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Kyoto: A Literary Guide – New Translations from Twelve Centuries of Japanese Literature

July 12, 2020 By Michael Lambe

Today I am very happy to share news of a brand new publication, Kyoto: A Literary Guide, which was launched this month by Camphor Press. This book was born from the shared efforts of the Kyo-centrics: a long-standing poetry in translation discussion group – of which I happen to be a member. In addition to myself, the six Kyo-centrics who collated, translated and edited this book comprise Paul Carty, Joe Cronin, David McCullough, Itsuyo Higashinaka, and our group captain John Dougill. Having watched the development of this book from its first inception to the final proofs I can honestly say that this has turned out to be a very special book indeed, with poems and prose passages selected from the full sweep of Kyoto’s literary history, detailed explanatory notes, and beautiful black-and-white illustrations including photographs, prints, and picture scrolls.

Here is an excerpt from the blurb:

“This fascinating selection of Kyoto-specific literature takes readers through twelve centuries of cultural heritage, from ancient Heian beginnings to contemporary depictions. The city’s aesthetic leaning is evident throughout in a mix of well-known and less familiar works by a wide-ranging cast that includes emperors and court ladies, Zen masters and warrior scholars, wandering monks and poet “immortals.” We see the city through their eyes in poetic pieces that reflect timeless themes of beauty, nature, love and war. An assortment of tanka, haiku, modern verse and prose passages make up the literary feast, and as we enter recent times there are English-language poems too.”

The theme that unites the book is of course Kyoto, this enchanting city in which we have made our homes. All the pieces selected are either about ‘the ancient capital’ or about particular locations in the city and are arranged chronologically. Original Japanese texts are presented alongside our fresh translations with rōmaji transcriptions, and footnotes with biographical details. In the later stages of the book, English poems are presented with original translations into Japanese.

The translations I think are highly unique in that they are very much a group effort created in a spirit of gracious compromise. Each translator’s early renderings were followed by much debate and negotiation on how best to maintain linguistic accuracy while striving to adhere to the poetic spirit of the original texts. It is commonly said that writers must be prepared to kill their darlings to improve their work and this is equally true of translators. However, a remarkable feature of this project was the good-humored manner in which all members were ready to slaughter their darlings wholesale in pursuit of the greater good. In many ways this book stands as a fine testament to our ongoing friendship and to our overriding love and respect for this great city. More importantly, I believe we have succeeded in presenting an anthology of works that have the power to move and inspire the reader even through the filter of translation. Along the way I have certainly acquired my own personal favorites. Look out for the booming of the Gion bell that opens Heike Monogatari: a powerful meditation on transcience filled with vital imagery. Then there is the light snap of bamboo that wakes Fujiwara no Ariie from snow-bound dreams, Baisaō the tea seller hiking up the steps of old Kodaij-ji to make a soul-refreshing brew, Rai San’yō watching dusk fall over the Kamo River, the Emperor Meiji feeling the weight of history at the tombs of his ancestors, Yosano Akiko recording a Gion night infused with the beauty of cherry-blossom, and Amano Tadashi’s surreal encounter at Tō-ji temple’s flea market. These are just a few snapshots from a wonderful selection that captures and reveals the special magic of this inspirational city. For anyone who loves Kyoto, or who is interested in the great flow of Japanese literature, this book is an essential read.

Kyoto: A Literary Guide is now available in hardcover, paperback and as an e-book and can be ordered from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.jp, and Amazon.co.uk.

Disclosure: Links on this website to Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and Amazon.co.jp are affiliate links from which I will earn a commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Plum Blossom at the Imperial Palace Park

February 27, 2015 By Michael Lambe

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On my way home from Kitano Tenmangu Shrine the other day, I stopped by the Imperial Palace Park to enjoy the plum blossom. The trees at Kitano Tenmangu are probably more famous, but the shrine grounds were also a lot more crowded. Though each tree in the park had its admirers, there was really only a small scattering of people around, and so I could enjoy the blooms in a more relaxed and pleasant manner.

Every tree has its admirers...
Every tree has its admirers…

And there is something very calming about viewing plum blossom.

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The scent of plum blossom is subtle, not strong, but deep like wine and very rich. I love to stick my nose in a spray and take a big sniff!

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梅が香に追い戻さるるさむさかな [松尾 芭蕉]

ume ga ka ni
oimodosaruru
samusa kana
~ Matsuo Bashō

plum blossom scent –
this chases off
the cold!
( tr. Michael Lambe)

Hiking the Rice Buyers’ Way

December 16, 2014 By Michael Lambe

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Into the woods!

Two of the most rewarding activities I have been involved in during my time in Kyoto, are the events organized by the Hailstone Haiku Circle, and the conservation activities of People Together for Mt. Ogura (PTO). Stephen Gill is a primary organizer of both organizations, and so some of their activites tend to merge. So it was that on October 26th Mewby and I took part in a joint Hailstone/PTO hike along the Rice Buyers’ Way between Mizuo and Saga, in Ukyo-ku, Kyoto.

Says Stephen,

The Komekai no Michi 米買の道 was the route taken by citizens of Heian-kyo and their horses and oxen when they went off to buy cheaper, more delicious rice from Mizuo, Koshihata and the province of Tamba beyond. The journey involved climbing at least two passes (there is a third on the way to Koshihata/Kameoka). With an early start and a brisk pace, the buyer’s mission could possibly have been accomplished in a single strenuous day… Few people pass this way nowadays, but the trail is still pretty good…

However, unlike the rice buyers, we would walk in only one direction and not there and back again. Meeting up at Hozukyo station at 9am, we boarded a mini-bus for Mizuo. From here we would hike back to Kyoto. Here are some pictures from our walk.

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The view from Mizuo. This little mountain village was once the home of the Emperor Seiwa (清和天皇, Seiwa-tennō, 850–878) and it was here he passed away.
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Stephen and Mewby tree hugging at Enkaku-ji, Mizuo.
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Here Mewby inspired me. “Look at the spider web shining! Doesn’t it look just like a CD!” she said. And, “Did you know that in experiments spiders change the shape of a web according to the music they are played?”

to what tune
does the spider spin
this disc that snares the light?

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On our way…
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Much of the route is sign-posted.
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Stephen Gill – upstream
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東の田んぼ跡 – The east rice field ruins. Hard to believe this was once farmland.
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Another source of inspiration, this fungus is called サルノコシカケ or Monkey’s seat. Surprisingly it can actually take quite a bit of weight.

a fungal seat –
each in turn, we try to prove
we are monkeys

And Okiharu Maeda’s translation:

座れるか?
サルノコシカケ
人が猿か

Our troop
Our troop
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大岩 – The big rock
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Climbing 大岩
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Scrambling
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Kunugi is a type of oak, but there was no kunugi to be seen here. Maeda-san explained that there must have been one in times past, that was used as a landmark to help people find the way…

for the ghost of the tree,
that pointed the way,
now stands a simple sign

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Mr. Gill in reflective mood
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「アメンボ!」 says Mewby 「見て!」


water strider –
back and forth he stakes a claim:
this rock is mine

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At Kiyotaki
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The Hozu River Gorge
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Closer

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One of PTO’s main activities is collecting rubbish that has been illegally dumped on Mount Ogura. Maeda-san and Stephen were scouting out an area in need of work along the way…

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The return to Saga

Having returned to Saga, those that still had energy visited a Balinese eatery and there over our drinks and just desserts, we shared our haiku. You can read some haiku from the other walkers here: Of Michio, Toshi and the Village of Mizuo

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A reward at journey’s end.

Many thanks to Stephen Gill for organizing a very enjoyable day.

If you would like to join in the activities of the Hailstone Haiku Circle or PTO then please visit the websites below.

https://hailhaiku.wordpress.com/
http://www.ptogura.org/ep.html

Honke Owariya with Sean Lotman

June 16, 2014 By Michael Lambe

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On Sunday Mewby and I had the pleasure of lunch with writer/photographer Sean Lotman. Sean’s wife manages the Honke Owariya soba noodle business, a family company which is pretty famous in Kyoto.  The business actually dates from 1465, though they “only” started making noodles Sean told me about 300 or 400 years ago, as they were originally a confectionary business.  They still make confectionary but it is the noodles that have made it famous. We met up with Sean at the main branch of Honke Owariya, a delightful old traditional Kyoto building for a stimulating lunch of hearty food and good conversation in beautiful surrounds. [Read more…]

Blue Sky – An Excerpt from Deep Kyoto Walks

June 11, 2014 By Michael Lambe

Rakushisha
Rakushisha

Today I am posting another in a series of short excerpts from our ebook Deep Kyoto: Walks. In Blue Sky, the poet Stephen Henry Gill acts as a guide to the Saga & Arashiyama area for a young visitor who has come to learn more about the conservation NPO, People Together for Mt. Ogura. Stephen whimsically names his visitor Blue Sky, because that was the first thing he saw that fine autumn day. We join them mid-way through the tour…

On our left is a tilled field, in which the raggedy, nondescript greens are straggling. Going down this near side of the field, we soon come to the rustic gate of Rakushisha, the ‘House of Fallen Persimmons’, the thatched cottage once owned by Mukai Kyorai (1651-1704), and where his haiku master, Matsuo Bashō (1644-94), once stayed. Here, Bashō wrote his Saga Nikki, the ‘Saga Diary’. Another story for Blue:

One day in autumn, a merchant from Osaka passed the house, which was then located in an orchard of persimmon trees. He went in and negotiated with Kyorai to purchase the entire crop, paying him an advance and telling him he would come back the following day to harvest the glowing orange-coloured fruit. Kyorai went to bed feeling pleased with himself, but awoke in the night as a storm set in and proceeded to shake all the fruit down onto the ground. The crop was ruined and, the next day, when the merchant finally appeared, Kyorai had to hand back the deposit he’d received. From that day on, he would refer to himself ironically as ‘The Master of Persimmons’.

[Read more…]

Meltdown – An Anthology of Haiku, Z – A

February 14, 2014 By Michael Lambe

meltdownMELTDOWN メルトダウン (2013) An Anthology of Haiku, Z to A.
ISBN: 978-4-9900822-5-3
Edited by Stephen Henry Gill
Includes almost 500 haiku and a short 4-part seasonal renku cycle over 228 pages.
Cover by Richard Steiner.
Price:¥1,500; airmail $20, incl. p&p
Dimensions: 19 x 13 cm.  Covers feature a tactile matt paper finish.
How to order: details are at the Hailstone Haiku Circle’s Publications page: http://hailhaiku.wordpress.com/publications/

I thought I might examine some gems from the latest Hailstone haiku anthology for clues as to haiku possibilities. What makes a haiku a haiku? Wherein lies the haiku’s charm? Why indeed, write haiku at all?

Haiku, we know, should be brief, and Japanese haiku conventionally (though not always) follow a 5-7-5 Japanese syllabic count. There are some masters of the haiku craft who stick to the 5-7-5 syllable count in English – and work wonders within those confines:

Ainu songs are sad:
like this deep blue crater lake
with fog cascading

(Nobuyuki Yuasa, Meltdown, pg 119)

Many people also think a haiku should be written in three lines, and this is often the case. But not always. There are those who throw both syllable and line counts aside, with brilliantly bold experiments.

Unspoken history dark clouds shroud the hunter’s moon

(Duro Jaiye, Ibid, pg 71)

Thump
sun fingers
the forest snow
THUMP
no-one is here

(David McCullough, Ibid, pg 65) [Read more…]

Zuishin-in ~ A Refuge in Ono

November 28, 2013 By Michael Lambe

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As I posted a piece on the autumn leaves at Daigo-ji last week, I thought I might post some pictures I took earlier this year at the nearby Zuishin-in. These pictures were taken in June; the season for irises and azaleas. I think this temple would be good to visit in any season though. It has a very special atmosphere. You can see a slideshow of the gardens through the seasons here. Apparently the red maples in autumn and the plum gardens in spring are quite special. [Read more…]

Hiking & Haiku on the Uminobe-no-Michi Trail

October 17, 2013 By Michael Lambe

For the last 3 years or so I have been joining the Hailstone Haiku Circle on their annual autumn hike. Always good outings, in previous years we have gone further afield to Mount Daisen in Tottori, and Tateyama in Toyama, but this year’s hike was closer to home: along the Lakeside Way (湖ノ辺の道 Uminobe-no-michi), in Northern Shiga. These are haiku composition hikes, so we take notes as we walk and at the end of the day exchange our poems over dinner and drinks. Before that though, a 14 kilometer trek along Lake Yogo, up Mount Shizugatake and along the range before climbing up and down Mount Yamamoto. Many thanks to Richard Donovan who organized this year’s excursion, and who will be posting has posted an account with the group’s haiku on the Hailstone site soon. Here I shall post my own photos of the day including some Ricoh Theta spherical images. If you click on those spherical images you can view a fully immersive 360 degree photograph.

IMG_6668 (Medium)The tree pictured above is said to be 天女の衣掛柳 – the willow upon which a heavenly maiden hung her robe. According to the story a passing fisherman seeing the beautiful maiden swimming in Lake Yogo, hid the robe from her, thus preventing her return to heaven. He then took her home with him and kept her as his wife. Years later one of her children found the robe and returned it to her, whereupon she instantly flew back to heaven leaving her husband and children devastated without her… [Read more…]

Genjuan International Haibun Contest 2013

September 24, 2012 By Michael Lambe

幻住庵 Genjuan Haibun Contest 2013

Genjuan is the name of the cottage near Lake Biwa where, in 1690, Basho lived for a while and wrote one of his most famous haibun. It was probably the happiest period of his life. This is the second year of the contest crowned by the name of Basho’s cottage, and its purpose remains to provide a common arena for haibun writers of the world. Fortunately, we had a warm response in 2012, receiving about 100 entries from 14 different countries. The award for Grand Prix will remain the same – a good replica of a Hokusai ukiyo-e print – and smaller gifts will be sent to authors winning an An (‘Cottage’) Prize. The writers of the decorated works will each receive a certificate of merit. We sincerely look forward to your participation. Some sample haibun can be read at the following link: Genjuan Winning Haibun 2012

 Guidelines for 2013

 1 Subject: Free, but discretion must be used to avoid slander and obscenity.

2 Style: No restrictions, but attention should be paid to honour the spirit of haikai.

3 Length: In total, between 20 and 40 lines (at 1 line = 80 spaces) on a single page.

4 Haiku/Title: At least one haiku should be included, and a title should be given.

5 Format: Print on a sheet of A4-size paper and write at the bottom your name (and your pen name, if you have one), together with your address, telephone number, and your email address. Your privacy will be strictly protected, and the judges will not see your names while selecting works for decoration.

6 Deadline: All entries should reach the following address by 31 January 2013. Entries received after this date will not be accepted. Please send your entries by airmail to: Ms. Motoko Yoshioka, Regalia 907, 7-32-44 Fujimi-cho, Tachikawa-shi, Tokyo 190-0013, Japan. You are requested not to use express airmail or extra-large envelopes, which can cause problems at delivery.

7 Entry Fee: None.

8 Restrictions: Entrants may send up to three pieces, each on a separate sheet of paper. They should be unpublished. As we cannot return your entries after screening, please don’t forget to retain your own copies.

9 Questions: All questions should be sent to the address above.

10 Winners: The authors of the decorated works will subsequently be requested to send us their pieces by email. This is important, and we expect your cooperation.

See also: The Kikakuza Haibun Contest Anthology

Kyoto as depicted in “Haifu-Yanagidaru”

December 20, 2011 By Michael Lambe

Here’s this month’s poetry post from our friend, poet and translator, Keiji Minato. This will be the last post on Deep Kyoto this year. Happy holidays and see you all safely in 2012!

柄井川柳

Haifu-Yanagidaru (『誹風柳多留』; 1765-1840) is a collection of maeku-dsuke (前句付), which are now commonly called ko-senryu (古川柳; old senryu). It is not one book but a series of 165 volumes published from the middle to the end of the Edo period. The first 24 volumes are particularly important, with KARAI Senryu (柄井川柳; 1718-1790), whose name is now used as the name of the genre of senryu, as its anthologist. The original genre of maeku-dsuke was invented in the Osaka-Kyoto area but really took off in the Edo (current Tokyo) area. At its peak, thousands of anonymous people in Edo submitted their works to Karai Senryu, who selected the best of them for publication first in newssheet formats and later in Yanagidaru.

The Kyoto depicted in Yanagidaru is naturally the one viewed, or imagined, by inhabitants in Edo, the rising city that at that time had begun having pride in its own culture, throwing away its inferiority complex for Kyoto, the previous cultural center of Japan. Certainly, since the Edo (or Tokugawa) Bakufu (江戸[徳川]幕府) was founded, Edo had been the political and economic center of the nation for more than 150 years. Numerous tiny poems in Yanagidaru clearly show Edo people’s confidence in their booming city and the excitement of living there: [Read more…]

A Ginko, at Seishu Netsuke-kan

November 14, 2011 By Michael Lambe

Here’s this month’s poetry post from our friend, poet and translator, Keiji Minato.

Have you tried a ginko (吟行)? A ginko is a group excursion to make haiku or senryu: you visit a landmark, a museum exhibition, or any place of interest and write poems based on the experience. Usually, a kukai (句会; a haiku or senryu meeting) takes place afterwards, and you can share your works with others in a relaxed mood.

I was lucky to participate in one of such events on November 12th. We took a visit to Seishu Netsuke-kan (清宗根付館) in Mibu (壬生), a 5-minite walk from Omiya Station of Hankyu Kyoto Line. It is the one and only museum in Japan entirely devoted to works of netsuke (根付).

Drawing of a ''netsuke'' holding a medicine box at the belt.

A netsuke is a small traditional sculpture used to hold an inro (印籠; a container for medicines) at your obi or sash for a waist belt. You tie an inro at one end of a string and a netsuke at the other, and pass the netsuke under the obi from below (As always, Wikipedia has a great page, so check out pictures at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netsuke.). A netsuke is at most the size of a small chicken egg, but the art of Japanese artisans enables one to show animals playing with each other, a scene from famous stories, or a burlesque with comical human figures.

[Read more…]

The Kikakuza Haibun Contest Anthology

October 19, 2011 By Michael Lambe

Kikakuza Haibun Contest ~ Decorated Works 2009~2011 
Compiled by Nobuyuki Yuasa & Stephen Henry Gill

Lovely little collection this. I purchased a copy last week at the Hibikiai Forum English Haiku Poems seminar, and as it rained solidly all the next day, I spent a very nice, lazy afternoon reading through it with the rainfall as perfect background music.

Haibun (俳文) are, simply put, a combination of prose and haiku poetry. Something about this collaboration between literary styles has always appealed to me. Maybe because I find I enjoy poetry more when I read it within a context, or as part of a story. Anyway, I picked up this volume because I wanted to learn more about how haibun works. It may seem simple enough to place poetry within a narrative, but to get the very best performance out of these dancing partners requires balance, lightness of touch, and an imaginative focus that mutually enhances both forms. The most famous haiku poet, Matsuo Basho, was also a writer of haibun, and his most celebrated haibun is おくのほそ道 (The Narrow Road to Oku), a diary of his epic journey through northern Edo Era Japan. This account of Basho’s poetic and meditative questing through the landscapes of the deep north is considered the best of his works and a masterpiece of Japanese literature. Basho set a high standard, but his works continue to inspire haiku and haibun writers in both Japanese and increasingly also in English. It is fitting that one of the Kikakuza judges, Nobuyuki Yuasa has included at the end of this anthology several of his own translations of short haibun pieces by the classical masters Basho, Yosa Buson and Kobayashi Issa as examples for would-be future haibun writers.

The Kikakuza Haibun Contest was created both to promote interest in haibun and to encourage its writing both within Japan and overseas. Within this volume of decorated works you will find a fine range of styles and subject matter from many different countries. The entries are short: no more than 30 lines per piece, but this brevity helps both the writer and the reader to focus on the essence of each experience. Reading these haibun I was transported to a remote Romanian farmhouse, a funeral ceremony in Bhutan, mysterious neolithic sites in rural Ireland and the abundantly biodiverse Australian countryside. There are haiku that describe an immense moon hanging over the Parisian landscape, resounding echoes in a Japanese temple, dawn light in an English wood, and dusk on the detritus of disaster in India. Strange Bedfellows by Margaret Chula is a carefully crafted tale of the uncanny. Coal Dust by Patricia Prime is a vivid memoir of home life in steam age New Zealand. Ellis Avery’s Winter Subway takes us into mindful meanderings on the New York subway. And in Memories of the Sun Melissa Spurr gives an explicit account of the environmental damage wrought by a housing boom in the Mojave desert.

“These trees remember where the sun comes up,” a tree mover says, “You have to be sure and plant them in the ground just the same way they grew, or they get confused and die.”

By far my favorite piece, however, is the one that opens the collection and the outright winner of the 2009 contest. For Rose by John Parsons is a fine tribute to a deceased friend, mingling reminiscence with scenes from her funeral. The narrative is deeply moving without being sentimental. The images of sunlit bees in the woods, ash on a spider web, people meeting “as two heads bobbing at sea”, are perfect, brilliant, beautiful.

In addition to these wonderful contemporary haibun and the classical translations mentioned above, these 78 pages contain a very instructive commentary from the judges, the judges’ own haibun and a solo shisan (linked verse) by Nobuyuki Yuasa in response to this year’s disaster in the north. It’s a slim volume but it contains worlds! You can order a copy via the Hailstone Haiku Circle’s publications page for 1000 yen + postage.

The contest will continue next year with the same rules and judges but under a new name. Entry is free and the deadline is January 31st, 2012. To find out more about the new Genjuan International Haibun Contest please click here.

“Denga-ka Sanshu” by Yosa Buson

September 16, 2011 By Michael Lambe

Here’s this month’s poetry post from our friend, poet and translator, Keiji Minato.

Yosa Buson (与謝 蕪村)

My first article for Deep Kyoto took up the topic of  YOSA Buson‘s (1716-1784) hokku (or haiku). As it says, and you all probably know, Buson was a great haiku master and painter, and I would like to add here that he was also an experimental poet who tried poetic styles that had never been used in the history of Japanese literature. His three longer poems show great results: “Hokuju-rosen o Itamu” (北寿老仙をいたむ), “Shumpu Batei Kyoku” (春風馬堤曲; Song of the Spring Wind on the Horse Bank), “Denga-ka Sanshu (or just Dengaka)” (澱河歌三首; Three Poems on Yodo River), all published in Yahanraku (夜半楽; Midnight Music; 1777). The topic this time is “Dengaka.”

 

澱河歌三首    与謝蕪村
Denga-ka Sanshu (Three Songs on Yodo River)  by YOSA Buson

 

春水浮梅花 南流菟合澱
錦纜君勿解 急瀬舟如電

The spring water floats down plum blossoms

toward the south to join Yodo River

Do not loose the gilt-threaded mooring lines

On the rapids a boat runs like a lightning

 

菟水合澱水 交流如一身
船中願同寝 長為浪花人

Once Uji River joins Yodo River

their mixing flows are like one body

On the boat hopefully we will sleep together

and be living in Naniwa forever

 

君は水上の梅のごとし花水に
浮て去こと急カ也
妾は江頭の柳のごとし影水に
沈てしたがふことあたはず

You are like a plum blossom dropped

on the water that floats away so quickly

I am like a willow tree whose shadow

is sunk too deep in the water to follow

 

“Shumpu Batei Kyoku” is a kind of collage in which Chinese-style verses, freer Japanese lines based on Chinese styles, and hokku-like 575 lines. In “Denga-ka,” he tries a similar style but in a smaller scale. The first two stanzas are written in a major Chinese style, Gogon-zekku (五言絶句), which has four phrases, each of which has five letters. The last stanza flows more freely, yet still based on Chinese writing styles.

What is appealing about the poem, however, lies more in content than in form, or in the intersection between content and form. The narrator is a female who sings of her affair with a man. The described geography shows that the relationship is between a merchant from Naniwa. a city of commerce, and a yujo (遊女; performer-prostitute) in Fushimi, a town in the south of Kyoto City. The poem superimposes them with the two rivers, Yodo (澱水) and Uji (菟水) (On today’s map Uji and Katsura Rivers join around Yahata to be Yodo River; See Google Map!). The image of the joining rivers of course has sexual connotations, which are strengthened by “the gilt-threaded mooring lines” in the second line, which connotes an obi (a broad sash tied over a kimono) the yujo is wearing.

Please note that the poem cannot be read in one sequence. In Stanza Two, as the two rivers merge and flow toward Naniwa, the lovers will happily live together ever after, at least in the yujo’s hope. In Stanza Three, however, the tone is totally different (which is emphasized with the difference of the styles). The yujo has no illusion about their future: their affair will no doubt be short, and the man will never come back. Stanza One and Two might be a speech the yujo makes to her lover, and Stanza Three sounds more like her inner voice which cannot deny the bleak reality. So, in my reading the poem diverges from Stanza One in two different directions: Stanza Two (dream) and Stanza Three (reality), between which the yujo’s mind is torn apart. It is interesting that the reading of the poem simulates the form of the rivers.

As I re-read the poem, lines from Gillaume Apollinaire’s “Le pont Mirabeau” came to my mind:

L’amour s’en va comme cette eau courante
L’amour s’en va
Comme la vie est lente
Et comme l’Espérance est violente

Vienne la nuit sonne l’heure
Les jours s’en vont je demeure

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This text and translations by Keiji Minato. Keiji writes a guest blog for Deep Kyoto once a month introducing Kyoto’s poets and poetry. You can find former articles by Keiji Minato here.

Ikkyu Sojun’s Kyo’unshu

August 21, 2011 By Michael Lambe

Here’s this month’s poetry post from our friend Keiji Minato.

Ikkyu Sojun

Ikkyu Sojun (一休宗純; 1394-1481) is one of the most famous monks in the history of Japan. Since his lifetime countless legends have been told about his weird acts and unmatchable wits. For contemporary Japanese he has become the most familiar figure as a Buddhist monk through the television anime series Ikkyu-san (一休さん; originally broadcast between 1975 and 1982, but re-broadcast many times after that). In this still popular anime, the protagonist Ikkyu-san is a boy who is kind and bright, helping people around him with his tonchi (the ability to solve difficult questions in original ways) and outfoxing Shogun-sama, who is always trying to trick him for fun.

The image of Ikkyu Sojun in the real history was difficult to grasp, but he might not be such a likable person as depicted in the anime. It is said that he urinated on a newly built Buddhist statue which he had been asked to consecrate and on another occasion took a nap using a statue as his pillow. (In the latter case a legend says that his friend Ren’nyo-shonin, another famous monk, came back to find Ikkyu sleeping and said, “Don’t use the tool for my trade as a pillow,” and they both had a good laugh over it.) His criticism of other monks often went beyond extreme or sounded just like blunt slandering, but in his last days he became head-monk of Daitoku-ji (大徳寺), one of the biggest Zen temples at that time and also today.

Kyounshu(狂雲集) is a collection of his Chinese-style poetry first published in 1642, well after his death (Kyo’un is one of the pseudonyms Ikkyu used, meaning a “crazy(狂) cloud(雲)”), and his image is multi-faceted even in this one book. He once stayed at Nyoian (如意庵) in Daitoku-ji to commemorate the thirteenth year of his master Kasou (華臾)’s death. Ten days after the ceremony he put the following poem on the wall of the building and went away:

如意庵退院寄養臾和尚
住庵十日意忙々
脚下紅糸線甚長
他日君来如問我
魚行酒律又淫坊

At leaving Nyoian, sending this to Youyu-osho,
Living in this hut for ten days made my mind fidgety
to my legs long red strings of the world get tangled
if some day you come visit me
go to a fish dealer, a tavern, or a brothel

Yosou (養臾) is his senior fellow, who succeeded their master Kasou and became head-monk of Diatoku-ji. It is clear that Ikkyu disliked him; he even said that Yosou’s claim as Kasou’s successor was false and severely criticized his rather successful managing of their sect as fawning upon the authorities.

自賛
八十窮僧大●苴     ●=磊にくさかんむり
淫坊興半尚勇巴
半醒半酔花前酒
臨済徳山何作家

Self-praise
At eighty this poor monk is such a rogue
during playing at a brothel thinks of a boy’s love
half sober, half asleep, drunk under the blossoms
In Rinzai or Tokuzan who got real enlightenment?

* Rinzai and Tokuzan stand for the biggest Zen Buddhist sects at that time.

There must be some exaggerations, but Ikkyu was famous for his indulgence in drinking and sexual interests: he always visited brothels and even in his latter days he had a blind beautiful performer named Shinjisha (森待者) as his lover. Ikkyu also loved boys as the poem above says. (By the way, homosexuality was very common among monks at his time.)

Let me quote a poem on his lover Shinjisha (there are many!):

謝森公深恩之願書
木凋葉落更回春
長緑生花旧約新
森也深恩若忘却
無量億劫畜生身

Prayer for thanking Shinjisha for her great favor
Trees weaken, leaves fall, and spring comes again
Lengthening green, breeding flowers, old promises renewed
Should I forget Shinjisha’s great favor by any chance
I would remain a dumb beast for endless time

In Buddhism the most significant is to leave your desires. However, many Zen and other sect masters point out that the desire to leave your desires is the biggest of all. I am not sure that Ikkyu’s indulgence in worldly interests led him to real enlightenment, but his poems certainly have the power to free our mind.

It is said that his dying word was “I don’t want to die (死にとうない).

**********************************

This text and translations by Keiji Minato. Keiji writes a guest blog for Deep Kyoto once a month introducing Kyoto’s poets and poetry. You can find former articles by Keiji Minato here.

Of Related Interest:
Cities of Green Leaves 青葉の都市 – Ginko no Kukai
The Hojoki – Visions of a Torn World
Irish Haiku!
One Hundred Poets on Mount Ogura, One Poem Each
Introducing Keiji Minato
Songs and Stories of the Kojiki retold by Yoko Danno
Japan International Poetry Society

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