku o nuku.

In 茨城県 Ibaraki they think the roots of paulownia 桐の木の根 and kunugi and live squid are sending off light when placed in a dark spot. This light is then able to bewitch people.
In 真壁町 Makabe village they believe the tree likes to hear the low, painful voice of sick people and therefore never plant it in their garden.

In 愛媛県 Ehime there is a custom called トンドさん Tondo san. On the 15th day of the first lunar month people cut kunugi branches and build a small square hat. Inside they place diapers and then roll diapers all around the walls, like flags. Then the whole hut is burend down and the ashes taken to sea, mixed with sea water and then taken home to place at the four corners of the house.
This way bad luck and disaster can be avoided for the coming year.

. Legends about trees - - 木と伝説 .


- reference : nichibun.ac.jp yokai database -

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Gardenia (kuchinashi)

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Gardenia (kuchinashi 梔子)

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

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Explanation


This plant is found in most parts south of the center of the main island of Honshu. It can grow up to 3 meters high and is well liked in gardens and parks.
Its blossoms have 6 white petals and a pleasant fragrance, which grows stronger in the evening. The fruit does not open, even when it is ripe, that is why it is called "without a mouth" kuchi nashi, in Japanese.


kigo for mid-summer


Gardenia jasminoides

kuchinashi no hana 梔子の花 (くちなしのはな)
gardenia flowers
..... hanakuchinashi 花梔子（はなくちなし）


lit. kuchi nashi means : to have no mouth.


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kigo for late autumn



kuchinashi no mi 梔子の実 (くちなしのみ) gardenia fruit
..... kuchinashi no mi 山梔子の実（くちなしのみ）


The yellow color is used to enhance some food preparations.

. WASHOKU
kiku kabura 菊かぶら / 菊蕪 "chrysanthemum turnip" 　
pickles


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Gardenia jasminoides (also known as Gardenia augusta)
is a fragrant flowering evergreen tropical plant, a favorite in gardens worldwide. It originated in Asia and is most commonly found growing in Vietnam, Southern China, Taiwan, Japan and India. With its shiny green leaves and fragrant white summer flowers, it is widely used in gardens in warm temperate and subtropical climates.

Evidence of Gardenia jasminoides in cultivation in China dates to the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD), where both wild and double-flowered forms have been depicted in paintings, such as those of the Song Emperor Huizong.

Gardenia jasminoides fructus (fruit) is used within Traditional Chinese Medicine to "drain fire" and thereby treat certain febrile conditions.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !


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Worldwide use


Gardenie


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Things found on the way



source :　www.suiboku.jp


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HAIKU




くちなしの花香りたる交差点
kuchinashi no hana kaoritaru koosaten

the gardenia flowers
are so very fragrant
at the crossroads

source : yoshizo


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gardenia –
the lingering smell of
Daruma's stroll
Chibi


kuchinashi ya
Daruma talks
you have no mouth
Gabi

source : Haiku about Daruma



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rainy december
gardenia at the corner
keeps on withering

source : Wedomartani, Wahyu W. Basjir 2009

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still, its scent --
the gardenia blossom's
faded petals

- Shared by Rick Black -
Joys of Japan, 2012





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Related words

. PLANTS - - - the Complete SAIJIKI .


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Pomegranate (zakuro)

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Pomegranate (zakuro)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Mid-autumn
***** Category: Plant

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Explanation

zakuro 石榴（柘榴）(ざくろ) pomegranate
Punica granatum

mizakuro 実石榴 pomegranate fruit




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zakuro no hana 石榴の花 (ざくろのはな) pomegranate blossoms
..... hana zakuro 花石榴（はなざくろ）
kigo for mid-summer


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A pomegranate (Punica granatum) is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing to between five and eight meters tall. The pomegranate is native to the Iranian Plateau, and has been cultivated in the Caucasus since ancient times. It is widely cultivated throughout Azerbaijan, Armenia, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, India, Israel, the drier parts of southeast Asia, Indonesia, peninsular Malaysia, the Mediterranean and Southern Europe and tropical Africa.



The name "pomegranate" derives from
Latin pomum ("apple") and granatus ("seeded").

Hinduism
In Hinduism, the pomegranate (Sanskrit: Beejpur, literally: replete with seeds) symbolizes prosperity and fertility, and is associated with both Bhoomidevi (the earth goddess) and Lord Ganesha (who is also called Bijapuraphalasakta, or the one fond of the many-seeded fruit).
Every part of the plant [root, bark, flowers, fruit, leaves] is used for medicinal purposes in Ayurveda.
More about the symbolism is HERE
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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Kishibojin
used to eat children before she was converted by Shakyamuni Buddha.
Now she is the protector of children and eats pomegranates (zakuro ザクロ) instead .

. Kishibojin 鬼子母神 .





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Worldwide use

Granatapfel


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Yemen

Pomegranates burst ...
awaiting us to get ready
for new elections

Heike Gewi, September 2011


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Things found on the way


. Kariteimoten (Hariti) Kishimojin 鬼子母神 　
A deity eating children, later pomegranates ザクロ instead, after Shakyamuni Buddha convinced her not to eat children any more.


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zakuro guchi, zakuroguchi 柘榴口（ざくろぐち)
special entrance in a public bath
Special ladies (yuna 湯女) would come through this entrance to the male bathers and wash their backs. This entrance is about 90 cm wide. To give more brightness to the room, its walls were painted white.





quote
At the beginning, two sliding doors were fixed in the doorway to keep the hot steam inside. But it was not enough, so zakuroguchi was made to improve it. Zakuroguchi was a board that almost covered the front of bathtub from the ceiling. People had to stoop because zakuroguchi had a low entrance.
One interesting theory of the origin of this strange name zakuroguchi“ (“pomegranate gate“) is that the fruit juice of zakuro (pomegranate) was needed to clean a mirror at that time.
This is in fact a play on words.
Mirror is “kagami“ and to need something is “iru“ in Japanese. To stoop is “kagamu“ and to enter is also “iru“ in Japanese. So they had to ’stoop (“kagamu“) to enter (“iru“)’ a zakuroguchi just as ’a mirror (“kagami“) needed (“iru“) a pomegranate, or zakuro.’

In zakuroguchi, it was dark. When people in Edo city entered the bath, instead of just saying “Excuse me,” they often called out something such as: “Branches (= limbs) will touch you” or “I'm from the country” and then people in the bath cleared their throat to tell their presence. (See the illustrations of zakuroguchi: the above one from Sketches of Japanese Manners and Customs, by J. M. W. Silver published in London in 1867 and the below one from Great Encyclopedia Vol.10 published in Tokyo in 1932.)
source : decodingkyoto.policy-science.jp




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HAIKU


露人ワシコフ叫びて石榴打ち落す　　
rojin Washikofu sakebite zakuro uchiotosu

the Russian Washikoff
shouted out and hit
a pomegranate


西東三鬼 Saito Sanki (Saitoo) 1900-1962

. Saito Sanki and New Haiku 　



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Related words

***** WKD ... Main Index

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