4/15/2005

Hina Doll Festival

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Hina Doll Festival (hina matsuri 雛祭り)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Mid-Spring
***** Category: Observance


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Explanation

March 3 (the double three date)


google logo, March 3, 2911


The third day of the third lunar month
had a climate similar to our present-day April. Due to the calendar differences with the lunar months, some rituals are placed in "late spring" and some regions celebrate this day on the third of April.
Double-dates like 3/3, 5/5, 9/9 were special festival days in Japan
. Names of Months and Calendar Systems .


The word DOLL here refers to the hina dolls, which are special and not the dolls girls play with every day.
For more about puppets and normal dolls, see below.
The word DOLL, by itself, is not a kigo but a topic for haiku.

The hina dolls are usually given to the girl at her birth by the grandparents and are kept as family mementos or passed on to the eldest daughter. To unpack them each year from their elaborate boxes is a joy for mother, grandmother and daughter, often versed in poetry as "bringing them to live", "let them see the world again" etc.
After the festival, the are wrapped and put back into their boxes, another party for mother, grandmother and daughters with more haiku to be written about.


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(Unfortunately, the fans they once held were lost years ago.)

ancient women . . .
so long in service
without fans


- Shared by Elaine Andre
Joys of Japan, March 2012


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Doll Festival, Peach Festival or Girl's Festival.

People pray for the happiness and healthy growth of girls and families with young daughters set up a display of dolls inside the house.The tradition goes back to the Edo Period (1603-1868). The dolls wear costumes of the imperial court during the Heian period (794-1192) and are placed on a platform with various tiers of five to seven layers.



The top tier is for the Emperor and Empress. A miniature gilded folding screen is placed behind them as it was in the real court. The second tear has three ladies-in-waiting. The third has five male court musicians; the fourth has ministers sitting on either side of trays of food; the fifth has guards with an orange tree on the left and a cherry tree on the right.

The family celebrates with a special meal of diamond-shaped rick cakes and sweet shirazake which is rice malt with sake.The dolls are returned to their storage space after the festival is over since there is a superstition that families that are slow in putting the dolls away will have difficulty in marrying off their daughters.
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !


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Hina Doll Decoration
shared by Kyoko Shibata
Joys of Japan


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There are many kigo related to the customs of this important festival.
Let us look at some of them.


hina matsuri, 雛祭り (ひなまつり)
(Japanese) Doll Festival, Hina Doll Festival


playing with dolls, hina asobi 雛遊び
hina dolls, hina ningyoo 雛人形
Emperor Dolls, dairibina 内裏雛
Court Lady Dolls, kanjobina 官女雛
"five musicians", gonin bayashi 五人囃(ごにんばやし)
Minister Doll, yadaijin 矢大臣(やだいじん)
sannin shichoo 三人使丁(さんにんしちょう)

arranging dolls, hina awase 雛合(ひなあわせ)
雛の調度(ひなのちょうど)
雛の貝(ひなのかい)shells with dolls
. kaibina 貝びな hina dolls from hamaguri clams .

dolls on the shelf, hinadan 雛壇
dolls made from wood, kibori bina 木彫雛
dolls made from paper, kami bina 紙雛
dolls made from strings, ito bina 糸雛(いとびな)
dolls made from folded paper (origami), oribina 折雛(おりびな)


CLICK for more photos
dolls from the Muromachi period, muromachibina
室町雛(むろまちびな)


CLICK for more photos
dolls form the Kanei period, kanei bina
寛永雛(かんえいびな)


CLICK for more photos
dolls from the Genrokuk period, genroku bina
元禄雛(げんろくびな)


CLICK for more photos
dolls from the Kyooho period, kyoohobina
享保雛(きょうほびな)


kyoobina 京雛(きょうびな)hina dolls from Kyoto


. Kokawabina, Kokawa bina 粉河雛(こかわびな)
hina dolls fro Kokawa .

Kishu, Wakayama



standing dolls, tachibina 立雛

first dolls for a girl, hatsu bina 初雛
old dolls, furubina 古雛
dolls given away, yuzuri bina 譲り雛

rice bowl for hina dolls, hina no wan 雛椀(ひなわん)

room with the doll shelf, hina no ma 雛の間
home with a doll shelf, hina no yado 雛の宿
food tray for the dolls, hina no zen 雛の膳
feasting with the dolls, hina no en 雛の宴
ricewine for the dolls, hina no sake 雛の酒
peach ricewine, momo no sake 桃の酒 


sweets for the Doll festival, hina arare 雛あられ


More sweets for the Doll festival and sweet white rice wine
Shirazake 白酒 (しろざけ), hishi mochi 菱餅 (ひしもち)


market selling dolls, hina ichi 雛市

packing the dolls away, hina osame 雛収め
After the festival on the third of March, the dolls are packed away again for another year. They have special boxes to store them.
In some areas of Japan, it is the custom to
float old hina dolls in a boat after the festival (hina nagashi 雛流し, hina okuri 雛送り、 nagashibina 流し雛).



The dolls are placed in a small ship or round basked made of straw.

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box for the hina dolls, hina bako 雛箱(ひなばこ)
..... hina no hitsu 雛の櫃(ひなのひつ)
..... hina tsuzura 雛葛籠(ひなつづら)

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CLICK for more photos

Peach Blossom Festival, momo no sekku
桃の節句 (もものせっく)

..... tooka no setsu 桃花の節(とうかのせつ)

March Seasonal Festival, sangatsu sekku
三月節句(さんがつせっく)
..... yayoi no sekku 弥生の節句(やよいのせっく)

Hina Doll seasonal festival, hina no sekku
雛の節句(ひなのせっく) "peach day", momo no hi 桃の日(もものひ)


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observance kigo for late spring

jooshi 上巳 (じょうし) "first day of the snake"
It used to be the first day of the snake in the third lunar month, but now it is celebrated on the third of March.



In China, people used to purify their body in a river before the rituals. This became the custom of floating hina dolls (nagashibina).
Also at the Imperial Court during the Heian period, people sat by a bent river and composed poetry 曲水の宴 (gyokusui no en), as a kind of purification ritual.
winding garden stream at a kyokusui-no-utage



gyokusui 曲水 (きょくすい) "meandering stream"
..... gokusui 曲水(ごくすい)
gyokusui no en 曲水の宴(きょくすいのえん)Party at the meandering stream
megurimizu no toyo akari 曲水の豊明(めぐりみずのとよあかり)
ryuushoo 流觴(りゅうしょう)
sakazuki nagashi 盃流(さかずきながし)floating cups with sake

The stream was located at the south-east part of the Imperial Palace park.

quote
A typical feature of Heian-period (794-1185) pond gardens was the yarimizu (遣水, 遣り水; kyokusui 曲水, a.p. gyokusui), or winding garden stream, although its inclusion in garden designs dates from the late Nara period (710-794). A popular Heian festival was the kyokusui-no-en (曲水の宴, a.p. kyokusui-no-utage), or the Feast of the Winding Stream, held in March each year. Poetry was composed and recited by courtiers dressed in elaborate dress who sat by the side of the winding stream, partaking of delicate edibles and peach sake as the cups and dishes floated gently by.
An account of this ceremony appears in Genji-monogatori (源氏物語 The Tale of Genji), and the festival has since been revived
at Mōtsū-ji Temple, Hiraizumi, where it is held annually in May.
source : www.japanesegardensonline.com


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Daruma with his Missus as Hina Dolls



Made of Chocolate, Collection of Gabi Greve



Darumabina 達磨雛

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In our Library:

The Hina Matsuri, by Alan Plate

Antique Japanese Festival Dolls, by Timothy Mertel

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source : www.asobo-saga

They wear robes of silk, with a special small pattern called
Nabeshima Komon 鍋島小紋.

The pattern imitates the kernels of sesame 胡麻柄 gomagara.




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Ishii Rogetsu (1873-1928) and some Doll Festival Haiku
by Susumu Takiguchi

I do not have the time to find out when Rogetsu wrote this haiku but somehow I cannot help thinking that it has something to do with a series of tragedy whereby Rogetsu lost his daughters and son either as a child or a young person. When he was 35 years old he wrote a haiku on the same hina theme for his eldest daughter who was only three:

hina mo nashi nanji o momo no hana no kao

no hina dolls;
you are the flower face
of peach blossom



Hina-ichi no hitomoshi-goro o ame ga furu

As they were lighting up
In the Doll Market,
It was raining.



Hina-mise no hi o hiku koro ya haru no ame
Buson

As they were putting out
The lights of the doll shops,
The spring rain.


Read more in the World Haiku Review 2002

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The Doll Festival at the Temple Hookyoo-Ji
(Hokyo-Ji, Hokyoji) in Kyoto  宝鏡寺の雛祭り



The main event is the graceful dance of a maiden, accompanied by traditional music with old instruments.
This temple is famous for its dolls, even called the "Doll Temple". It is also the first of the five great Nunneries in Kyoto, with strong ancient bonds to the Emperor and his family.

In Kyoto many families celebratethe Doll Festival on the 3rd of April according to the old lunar calendar. It might be in this season, because the peaches are blossoming at that time.

Speaking about Hina festival, as expected one refers to the Hina dolls. There is a doll exhibition of valuable Hina dolls and Gosho dolls, held at Hokyoji in Teranouchi at Kamigyo ward, spanning nearly 1 month, related to the Girls Festival. There is a memorial service in the temple precincts, dedicated to the important dolls and the following poem by Saneatsu Mushanokoji is carved on the doll mound:

'Nobody knows who made the doll
or who loved the doll,
but by loving
you enter the true Nirvana.'



This doll mound gives an apropriate elegance to this gentle event and to this temple, also called the Doll temple.
http://www.city.kyoto.jp/koho/eng/preview/48.html


Twice a year, in spring and fall, this temple has a doll festival. This spring the festival runs from March 1 to April 3, and on the first day there will be a doll festival and Japanese dancing.



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Hina Doll Festival at the Temple Hokkei-Ji, Nara

「雛会式(法華寺)Hina Eshiki Ceremony, small dolls' rites
Hina Kaishiki
From the first to the seventh of April.
This ceremony dates back to the Heian period. It had been visited by the many ladies-in-waiting of the court quarters. It is related to rites of the Kegon Sutra 華厳経.

Look at many photos of this famous temple
http://www.eonet.ne.jp/~kotonara/hokkejinoohanasi.htm
http://www.taleofgenji.org/hokkeji.html



. Hokkeji and Empress Komyo Kogo .
法華寺 and 光明皇后


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quote
Hina Matsuri 雛祭 or 雛祭り
Doll Festival, Girls' Festival
- - - - - ALSO KNOWN AS THE
Snake Festival, Peach Blossom Festival,
or Drinking Around a Rolling Stream Festival

Japan's Doll Festival has a very curious history, one largely forgotten in contemporary times. Held on March three every year since the mid-to-late Edo period (1600-1867), it was originally a day for ritual purification known in Japanese as Jōshi no Sekku 上巳の節句 (literally "Seasonal Festival of the Snake") when people would rub their bodies with crude human-shaped figurines made of paper, straw, clay or wood. These figurines served as "scapegoats" for taking on (exorcising) the spiritual pollution and bad karma of the devotee (see below). The word for snake (Jōshi) sounds like the word for girl (Joshi 女子), so the festival eventually became a day devoted to girls.
Today the festival is a major joyous event but not a national holiday. Geared towards girls -- the first sekku 節句 (seasonal festival) after the birth of a baby girl -- it is a day when charming dolls are set out for display to symbolize the family's wish that their daughter will be healthy, free from calamity and able to obtain a happy life with a good husband. Also called the Peach Festival or Momo no Sekku 桃の節句, as March is the season when peach flowers are in bloom.

Jōshi no Sekku 上巳の節句 (original name for the Doll Festival in Japan). It literally means SEASONAL FESITVAL OF THE SNAKE, for the first day of the third month is the day of the snake. In China and Japan's old lunar calendar, this day occurred around March one (April one in today's solar calendar) and was thus also called Momo no Sekku 桃の節句 (literally Peach Blossoms Festival), for the peach trees are usually in full bloom at this time. On this day, people would perform symbolic ablutions or ritual cleansing to exorcise bad spirits. Such cleansing was performed by a pond or a river, with water and rice wine being used to cleanse the mouth, hands and feet.

Kyokusui no en 曲水の宴.
In later centuries, the festival day was changed to the third day of the third month in Japan, and known as Kyokusui no En, literally "Drinking Around a Rolling Stream." ...

Hinamatsuri 雛祭 or Doll Festival, March three every year. By the 16th or 17th century, the above traditions filtered down to the common people, who changed them into today's charming Doll Festival. ...

MORE
source : Mark Schumacher


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tsurushibina, tsurushi bina つるし雛、吊るし雛
small hanging hina dolls and other dolls


from Onjuku choo 御宿町, Onjuku, Chiba
. tsurushibina folk art .

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Worldwide use

China

quote
master wang on the third day of the third month (蘭亭序)
Picnics and dolls-- what's not to love about this time of year? Most of the Dear Readers of These Pages will know that the Third Month in Japan is traditionally known as Yayoi. And, while there are various explanations for the origins of each of the other ancient names for the 12 months; for Yayoi, it is pretty unanimously agreed upon that yayoi means, "at last!" いよいよ

Yayoi:
"At last, the grasses and trees are beginning to grow!" 木草弥生月

Of course, everything got messed up with the adoption of the Gregorian calendar so in Japan-- unlike in China-- all the events are off by a month. But, anyway, it's not that hard to imagine yourself on a picnic, eating princess cake under a big blossoming peach tree, right? Yes, it is girl's day and in addition to dolls put out in people's homes, in Tochigi, girls will go out and float paper dolls in paper boats down the river.

In ancient China, any date with a double number, such as the Third day of the Third month (3/3), was considered to be highly auspicious. All the "double" days are marked in China as days of festivies and celebration. In Japan, for some reason, this custom was only taken on the odd numbered months (except Nov), so we have
Jan 1 (1/1 new year); March 3 (3/3 Girls Day); May 5 (5/5 Boys Day); July 7 (7/7 Star Festival); and Sept 9 (9/9 Chrysanthemum Festival).

Interestingly-- with the notable exception of the equinox holidays-- there are very few holidays in Japan that follow the ancient lunar-solar calendar as Japan wholeheartedly adopted the Western Gregorian calendar during the Meiji period. According to the solar-lunar ancient calendar, March 3 actually should fall sometime in early April-- which is when the peach blossoms actually blossom (nowadays flower companies grow special peach trees which blossom a full month early in March to coincide with the holiday). Early April, when the holiday originally fell, is a time when the seasons change (from cold days to warmer days).

Seasonal transition times are known as kisetsu no kawarime (or "seasonal turnings of the year") and there were special days, known as sechi nichi (節日) in ancient Japan, to mark these seasonal transitions. At Court and among the aristocracy special banquets (with special nourishing foods to guard against sickness) and rituals (to guard against evil) were held as ancient people believed that the body was vulnerable to sickness and bad luck during these periods. Even today, it is a very common greeting during these times of the year is to wish someone good health with the phrase: "be careful not to catch a cold."

source : www.tangdynastytimes.com


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Germany

Puppenfest
Ein japanisches Mädchenfest
Tag des Mädchens


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India

. Golu Doll Festival .
and Navrathri, the Nine Day Festival


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Things found on the way




source : www.b-shoku.jp

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- quote
Doll diplomacy
'Hina' dolls depicting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy are displayed at Kyugetsu doll company in Taito Ward, Tokyo, on Thursday. The special dolls were set up in advance of the Hinamatsuri (Doll Festival) celebrated on Girls' Day on March 3. The kanji between the Japanese and U.S. flags reads: 'Friendship.'
- source : www.japantimes.co.jp - January 2014



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HAIKU



- source : Naokimi Yamada 2018 -

草の戸も住替る代ぞひなの家
kusa no to mo sumikawaru yo zo hina no ie

this old thatched hut
will change inhabitants now -
a home with dolls

(Tr. Gabi Greve)

Matsuo Basho, at the start of his long Journey to the North of Japan, Oku no Hosomichi


Oku no Hosomichi - - - - Station 1 - Prologue 出発まで - - -
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .



内裏雛人形天皇の御宇とかや
dairibina ningyoo tennoo no gyo u to ka ya

Dairi-bina,
The Emperor Ningyo
Really reigns today!

Tr. Oseko


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


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妹が家も田舎雛ではなかりけり
imo ga ya mo inaka hina de wa nakari keri

in my lover's house
not one provincial doll
on Doll's Day



ちる花に御目を塞ぐ雛哉
chiru hana ni on-me o fusagu hiina kana

closing her eyes
to the scattering blossoms...
the doll


Read more :
Doll Festival, Haiku by Issa (Tr. David Lanoue)


inarande Daruma mo hina no nakama kana


lined up too
among the dolls...
Dharma

(Haiga by Nakamura Sakuo)

Issa and more Daruma Haiku




imo ga ie mo inaka hina de wa nakarikeri

at the house
of my lover, too
no country-style dolls


. Comment by Chris Drake .



hina-tachi ni hanashi shikakeru kodomo kana

the child tries
to get festival dolls
to talk back


. Comment by Chris Drake .


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once a year
hina dolls are slightly flushed
with white sake


- Shared by Kyoko Shibata
Joys of Japan, March 2012


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Hina Sushi




My Hina-ningyo which are the dolls for Hina-Matsuri half century ago.
And me half century ago.
Grand-parents present the dolls to their grand-daughters at the first festival.

- Shared by Mieko Motoyama
Joys of Japan, March 2012



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te ni toreba haya niko-niko to uri-hina

Picking it up,
Soon I was smiling;
Dolls for sale.


Baishitsu (1768-1852), Tr. Blyth


umazume no hina kashizuku zo aware naru

The childless woman,
How tender she is
To the dolls!


Ransetsu (1654-1707), Tr. Blyth


hina no kao ware zehi naku mo oinikeri

The faces of the dolls!
Though I never intended to,
I have grown old.


Seifu (1732-1815), Tr. Blyth [Seifu is a woman]

unchanging dolls' faces--
I've had no choice, except
to grow old


Tr. Ueda




hosoki hi ni yosugara hina no hikari kana

softly lit...
all night the hina dolls
faintly shining


Buson (1716-1784), Tr. Shigeki Matsumura


obina yori mebina hookan dake takashi

Empress doll on stand,
taller than the Emperor
by only her crown.


Seishi (1901-1994), Tr, Kodaira and Marks


compiled by Larry Bole
Happy Haiku Forum March 2012


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Related words

***** . nochi no hina 後の雛 (のちのひな)
"the next doll festival"

aki no hina 秋の雛(あきのひな)"hina dolls in autumn"
kikubina 菊雛(きくびな) chrysanthemum dolls
(on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month)


***** WKD World Kigo Database: March


. Puppets and Dolls and Kigo  



Nagata jinja kamibina 長田神社神雛 "dolls of the Gods"
. Nagata Shrine in Kobe 長田神社  神戸 .


Aoshima jinja no kamibina 青島神社の神雛 "dolls of the Gods"
. Aoshima shrine 青島神社 Miyazaki .



. itobina 糸雛 string hina dolls .
Satsuma itobina 薩摩糸びな Satsuma string hina dolls
From Kagoshima, Miyazaki


. tatsubina 辰雛 Dragon hina dolls .


. uumen ウーメン(紙びな)hina dolls from paper .
Okinawa


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. kamishimobina, kamishimo hina 裃雛
hina dolls in kamishimo robes .

. . . . . and
kosei bina 古製雛 old hina dolls from Konosu town, Saitama


CLICK for more photos
Sushi as Hina Dolls

WASHOKU ... Japanese Food SAIJIKI


. Awashima Matsuri 淡島祭 Awashima festival  


Empress Jingu Kogo
神功皇后
. Jingu Kogo and Japanese Dolls .


. Hanayome ningyoo 花嫁人形  bride dolls .



Hina Doll Cats

- Shared by Esho Shimazu
Joys of Japan, March 2012



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4/06/2005

Dew (tsuyu)

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Dew, dewdrops (tsuyu)

***** Location: Japan, worldwide
***** Season: All Autumn and see below
***** Category: Heaven


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Explanation

dew, tsuyu 露

first dew, hatsu tsuyu 初露
evening dew, yuuzuyu  夕露
night dew, yozuyu 夜露
morning dew, asa tsuyu 朝露

white dew, shiratsuyu, hakuro 白露

beads of dew, tsuyu no tama 露の玉

heavy with dew, tsuyukeshi, tsuyukesa 露けし, 露けさ


cold dew, kanro 寒露. October 8


autumn with dew, tsuyu no aki 露の秋
home, lodging with dew, tsuyu no yado 露の宿

dew dripping from trees, under the dew, shitatsuyu 下露
dew above, on the leaves, uwatsuyu 上露


dew on chrysanthemums, kiku no tsuyu 菊の露


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kigo for late autumn

. tsuyujimo 露霜 (つゆじも) frozen dew
"dew and frost"

tsuyu shigure 露しぐれ (つゆしぐれ) dew dripping as intense as sleet


後からぞっとするぞよ露時雨
ushiro kara zotto suru zo yo tsuyu-shigure
. WKD : Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 in Edo .



tsuyuzamu 露寒 (つゆざむ) cold dew
dew in the cold
tsuyu samushi 露寒し(つゆさむし)dew feels cold
..... tsuyu sayuru 露冴ゆる(つゆさゆる)



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This word has been used as a symobl of autumn in Japanese poetry since the Heian period.
It is found already in the Manyo-Shu 万葉集 poetry collection.

Since is refers to something that looses its being when the sun starts shining, it is a symbol for the fleeting life itself. In Buddhism, death is just a step to another way of being, and the time spent with the ancestors is so much longer than the time spent here on this earth. Dewdrops are the perfect metapher for the changes in the natural circle of all things, like the shells of cicadas (monuke, utsu-semi).

the world of dew, tsuyu no yo 露の世
the body of dew, tsuyu no mi 露の身
the life of dew, tsuyu no inochi 露の命




Dewdrops are also a symbols for tears in Asian art, in Japan also in connection with the long sleeves of a kimono, wet with dew (tears).
The sleeve is an important item, used by ladies to wipe their tears.

. tamoto たもと【袂】the sleeve of a kimono


Dew can be observed in all seasons, but is most often seen in autumn.
It is also a sign that the long humid Japanese summer is coming to an end.


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The World in a Dewdrop. by M.C. Escher



Natural Mandala Patterns, Gabi Greve


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kigo for late spring

haru no tsuyu 春の露 (はるのつゆ) dew in spring


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kigo for all summer

natsu no tsuyu 夏の露 (なつのつゆ) dew in summer

. cool dew, tsuyu suzushi 露涼い  


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kigo for all winter

tsuyu koru 露凝る (つゆこる) dew is freezing
..... tsuyu kooru 露こおる(つゆこおる)
..... tooro 凍露(とうろ)frozen dew



. SAIJIKI
HEAVEN in all seasons
 



*****************************
Worldwide use

Germany

Tau, Tautropfen

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Mongolia

dew
kigo for summer

Ulan Bator (Ulaanbaatar):
The dew point is often a better measure of how comfortable a person will find the weather than relative humidity because it more directly relates to whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid.

Over the course of a year, the dew point typically varies from -37°C (dry) to 13°C (comfortable) and is rarely below -43°C (dry) or above 16°C (comfortable).

The time of the year between June 23 and August 23 is the most comfortable, with dew points that are neither too dry nor too muggy.
source : weatherspark.com



morning dew
reflects the glare of the sun
on the steppe ...


Burenbileg Batsuuri

. MONGOLIA SAIJIKI .


More Mongolian poems with dew :
source : Beyond the Limits



*****************************
Things found on the way


In the dew of little things,
the heart finds its morning
and is refreshed.


Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet


*****************************
HAIKU



. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 haiku about dew .


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morning dew -
the pearl necklace
of my grandmother


© Haiku and Photo by Gabi Greve, 2005


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- - - - - Kobayashi Issa - - - - -

露けさや石の下より草の花
tsuyukesa ya ishi no shita yori kusa no hana

humidity--
from beneath a stone
wildflowers


.. .. ..

露けしや草一本も秋の体
tsuyukeshi ya kusa ippon mo aki no tei

humidity--
even one blade of grass
is autumn


Issa, Tr. by David Lanoue

Discussion on the use of HUMIDITY
Translating Haiku Forum



heavy dew
one blade of grass shows
signs of autumn


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

Discussion on TSUYUKESHI, by Nakamura Sakuo

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...


露の世の露を鳴也夏の蝉
tsuyu no yo no tsuyu o naku nari natsu no semi

in a dewdrop world
singing at dewdrops...
summer cicada


Issa

Sakuo Nakamura notes the religious feeling in this haiku. 'Dewdrop world' suggests fragile life: how all living beings die so quickly. The phrase, "singing at dewdrops," means "singing for a very short time." He adds, "The dewdrop will soon disappear when the sun rises, and yet the summer cicada is alive and singing with pleasure, like a human being. He is not aware of his short life."
Tr. David Lanoue

... ... ... ...

しら露としらぬ子どもが仏かな
shira tsuyu to shiranu kodomo ga hotoke kana

the child unaware
of the white dewdrops
a Buddha


Issa
Tr. David Lanoue

shiranu ga hotoke, a Japanese proverb meaning: not knowing is bliss


... ... ... ...


tsuyo-no-yo wa tsuyu-no-yo nagara sari nagara

Diese Tautropfen-Welt
Mag ein Tautropfen sein,
Und doch...


Kobayashi Issa
Haiku Plus, Germany


露の世は露の世ながらさりながら
tsuyu no yo wa tsuyu no yo nagara sari nagara

this world
is a dewdrop world
yes... but...

One of Issa's most famous poems, this haiku was written to mourn the death of his daughter Sato. It is a reworking of an earlier poem of grief, one written on the one-year anniversary of the death of Issa's first child, Sentarô: "it's a dewdrop world/ surely it is/ and yet..." According to Buddhist teaching, life is as fleeting as a dewdrop and so one should not grow attached to the things of this world. However, in both poems Issa adds the phrase, "and yet..." His human heart clings to his lost children.

John Brandi provides a succinct summary: "[Issa] says I know the world of dew is just the world of dew, yet I feel pain, I am alive"; qtd. in Nanao Sakaki, Inch by Inch: 45 Haiku by Issa (Albuquerque: La Alameda Press, 1999) 72.


... ... ... ...


露の世は得心ながらさりながら
tsuyu no yo wa tokushin nagara sari nagara

it's a dewdrop world
surely it is...
yes... but...


Issa
Tr. David Lanoue

...

World like a dewdrop
though it's only a dewdrop
even so, even so.

Tr. Jane Reichhold

...

While this dewdrop world
Is but a dewdrop world,
Yet--all the same!

Tr. John Paris

...

those old Chinese poets understood
their world of dew.

and yet,
and yet...

Comment by : Eric Hevesy

..........................

tsuyu no tama hitotsu hitotsu ni kokyoo ari

in beads of dew
one by one my home
village

Tr. David Lanoue

Are the dewdrops in the poem a metaphor because he links them to a sense of home?
Or are they something else?
What would that something else be?
... Translating Haiku Forum

..........................


半分は汗の玉かよ稲の露
hanbun wa ase no tama ka yo ine no tsuyu

hey, look, half
must be drops of sweat --
dew on the rice stalks

Tr. Chris Drake

This summer hokku is from the middle of the 6th month (late July) of 1822. Rice planting in Issa's area was usually done at the end of the 4th month (May) or beginning of the 5th month (June), about six or seven weeks before this hokku was written, and now the rice plants are just beginning to show signs of putting out heads of rice at the top of their lengthening stalks. At this point, the main jobs are weeding and thinning as well as draining the wet paddies and reflooding them, and there is much work to be done before the harvest in early October. It's the hottest time of the year now, and the farmers in the paddies are sweating profusely, so Issa seems to be quite worried about their health. As the son of a farmer, he must know how hard the work is, even though as an adult he rarely worked in the paddies. And his own father collapsed in a field and died not long afterward.

This seems to be a rather existential hokku for Issa, since the tone is direct, colloquial, rough, and emotional. It is more than a question: it expresses a serious suspicion bordering on strong, passionate conviction. It is even possible to interpret Issa's ka yo here as indicating a rhetorical question, as in:

you think only half
are drops of sweat?
dew on the rice stalks

just look -- could only
half of it be sweat?
dew on the rice stalks


In this strong reading, someone would have been talking about the heat and saying that half the dew on the rice stalks must be sweat, and Issa disagrees, using irony to ask, how could all that sweat be only half the dew drops I see? (It must be more than half....) I mention this possibility since someone might want to do a colloquial translation that would explore this reading.

Chris Drake


. Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 in Edo .




ine no tsuyu 稲の露 strong alcoholic drink from Okinawa


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金剛の 露ひとつぶや 石の上
kongoo* no tsuyu hitotsubu ya ishi no-ue

Kawabata Bosha 茅舎

Like a diamond
a drop of dew, all alone
on a stone.

tr. Ueda Makoto


just one drop of dew
situated on a rock --
indestructible.

tr. Nakamura Yutaka

*kongoo: a mythical metal so hard nothing can cut or break it. In Buddhist terminology, 'kongou' is often used to mean something that is extremely hard and valuable.
kongoo-seki: diamond (seki: stone) 金剛石


This gem pays tribute to a haiku ideal: images before ideas.
Classic Haiku, Yuzuru Miura




A drop of dew
Sits on a rock
Like a diamond.

trans. Yuzuru Miura; Classic Haiku: A Master's Selection



Comment and translation by Donald Keene:
Dawn to the West
Bosha wrote an exceptional number of poems about the dew. His first collection, 'Kawabata Bosha Kushuu' (1934), opened with twenty-six haiku on the dew. No doubt he associated his own life in the traditional manner, with the ephemeral dew, but he insisted paradoxically on its strength, as if to proclaim his intensity of purpose, despite his frailty [he died from tuberculosis of the spine]

A single dewdrop
A diamond of hardness
Lies on the stone.


Obviously, this was not the standard way to refer to the dew, but Bosha sensed a strength and absoluteness even in the quickly vanishing dew; indeed, a dew of diamond hardness was the symbol of his entire work.
People at the time sometimes spoke of Bosha's "Pure Land," a realm of lasting dewlike beauty.


Discussion by
. . . . . Larry Bole, Translating Haiku Forum

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. Kawabata Bosha  川端茅舎
(1897-1941), some sources quote [1900 -1941]


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Other Boosha dew haiku:

tsuyu no tama hashirite nokosu kotsubu kana

Beads of dew run about,
One tiny drop
Remains behind.

tr. Blyth


Tsuyu no tama ari taji-taji to nari ni keri

A ball of dew;
The ant
was aghast at it.

tr. Blyth

... ...

A dew haiku by Shiki, which Blyth says is almost a senryu:

isshoo no tsuyu o tatauru saniwa kana

A small garden
Brimming with dew,--
Half a gallon of it.

tr. Blyth


Two versions of a dew haiku by Issa:

Blyth:

hasu no ha ni kono yo no tsuyu wa magarikeri

On the lotus leaf,
The dew of this world
Is distorted.


Lanoue:

hasu no ha ni kono yo no tsuyu wa ibitsu nari

on lotus leaves
this world's dewdrops
are warped



And finally one by me,
first posted on Museki Abe's photo-haiku website:

this body of mine
on its way to the next world...
dew on a petal


Larry Bole


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autumn morning
the grasshopper taps
a frozen dewdrop


Kilmeny Niland, Australia, 2007


Origa writes:
A sensitive and direct observation of a simple yet high moment in life. Two skillfully juxtaposed images, a chilly autumn morning when the nature seems almost dead (as it stressed by showing a frozen dewdrop), and a lively tiny creature, a grasshopper, doing its usual tapping on the leaves, but this morning, already on the first frost...

It evokes a painful feeling of frailness of life, and a lump in the throught... Life and death, fleeting moment and permanence, the Mother Nature's embracement of all living things and yet the impassivity for them, the profound symbolism in that grasshopper's tapping on a frozen dewdrop, and much more -- are shown in this poem in only fourteen syllables.

The way it is expressed, shows admirable skill and restraint. Each word is carefully selected for its full effect, and I particularly praise the choice of "taps". This is a most sensitive and subtle haiku with exemplary expression, a masterpiece of haiku.It deeply corresponds with the theme of the contest, and the dedication. Brava, Kilmeny!

RESULTS of the Sixth Calico Cat haiku contest.
Origa (Olga Hooper)


More Haiga by Kilmeny Niland


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Related words

Do not confuse dew (tsuyu) with a word of the same sound, but not related to it at all

***** World Kigo Database : Rainy Season (tsuyu 梅雨)

***** World Kigo Database: Rain in various kigo

***** White Dew (shiratsuyu) and Haiku


. SAIJIKI
HEAVEN in all seasons
 




[ . BACK to DARUMA MUSEUM TOP . ]
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
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Deer (shika)

[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO TOP . ]
. Legends about the deer .
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Deer (shika)

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


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Explanation

The deer (Cervus nippon) is a sacred animal in Buddhism and in Shintoism too.
It has been introduced to other countries under the name of Shika Deer or even Sika Deer, see below.

There are many other kinds of deer.
Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus) is a deer species of Europe and Asia Minor.
Red Deer (Cervus elaphus), known as Elk in North America.

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Ogata Gekko 尾形月耕 (1859 - 1920)


kigo for all autumn
this is the most important haiku season for deer, where it is identified with the momiji maple leaves

deer, shika 鹿 しか
..... suzuka すずか
..... sugaru すがる
"red maple-leaf bird", momijidori 紅葉鳥

stag, male deer, ojika 牡鹿
mejika 牝鹿(めじか)emale deer
..... saojika, 小男鹿
great deer, Elk, oojika 大鹿

deer's voice / deer "cries":  shika no koe 鹿の声
shika naku 鹿鳴く(しかなく) deer is calling
deer is barking, mating call of a deer
(see discussion below)

"longing for a wife", mating deer, tsuma kou shika 妻恋う鹿 
shika no tsuma 鹿の妻(しかのつま)"wife of the deer"
tomojika 友鹿(ともじか) deer together

deer flute / deer call (mimics sound of a deer calling)
shikabue 鹿笛

The longing cry of a deer in autumn has been subject of poetry all over the world. During the mating season in October and November one can hear the buck cry and see them fight for the bride.


yoru no shika 夜の鹿(よるのしか)deer at night

shikagari 鹿狩(しかがり) deer hunt, deer hunting

shinroku 神鹿(しんろく)"deer of the gods"

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春日のの鹿も立ちそう花御堂
kasuga no no shika mo tachisoo hana midoo

Kasuga Field's deer
also attend, I see...
Buddha's birthday flowers

Kobayashi Issa, Tr. David Lanoue

Comment by Nakamura Sakuo
The deer is a servant of the Shinto-shrine, Kasuga Shrine.
Hanami-dou (blossom-filled temple) is Buddha’s holy house.
Judging from Christian religious point of view they are both heathen.
According to Western commonsense, it seems to be that an Arab’s camel visits a synagogue.



Read more about the Deer, Kasuga Shrine Mandala
and the Flower Pavillion (Hana Midoo)


In Buddhism, the Deerpark of Varanasi, where Shakyamuni Buddha held his first sermon, is the most famous place for deer.

Buddhist Dharma Wheel with Deer


© Tibetan Treasures
http://www.tibetantreasures.com/NewFiles/4fhcw12.0306.lg.jpg

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さをしかの角に結びし手紙哉
saoshika no tsuno ni musubishi tegami kana

tied around one
of the stag's antlers --
a letter


- - - Comment from Chris Drake :
This hokku is from the 8th month (September), at the beginning of the deer mating season, when mature stags' antlers are at their full length. At this time Issa was traveling around near his hometown, but the hokku in Issa's diary following this one is about deer in the deer park in Nara, so I take the present hokku to be about a stag in the Nara deer park, too. Like foxes, monkeys, and several other animals, deer were sacred in Japanese shamanism, and the deer in the Nara park are believed to be manifestations of the three main gods of the nearby Kasuga Shrine: they act as messengers for these gods and also carry the gods when the gods want to travel between this world and the other world.
The Nara deer park
is also revered by Japanese Buddhists as the manifestation in Japan of the deer park in Sarnath, India, where Shakyamuni Buddha preached his first sermon. As in Sarnath, the park is a sanctuary for deer, and the Shinto priests of the Kasuga Shrine and the monks of the nearby Kofukuji Buddhist temple guard the deer very strictly. In fact, in Issa's time killing a deer was punishable by death. In medieval art that fuses Shinto and Buddhist images and spirituality, the head deity of Kasuga Shrine is commonly shown riding on a stag, and just as often only a divine stag is shown, sometimes standing below a full moon or with a full-moon-shaped mandala on its back.
Because they are protected,
the deer in Nara are unafraid of humans and sometimes approach them for food. Issa may have seen the stag in this hokku from close range, since he can see that the folded paper knotted around one of its antlers is a letter. In Issa's time letters were folded sideways until they were long and narrow. This allowed the sender to loop them around other objects and tie them tightly. Perhaps Issa imagines it's a love letter.
Deer mating in the fall
has been a common image in waka for strong, intense love since ancient times -- and Issa actually does mention love in the next hokku in his diary, which is about Nara deer. Perhaps a man who knows waka has written a love letter he wants to keep secret, and he has agreed with his equally secretive lover to tie it around a stag's antler. Or, since does are in heat now, the stag must be a bit rambunctious and excited, so perhaps the man wants to express the strength of his love to his lover by tying it around a stag's antler.

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小男鹿や後の一声細長き
saoshika ya ato no hito koe hosonagaki

a stag,
later a single long
thin cry

Tr. Chris Drake

This autumn hokku is from lunar 8/21 (October 10) of 1808, when Issa climbed a mountain not far from his hometown with two of his haikai students. The time is the height of the deer mating season, and on this day Issa wrote several hokku about lonely, suffering stags crying. In the present hokku Issa evokes a stag crying out with deep longing for a doe. Earlier its voice had been fierce and strong, but at last it grows weaker, and after a silence its final cry is deeply moving in its fragility, as if the stag were forcing himself to continue his long, thin stream of sound by sheer will power, even though there is no response. Issa notes in another hokku that it was common for stags to cry all night long, so the exhausted deer in this hokku may have rested and moved on to a new site on the mountain.

The sad-sounding cries of the stags were so moving that on the same day Issa wrote:

shika no koe hotoke wa nan to notamawaku

stag cries --
what do the Buddhas
say about this?


Issa asks the various Buddhas, surely including Amida, if they don't have some way of easing the pain of all these stags, who are literally crying from the depths of their being. Issa may be referring to words in various sutras, or, more likely, he may be making a direct appeal to the mercy of Amida and other Buddhas, asking them if they would be willing to speak out in some form or another.

The nightly cries of the stags seem to be causing Issa pain, since he knows no way of helping them or of separating himself from their difficult desire:

shika no mi ni natte shika kiku hitori kana

one man
listens to stags
as a stag himself


I take this "one man" (the phrase also means "single man") to refer to Issa. He is not shaking with lust or crying out deep, guttural sounds, but he feels the stag cries are somehow his own as well. In addition to being naturally sensitive to animals' feelings, Issa may also feel the stags express a kind of wild energy that is driving him to try to return to his hometown, receive half his father's house, and get married there in spite of strong opposition from his half brother, his mother-in-law, and many villagers. At the time he writes these hokku Issa is staying not in his natal home but with various students and at temples he knows near and in his hometown because he wants to negotiate further with his resisting brother about his father's inheritance. Three days after writing these hokku, Issa signed an agreement with his brother, who then refused to carry it out until an unspecified date in the future. Issa's wanderings continued, and when he returned to Edo he found he was homeless, since the small house he had been renting was now occupied by people he didn't know.

Chris Drake
. Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 in Edo .


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kigo for all sping

haru no shika 春の鹿 (はるのしか ) deer in spring

haramijika 孕み鹿 (はらみじか) pregnant deer


kigo for late sping

kigo about the horns (tsuno, Geweih)

otoshizuno 落し角 ( おとしづの) loosing the horns
..... shika no tsuno otsu 鹿の角落つ(しかのつのおつ)
..... wasurezuno 忘れ角(わすれづの)


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kigo for all summer

shika no ko 鹿の子 (かのこ) fawn, Bambi
..... kojika 小鹿(こじか)
shika no komadara 三夏 鹿の子斑(かのこまだら)speckled fawn
shika no ko 鹿の子(しかのこ)"child of the deer)
oyajika 親鹿(おやじか) mother deer

. . . . .

kigo for early summer

fukurozuno 袋角 (ふくろづの) summer horns
lit. "horns in a bag"
shika no fukurozuno 鹿の袋角(しかのふくろづの)
shika no wakazuno 鹿の若角(しかのわかづの)young horns of the deer
..... rokujoo 鹿茸(ろくじょう)
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

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kigo for all autumn

soozu 添水 そうず "animal chaser" deer scarer
shishiodoshi, shishi odoshi 鹿威し the deer scarer


. Japanese Garden - shishi-odoshi .

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kigo for all winter

fuyu no shika 冬の鹿 (ふゆのしか) deer in winter

noro 麕 (のろ) Japanese deer
noroshika のろしか , ノロジカ
Capreolus capreolus
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


WASHOKU
Momijinabe 紅葉鍋 (もみじなべ) stew with deer meat

lit. "red leaves stew"

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CLICK for more photos
日本羚羊 Nihon Kamoshika

kamoshika 羚羊 (かもしか) Japanese serow
..... kamoshika 氈鹿(かもしか
kamoshishi かもしし
kandachi 寒立(かんだち) "standing in the cold"
Rupicapra rupicapra. Gemse, Gams, Gämse; Berggämse
(also used for antelope)


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Worldwide use

Ireland

quote
Fia Rua, Cervus elaphus, Red Deer
... most red deer in Ireland are descended from introduced animals. The only true native herd is in Killarney National Park in Co. Kerry; some animals from this herd have been moved to National Parks in Connemara and Glenveagh, to increase the native population. Also, many deer throughout the country are actually hybrids (mixes) of red and Japanese sika deer.
source : wicklowmountains nationalpark.ie


forest stroll...
among the tall pines
a glance of Fia Rua


- Shared by John Byrne -
Haiku Culture Magazine, 2013


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Mongolia

. Roe deer, Antelope, Saiga antelope .

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North America

In most parts of North America they are hunted in the rut and this is early winter (December).
Most deer is seen in spring, when the does are more daring, needing to feed to nurse the fawns. Then the fawns emerge in early summer. Aside from trees bare of leaves (allowing sightlines), autumn is the hardest time to see deer.

fawn
kigo for early summer

deer hunting
kigo for winter



More details about the seasonal behaviour of elks:
Elk through the seasons
source : www.rmef.org


*****************************
Things found on the way


. hakuroku 白鹿だるま white deer Daruma .
The white deer is a messenger of the Gods.


mikuji holder from Kasuga Taisha

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Discussion about translating:
"shika no nakigoe 鹿の鳴声"


Issa has various haiku about this sound
translated by David Lanoue


我形をうさんと見てや鹿の鳴
waga nari o usan to mite ya shika no naku

glimpsing suspicious me
the deer sounds
the alarm

This migh be translated differently to bring out the kire YA in the second line. Gabi

... ... ... ... ...

どこをおせばそんな音が出る山の鹿
doko o oseba sonna ne ga deru yama no shika

where were you poked
to make that sound...
mountain deer?


わか鹿や二ッ並んで対の声
waka shika ya futatsu narande tsui no koe

two young deer
side by side...
a duet


有明や十ばかり対に鳴く
ariake ya shika jû bakari tsui ni naku

sunrise--
ten deer at least
singing in pairs


鳴な鹿柳が蛇になるほどに
naku na shika yanagi ga hebi ni naru hodo ni

don't cry deer!
the willow tree only looks
like snakes


山寺や縁の上なるしかの声
yamadera ya en no ue naru shika no koe

mountain temple--
on the verandah
voice of a deer


鹿鳴や犬なき里の大月夜
shika naku ya inu naki sato no ôtsuki yo

cries of the deer--
in a village without dogs
a moonlit night


薮並やとし寄鹿のぎりに鳴
yabu nami ya toshiyori shika no giri ni naku

in the thicket
the old deer calls
for honor's sake


夜あらしや窓に吹込鹿の声
yo arashi ya mado ni fukikomu shika no koe

night storm--
blowing in the window
voice of a deer


鹿鳴や川をへだてて忍ぶ恋
shika naku ya kawa o hedatete shinobu koi

they cry to each other
across a river
deer in love


ほたへるや犬なき里の鹿の声
hotaeru ya inu naki sato no shika no koe

barking--
in a village without dogs
voices of deer

ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo

あきらめて子のない鹿は鳴ぬなり
akiramete ko no nai shika wa nakinu nari

giving up
the childless deer
sings no more


In other words, the deer doesn't bother with a mating call. This haiku, composed in the Ninth Month of 1821, seems to refer to Issa's own frustration as a would-be parent. His first three children by this point in time had all died.


Comment by Gabi Greve:
I wonder about the translation SINGS ... Here is my first version

> giving up -
> the childless deer
> makes no more calls


(Discussing this translation here)

Listen to the voice of Deer in Nara here, says Sakuo. Click the NOTE MARK ♪.
http://www.pref.nara.jp/nara/oto/2.html


............ Some further versions of translating this haiku

I'm afraid "makes no more calls" seems to mean that he decides not to use the phone any more(!). A possibility is "calls no more", but this has a somewhat archaic feel to it. "has lost his voice" or "loses his voice" might be worth considering, though David's "sings no more" seems just fine to me, with the footnote.

Norman

Aaaa, so true. So here is my next try

> giving up -
> the childless deer
> calls no more for love

Gabi

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The English verb for the call of a deer (in rut, especially) is "bell."
(Presumably related to "bellow"?)

Lewis Cook

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giving up -
no more belling
from the childless deer

Norman

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BELL sounds strange to my German ears too, even if it might be the right word biologically ...

bellen, ... that is what a dog does in German, to bark.
Gabi

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"To bell" was a new verb to me too... but yes, my (English) dictionary confirms it.

That is, if we are talking about a MALE deer. There is still a puzzle in my mind -- how would a stag know that he was childless? I did not think that deer lived in couples...
And if we are talking about a FEMALE deer, then bell would not be the verb to use...

And how about "child"less? In English, a young deer is called a fawn -- but a fawn stops being a fawn after a year (I believe), while it could theoretically remain the stag's "child" all its lifetime...

This haiku is challenging our English vocabulary, as well as our Japanese!

Isabelle.

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The kidai here is surely the mating call of the male shika. In drawing the metaphor of himself, it seems the poet has sacrificed verisimilitude, but that doesn't lessen theimpact of the haiku for me.

Norman

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giving up <>
the childless deer does not even
cry any more

I find CRY is a better humanification than SING in this haiku, if there has to be one anyway ...
Gabi

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I've read that mating call of the deer is called "bugling"

giving up
childless deer
bugles no more

Natalia L. Rudychev

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with no offspring
the shika buck gives up --
whistles no more

I felt using the name of the deer and its sex important to understanding the poem. Also, I think the sound more a whistle. I have heard the deer and hunters name its call as a whistle.

Chibi

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As for the ... shika buck ...
I think this is not necessary. SHIKA is a Japanese word, simply meaning deer, not any special kind ... and no normal American will understand it. Better leave it out in this case, I suggest.

> with no offspring
> the buck gives up --
> whistles no more

Gabi

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Shika (Cervus nippon), more commonly known in English as 'sika', is well-known here (and in Britain and France) where it has been naturalised for more than a century. I agree with Chibi, and tend to specify 'sika' in haikai, because the rutting season is not the same for all deer - roe deer, for instance, have a summer rut.

Search results on Google:
155,000 pages for "sika deer"
880 for "shika deer"

The name 'sika' is also used exclusively in French (compare German 'Sikahirsch') so, because the word is long-established, we'd need to look back long before Googel to find the origin of the "misspelling". Language changes all the time - words borrowed from other languages, all the more easily. This year's misspelling may be correct next year...

Norman

SHIKA 鹿 しか in Japanese starts with the sound SHI.
SIKA is a mis-spelling.
Gabi


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It impresses me more and more the ripples that this frog causes in the haiku pond!!

Gabi san and Norman san
We have hundreds of "shika" deer on the Berry College Campus in Rome, Georgia. I have always heard (herd ... hehe) them called "shika" here in Georgia, but, I can see by Norman's exploration the more popular "google"ese is "sika".

fauxku:

fawnless
noble sika --
no bell

hehe... chibi

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Contribution by Larry Bole
Translating Haiku Forum 


I don't know how a stag would know he has a son, but this seems to be a topic in Japanese haiku.

In Nobuyuki Yuasa's translation of Issa's "The Year of My Life" (Ora ga Haru), Issa both writes and quotes a couple of haiku by others on the topic.

This is from Chapter 13 (no Japanese available):

"According to Buddha's teaching, man and beast are one in their essential nature. If that be true, then the mutual love between a child and his parent mut be the same for animals as for men, and there can be no difference between them."

[There follow six haiku, three by others, and three by Issa, illustrating his proposition]

A human father
Drove away a crow
For the children
Of the sparrows.

--Onitsura


For his child's sake
A father deer
Calls out against danger
On a summer hill.

--Gomei


A father frog
Stepped out,
Child on his back
To join the chorus.

--Tooyoo


A wind rustling
Through bamboo leaves
Brought a father deer
Hurrying home.

Out in the darkness
Of the passing rain,
I hear the crying
Of the childless deer.

Round the bush
That hides her children
A mother lark
Circles, singing.

-- Issa

ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo


HOERU 吼える ほえる

吼る鹿おれをうさんと思ふかよ
hoeru shika ore o usan [to] omou ka yo

barking deer
do you think I'm
a suspicious character?


Tr. David Lanoue

ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo

Here is a haiku by Basho about the voice of the deer:
shirigoe = the lingering cry


ぴいと啼く尻声悲し夜の鹿
pii to naku shirigoe kanashi yoru no shika

crying beeeee” . . . ,
the lingering sound so sad:
night deer

Tr. Barnhill


Hee ........ the lingering cry
Is mournful:
The deer at night.

Tr. Blyth


they make a cry ‘beeeee’ ...
a lingering sound so sad:
the deer of the night

Tr. Chilcott


Written in 1694 元禄七年九月十日 in a letter to Sanpuu 杉風 Sanpu.

The sound BI is usually written like this び.
びいと啼く尻聲悲し夜乃鹿

- kanashii, kanashiki 悲しい, 悲しき sad, miserable sorrowful -
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .


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SIKA DEER (Shika Deer)
Sika deer are not native to Europe.
Originally from Asia,
these chestnut-brown creatures have now established themselves in small pockets across the country. Their short and stocky shape is well suited to life on woodlands and marshes. They can push through the reedbeds and remain hidden, and their muscular form makes them good swimmers.
Males invest an enormous amount of energy into growing their antlers which become bigger each year. These status symbols are shed in April or May.
The mating season runs from August until October, and young are born eight months later.
Sika deer have been mating with the native red deer and the result is a declining number of pure-bred deer. Without genetic analysis it is hard to distinguish between the hybrids and the pure-breeds.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/nature/sites/wildlife/pages/sika_deer.shtml

Japanese Sika Deer
have been introduced into a number of other countries including Australia, Austria, Denmark, Germany, Britain, France, Ireland, Jolo Island (south of the Philippines), New Zealand, Poland, Morocco and the United States (Maryland). In many cases they were originally introduced as ornamental animals in parkland, but have established themselves in the wild.
Sika, romanized shika in the Hepburn system, is the Japanese word for deer in general. The full Japanese word for Cervus nippon is nihonjika.
More is in the Wikipedia on Sika Deer


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HAIKU


The Deer (Haiku)

The Stag, majestic
Stood watching his herd as they
Waited to go eat

Stepping into the
Sunlight, he paused to taste the
Air, then said “OK”

Each doe as she passed
Bowed before him then went to
Eat the freshest grass

He watched as they all
Walked with graceful dignity
Through the green pasture

Then, in a playful
Spirit, he leapt into their
Midst and nibbled grass

The hunter paused in
Wonder as the herd approached
With the fawns dancing

A melody came
From the birds and the herd
Listened for danger

Camera arose
This hunter came only to
Take many pictures

The dance of the deer
Went on until the Stag heard
Twigs snap behind him

He called to the herd
“Time to go, gather your babes
We must leave this place”

Then disappearing
Into the forest, the Stag
Was the last to leave

Scenting Man, he turned
Toward the hunter raising his head
High, then he was gone

Time stopped, the hunter
Sat amazed at his last shot
Of the wondrous buck


This is what memories are made of….
Copyright © 2005 Spritsong (Dee Anne Blades) Shadow Poetry

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Deer Haiku and Haiga by Narayanan Raghunathan, India



so many forests ~
so many deer summer
perspectives in green



Click on the following Haiku to see the Haiga

mysterious jungle
great cosmos of deer
peaceful dhyaana ~


nigoodam vanam
maha harina prapancham
shaanthi dhyaanam ~
[ Sanskrit ]

mother deer asleep ~
a triplet of fawns
wander into twilight


Quoted from wonderhaikuworlds.com
twilight stars emerge ~
a herd of deer re-align
their luminous spots  

shyam

a stag, solitary
among sunlit grass ~
distant human voices  

shyam

deers at dusk
tasting the leaves of grass -
strange footsteps

Ninasha

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autumn stars
as deep in the woods
stags hunt

my hands
warm in my pockets
... the calls of stags

through the dark
of the autumn evening
deer tracks


Ella Wagemakers
Autumn 2011


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Related words

. shika tsunokiri 鹿角切り cutting the antlers of deer  
at Kinkazan, Miyagi
at Kasuga Taisha shrine, Nara

***** WASHOKU ... Meat from the Mountains  

. ANIMALS in all SEASONS - SAIJIKI

. Legends about the deer .

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