Nightingale (uguisu)

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Nightingale, bush warbler (uguisu)

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

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Explanation

The latin name Cettia diphone refers to the bush warbler.
The latin name Luscinia megarhynchos refers to the nightingale of Japanese poetry.



Its sound is heared as hooo hokekyoo .

Hokekyo is the name of a famous sutra ホケキョウ（法華経).


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kigo for spring

nightingale, ugusiu うぐいす、鶯
first nightingale, hatsu uguisu 初鶯
first call of the nightingale, uguisu no hatsune 鶯の初音
"nightingale flute", uguisu bue 鴬笛（うぐいすぶえ）
..... todome dori 禁鳥（とどめどり）

fragrant bird, nioidori 匂鳥

nightingales crossing the valley, uguisu no tani watari
鶯の谷渡り（うぐいすのたにわたり）

"telling us of spring", haru tsugedori 春告鳥
nightingale in a cage, kai ugusiu　飼鶯

"bird that sings at the flower-viewing season", hahami dori "花見鳥"

"bird that recites the sutras", kyooyomi dori 経読鳥
the sound reminds the Japanese of the name of the sutra "Hokkekyo".

"bird that recites poetry", utayomi dori
歌詠鳥（うたよみどり）

"Yellow powder bird", kinako dori 黄粉鳥（きなこどり）
kinako is the yellow powder of soybeans, eaten as a delicacy.
"yellow bird", kichoo 黄鳥（きちょう)


nest of the nightingale, uguisu no su
鶯の巣（うぐいすのす）


.................................................. ceremony in spring

Ritual nightingale singing competition,
uguisu awase 鶯合 (うぐいすあわせ)
"singing contest", naki awase 鳴合（なきあわせ）,啼合（なきあわせ）


© PHOTO : commons.wikimedia.org


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kigo for summer

summer bush warbler, natsu uguisu 夏鶯
late nightingale, zanoo 残鶯
..... ranoo 乱鶯

"old nightingale", old bush warbler, oi uguisu 老鶯
..... roo oo 老鶯

the nightingale cries of old age,
..... uguisu oi o naku 鶯老を鳴


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kigo for winter

nightingale in winter, fuyu no uguisu
冬の鶯 (ふゆのうぐいす)
fuyu uguisu 冬鶯（ふゆうぐいす）
nightingale in the cold, kan ou 寒鶯（かんおう）
nightingale in the underbrush, yabu uguisu 藪鶯（やぶうぐいす）

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Flower Trump Hanafuda


http://members.at.infoseek.co.jp/stone2/hanafuda12-1.html

Plum and Nightingale, Ume ni Uguisu 梅に鶯

Read my details here !

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Here is the famous story to shed light on the temperament of the three most famous warlords in Japanese history:
When confronted with a nightingale in a cage, which would not sing, each had his own approach to this situation.

Nobunaga
If the bird does not sing, kill it!

Hideyoshi
If the bird does not sing, I will make it sing!

Ieyasu
If the bird does not sing, I will wait until it sings!

Read my details here !

The BIRD, by the way, often translated as "Nightingale", was in fact ..... hototogisu, the little cuckoo ... .

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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way

"Nightingale Flooring"
A special way to place wooden planks for a veranda or around the room of an important person during the Edo period, to avoid the penetrance of murderers or thieves into a room. The floor planks would squeak (sing) when a person stepped on it. The most famous example is in the Nijo Castle in Kyoto.
The sound when walking on it is different from that heard in normal houses, because the floor was laid out in a different way. It was suspended with iron clamps above a frame, so it could move up and down over the fixing nails when somebody walked upon it. This caused the nails to rub against the wooden planks and create a sound similar to the chirping of the nightingale.

nightingale flooring, uguisubari (鴬張り)

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Uguisu no Fun : Nightingale Droppings
Traditional Japanese Beauty Secrets
by Naomi Graham (Diaz)



Now, during the course of my researching of geiko and maiko – I’ve come across numerous mentions of Uguisu no Fun, or, for those who really wish to be in the know, Nightingale Droppings (Uguisu no Fun sounds better, right?). I’ve always (secretly) wondered whether it worked or not.

Uguisu no Fun even has a special mention in one of my books “The Japanese Way of Beauty” by Michelle Dominique Leigh, which contains the recipe and full instructions for use, along with a very special note at the end of the recipe mentioning it had been included in the book as it is one of the most respected traditional Japanese recipes. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find the tradition intriguing.

I very carefully read the directions for use, as I certainly didn’t intend on any accidents due to misuse and according to the instructions, you are mix ½ teaspoon of the dried Uguisu no Fun with a few drops of warm water in the palm of your hand to form a paste. You then massage the paste into your skin using small circular motions – keeping well clear away from your eyes. So, I did just that - I put ½ teaspoon of the powder in my palm, mixed it with water, took a deep breath, and to the sounds of the “eeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwww!” coming from the direction of my partner, I started massaging Uguisu no Fun into my face in small circular motions with a hint of a small, nervous smile of disbelief that I was even doing this in the first place.

Once the water is added to Uguisu no Fun – the musky smell became much stronger and I realized the instructions should have mentioned staying as far away from the nostrils as well as the eye area just to be on the safe side. “In the name of research” I chanted silently to myself as I massaged. Once I was done, I stared at myself in the mirror. Wow. There I was staring back with a very organic mask on my face. All of a sudden, I felt terribly empowered and the childish, playground taunts from my partner faded into the background when the realization of how brave I was hit me.


Read the full story here :
immortalgeisha.com © 2001-2006 by Naomi Graham (Diaz)

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HAIKU

uguisu ya mochi ni funsuru en no saki

this damned warbler !
it left his droppings on the ricecakes
on the veranda

Matsuo Basho

Read my details here ! Tr. Gabi Greve

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Issa has written quite a lot of haiku about this bird !

鶯も上鶯の垣根かな
uguisu mo jô uguisu no kakine kana

even among nightingales
royalty
on the fence


鶯のはねかへさるるつるべ哉
uguisu no hanekaesaruru tsurube kana

the nightingale
is bouncing about...
well bucket


Tr. David Lanoue, read more haiku here !



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Related words

***** Flower viewing season, hanami

***** Saijiki of Japanese Ceremonies and Festivals


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