Chinese Background of Kigo

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The Chinese background and roots of Japanese kigo

kango 　漢語　words of Chinese origin

Much of Japanese culture has its roots in China.
Buddhism was first introduced around 522 via Korea and closely related to the power of the Japanese state. The Prince Shotoku Taishi 聖徳太子, born in 574, was a great promoter of State Buddhism and began to send embassies to China to study Chinese civilization in depth.
. Embassies to T'ang China 遣唐使 kentooshi .


Taking a closer look at Japanese kigo,
we realize that many have their roots in ancient Chinese poetry and painting.

Chinese poetry was widely studied by the poets of the Heian period.
And the Heian poetry had its strong influence on the poetry of the Edo period.

Not only kigo, but many themes of haiku by the old masters referre back to Chinese poetry.
Matsuo Basho was a keen student of Chinese poetry and Taoism in his youth.



Bashō and the Dao:
The Zhuangzi and the Transformation of Haikai
Peipei Qiu
- Full Text - Basho-and-the-Dao-Peipei-Qiu
- Reference -


Rhetoric and the Discourses of Power in Court Culture:
China, Europe, and Japan
David R. Knechtges
- Reference -



Sooshi 荘子 Chuang-tzu
Zhuangzi (simplified Chinese: 庄子; traditional Chinese: 莊子; pinyin: Zhuāng Zǐ; Wade–Giles: Chuang Tzŭ)
was an influential Chinese philosopher who lived around the 4th century BCE during the Warring States Period, a period corresponding to the philosophical summit of Chinese thought — the Hundred Schools of Thought, and is credited with writing—in part or in whole—a work known by his name, the Zhuangzi.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !



. Shoomon 蕉門 Shomon - Basho's Students .

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tenshi o egaku 天師を画く
painting the heavenly master

. WKD - Tao, Dao and Kigo .
Dookyoo 道教 Taoism, Daoism



"Poetry Pillow words" utamakura　歌枕"
makura kotoba" 枕詞, 枕言葉
. Place names and Sooshi 荘子 .


. 風羅坊 Furabo "wind-gauze-priest" .
pen-name of Matsuo Basho


. Basho, Fukagawa and Chang-An .


造化にしたがひ 造化に帰れ
. "Follow the zooka, return to the zooka." .
. . . . . not to mix with
zoka, joka 序歌 a waka poem which is read first


. "What can I do with an old tree?" .


According to the Erh Ya (Erya),
one of the earliest Chinese dictionaries,　
green is the color of spring,
red is the color of summer,
white is the color of autumn, and
black is the color of winter.
. Color symbols and haiku .


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Chinese Poets and Basho
(for details check the Wikipedia)

Bai Juyi, Bo Juyi, Po Chü-i 白居易 (Haku Kyoi はく きょい)
(772–846) Po Chu-i


. Du Fu, Tu-Fu 杜甫 (To Ho と ほ).
(712 - 770)


. Hanshan and Shide 寒山拾得 Kanzan and Jittoku .


Huang Tingjiang 黄庭堅 (Koo Teiken こう ていけん)
(1045–1105)


. Li Bo, Li Po, Li Bai 李白 (Ri Haku （り はく) .
(701 - 762)


. Mozi (Mo-Tzu), Mo Di 墨子 (Bokushi) .
(460- 380 BC ?)


Su Shi 蘇軾 (So Shoku そ しょく)
Su Dongpo, Su Dungpo 蘇東坡 (So Toba そ とうば)
Dongpo Jushi (東坡居士)
（1036―1101）
. . . a Chinese writer, poet, painter, calligrapher, pharmacologist, gastronome, and a statesman of the Song Dynasty (960–1279).
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !


. Chinese learning 漢学　kangaku
study of the Chinese classics .


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. Confucius 孔子 Kooshi, Koshi .
Koofuushi 孔夫子, Kung Tzu, Kung Fu Tzu, Kung Fu Zi, Kǒng fū zǐ.
also called
Sekiten 釈奠 or Sekisai 釈菜

Confucius and kigo


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ーーーーー　Chinese Poetry Anthologies available at the time of Basho

Gu wen zhen bao 古文真宝 True treasures of ancient literature

Kinshû dan　錦　繍段 Collection of Brocade Pieces

Lian zhu shi ge 聯珠詩格 Strings of pearls:
A classified selection from Tang and Song poets.

San ti shi 三体詩 Poems of three forms

Shiren yu xie 詩人玉屑 Gemlike words of poets

Yuan ji huo fa shixue quanshu 圓機活法詩學全書
Practical knacks and workable methods: An encyclopedia of poetics


Shiren yu xie:
Under the title “Dwelling in Retirement,” for instance, the book cites Tao Qian as an example under “Historical Facts” and provides 168 couplets by poets from different periods; some of them directly mention the names of Ruan Ji, Ji Kang, and Tao Qian.

The entry also gives twenty-six “Related Images and Motives,” such as “composing a poem,” “study surrounded by bamboos,” “bamboo groves,” “thatched hut,” “sitting in tranquility,” “lonely and tranquil,” “remote place,” “playing the zither,” “purity and loftiness,” and “drinking wine.”

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



The Influence of Chinese Literature on Basho
source : Bill Wyatt - - -


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Many Japanese festivals have their roots in Chinese festivals too.

Festivals on days with a double prime number

First day of the first lunar month
. New Year 正月 shoogatsu .

Third day of the third lunar month
. Hina Doll Festival 雛祭り hina matsuri .

Fifth day of the fifth lunar month
. Boys' Festival 端午節句 tango no sekku .

Seventh day of the seventh lunar month
. Star Festival 七夕 Tanabata .

Ninth day of the ninth lunar month
. Chrysanthemum Festival 重陽 chooyoo .
chooyoo 重陽 (ちょうよう) "double prime number nine"
..... chookyuu 重九（ちょうきゅう）"double nine"
Double Nine Day



According to Chinese customs,
the first six days of January were dedicated to animals and the last day of the week to man.
January 7 : 7日を人の日 day of man (jinjitsu 人日)
. five seasonal festivals 五節句 gosekku .

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Buddhist festivals can be traced back to various roots in Asia.

. Saijiki for Buddhist Festivals .

The various kigo will not be listed here.

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. Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 and Chinese roots .



I will try and collect kigo with a Chinese influence here.
under construction

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source :　mariko789.exblog.jp


春節の赤あざやかに中華街
shunsetsu no aka azayaka ni chuukagai

the bright red
of the spring festival -
Chinatown

Nagareboshi 流星

shunsetsu refers to the Chinese New Year celebrations.
春節 ＝ 中国正月


. Shunsetsu-sai 春節祭　Spring Festival .
Celebrated in Chinatown, Kobe.


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Kigo related to the Asian lunar calendar

72 seasons, seasonal points
shichijuuni koo, shichinuniko 七十二候（しちじゅうにこう）
Shichijūni kō

. Asian calendar-related kigo .


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春山は淡治にして笑うが如く、
夏山蒼翠（そうすい）にして滴（したた）るが如く、
秋山明浄（めいじょう）にして粧（よそお）うが如く、
冬山惨淡（さんたん）にして眠るが如し

The mist around the mountains is not the same at the four seasons.

The mountains in spring are light and seductive as if smiling:
the mountains in summer have a blue-green colour
which seems to be spread over them;
the mountains in autumn are bright and tidy as if freshly painted;
the mountains in winter are sad and tranquil as if sleeping.

. WKD : Mountains alive in all seasons .

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kigo (and some keywords) with Chinese roots


. Banana leaf 芭蕉葉 bashooba .
Zhang Hengqu (1020-1077) and Huaisu (725-785)


. Beard 髭 hige .
Du Fu 杜甫


. biwa 琵琶 Biwa lute . and Biwakoo琵琶行 Biwako

. Butterfly　蝶々 choochoo .
and the Chinese sage Chunag-Tsu (Chunag Tzu, Zhuangzi).
Sooshi 荘子 Soshi



. Carp 鯉 koi .
carp streamers 鯉幟 koi nobori

. Cherry Blossoms 桜　sakura .

. Cotton Bow 綿弓 watayumi, wata yumi .

. Crane 鶴 tsuru .


. Dragon, climbing to heaven 龍天に登る ryuu ten ni noboru .
and more Dragon Haiku

. Draining the riece paddies 水落す mizu otosu .


. Firework display 花火 hanabi .

Frog and Cicada 蛙鸣蝉噪 wa ming chan zao

. Frost, frost on the grass 草の霜 kusa no shimo .

. Fujisan, Fuji san 　富士山　Mount Fuji .


. Gourd 瓢箪 hyootan .


. Kite 鳶 tombi .
and Liezi "riding the wind"


. Medicine and ritual ricewine 屠蘇 toso .
yakuzen, yaku-zen 薬膳 "Eating Medicine"

. Millipede 蜈蚣 . 百足虫 mukade .

. Mole 偃鼠 enso, mogura .

. Moon 月 tsuki .

. Mulberry 椹 kuwa no mi .


. Paulownia, one leaf 桐一葉 kiri hitoha .

. Peony 牡丹 botan .
princess Yoki-Hi 楊貴妃 Yang Guifei

. pigweed 藜 / アカザ akaza .
and the cane for long life, akaza no tsue 藜の杖

. Plum blossom 梅 ume .



. Rosei 廬生 Lu Sheng (713 - 741) and his dream .

. Rose of Sharon 木槿 mukuge .


. Swing 鞦韆 秋韆 buranko .
yusahari　ゆさはり、hanzengi　半仙戯



. Tofu, bean curd 豆腐 toofu, dofu .


. Warriours of old 強者 tsuwamono .
and the ruins of Hiraizumi

. Waterfall　滝 taki .
Basho remembering 酒仙人李白

. Willow tree 柳 yanagi .

. Wind - kaze no oto 風の音 the sound of wind .


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Topics for Haiku

. Temple Manpukuji 万福寺、Uji, Kyoto .
and
fucha ryori　普茶料理 the Chinese-style Buddhist vegetarian cuisine



The Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove
The Seven Worthies of the Bamboo Grove
. Takeyabu　竹薮 bamboo grove .



. Sakazuki 盃 small cup for ricewine .
and
koyoi no tsuki 今宵の月 the moon tonight


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Confucian principles, the five virtues , Five Constants
wuchang 五常の徳 Die fünf Tugenden

ren 仁 jin - Humaneness, Menschlichkeit
yi 義 gi - Righteousness, Gerechtigkeit
li 礼 /禮 rei - Propriety or Etiquette, Ethisches Verhalten
zhi 智 chi - wisdom, Weisheit
xin 信 shin - faithfulness, Integrity, Güte
- - - - - and the four virtues:
Zhong 忠, Loyalty
Xiao 孝, Filial piety
Jie 節, Continency
Yi 義, Righteousness.


. How Western translations
distort China's reality .


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Related words

. Japanese Kigo 季語 .

. Seasons and Categories . Haiku

. History of Japanese Saijiki 歳時記 .



. Matsuo Basho - Archives of the WKD .

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History of Saijiki

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History of Japanese Saijiki

The origines come from the Chinese chronicles of regional yearly events, called Fuudoki 風土記 in Japanese. These local records of regional specialities started to be writtin in Japan in 713, with the "Almanac from Izumo, Izumo Fudoki　出雲風土記" being one of the oldest.

Saijiki 歳時記　means
saiji no kiroku 歳時の記録 "almanac about things going on in one year",
almanach about the four seasons.
The KI　記 in saijiki is not the same as the KI 季 in kigo, season word.


(The sound of KI does have quite a lot of different meanings in Japanese, all expressed with different Chinese characters. 木　a tree. 　気　life energy. 　忌 memorial day and so on. )


hon-i 本意 - "the real meaning" (honto no imi 本当の意味)
poetic essence, “essential implications”
“genuine purports” （Kawamoto)

The cultural context establishes this "true meaning" of a kigo within Japanese poetry. The WKD tries to add as much of this cultural context as possible.
(Please bear in mind that I am only one person with limited time . . .).

When adding new season words of other parts of the world, I try to explain its cultural context as best as I can with my haiku friends from the region.
A great thank you again to all who contributed.





Chinese Saijiki 中国歳時記

Keiso Saijiki 荊楚歳時記
written in China in the 6th or 7th century.
Since China was a rather large place even at that time, the author wrote about the customs, festivals, food and other specialities of his area, Keiso. It is a valuable chronicle of anthropology rather than poetry.


In the Nara period, this was introduced to Japan and a
Japanese Saijiki 日本歳時記 was then compiled under the supervision of Kaibara Ekiken 貝原益軒 and his nephew Kooko 好古.

Kaibara Ekken (Ekiken) (1630 - 1714)
Chinese Poetry for Beginners
Shinju heikō aimotorazaru ron - Treatise on the Non-Divergence of Shinto and Confucianism
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !


The influence of botanical studies for medicinal purposes increased the interest in nature.



honzoogaku 本草学 medicinal botany


. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Other early almanacs are

花火草 Hanabigusa
by Nonoguchi Ryuuho 野々口立圃 Nonoguchi Ryuho［1595～1669］
(He is often called "the father of haiga")



斎藤徳元『俳諧初学抄』 Haikai Shogakushoo
"Instructions for haikai beginners"
by Saitoo Tokugen , ［1559～1647］ comp. 1641
including 770 season words


話草　Hanashigusa comp. 1636
about 590 seasonal words
毛吹草 Kefukigusa, "Blownfur grass" comp. 1645
about 950 seasonal words for haikai and
550 seasonal words for renga
by Matsue Shigeyori 松江重頼 ［1602 - 1680］

- maybe the same with a different Chinese character

嚔草（はなひぐさ, はなひ草）Hanahigusa "Sneeze Grass" (comp. 1636)
Matsue Shigenori (1602 - 1680). almost 600 kigo.
(hanahirigusa 嚔草 / ハナヒリグサ Centipeda minima, 吐金草 tokinsoo)



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北村季吟『山之井』 Yama no I
by Kitamura Kigin ［1624 -1705］comp. 1647-8
It contained 1300 kigo.
............... later republished as
Zoo yama no i "Expanded Mountain Well "Yama no I" 1667
- Text samples from Waseda University :
source : www.wul.waseda.ac.jp


Kigin was the teacher of Matsuo Basho.
. Kitamura Kigin Memorial Day
Kigin Ki 季吟忌 (きぎんき)



and Zoku Yama no I 続山の井, 7 volumes
edited by Kitamura Kojun 北村湖春, published in 寛文7年刊. It included hokku from 36 poets from Iga Ueno and 28 poems by Matsuo Basho 宗房（のちの芭蕉）.

Kojun was the son of Kigin.
(1650 - 1697)
His haikai name was Kijun 季順 "the order of season words", as they are used in renku writing.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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Binsenshuu comp. 1669
including 2000 seasonal words.
「口真似(くちまね)草」「鸚鵡(おうむ)集」「捨子集」

Ruisenshuu 類船集 comp. 1677
including 7 volumes, 俳諧辞書 Haikai Dictionary
From the Teimon school of Haikai
source :　www.wul.waseda.ac.jp
Takase Baisei 高瀬梅盛 ?(1619 - 1702) ?(1611-1699)


quote
With the dramatic growth of haikai in the seventeenth century, the number of new seasonal words grew rapidly.
- snip - ... while the number of seasonal words grew at an astounding pace, the number of seasonal topics remained relatively limited.
source : Haruo Shirane
Japan and the Culture of the Four Seasons:
Nature, Literature, and the Arts

seasonal words - read kigo
seasonal topics - read kidai


tatedai 縦題 -　竪題　"vertical dai"
classical season words like plum, cherry, hototogisu, autumn leaves, used in waka and renku poetry.

yokodai 横題 "horizontal dai"
mostly new dai concerning the human beings, like manzai, yabu-iri, kotatsu . . .
A term used for haikai poetry.

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

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These books have most probably been used as guides for writing linked verse, renga, at their time.


In 1803 the first Haikai Saijiki Shiorigusa (Kanzoo) 俳諧歳時記栞草 was compiled by Takizawa Bakin, with about 2600 seasonal themes and topics (kidai) and 3300 kigo.
滝沢馬琴 (1767-1848) Takizawa Bakin :
other names : 曲亭 馬琴 Kyokutei Bakin, 澤興邦 Takizawa Okikuni


In 1933, the first four seasonal volumes of the modern Haikai Saijiki were published.

Katoo Ikuya 加藤郁乎
Edo haikai saijiki (1983) 江戸俳諧歳時記






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For a modern haiku poet, a small saijiki to carry around during the haiku walk, ginkoo, is an essential.
And the Nihon DAI saijiki 大歳時記, the big saijiki, is a constant companion on the study desk.
カラー図説 日本大歳時記

It contains many local kigo from all the regions of Japan.

online 日本大歳時記
ISBN4-06-128646-3






季語と歳時記 (Kigosai)
長谷川櫂, Kigo to Saijiki no Kai. Online Saijiki
and a Korean Saijiki 韓国歳時記
Hasegawa Kai


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

- not a saijiki but
ひとたばの手紙から―戦火を見つめた俳人たち hitotaba no tegami kara
宇多 喜代子 Uda Kiyoko




ザ・俳句十万人歳時記 春
Saijiki written by 10.0000 people - SPRING

宇多喜代子 (監修) Uda Kiyoko
松田ひろむ (編集) Matsuda Hiromu
有馬朗人, 廣瀬直人, 金子兜太
with Arima Akito, Hirose Naoto and Kaneko Tohta

Versions for the other seasons are available.


The New Year

These books include 18.0000 haiku over 400 years.

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We have local saijiki of various regions of Japan



Furusato Dai Saijiki ふるさと大歳時記
角川版. Regional Saijiki
8 volumes in A4-size, richly illustrated, from Hokkaido to Okinawa
Editors : Yamaguchi Seison, Takaha Shugyo et al.
Published in Heisei 4 (1992)


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. "Local kigo" (chibo kigo, chiboo kigo 地貌季語)
語りかける季語ゆるやかな日本
Katarikakeru kigo
yuruyaka na nihon
by Miyasaka Shizuo 宮坂静生
Published in 2006



Satoyama Saijiki
by Uda Kiyoko
里山歳時記 . 宇多喜代子
(Published in 2004)


WKD : SATOYAMA
The Traditional Rural Landscape of Japan



. Edo Saijiki　江戸歳時記 - The Four Seasons in Edo .


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Haiku Publications in the Edo Period

江戸俳諧歳資料館



編者は、京の僧蝶夢
Edited by the Monk Chomu.




編：蕪村、序：千代尼、跋：田女
Edited by Buson, with contributions by Chiyo-Ni and Denjo


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quote from Simply Haiku

Kaneko Tôta:
"Takahama Kyoshi said kigo must be a rule,
Bashô wrote seasonless poems.
Before Kyoshi kigo was only a promise not a rule."

That kigo before Kyoshi was not a rule but a “promise“ is a statement of Tôta Kaneko similarly, in various places and texts. If you look at the history of haikai literature, it will become clear. There were no authorized “rulebooks” in Bashô's time and only a few compilations of keywords; in fact, there was only a single case of a limited season-keyword compilation, from the unique haikai poet Kitamura Kigin (b. 1625-1705) of the Teimon school.

Bashô himself recommended a different haikai “rulebook” to his disciples, the Haikai mugonshô [Haikai book without words] published in 1676, which presented the techniques and philosophy of haikai, rather than being a dictionary of keywords.

And Bashô included haiku without kigo in his haiku philosophy. Even the founder of modern haiku, Masaoka Shiki (b. 1867-1902) accepted haiku without kigo and wrote such haiku himself. Shiki’s treatment of non-kigo haiku follows the example of Bashô, and other haiku poets of the Edo period. In the last years of Shiki’s life Kyoshi, one of his main disciples, became de facto chief editor of Hototogisu.
©　Itô Yûki / Simply Haiku Summer 2008


Haikai Glossary
俳諧無言抄 Haikai Mugon Sho

promise, yakusokugoto 約束事

WKD : Kitamura Kigin 　北村季吟



haikai sho　俳諧書　"Haikai Books"
- 俳諧七部集大鏡
- Haikai Na no Shiori, Haikai Na Shiori 誹諧名知折 Guide to Haikai Names
Haikai Guide to Names, 1780
by Kitao Shigemasa, 1739–1820



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List of Season Words
Kiyose 季寄せ





Haiku Appreciation Almanach
Haiku Kansho Saijiki 鑑賞歳時記
kanshoo kanshou / kanshô



Edo no Saijiki 江戸の歳時記
source : wheatbaku.exblog.jp


. 信州歳時記 online
Shinano Mainichi Shinbun　
A collection of local festivals, ceremonies and specialities.

Boosai Saijiki of Disasters and Catastrophies
防災歳時記


Here are some more Saijiki from AMAZON.COM, they have a
list of more than 1500 saijiki books:

男の俳句、女の俳句 For Men and Women
色好み江戸の歳時記 Love and Colors of Edo
酒場歳時記 Places to Drink

フランス歳時記―生活風景12か月 French Saijiki
ヨーロッパ歳時記 Europe
旅の歳時記 (春) Travelling in the Seasons


料理歳時記 Food
食のことわざ歳時記―伝承の食生活の知恵120 Food and Proverbs
旬菜歳時記 Fresh Vegetables of the Season


うたの歳時記 (1) Songs (many volumes)きもの歳時記 (242) Kimono

俳句の鳥・虫図鑑―季語になる折々の鳥と虫204種 Birds and insects
唐詩歳時記 Chinese Poetry

里山歳時記 田んぼのまわりで Local Mountains and Fields, Village Saijiki
北国俳句歳時記 Hokkaido
山の歳時記 (1) Mountains
鉄道歳時記 (1) Railway
お天気歳時記― Weather
ことばの歳時記 Words

勘九郎ひとりがたり―中村屋歳時記 Kabuki and Kankuro Nakamura
歌舞伎歳時記 Kabuki
..... WKD : Kabuki Saijiki
オペラ歳時記 Opera
江戸風俗 東都歳時記を読む Customs of Old Edo
江戸たべもの歳時記 Food of Old Edo
京都歳時記 Kyoto

おむすびの祈り―「いのち」と「癒し」の歳時記 Prayers and Healing
宗教歳時記 Religion and Saijiki
昭和歳時記 The Showa Period Saijiki
元禄歳時記 The Genroku Period Saijiki

There are many many many more here:
http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/489986/250-5295438-8170633
Input 歳時記。

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Tooto Saijiki 東都歳事記　Saijiki of the Eastern Capital
5 volumes 5冊 　- 1838
All about the customs of Edo - Toto Saijiki

Read the full text here:
source : www2.kokugakuin.ac.jp


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kigo 季語（きご）

a word that represents the season in haikai and renga poetry.
KI means season
GO means word

In olden times, these words were simply called
ki 季, season or
ki no kotoba 季の詞（ことば）word of the season or
shiki no kotoba 四季の詞 word of the four seasons

The meaning is almost similar to kidai 季題, a seasonal theme, which comprises various kigo, season words.

The utamakura 歌枕（うたまくら） "poetic words" of the Heian period were already divided into the 12 months.

In the renga book of 1672 連歌至宝抄 (renga shihooshoo) by Satomura Joha (Jooha) 里村紹巴（じょうは）there were 270 kigo mentioned.

Since the Edo period, the number of kigo has grown rapidly and kiyose and saijiki have been compiled, see above.

Modern saijiki contain more than 4000 kidai and more than 9000 kigo.

The ONLINE Nyūmon Saijiki of the University of Virginia Library includes approximately 800 kidai, or headwords, and 2,100 kigo, or subtopics.
The Japanese text is intended for the Japanese readers. The English is a translation.


utamakura 歌枕 poetry pillow words" utamakura　
Placenames used in Haiku


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JAPAN AND THE CULTURE OF THE FOUR SEASONS:
Nature, Literature and the Arts
Haruo Shirane

By the eighth century, "a larger grammar of seasonal poetry" began to emerge, according to which emotions were not expressed directly, but implied through seasonal references instead.
This required a sophisticated understanding of their usage and became what we think of now as Japan's traditional poetic art.
..... The cycle of the seasons represented there "is not a reflection of the natural environment," the book explains, but part of a developing aesthetic.
..... Shirane makes an important distinction between "primary" and "secondary" nature, the latter referring not to the forests, rivers and mountains given so much attention in the writings of conservationists, but to the representation of nature in the arts.

Read the full article HERE
. WKD : CULTURE OF THE FOUR SEASONS .
quote book review by David Burleigh

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Time in Saijiki

In the traditional lunar calendar,

spring was from the first month through the third month,
summer from the fourth month through the sixth,
autumn from the seventh month through the ninth, and
winter from the tenth month through the twelfth.

Even after 1873, new saijiki were edited one after another.
The saijiki of the new era, however, could not just attach the season words to similar dates of the solar calendar, so that, for example, an observance of the ninth day of the ninth month (old style) would be attached to 9 September (new style). Events and customs that were firmly bound tothe old calendar still remained throughout the country.

Read more :

. Time in Saijiki - - - by Hasegawa Kai


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A type of book derived from haiku and kyooka　狂歌 Kyoka, comic "crazy verses"



Kibyooshi Kibyōshi 黄表紙 "Yellow Cover Books"
is a genre of Japanese picture book kusazōshi (草双紙) produced during the middle of the Edo period, from 1775 to the early 19th century. Physically identifiable by their yellow-backed covers, kibyōshi were typically printed in 10 page volumes, many spanning two to three volumes in length, with the average number of total pages being 30. Considered to be the first purely adult comicbook in Japanese literature, a large picture spans each page, with descriptive prose and dialogue filling the blank spaces in the image.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !


. WKD : Books of the Edo Period .


. seihonshi 製本師　bookbinder .

*****************************
Reference

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


Izumo Fudoki (Izumo Fuudoki 出雲風土記) Records of Ancient Izumo


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New Year Collection


. Kidai and Kigo　季題と季語


. WKD : The use of kigo in worldwide haiku


. WKD : the COMPLETE SAIJIKI LIST



. WASHOKU ... Japanese Food Saijiki



. Chinese origin of Japanese kigo .


Kigo used by
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .

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

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General Information

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General Information

! WKD ... Read this first !

　Seasons and Categories for haiku

The use of kigo in worldwide haiku

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THE FIVE HUNDRED ESSENTIAL
JAPANESE SEASON WORDS
Bill Higginson
http://renku.home.att.net/500ESWd.html

For haiku composition, on a superficial level whether a season word refers to early, middle, or late in a given season--or to the whole season--means little; presumably a single haiku reflects the events and emotional values of a particular time. But as we connect more and more with the depths of the haiku tradition, we begin to understand that a great haiku makes use of seasonal themes in a deeper way.

Each of the more important seasonal themes has a long history of not just physical associations, but emotional tone as well. The more skilled the haiku poet, the more the poem works with or plays against these associations.

A good haikai saijiki (almanac of seasonal topics and season words used in haiku and linked-poetry composition) explains these traditional associations. For the haiku poet, this list simply represents those few seasonal topics that have deeply engaged Japanese poets for centuries, and, in some cases, for a millennium or more.

Such a list can also help poets to know what to look for when they want to write a seasonal poem. In a saijiki, the systematic seasonal ordering of topics serves mainly to collect related phenomena together, and to arrange finished poems in a rational and aesthetically pleasing order.

The seasons of traditional Japanese poetry are not the same as our common notion of each season today. Rather, as in earlier times in Europe, each season centers on its solstice or equinox. We know that the European view used to accord with the Japanese tradition because even in English today "midsummer" and "midwinter" refer to times near the solstices of their respective seasons. (The same is true of "Mittsommer" in German and its cognates in other Germanic languages; the Feast of Saint John [le Saint-Jean in French, il San Giovanni in Italian, 26 June] is understood as comparable to Midsummer's Day in England.)

If we abandon the traditional view and insist on understanding "spring" as running from the spring equinox to the summer solstice, one-third to one-half the items in the traditional seasonal arrangement will be out of place. Since the progress of a renku normally involves not only the seasons, but movement within the seasons, I believe renku poets will be best served if we adhere to the traditional arrangement, which will keep our renku in accord with all the linked poems of hundreds of years past as well as others being written today.

Bill Higginson
http://renku.home.att.net/500ESWd.html
(Posted with permission)

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Comments of members of the WHCworldkigo Discussion Forum
on an article about KIGO in the Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kigo


By Michael Baribeau

There is much debate as to what is haiku, most of which is due to the divergent Western style from the Japanese style and the confusion of which style is being defined. Except for a few exceptions (muki), JAPANESE haiku have kigo. The Japanese culture has a much greater affinity and emphasis on the seasons than the West does. When the West adopted haiku, their
interpretation of Japanese translated haiku was that they were about nature in general instead of about seasons in specific.

Being that many Japanese kigo are too subtle by Western standards, Western readings of JAPANESE haiku usually missed the seasonal association. So WESTERN haiku are free form in that they don't require kigo and although the WESTERN haiku were once required to be about nature instead (which often had kigo incidentally) they don't anymore and now the focus is placed on the topics being chaste.

However, if you intend to use a definition that WESTERN haiku require a kigo then may I suggest labeling the haiku a style of haiku such as neo-classical haiku. I wouldn't recommend the terms classical or traditional which might also suggest the 5-7-5 form. Although Western haiku originally had a syllabic form of 5-7-5 most are now written in free verse.

The article speaks that kigo are culture/region specific and uses pumpkins for an example but than goes to describe Japanese seasons in detail. I don't sense a clear distinction between Japanese and other region's kigo.

In the West the 'harvest' moon or 'autumn' moon is an autumn kigo but not the moon in general, while depending on adjectives and phrasing it is actually a kigo used in all four seasons by the Japanese.

Although the article is very informative and clear for the most part, I would like to see it clarify when it is speaking of Japanese kigo or some other region's.

Michael Baribeau

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"Kigo - go or no go"

by Dennis Holmes

I was a student of the late Fujita Akegarasu (1934 - 2004).
Akegarasu sensei believed kigo is essential to the art of haiku. Kigo to the Japanese writer of haiku is part of the foundation of the poem. From my (non-Japanese studying Japanese haiku) view, what this means is a melding of feeling using the kigo as an anchor.

I am not sure if "anchor" is the right word, perhaps, "catalyst" is better, in that, kigo, does not itself change, but, rather acts to help the reader feel the depth of the verse. That is, the "heart" of the haiku. As has been mentioned earlier in previous discussions on haiku being from the beginning of a "renga" sequence, then, more stand-alone as Shiki sensei believed, it became haiku from the hokku. The hokku gives a strong hint as to what haiku should be.

Hokku was the "greeting" to get the linked verse started. In this, hokku set the framework, season and setting for the group to continue. These aspects were retained in what became haiku. In fact, if you take the hokku by itself, you essentially have haiku.
This is still very valid in haiku of Japan today. If you want to confirm that assessment, just look at any collection of haiku from the proliferation of haiku circles (haiku writer groups) in Japan today. I would like to see the rest of the world adhere as closely as possible to this Japanese spirit when writing poems that represent the haiku art.

Retain both kigo and kireji in spirit and practice as essential components of any haiku. The techniques I currently feel sound are: developing a world seijiki; and using equivalent punctuation for the Japanese kireji. Also, there are many more reusable components such as kakekotoba (word play) that may cross the translation bridge between English and Japanese.

As with any literary congress between two diverse cultures... something will inevitably be lost in translation, but, the essential spirit of the haiku art supported by "ARTifacts" such as kigo and kireji (to mention just two) will limit that loss to a minimum, I do so hope.

"chibi" (pen-name for Dennis M. Holmes)

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By Carlos Fleitas

I read the Wilkipedia article and i liked it, especially when it raised the issue: Must haiku include a kigo? In my view that question leads to a more general one, at least if one observes what is going on today, particularly in the international internet haiku community: This question could be What is haiku?

This shouldn't be so suprising to us. In the 20th. century in the West due to the amazing revolution in the arts, the question was: What is Art? All the aesthetics, technical and traditional rules were just tossed away. Let's take for example music. Beginning with Schoenberg, Berg, Von Webern, Varese, later with Pierre Schaffer, John Cage, Ligetti etc. Many musicians, even now, think that modern and contemporary music is not "music" at all. Some go a little bit furhter saying that they are just "noises".

But this has happened age after age in music. Bach's early pieces where sometimes doomed because they accused him of introducing "shocking variations (viele wunderliche Variationen) and strange notes (viele fremde Tone)", in the church hymns (Malcolm Boyd) and finally he lost his job! (Arnstad period). Music of the Middle Ages, which is so extraordinarily rich, went through periods of intense confrontation. "Romantics" where suspicious of "destroying" the meaning and quality of music. Therefore, in the entire history of arts debate of opposing argument was normal, and often very passionate.

At some point, elder generations thought popular music such as rock was not music and that it was just "noise". Therefore we have two sets of opinions: traditional and contemporary in music and art in general.

Back to haiku. Let me point out some ideas. Some are obvious, but that helps me express my thoughts.

1) Haiku was born in Japan.

2) Ancient or traditional or classical haiku (Basho, Issa, Buson) was a fixed form that included kigo and kireji, except for some few exceptions.

3) As time went by, frontiers were pushed, for example by Santoka, Ogiwara Seisensui, Ozaki Hosai, Nakatsuka Ippekiro and many others. Even metaphor was widely used in classic (Haruo Shirane) and "free haiku" in Japan .

4) Shiki restored haiku to it's origins as you well know. He kept kigo and 5.7.5 and also freshend it up. He gave new life to it.

Bottom line:
From its Japanese origins, haiku has gone a long way and some haijin write a totally different kind of haiku compared with the classical or neo-classical ones. I.e. with no kigo, no 5.7.5. They also explore new subjects unknown to classic haiku

5) Haiku was introduced to the West.

6) In the West something very similar happened, although some Spanish and LAm haijin started directly writing a very diferent kind of haiku. Even religious nuns and monks wrote what they called "religious haiku" (Ty Hadman) The first haiku written in Spanish was by Tablada. This great poet surprisingly called them haikai. It was because he felt they where closeer to the "spirit of haikai" (he meant some humorous detail in the poems), but they where as Octavio Paz stated haiku in themselves.

Other great Latin American writers such as Borges wrote haiku which he identified as such, with no kigo but for few exceptions (i recall one), or kireji, although he mantained the 5.7.5 syllable issue. And other writers did this also. But it is true that they did not consider themselves as haijin, i mean, they wrote haiku as an exception.

7) If we observe what is going on in the Haiku International Community nowadays, there are haijin who write neo-classical haiku, and think that not keeping to the 'rules' makes a composition unworthy of being called haiku.

8) On the other side, there are haijin who claim they are writing true haiku, but do not use kigo or any fixed form at all.

9) Things are going so far that we nowadays can read "urban haiku" and even "sci-fi haiku". No kigo at all, no 5-7-5. And sci-fi haiku!!! This influence has come from the USA as far as i know.

10) So now in the West we have the same division of opinions - traditional and contemporary.

My opinion these days is that both of them are right. It is just that they are different styles of haiku. My main concern is trying to express rationally what is the essence of haiku, the so called "spirit of haiku" that is present in neo-classical, free, urban, sci-fi, vanguard haiku, and others to come. Haiku today is a polysemic term, it has multiple meanings.

This sort of "crisis" from my point of view is healthy, because it fosters diversity.I do not know what Japanese haijin think of Western haiku, but sometimes i have found that Western haijin are more "japanese" than Japan's haijin. There is an extraordinary article by Serge Tome (Belgian editor and haijin) who compares contemporary japanese haiku with western haiku. One issue is the use of the personal pronoun "I" in haiku. In the West, the great majority of haijin have banned it, (at first i did also) and if you submit a haiku with it, they decline to consider it a haiku. Maybe this comes from the influence of zen in the West, particularly in the States, but this is a guess.

In his article Tome finds out that in Japan nowadays the use of "I" in a haiku is not banned at all if i remember well.

The difference between Western Haiku is cultural, not a poetic or a literary one. (See below paragraphs of Haruo's Shirane.)

Maybe we should call it "Western haiku" instead of haiku in this part of the world. I think this would be more accurate.
Spanish and LAm haijin are getting used to calling their work: "haiku written in spanish" to emphazise the cultural environment where it began.
I do remember Kerouac fostering what he called "American haiku".

Bottom line:
I think we should face the questions: Must haiku include a kigo? What is haiku? with an open-mind reminding ourthelves that haiku has an extraordinary reach in the world today. The diversity of haiku now is something that enriches it and maybe a new idea is wating to be born in haiku. Also i think we should keep close to what is happennig at the present time. I mean, a new kind of haiku, that may be developing throughout the world, even sci-fi haiku. Maybe we are living in an age of transition. I can't tell, but it would not be impossible if we look to history.

Here are several magnificent paragraphs excerpted from a paper by Haruo Shirane :
"Beyond the haiku moment" but although it focus on the USA, i think it could be applied to all international haiku communities.
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I was once told that Ezra Pound's famous metro poem first published in 1913, was not haiku.

The apparition of these faces in the crowd: Petals on a wet, black bough .

If I remember correctly, the reason for disqualification was that the metro poem was not about nature as we know it and that the poem was fictional or imaginary. Pound's poem may also have been ruled out since it uses an obvious metaphor: the petals are a metaphor for the apparition of the faces, or vice versa. This view of the metro poem was based on the three key definitions of haiku - haiku is about direct observation, haiku eschews metaphor, and haiku is about nature - which poets such as Basho and Buson would have seriously disputed."

"One of the widespread beliefs in North America is that haiku should be based upon one's own direct experience, that it must derive from one's own observations, particularly of nature. But it is important to remember that this is basically a modern view of haiku, the result, in part, of nineteenth century European realism, which had an impact on modern Japanese haiku and then was re-imported back to the West as something very Japanese. Basho, who wrote in the seventeenth century, would have not made such a distinction between direct personal experience and the imaginary, nor would he have placed higher value on fact over fiction."

"In short, while haiku in English is inspired by Japanese haiku, it can not and should not try to duplicate the rules of Japanese haiku because of significant differences in language, culture and history. A definition of Engish-language haiku will thus, by nature, differ from that of Japanese haiku. If pressed to give a definition of English-language haiku that would encompass the points that I have made here, I would say, echoing the spirit of Basho's own poetry, that haiku in English is a short poem, usually written in one to three lines, that seeks out new and revealing perspectives on the human and physical condition, focusing on the immediate physical world around us, particularly that of nature, and on the workings of the human imagination, memory, literature and history. There are already a number of fine North American haiku poets working within this frame so this definition is intended both to encourage an existing trend and to affirm new space that goes beyond existing definitions of haiku."

"One consequence of a narrower definition of haiku is that English-language anthologies of haiku are overwhelmingly set in country or natural settings even though ninety percent of the haiku poets actually live in urban environments. To exaggerate the situation, North American haiku poets are given the alternative of either writing serious poetry on nature (defined as haiku) or of writing humorous poetry on non-nature topics (defined as senryu). This would seem to discourage haiku poets from writing serious poetry on the immediate urban environment or broader social issues. Topics such as subways, commuter driving, movie theaters, shopping malls, etc., while falling outside of the traditional notion of nature, in fact provide some of the richest sources for modern haiku, as much recent English-language haiku has revealed, and should be considered part of nature in the broadest sense."

"However, if haiku is to rise to the level of serious poetry, literature that is widely respected and admired, that is taught and studied, commentated on, that can have impact on other non-haiku poets, then it must have a complexity that gives it depth and that allows it to both focus on and rise above the specific moment or time. Basho, Buson and other masters achieved this through various forms of textual density, including metaphor, allegory, symbolism and allusion, as well as through the constant search for new topics. For North American poets, for whom the seasonal word cannot function in the fashion that it did for these Japanese masters, this becomes a more pressing issue, with the need to explore not only metaphorical and symbolic possibilities but new areas - such as history, urban life, social ills, death and war, cyberspace, Haiku need not and should not be confined to a narrow definition of nature poetry, particularly since the ground rules are completely different from those in Japan."

In Basho's day, haikai was two things:
1) performance and social act, and
2) literary text.

As a social act, as an elegant form of conversation, haikai had to be easily accessible; it had to be spontaneous; it had to perform social and religious functions. Thus, half of Basho's haiku were greetings, parting poems, poetic prayers. They served very specific functions and were anchored in a specific place and time, in a dialogic exchange with other individuals. For Basho, however, haikai was also a literary text that had to transcend time and place, and be understood by those who were not at the place of composition.

To achieve this goal, Basho repeatedly rewrote his poetry, made it fictional, gave it new settings, added layers of meaning, emphasized the vertical axis (linking it to history and other literary texts), so that the poem would have an impact beyond its original circumstances. One hopes that more North American haiku poets can take inspiration from this complex work."

Post Scriptum:
Two or three years ago, some haiku concerning Windows failures spread all over the Net. They were 5-7-5 and awesome!

Carlos Fleitas

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Chibi answers:

Dear Carlos san

Kigo is essential to the art of haiku. Also, I disagree with Shirane sensei, respectively. I have to take a strong stance in this because I see transfering the art form to another language can retain artifacts such as kigo and kireji. These are at least two essential components to retain haiku form, fit, and function. If there is divergence, then, I contend, the result is not haiku.

We should take advantage of the amount of direct communication that the internet allows. The internet is a tremendous connectivity tool and can afords us with a tigher (closer cultural proxsimity) understanding and association with teachers and practisioners of Japanese haiku. Given our modern technology, perhaps, this will facsilitate a deeper understanding. Regional kigo can be allowed and readily understood as we become aware of more of the world.

I fully support the idea of the "World Saijiki". Though, historically, as is my understanding, the saijiki was sanctified by a sensei or group.

Kireji, the cut, the pause, is essential to the form of haiku. I look at it as one of the touthstones. I also feel if you allow any errosion of this... you are not writing haiku.
I feel I am not skilled to explain deeper, but, the cut is very much Japanese and intrinsically "natural".

chibi

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CARLOS answering

Dear friend:

I appreciate your sincerity. Diversity of opinions from my point of view enrich us and make us feel we are an active part of this wonderful kigo project lead by our dear Gabi-san, and also as members of the worldwide haiku community.

There maybe a misunderstanding.

*) I just uploaded parts of Shirane's article because i thought it was a different, diverse approach to haiku and kigo issue that may interest gk, and also i wanted to share with all the members of this list.

*) I am not a Shirane's partisan, although i admire his work.

*) What i like most about Shirane's paper is that it "shook my ideas", but that is something concerning my personal style. The core of what i learned reading his paper is this: haiku is more subtle than i thoughr it was. And that encourages me to perfect, if i am able to, my haiku in the future.

*) I understand your point of view in fact i am a "neoclassical haijin (or at least i hope i am a haijin), therefore i foster the use of kigo and kireji. (Kireji is different in spanish haiku than in japanese haiku. We do not have the cutting syllable "ya", so we use another kind of caesura, mainly the natural pauses in language). I have written many essays in Spanish and English and they are full of my great concern and support for kigo in haiku.

*) I have been writting since a a sort of haibun, in Spanish for a couple of years in Spanish, titled Cuaderno de Haiku (Haiku Notebook). All the haiku there have kigo and kireji (as we use it in Spanish) My haiku in Spanish and the ones in English (except some few exception) also contain kigo and kireji. There are other reasons why i am very fond of kigo in haiku, but this would go beyond the limits of our subject.


*) I support strongly the idea that there are regional kigo, and that is why i joined WHCkigo.


*) Now i am open to explore new frontiers in haiku, such as vanguard haiku. Recently i wrote a mandala "haiku" and send it to WHCvanguard.
Maybe it is not haiku, i can not claim it is. If it is not, at least i think haiku has inspired it. Furthermore, nowadays i have changed my previous opinion and consider "urban haiku" which is evolving rapidly in Spain and LAm community, genuine haiku, although many of them do not have kigo. Some of them maybe are senryu, that is true also.

*) The issue whether this is or is not haiku, depends in my view, on what one considers haiku to be. I.e. if one considers that haiku has to have its essential axis on kigo and kireji. Of course everything that is out of the definition will not be considered haiku. I understand it. And i find it is not only a good point, but that everyone has the right to have his/her opinion, and no doubt yours is very well-founded. I was very impressed when you wrote:
"I see transfering the art form to another language can retain artifacts such as kigo and kireji."
It is a very strong and good point indeed.

I think Basho or Buson would not have considered sci-fi "haiku" as haiku at all.
Or the computer generated one's or many other similar "haiku" varieties. Yesterday i conducted a web search and i found strange kinds of "haiku" I had not time to read them all but there is a web dedicated to Harry Potter's "haiku" and Frida Kahlo "haiku"!!.
Amazing this Internet of ours!

*) I also think that all this diversity of opinions makes me feel we are alive and moving on, and exploring with passion, because passion in our case means enthusiasm, which is the major drive humans have to explore, and could help me produce better haiku, i think.

*) And last but not least, i think that haiku is a tiny yet powerful ambassador that extraordinarily, has made it possible for people from all over the world to come toghether and know each other. Personally it has enrichened my life very much. I also foster the idea that folks should communicate as much as possible, freely and without restrictions. And haiku makes it possible. I have made an enormous number of friends from all over the world, which pleases me very much.

I am proud and delighted to be a member of the worldwide haiku community, and of this WHCworldkigo project.

Carlos Fleitas

End of the Comments. May 6, 2005

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Further Reading

* Kigo Versus Seasonal Reference in Haiku:
Observations, Anecdotes and a Translation
... By Richard Gilbert (quoted from Simply Haiku, Autumn 2005)

* Kigo and Seasonal Reference, by Richard Gilbert March 2006

* The Importance of Season Words, by Kametaro Yagi

* Beyond Kigo, by Jim Kacian

* Season words, keywords, and others. by Ban'ya Natsuishi


The ideas presented in the further reading essays mentioned above do not all correspond to the promotion of kigo as pursued with this WKD database.

Seasons and Categories, used by the World Kigo Database


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Launching WHC worldkigo 2004


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



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China

[ . BACK to Worldkigo . TOP . ]
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- China and Haiku -

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Chen-ou Liu 劉鎮歐

translates haiku and tanka into Chinese!

NeverEnding Story, the first English-Chinese bilingual haiku and tanka blog,
is established to fulfill my butterfly dream portrayed in the haibun, entitled “To Liv(e),” which was published in Frogpond, 34:3, Fall 2011.

I hope it can bring the beauty of English language Japanese short form poetry to Chinese readers around the world.


黃磚路
嘶嘶
馬蹄聲

yellow brick road
a faint echo
of horses' hooves




朦朧曉月 . . .
一覺醒來背負
沈重的記憶

hazy day moon . . .
waking with the weight
of memory


. 劉鎮歐 - Never Ending Story .


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yang guang you duo liang
zai tian shan xiang yi da deng
bie ba ta fang zou

the sun shines so bright
in the sky like a huge lamp
don't let it go out

source : asterisk


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Related words

***** . WKD : Main Index .



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Hinoki Cypress

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Cypress, Japanese cypress (hinoki)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: See below
***** Category: Plant

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Explanation

Chamaecyparis obtusa
(Japanese cypress, hinoki cypress or hinoki; Japanese: 檜 or 桧, hinoki) is a species of cypress native to central Japan.

It is a slow-growing tree which grows to 35 m tall with a trunk up to 1 m in diameter. The bark is dark red-brown. The leaves are scale-like, 2-4 mm long, blunt tipped (obtuse), green above, and green below with a white stomatal band at the base of each scale-leaf. The cones are globose, 8-12 mm diameter, with 8-12 scales arranged in opposite pairs. The related Chamaecyparis pisifera (Sawara Cypress) can be readily distinguished in its having pointed tips to the leaves and smaller cones.



It is grown for its very high quality timber in Japan, where it is used as a material for building palaces, temples, shrines, traditional noh theatres, baths, table tennis blades and masu. The wood is lemon-scented, light pinkish-brown, with a rich, straight grain, and is highly rot-resistant.

For example, Horyuji Temple and Osaka Castle are built from Hinoki wood. The hinoki grown in Kiso, used for building Ise Shrine, are called 御神木 Go-Shin-boku "Tree where god stayed".
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !


. shinboku 神木, shinju　神樹　sacred tree .
go shinboku, goshinboku, go-shinboku 御神木　"honorable sacred tree"

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hinoki ochiba 檜落葉（ひのきおちば）
hinoki cyrpess needles falling

kigo for early summer

The leaves are scale-like, 2-4 mm long, blunt tipped (obtuse), green above, and green below with a white stomatal band at the base of each scale-leaf.
. WKD : falling leaves (ochiba) .

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asunaro hinoki アスナロ / 翌檜 Asunaro Hinoki ,
hinoki asunaro ヒノキアスナロ
rakanbaku 羅漢柏（らかんはく）
asuhi アスヒ
Thujopsis dolabrata, false cypress

Hiba, False arborvitae, Hiba arborvitae
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

"Tomorrow I will become" ... the false cypress prays every night to become a real cypress.
(asu wa hinoki ni naro)
Some people spend the whole day drinking sake and enjoying life, while wondering if tomorrow they will become "better".


asunaro already mentioned in the pillow book by Sei Shonagon 清少納言.

「何の心ありてあすはひのき（ 明日は桧）とつけけむ.



日は花に暮れてさびしやあすならう
hi wa hana ni kurete sabishi ya asunarō

with the sun darkening
on the blossoms, it is lonely -
a false cypress
Tr. Barnhill


The day is over with blossoms
And sad now, to see
The dark silouhette of asunaro-trees!
Tr. Oseko


After sunset with cherries in bloom -
In solitude
A hiba arborvitae.
Tr. Saito, Nelson


As the sun goes down
flowers go over - sadness
of the false cypress

- - - - - and

sabishisa ya hana no atari no asunaro

Loneliness -
amidst blossoms
a false cypress

In a haibun from the spring of 1688 Basho writes,
“ ‘Tomorrow I’ll become a cypress’. That’s what the old tree once said in the valley. Yesterday has gone by and tomorrow hasn’t arrived. So, whilst alive, I enjoy my wine and keep repeating to myself “tomorrow, tomorrow”, until I’m rebuked by the sages”.
Basho had in mind a poem of Po Chu I‘s entitled ‘Recommending Wine’.

A pile of gold after death
is not worth a cask at wine
while alive

Tr. and comment : Bill Wyatt


quote
Loneliness—.
Standing amid the blossoms,
A cypress tree.
(Ueda, Literary and Art Theories in Japan, 149)

This is a spring poem with a scene when cherry blossoms are in full bloom. But it is the green cypress tree in the middle of them that does not harmonize with the loveliness and gaiety of the scene. This cypress situated among the scene of blossoms is what brings about the atmosphere of loneliness. With this poem loneliness is not referring to a man's personal emotion anymore; it is instead describing an impersonal aura.

This ambience, this atmosphere of sabi, consists of a feeling of loneliness. This is not the sense of loneliness that Americans and other Westerners feel. This type of loneliness is something enjoyable to have sensed; it gives solace to the more sorrowful life.
source : Riley B. Irwin, 2007



Written in 1688, 元禄元年 Basho age 45.
Basho in Yoshino, the Cherry Blossom Mountain.
Basho spent the whole day looking at the blossoms and enjoying a drink, getting one day older . . .

This hokku has the cut marker YA at the end of line 2.

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


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Worldwide use



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Things found on the way

. Himonochoo　檜物町 HimonoCho District in Edo .
himonoshi 檜物師 "artisan making things from Hinoki cypress wood"
also called magemonoshi 曲物師 craftsmen of bentwood products
kurimono 刳物 "bent things"


. hinokigasa ひのき笠 hat made from hinoki bark .

This hat is rather large and protects the walking pilgrim from rain. In our modern times it comes with a plastic cover to protect the hat from the rain !


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HAIKU


いかめしき音や霰の檜木笠
ikameshiki oto ya arare no hinoki-gasa

so harsh
the sound - hail
on my traveler's hat
Tr. Gabi Greve

木の葉散る桜は軽し檜木笠
konoha chiru sakura wa karushi hinokigasa


吉野にて桜見せうぞ檜木笠
Yoshino nite sakura mishoo zo hinoki-gasa

MORE hokku about the traveler's hat of
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .


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Related words

***** . Tree (ki, jumoku) and Forest .

***** . - kasa 笠　hat - .
hinokigasa ひのき笠 "cypress hat" cypress-bark hat
pilgrim's hat, traveler's hat, made from pine bark


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Luggage

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Luggage (nimotsu　荷物)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: See below
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

Luggage needs to be carried by travellers and on many other occasions.
During the Edo period, most travellers carried their own luggage in two light wicker boxes.

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Humanity kigo for the New Year


hatsuni 初荷 (はつに) first luggage, load, freight
hatsuni uma 初荷馬（はつにうま）first horse with luggage
hatsuniguruma 初荷車（はつにぐるま）first car with luggage

hatsunibune 初荷船（はつにぶね）first ship with luggage
hatsuni eki 初荷駅（はつにえき）station handling first luggage

. New Year begins (nenshi) .

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koori 　行李 box to carry luggage　
a wicker trunk
It is also used to store things in the home.
During the Edo period, these boxes could easily be carried away if a fire was nearby.

fuji goori 籐行李 from wisteria vines
take goori 竹行李 from bamboo




yanagi goori 柳行李 from willow tree





furiwake katani ふりわけ片荷
two luggage boxes carried over the shoulder

Luggage of a traveller during the Edo period was carried in two wicker boxes, bound together with a long rope to be carried over the shoulder.

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Worldwide use



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Things found on the way

. Yakko 奴 carrying luggage for the Daimyo lord .


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HAIKU

柳行李片荷は涼し初真桑
yanagigoori katani wa suzushi hatsu makuwa

his one wicker box
carries the coolness
of the first Makuwa melon

Written in Genroku 5, 22 of the fifth lunar month
元禄7年閏5月22日. At Rakushisha 落柿舎 in Kyoto.
His disciple 洒堂 Shado had come to visit and brought Makuwa melons from Osaka in one box.
The other side of his luggage was probably a melon from Kyoto.
Maybe the men just started a haikai session right away with this hokku.

. Shadoo, Shadō 洒堂 Shado - - Hamada Chinseki 浜田珍夕/珍碩 .
(? - 1737, 9月13日）
Makuwa melons were a favorite of Matsuo Basho.


wicker trunk
the coolness on one side
the first melon
Tr. Reichhold


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


. makuwa uri 真桑瓜 makuwa melon .


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Carrying luggage on a tenbin pole　天秤.


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Related words

***** . Palanquin, sedan chair (kago 篭 or かご) .


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. tsuzura 葛籠 / つづら　wicker box, wicker clothes hamper .

. kago 籠 / 篭 / かご　basket, baskets of all kinds .


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