Posted in writing and poetry, haiku on Sep 26th, 2006 No Comments »
moon, look sad,
as I will tell the story
of Akechi’s wife
tsuki sabiyo | Akechi ga tsuma no | hanashisen
Basho
Basho admired the wife of one Yugen of Ise, with whom he once lodged. The haiku master was very well taken care of during his stay and he used this haiku to praise Yugen’s wife. The poem refers […]
Posted in writing and poetry, museums, haiku on Sep 19th, 2006 No Comments »
Basho visited Kurobane in 1689 during the first stage of his trek to northern Japan. Two of his disciples - brothers - were living here (one of them was the steward of the feudal lord of the small castle town of Kurobane) and Basho stayed here for a full 14 days, the longest break on […]
Posted in Japan, writing and poetry, museums, haiku on Sep 14th, 2006 No Comments »
The Basho Memorial Museum in Iga-Ueno was built in 1959 as a tribute to the haiku master by the town where he was born in 1644 and where he returned several times in later life, both for family visits and to have haikai sessions with local poets. For the haiku enthusiast, it is a small, […]
Posted in writing and poetry, travel and places, haiku on Sep 12th, 2006 No Comments »
Joroku Buddha statue
heat haze high
above the stone
joroku ni | kagero takashi | ishi no ue
Basho
I have already written about Narita Shinshoji Temple, and also introduced the museums in the temple grounds in Narita museums). Now I visit the haiku stones in the temple and first come to a kuhi by Basho, standing in green grass. […]
Posted in writing and poetry, travel and places, haiku on Sep 9th, 2006 No Comments »
passing the torii gate
made of grave stones
Month without Gods
ranto no | torii ya ge ni mo | kannazuki
Kikaku
Another Haiku stone I found on Mt Koya. This one is difficult to explain. The general meaning is: although there are torii gates (a symbol of Shinto shrines) in front of the graves, they have been built of […]
Posted in writing and poetry, travel and places, haiku on Sep 7th, 2006 No Comments »
how much I miss
my father and mother
call of a pheasant
chichi haha no | shikirini koishi | kiji no koe
Basho
This haiku stone stands suitably on the huge ancient graveyard of Mt Koya, the spiritual home in the next world of all Japanese.
In Japanese folklore, the pheasant was believed to have a special affection for its babies. […]
Posted in writing and poetry, museums, haiku on Sep 5th, 2006 No Comments »
In 1680, Basho moved from Nihonbashi - right in the bustling center of Edo - to a small country house in Fukagawa. Here he started new haikai activities. Away from the city with its endless rounds of linked verse (renga) sessions where he acted as referee (which brought a reasonable income), now he was free […]
Posted in writing and poetry, travel and places, haiku on Sep 3rd, 2006 No Comments »
my hometown
I feel like talking
to apricot and willow
furusato ya | ume ni yanagi ni | hanashi ari
Shirao
The hometown in this haiku is the small but attractive castle town of Ueda, located between Karuizawa and Nagano. The town was propelled to fame in the late 16th c. when a much smaller army of defenders under Sanada […]
Posted in writing and poetry, haiku on Aug 24th, 2006 No Comments »
to the Unveiling
even sparrows come
with the whole family
Kaicho ni | au ya suzume mo | oyako tsure
Issa
Nagano, the capital city of the mountainous prefecture of the same name, is - in contrast to most other prefectural capitals - not a former castle town. Instead of being an administrative center, in the past it was a […]
Posted in writing and poetry, haiku on Aug 17th, 2006 No Comments »
tempted to knock the gate
of the Temple of the Three August Wells
today’s moon
Miidera no | mon tatakabaya | kyo no tsuki
Basho
Miidera, the “Temple of the Three August Wells,” officially called Onjoji, is a major Tendai temple at the shore of Lake Biwa. Basho loved this area and often stayed here for a longer time - […]