Insects (mushi)

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Insects (mushi)

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

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Explanation

Before we start with this kigo, did you know that the biggest insect of them all is the "naked insect" hadakamushi 裸虫, the human being !

裸虫さし出て時雨時雨けり
hadaka mushi sashidete shigure shigure keri

a wiggling worm
peeks out...winter rain!
winter rain!

Kobayashi Issa

Hadaka mushi, literally "naked bug," refers to a critter that lacks wings or legs: a worm, a slug, or the like. Metaphorically, it can also refer to a poor person without clothes; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1325.

Tr. David Lanoue

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Insects in this context are the ones that make a lot of noise in autumn, like crickets and cicadas. This kigo is usually used in the plural meaning.

insects, mushi 虫
autumn of the insects, mushi no aki　虫の秋



lit: "voice of the insect", chirping insects,
mushi no ne 虫の音
..... mushi no koe, 虫の声
shrill chorus of insects, mushi shigure 虫時雨
..... Lit. Snow shower of insects (voices)

insects at daytime, hiru no mushi　昼の虫
left-over insects (from early autumn) , nokoru mushi 残る虫
clinging insects, sugaru mushi すがる虫


box for keeping insects, mushikago, mushiko 虫籠
dealer for insects, mushiya 虫家, mushi-uri 虫売り
.. knowledgeable about insects, mushi-kiki 虫聞き


. . . CLICK here for Photos !
mushikiki at Dokanyama, Edo 道灌山 道灌やま虫聞
Sanjūrokkyō Dōkan-yama Mushi-kiki Utagawa Toyokuni III

A Dealer of Insect Baskets of Old Edo


http://www.surugaya.com/kodawari/mushiyomo/

. mushikago - cages for insects - introduction .




observance kigo for all autumn

hunting for insects, mushikari 虫狩 （むしがり)
..... mushi tori, mushitori 虫採り（むしとり)
selecting insects, mushi erabi 虫選び (むしえらび )
..... mushi fuku 虫吹く（むしふく）

pairing insects, mushi awase 虫合わせ （むしあわせ）
"Poetry competition of the Insects"



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Some insects that sing loudely in Autumn

crickets, koorogi 蟋蟀
Gampsocleis buergeri
.. see kirigirisu for the naming of the time of Basho.
..... chichiro, chichiromushi　ちちろ虫
..... korokoro ころころ
..... tsuzuresase　つづれさせ
..... mitsukado koorogi 三角こおろぎ
..... fudetsu mushi　筆津虫
..... Yamato Koorogi　大和蟋蟀

pine cricket, matsumushi　松虫 (early autumn)
..... golden Biwa, kin biwa　金琵琶
..... green pine cricket, aomatsumushi 青松虫

bell cricket, suzumushi 鈴虫 (early autumn)
..... getsureishi　月鈴子
..... kin shooji　金鐘児
..... bell of Yamato, yamato suzu　大和鈴虫



From a page full of Suzumushi Photos
http://nan2228.hp.infoseek.co.jp/suzumusi-nikki.htm
.....


kantan 邯鄲 snowy cricket
..... all green animal, starts in August to sing RURURUUU
Oecanthus longicauda
kigo for early autumn


lark of the weeds, kusahibari　草雲雀
grass cricket
asasuzu 朝鈴（あさすず）"morning bell"
kinhibari, kin hibari 金雲雀（きんひばり）
Paratrigonidium bifasciatum
kigo for early autumn



Fruit Cricket, Prayer Gong Cricket (kanetataki) 　鉦叩
Ornebius kanetataki
kigo for early autumn

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kigo for early autumn

long-horned grasshopper (Platyphyllum concavum,
some sources quote: Gampsocleis buergeri)
Insect of the order Orthoptera, family Tettigoniidae
kirigirisu キリギリス　螽斯　
..... gisu ぎす
..... "weaver" hataori 機織
..... "chasing after horses" uma-oi 馬追, uma-oi mushi 馬追虫
oblong-winged katydid, kutsuwamushi くつわ虫
Amblycorypha oblongifolia
..... gachagacha がちゃがちゃ
..... suito すいと
When courting the male sounds like SUIII-TCHO スイーッチョ, the sound children used to make when chasing horses in the Edo period.

The sound was perceived as melancholic and full of sorrow.



きりきりすいたくななきそあきのよの
なかきおもひは　われそまされる
kirigirisu itaku na naki so aki no yo no
nagaki omoi wa ware zo masareru

kirigirisu　--
do not grieve so, chirping crickets
this long autumn night
my prolonged sorrows
are greater even than yours

Fujiwara no Tadafusa　藤原たゝふさ　忠房
Kokin Wakashu poetry collection 　古今和歌集



. kutsuwamushi katyd - haiku .


In the days of Basho, kirigirisu meant today's "koorogi": a cricket, Grylloidea.


grashoppers
having a wedding party -
come on, come on !



Gabi Greve, August 2008
CLICK here to read more about the mating habits of these animals and look at some photos which I managed to take ... !!

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Some insects not so famous for their song

large, brown grasshopper/locust, batta　ばった　
Acrididae
..... hatahata 蟿螽 / 蹊蚸
..... keireki 螇蚚
kichikichi きちきち、batta ばった、batabata ばたばた
kichikihci batta きちきちばった
shooryoo batta 精霊ばった（しょうりょうばった）
inetsukimushi 稲舂虫 (いねつきむし)
kometsuki batta 秋 米搗ばった（こめつきばった）

kigo for all autumn



small green grasshopper/locust, イナゴ　蝗, 稲子,螽　inago
Oxya spp.
.... sometimes eaten
inagotori 蝗捕り（いなごとり）catching inago
inagogushi 蝗串（いなごぐし） stick with (fried) inago





inagomushi 稲虫 (いなむし) "rice locust"
ine no mushi 稲の虫（いねのむし）
inagomaro 稲子麿（いなごまろ）
Oxya japonica. Reisschädling. Heuschrecke



mizokawa o obusatte tobu inago kana

mizuumi o chotto oyogishi inago kana

locust flies
riding on flowing
ditch water

locust after
a brief swim
in the lake


INAGO - Haiku by Issa and :
. comments by Chris Drake .


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kigo for all autumn

itodo 竈馬 (いとど) cave cricket
..... kamauma かまどうま "horse of the hearth"
..... kamadomushi かまどむし"insect of the hearth"
okama koorogi おかま蟋蟀（おかまこおろぎ）"hearth cricket"
hadaka koorogi 裸蟋蟀（はだかこおろぎ）"naked cricket"
ebi koorogi えび蟋蟀（えびこおろぎ）"locust cricket"
osaru koorogi おさる蟋蟀（おさるこおろぎ）
This animal likes to live in the kitchen, especially of old farmhouses.
Atachycines apicalis, Diestrammena apicalis. Höhlenschrecke
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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kigo for early winter

fuyu no mushi 冬の虫 (ふゆのむし) insects in winter
mushi oyu 虫老ゆ（むしおゆ）insects getting old
mushi karuru 虫嗄るる（むしかるる）
insects singing with a hoarse voice
mushi tayuru 虫絶ゆる（むしたゆる） "voice is soon over"

After their great time in autumn, many insects still chirp, but their voices are getting more quiet, hoars and their song will soon be over. As a kigo, this brings a melancholic background to a haiku.


. locust in winter, fuyu no inago 冬の蝗 (ふゆのいなご) 　
grashopper in winter


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Mushi no Koe : CHIRPS OF INSECTS
by Rie

After a hot and muggy Summer in Japan, Autumn begins in September. Many Japanese appreciate the Mid-autumn Full Moon, which is said to be the most beautiful full moon, and love to hear the chirps of crickets and grasshoppers. On a dark night in September, when I hear the fine song of insects in a garden, I feel Nature very close and intimate.

The chirps remind me of a song that we used to sing in a music lesson in my school, " Matsu-mushi began to chirp, chin-chiro chin-chiro, chin-chiro rin, ah Suzu-mushi began to chirp, rin-rin rin-rin riiin-rin". Matsu-mushi and Suzu-mushi are kinds of crickets, their names are familiar as singing insects in Japan. When I sang the song when I was seven or eight years old, I didn't know what they looked like, but I had a friendly feeling towards the chirps. When I was twelve years old, my grandmother was given Suzu-mushi by her friend and she enjoyed hearing the beautiful chirps every night in her room. I was in charge of taking care of them. While I replaced the old food (cucumber, egg plant or water melon), splayed misty water to make the soil wet, I watched the insects and the system of their chirps. Males only made a sound by rubbing thier wings to attract females.

Since the old days, people have loved to hear songs of insects and many traditional poets have composed poems about them. Even now, people can buy Suzu-mushi at a pet shop to hear their songs. I've heard that this custom is a peculiar to Oriental culture, what do you think ? I know the Aesop story titled "the grasshopper and the ants". In that story, the grasshopper plays music, so I think Western people consider chirps as music. Do you agree ?
(8th September 1996)
http://www.linkclub.or.jp/~kosa/rie/small/musi.html

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Photo © by Carol Raisfeld

Read a moving haibun about this little fellow
by Carol Raisfeld
http://home.alc.co.jp/db/owa/ph_diary?stage=show&diary_sn_in=311

praying mantiss, kamakiri 螳螂 Tenodora aridifolia
..... tooroo, tōrō 螳螂
..... ibomushiri いぼむしり


a visitor's card
left at my doorstep ...
praying mantiss

Look at an amazing photo here !
©　Gabi Greve, August 2007


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bagworm, basketworm, minomushi 蓑虫 larva of Psychidae
..... demon-child, oni no ko 鬼の子



autumn butterfly, aki no choo 秋の蝶
..... see photo below


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『蟲のこゑ』（むしのこえ）は文部省唱歌
1932年
Official School Song from 1932.



あれ松蟲が鳴いてゐる。
ちんちろちんちろ　ちんちろりん。
あれ鈴蟲も鳴き出した。
りんりんりんりん　りいんりん。
あきの夜長を鳴き通す
あゝおもしろい蟲のこゑ。

きりきりきりきり　きりぎりす。
がちやがちやがちやがちや　くつわ蟲。
あとから馬おひおひついて
ちよんちよんちよんちよん　すいつちよん。
秋の夜長を鳴き通す
あゝおもしろい蟲のこゑ。
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

Aaa, here is the pine cricket's song
chin chirochin chirochin chirorin
Now listen, the bell cricket chimed in
ring ringring ring riingring

They sing all through the long autun night!
How interesting all these voices of insects!

Kirikiri kirikiri, the crickets
Gachagacha gachagacha, the oblong-winged katydid
And now chiming in the katydids
chonchon chonchon suit-chon

They sing all through the long autun night!
How interesting, all these voices of insects!
Tr. Gabi Greve


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Worldwide use

In many countries, other kinds of crickets are chirping and singing in other seasons.
Mostly in spring and summer they are already doing their part to bring joy to the listeners.
We will try and list some here.


CHINA

List of common singing and fighting crickets in China.

... ... ... Grylloidea
Anaxipha pallidula (Matsumura, 1911) "Xiao Huang Ling" small yellow bell
Anaxipha sp. n. "Da Huang Ling" large yellow bell
Homeoxipha lycoides (Walker, 1869) "Mo Ling" inky bell
Svistella bifasciatata (Shiraki, 1911) "Jin Ling Zi" golden bell
Dianemobius fascipes (Walker, 1869) "Ban Ling" spotted bell
Dianemobius flavoantennalis (Shiraki, 1911) "Hua Ling" flowered bell
Ornebius kanetataki (Matsumura, 1904) "Shi Ling" stony bell
Scleropterus punctatus (Brunner, 1893) "Pan Ling" rocky bell
Oecanthus longicaudus (Matsumura, 1911) "Zhu Ling" bamboo bell
Homoeogryllus japonica (De Haan, 1842) "Ma Ling" horse bell
Truljalia hibinonis (Matsumura, 1911) "Jin Zhong" golden bell
Truljalia forceps (Saussure, 1878) "Jin Zhong" golden bell
Xenogryllus marmoratus (De Haan, 1842) "Bao Ta Ling" pagoda bell
Turanogryllus eous (Bey-Bienko, 1956) "Qing Ling" blue bell

Gryllodes sigillatus (Walker, 1869) "Zhao Ji" stove cricket
Velarifictorus micado (Saussure, 1877) "Cu Zhi" fighting cricket
Velarifictorus aspersus (Walker, 1869) "Cu Zhi" fighting cricket
Gryllus bimaculatus (De Haan, 1773) "Hua Jing" painted mirror
Teleogryllus emma (Ohmachi & Matsumura, 1951) "You Hu Lu" oil guord
Loxoblemmus doenitzi (Stein, 1881) "Guan Cai Tou" coffin-headed
Loxoblemmus equestris (Saussure, 1877) "Guan Tou Xi" coffin-headed cricket
Tarbinskiellus portentosus (Lichtenstein, 1796) "Da Xi Shuai" giant cricket

The cricket has also served as a watchdog in China and other Asian countries for generations. At any sign of danger, the chirping will stop.

Look at some more:
http://www.insects.org/ced3/singing.html


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Germany

Grillen zirpen.
Feldgrille, kigo Sommer

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Europa

Field cricket, Gryllus campestris
kigo for summer
Feldgrille
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
Native to Europe, but quite an endangered species now.
They prefer dry, sunny locations with short vegetation. The males make a burrow with a platform at the entrance from which they attract females with their "song." They are often found from May to August when the males sit at the mouths of their burrows and sing day and night.

A lonely apple-tree,
a lonely field-cricket sings for
all neighbours.

Joze Volaric (Slovenia)
http://www.tempslibres.org/aozora/en/regpub/volaric1.html



"To find a cricket on the hearth
is the luckiest thing of all."

The Cricket on the Hearth - Charles Dickens



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Kenya

topic for haiku

Crickets cannot be a kigo since they are there all year round. However, it greatly depends with the surroundings; for instance, they are not very much available in places where concrete buildings abound, but they are available at dusk in quiet natural places with trees and grass.

Patrik Wafula


basking on the lawn--
the chirping of the cricket
makes her gasp

Caleb

Kenya Saijiki Forum


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North America

Field cricket, Gryllus campestris
kigo for summer

Here are some sound files.
Linda Papanicolaou

North American singing insects:
http://buzz.ifas.ufl.edu/

http://www.naturesongs.com/insects.html

http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/samplesViewSingle.php?id=1053

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/sounds/Arthropoda.html

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Here's a link to our Kentucky-style Field Crickets.

Field Cricket - Scroll down for the sound link:
http://tinyurl.com/a8z2x

Kentucky Bluegrass (grass): http://tinyurl.com/9bzmu

'Bluegrass' is also a famous style of mountain/folk music...ENJOY these foot-tappin' music clips!:
http://www.rolandwhite.com/sounds.htm

chee chee chee
field crickets performin'
Kentucky Bluegrass

b'oki

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Russia

We say about crickets that they "chirp" (стрекочут - strekochut: streh-koh-choot). We also say that they sing (поют - poyut: poh-yoot). If we want to say how they do it, we would probably choose the sound "цвирк-цвирк-цвирк" - tsvirk-tsvirk-tsvirk.

We say about flies and bees that they "жужжат" - "zhuzhzhat" -zhoozh-zhut (buzz). The sound "zh" is approximately the sound you hear in the middle of the words "pleasure" and "measure" (and thus my name does not start with the sound "z" :).
When we want to show the sound they make, we use "zh-zh-zh" - "ж-ж-ж"

Summer night-
the Earth speaks to the stars
in Cicada

(WHR, 2005 spring-summer)

Летняя ночь -
Земля говорит со звёздами
на языке цикад

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office tension -
a fly at the window
keeps buzzing

(4th place in Shiki Double Kukai, January 2004)

натянутость в офисе -
муха на окне
продолжает жужжать

.....

"натянутая обстановка в офисе" ?

Критическим замечаниям по переводам буду рада.

Кто может ещё подсказать, какие звуки издают насекомые?

Zhanna P. Rader


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Spain

cri cri cri cri cri all the time :)

acustic greetings from spain

Maitia


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Yemen

The long-horned grasshopper alias [predatory] bush cricket alias katydid.
These insects are basic food for the [famous] yemeni veiled chameleon.

"all night long"
in mocha scent the old tune
katydid

Heike Gewi
(Yemen Saijiki)


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Things found on the way

Japanese Singing Insects
© Robert W. Pemberton, 1994
(for the illustrations see the link given below)

The Japanese have a long tradition of enjoying the calls of various Orthoptera, both in the wild and as caged pets (Lafcadio Hern, 1905, Exotics and Retrospectives, Little, Brown and Co., Boston). These customs have been popular with both the Japanese Court, which probably introduced some of the customs from China, and with the common people. Visiting places, known for the abundance and high quality of their singing insects, was one of the seasonal pleasures, such as cherry blossom and autumn leaf viewing. Although many of these customs have been lost or simplified with Japan's modernization, there remains a fondness for the "cries" of certain species of crickets (Gryllidae) and long-horned grasshoppers (Tettigonidae). The following illustrations and notes show various aspects of Japan's cricket culture.



"The cricket cage peddlar", Kiyonaga, ca. late 1700s, (courtesy of The Art Institute of Chicago).
Cricket sellers were members of an organized guild recognized by the checkerboard motif used on the cloth of their stands and kimonos. These mobile merchants sold diverse and beautifully crafted cages, including ones that resembled fans, boats and country cottages, to house the singing insects. The singing insects of commerce were both reared and collected from the wild.

Cricket cage made of twigs, wire and the sheath of a bamboo shoot, ca. 1950 (courtesy of Kyushu-Tokai Univ.).
This wire mesh type of cage was used for smaller crickets. The finely crafted cages of the past are now rarely made; most modern cages are clear plastic terrariums with ventilated tops. These terrariums are sold to keep and rear a few species of singing Orthoptera (mainly the bell insect, Homoeogryllus japonicus de Haan), which are also sold along with specially packaged bell insect food and soil in pet shops.

A book "How to raise singing insects" written in 1983 by Kimio ONO and Hideaki OGASAWARA (New Science Co., Tokyo).
This book, which shows the bell insect (suzumushi) on its cover, contains natural history, rearing information and even poetry on five of the most favored cricket species and one katydid, and briefer sections on fourteen other crickets and katydids. Raising singing insects is a popular past-time. Singing crickets are given as gifts to customers by some produce markets and to the friends of some cricket hobbyists.

Electronic katydid in a paper covered plastic box cage, 1992, $9 US.
The plastic katydid and its electronic chip mimic a popular long-horned grasshopper (kirigirisu, Gampsocleis buergeri de Haan) in both appearance and sound. This cage also features flashing fireflies. Electronic bell insects, including one with a very accurate chip that was sold in a Tokyo Mitsukoshi Department store for $200 US in 1990, are also available. Recordings of singing Orthoptera are sold in record stores, and can be heard in subway stations and other public places
The original with illustrations is here
http://www.insects.org/ced3/japanese_sing.html

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虫の音楽家 小泉八雲コレクション
- - - - - and
Mushi no bungaku 蟲の文学 Insect Literature
by Koizumi Yagumo (Lafcadio Hearn)



The Berlin-based author Yoko Tawada recently remarked that one of the difficulties she faced when translating Kafka’s short story “Metamorphosis” into Japanese was that the associations Japanese people had with insects — even presumably giant beetles — were different to those of Europeans. Tawada was alluding to the idea that Japanese appreciation of insects is one marker of Japanese cultural uniqueness.
http://matsuobasho-wkd.blogspot.jp/
source :　Japan Times



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A temple in Kyoto called "Bell Cricket Temple"
Suzumushidera 鈴虫寺　（華厳寺）
Famous for the sound of this insect in autumn.
http://www.suzutera.or.jp/


. Suzumushidera 鈴虫寺 .
and a Jizo wearing straw sandals


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. san-shi no mushi 三尸の虫 .
The Three Worms in Taoism and Chinese Mecicine


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Karma, Indra's Net and the Internet

grasshopper
your fool !
the tea is still hot


The details are here:
Gabi Greve, Japan, June 2004

If a butterfly flaps its wings in the Amazon jungle, we might end up with a taifun over here in Japan.


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HAIKU



知恵もなし　無知恵もなし　虫の秋　
無心に増さる　説法ぞなし

chie mo nashi
mu-chie mo nashi ya
mushi no aki

mushin ni masaru
seppoo zo nashi

..... .....

the wisdom
of NO-wisdom -
autumn of the insects

no-mind is best
no more preaching

..... .....

die Weisheit
der NICHT-Weisheit -
Herbst der Insekten

endlich frei von Gedanken
keine Predigten mehr

. ... .

Renku from Gabi Greve and Sakuo Nakamura
Wisdom 知恵と無知恵

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独唱が合唱になり虫の秋
dokushoo ga gashoo ni nari mushi no aki

a solo
becomes a chorus -
autumn insects
(tr. Gabi Greve)

saiou
http://blog.goo.ne.jp/saiou01/e/03a28b35574232022bf8aed669ad2862

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備長炭枕すがしき虫の秋　　
binchootan makura sugashiki mushi no aki

my pillow of charcoal
just so refreshing -
autumn of the insects　
(tr. Gabi Greve)

葉子
http://www.kyoto.zaq.ne.jp/masuhiro/siritorishyuku.html

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koorogi no kono ittetsu no kao o miyo

A cricket,
look at his face;
this headstrong face
(Tr. Nori Matsui)

Yamaguchi Syuson (1893-?)
http://www.haikuworld.org/dogwood/7/iv.html

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koorogi ni/ nakarete bakari

Crickets are chirping,
Chirping to me all the time.

Tr. Copyright Takashi Nonin

Santoka (Santooka) 山頭火
http://haiku.cc.ehime-u.ac.jp/~shiki/shiki.archive/html/9512/0676.html

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暁は宵よりさびし鉦叩
akatsuki wa yoi yori sabishi kanetataki

in morning light
it sounds even more lonely -
Kanetataki

星野立子 Hoshino Tatsuuko
現代俳句データベース

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Die Grillen zirpen ihr Abendlied, -
wiegen die Gräser
in den Schlaf.

crickets sing their evening song -
swaying the grass
into sleep

Steffi Wittl
www.tmg.musin.de/haiku/jahreszeiten.htm

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Die Grillen zirpen.
Der Himmel ist wolkenleer -
strahlend fließt das Licht.

crickets chirping
the sky without clouds
light flows shining

Laura Velte
www.tmg.musin.de/haiku/dichtung.htm

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zwischen dem zirpen
das Gespräch der Zikaden
als trocknes Knacken

Klaus-Dieter Wirth

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green on green -
eyes and antennae
search the air

Photo and Haiku © by Carol Raisfeld
http://home.alc.co.jp/db/owa/ph_diary?stage=show&diary_sn_in=246

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Discussing the translation
Matsuo Basho at Shrine Tada Jinja

muzan ya na kabuto no shita no kirigirisu

so pitiful--
under the helmet,
a cricket
Tr. Barnhill


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

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I listen
to the cricket ---
swinging door

- Shared by Myron Lysenko -
Haiku Culture Magazine, 2013


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Related words

***** . WKD : Voices of animals


***** Cicada (semi) Japan
Kigo for Late Summer


***** Autumn (aki) Japan


***** Dragonfly (tombo, tonbo) Japan
Kigo for All Autumn


***** Konchu Ryori, konchuu ryoori 昆虫料理 Insects as food in Japan


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Photos on this page unless otherwise stated by Gabi Greve.

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WASHOKU ... Japanese Food SAIJIKI


. ANIMALS in all SEASONS - SAIJIKI

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[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]

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Independence Day

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Independence Day

***** Location: Worldwide
***** Season: see below
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Many countries celebrate an Independence Day.
Here they will be listed in alphabetical order of the country.

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Worldwide use

Africa

Africa Day, April 15. Kigo for Spring. Kigo for Long Rains in the tropcis.



AFRICA DAY
...It reminds us of the struggle for independence...

It has been five years since every year this day of April 15, was decreed to be celebrated as Africa's Independence Day. This day is celebrated throughout Africa. It reminds Us of the struggles for independence during the last twelve months and of our African brothers and sisters that are still engaged in the fight for freedom.

For several years in the past, as must be remembered a large part of the African continent was under colonial rule. In the course of that time, colonialists have stripped the Africans of their freedom and natural rights, and used their resources for the benefit and prosperity of their own country. Even today, colonial masters speak ill of Africans by exaggerating their poverty in the press. Africans are also blamed for the aid they receive. This aid cannot fill the needs of their peoples overnight. From under such humiliation, Africans rose up to safeguard their right and started to struggle to obtain their independence. This struggle began to bear fruit after World War II.

The first African independent states conference was held in Africa in 1958.

Read more about it here
http://www.inithebabeandsuckling.com/africaday.html

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India

August 15, 1947. Kigo for Monsoon.



Read more about it in the India Saijiki
Independence Day (India) August 15, 1947

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Philippines
Independence Day, June 12, 1898
kigo for the rainy season


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Trinidad and Tobago
Date: August 31st.
Season: Tropical Wet Season

http://www.visittnt.com/

Trinidad is the Southern most island of the Caribbean, located off the East coast of Venezuela, the two countries being separated by a channel which is not more than seven miles wide.

Principal Cities: Trinidad - Port of Spain; Tobago - Scarborough
Language: English
Population1.3 million
Area: Trinidad - 4830sqkm; Tobago - 300sqkm
Climate Tropical—Average Temperature 21-32C.

Our swimmer George Bovell III won - at 2004 Olympics Athens-- Greece - for us the bronze medal in the mens swimmming in the 200 IM Swimming in a time of 1:58.80

Our National Colours are red white and black.
Our National Anthem can be heard here.
http://users.rcn.com/alana.interport/anthem.html


Gillena Cox
St James, Trinidad

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USA
July, 4th. / Fourth of July
Kigo for summer.
Independence Day celebrates the birthday of the United States of America.
Founded July 4th 1776, with the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
http://www.holidays.net/independence/



The Story of America's Independence


Fourth of July - Kigo discussion at THF



Fourth of July -
the brother I never knew
gives me a hug

Angelee Deodhar
India, 2013


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

Independence night--
through tree silhouettes,
fireworks burgeon.

Gillena Cox, 2003

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Independence's Day-
Rain of stars or
fireworks?

Vasile Moldovan, 2005

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... ... INDIA ... ...

Independence Day -
the poster of Gandhi
rather faded

Gabi Greve
Independence Day (India) August 15, 1947

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Related words

***** Emancipation Day, Trinidad and Tobago


***** Firework Display (hanabi, Japan)


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

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Ice (koori)

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Ice (koori)

***** Location: Japan, other areas
***** Season: Late Winter
***** Category: Earth

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Explanation

There are some kigo related to ice in late winter.
For ICE kigo about spring, see below.

ice, koori, kōri (こおり, こうり) 氷
thick ice, atsugoori 厚氷
thin ice, "like cicada wings" semigoori, 蝉氷

mirror of ice, mirror ice, himo kagami 氷面鏡
..... koori no kagami　氷の鏡

"cotton ice" watagoori　綿氷
..... at the bottom of small brooks

"ice like a sword", koori no tsurugi　氷の剣 （こおりのつるぎ）

"below zero" hyootenka 氷点下

koori no neya 氷の閨（こおりのねや）icecold in the bedroom


ice forming, ketushyoo　結氷
..... hyooketsu 氷結
..... koori musubu　氷結ぶ
..... koori haru　氷張る
..... hyookai 氷塊（ひょうかい）

kooritozu 氷閉ず（こおりとず）enclosed by ice


hyoojoo 氷上（ひょうじょう）on the ice


When the ice crystals start to form, we can even hear it:
"voice of the ice", koori no koe　氷の声

ice floes, floating ice, ryuuhyoo 流氷
ice chrystals, hyooshoo 氷晶
.... when it gets below 20 degrees centigrade
diamond dust, daiamondo dasuto　ダイアモンド　ダスト

"flowers of ice", koori no hana 氷の花
..... ice patterns on a flat surface, like ripples

"ice dress", koori no koromo　氷の衣 （こおりのころも）
..... ice forming around things

koori no kusabi 氷の楔（こおりのくさび）wedge of ice


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. tsuki kooru 月氷る（つきこおる）"freezing moon"

kane kooru 鐘氷る（かねこおる）frozen temple bell

tsuyu kooru 露氷る（つゆこおる）frozen dew

harawata kooru 腸氷る（はらわたこおる）"frozen intestines"
feeling the cold deep inside

. kage kooru 影氷る（かげこおる）frozen shadow 　


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hyooheki 氷壁 (ひょうへき) ice wall, wall of ice

seppeki 雪壁（せっぺき）snow wall
A steep mountain slope frozen.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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March cold
icicles of spring day
freeze tears

- Shared by Gennady Nov, Russia
Joys of Japan, March 2012



icicle, ice pillar (hyoochuu), tsurara 氷柱
hanging icicle, taruhi 垂氷
standing icicle, tachihi　立氷
large icicle, ootsurara 大氷柱
"silver bamboo" ginchiku 銀竹（ぎんちく）
"ice chopsticks" hyoocho 氷著 （ひょうちょ）
..... hyoojoo 氷条（ひょうじょう）
..... hyoojun 氷笋（ひょうじゅん）
..... hyookin 氷筋（ひょうきん）


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iced lake, hyooko 氷湖
iced sea, hyookai 氷海
iced waterfall, idetaki 凍滝, taki kooru 滝氷る
..... koori no taki　氷の滝
..... karedaki 涸滝
iced bridge, kooribashi 氷橋


. mizuumi kooru 湖凍る（みずうみこおる）frozen lake 　

kamiwatari 御神渡 (おみわたり) gods crossing the frozen lake
miwatari, mi-watari 御渡（みわたり）
At Lake Suwako 諏訪湖 in winter, when it is frozen and has special patterns like a path on the ice.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !




. hyookai 氷海 (ひょうかい) frozen sea, ocean frozen 　


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hyoosetsu 氷雪（ひょうせつ）ice and snow
hyooden 氷田（ひょうでん）field with ice
hyooya 氷野（ひょうや）plain/ wild fields in ice



icy dew cover, muhyoo　霧氷
when the moist air floats upward and builds ice around branches
..... jusoo　樹霜
"tree icicles" juhyoo　樹氷、sohyoo 租氷　


rain and ice, uhyoo 雨氷 (うひょう)


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hatsugoori 初氷 はつごおり first ice,
first frozen water
kigo for mid-winter
(hatsu koori)

first ice -
a sparrow picks
at its reflection

Gabi Greve, December 2009




Googeling for more haiku with
FIRST ICE


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Photo Gabi Greve


cold sunshine -
the icicles refuse
to melt

. Gabi Greve, January 2011


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Worldwide use


Eis, Eiszapfen


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU


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



瓶割るる夜の氷の寝覚め哉
kame waruru yoru no koori no nezame kana

I wake up at night (from the sound of)
the water jar breaking
from the ice . . .


Paraverse by Gabi Greve
This is difficult to translate.

the Japanese lines contain these words

water jar breaks/cracks
ice at night
I wake up

quote
寒い夜、甕＜かめ＞の割れる音で目が覚める。寒さのために氷が張って甕を割ったのであろう。甕の中には明日の朝の飲み水や、ご飯を炊くための調理用の水などが入っていたはずである。芭蕉庵の冬の夜の厳寒と底深い静寂があたりを覆っている。
source : yamanashi-ken.ac.jp
On a cold night, from the sound of a jar breaking, the poet wakes up. He might wonder, has the jar really broken? In the jar was the water for cooking tea and cook rice for the breakfast next morning. Basho records this extreme cold and the loneliness of his living condition.


quote
The scene is a winter's night, obviously, and a water jar cracking from the expansion of the ice. This has some relationship to waking, but in Japanese grammar it is unclear who is awake, or woken. You could choose to say "I", and you could choose to be awake in the night (lonely and unable to sleep), or suddenly awakened by the cracking of the water-jar. There is plenty of scope!
source : www.haiku.insouthsea.co.uk

. . . . .

a water jar cracks :
in the freezing of the night
I lie here awake
source : www.tclt.org.uk

. . . . .

The sound of a water jar
Cracking on this icy night
As I lie awake
Wen-zhi (Wortdenk) translation

source : poetrybeingzen.blogspot.com

. . . . .

awakened at midnight
by the sound of the water jar
cracking from the ice
Tr. Sam Hamill


- - - - There is a similar poem attributed to Basho:

油こほりともし火細き寝覚哉
abura koori tomoshibi hosoki nezame kana

Awake at night,
the lamp low,
the oil freezing.
Tr. Robert Hass


oil is freezing
and the light is low
(as I) wake up at night . . .
Tr. Gabi Greve

The cut marker KANA is at the end of line 3.


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御仏の御鼻の先へつららかな
mihotoke no mihana no saki e tsurara kana

on the tip of
the Buddha's blessed nose
an icicle

Kobayashi Issa
Icicle, tsurara - University of Virginia Library



on honorable Buddha's
honorable nose
an icicle
Tr. David Lanoue


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hazy afternoon
the woodpecker's call
bounces off the ice

après-midi brumeuse
l'appel du pic
résonne sur la glace

Copyright Cindy Zackowitz, 2000

Look at a great photo here
http://www.tempslibres.org/cindy/en/idxglace.html

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Float Ice, ryuuhyoo from Abashiri, Hokkaido.
網走川北側海岸にて撮影



Look at a photo site about floating ice
http://www.abashiri.pref.hokkaido.jp/syasinkan.htm

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流氷や宗谷の門波荒れやまず
ryuuhyoo ya Sooya no to nami areyamazu

float ice !
at Sooya the waves
never come to rest
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

山口 誓子
http://www.shibunkaku.co.jp/artm/kyoudai/list.html

The Cape of Sooya in Hokkaido (Soya Misaki 宗谷岬) is a famous place. Many haiku have been written there.
Here is a famous song about the place (in Japanese).

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LIED VOM GETRIEBENSEIN

Rauhe Inseln aus
Packeis treiben nach Süden
In blauer Weite.

Œuvre Copyright © 2002ff. by Hans-Jürgen Murer
http://www.kurztexte.de/seite173.htm

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Related words

ICE kigo for early spring

ice in spring, haru no koori 春の氷（はるのこおり）

ice still left over, nokoru koori 残る氷（のこるこおり)
thin ice, usurai 薄氷 (うすらい )
..... usugoori 薄氷（うすごおり）
usurai is a rather thinclear ice, usually sparkling and finely crystallized. It forms on cold spring nights and is gone when the sun comes out warmly during the day.
Shiki placed this kigo in early sping.
Before him, the reading was "hakuhyoo" and used in winter.



ICE kigo for mid-spring

ice is melting, koori toku 氷解く (こおりとく)
kaihyoo 解氷（かいひょう）
ukigoori 浮氷（うきごおり）
ice vanishing, koori kiyu 氷消ゆ（こおりきゆ）
time of melting ice, kaihyooki 解氷期（かいひょうき）

lake with melting ice, kaihyoo ko 解氷湖（かいひょうこ）



driftice, floating ice
drifting ice, floating ice, ryuuhyoo 流氷 (りゅうひょう)
time of drifting ice, ryuuhyoo ki 流氷期（りゅうひょうき）
layer of melting ice, ryuuhyoo ban 流氷盤（りゅうひょうばん）
ice is drifting, koori nagaruru 氷流るる（こおりながるる）



Drifting ice along Abashiri, Hokkaido, Japan


usurai wa namida o tomeru saku nari shi

The thin coating ice
was a fence
to dam up tears

Niji Fuyuno
Tr. Ryu Yotsuya

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soft icy face ... (usurai ya)
of the pond ... (bidoo danisenu)
not a sign of movement .... (ike no omo)

©　Michi Umeda


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ice shards
from moment to moment
underground chill

- Shared by Verica Zivkovic -
Joys of Japan, January 2013


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***** Winter (fuyu, Japan)

***** January Worldwide

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. SAIJIKI ... category EARTH
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[ . BACK to DARUMA　MUSEUM　TOP . ]
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
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Hunger Moon and Hunger

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Hunger Moon

***** Location: North America
***** Season: Late Winter
***** Category: Heaven

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Explanation

For the North American Indians, the full moon of February was called this way. Bellies that fed well in other months fasted until the sun began to climb March Hill and the first returning scarlet tanager brought again the Great Spirit's promise of plenty. Have you ever looked up one February morning, my friend, to see in yonder pine the enormous red of the bull tanager that poses spectacularly against the greenest green to prove there will be summer once more?

It is a time of dormancy when activity is low-key.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0215/p22s02-hfjg.html

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Snow moon
is another name for the full moon in Feburary. All the food was covered with snow, hence the naming.

. . . CLICK here for SNOW MOON Photos !

The Moon's diameter is 3,474 kilometres (2,159 mi),[4] a little more than a quarter of that of the Earth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon


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On the following LINK you can fiddle around with the moon and its phases.
http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/projects/data/MoonPhases/index.html

More about worldwide MOON festivals and names.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/exeter/870/moonholidays.html


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Worldwide use

Hunger Moon, the Crow Moon, and the Hay and Fruit Moon
For many Native Americans, January's full moon was called the Wolf Moon, the time of year when wolves became particularly restless. In fact, each month's moon had a different name that was keyed to the natural happenings of that season. April was "The Frog Moon" when ponds warm up enough for the croaking to begin again; August was the Green Corn Moon when the cornfields ripened, getting ready for fall's harvest; December was the Long Night Moon, to mark the shortest days of the year.

More is here:
http://www.recess.ufl.edu/transcripts/2002/0108.shtml

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Things found on the way

.. .. .. .. MOON and its LINKS.. in our kigo Database

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HAIKU

half-asleep
half-awake
rising hunger moon

Bender, DW USA
http://us.z.webhosting.yahoo.com/gb/view?member=haiku_central

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subway graffiti
about someone’s mother —
Hunger Moon

Gallagher , D. Claire
http://www.theheronsnest.com/haiku/0512e0005/thn_issue.h2.html

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Hunger moon
over Manhattan's
emptiness

Kanematsu, Satoru, Japan
http://www.asahi.com/english/haiku/020412.html

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Snowy owls prowl
under the full hunger moon
white feathers, gold eyes

Spring, Barbara, USA
http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewPoetry.asp?AuthorID=4279

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hunger moon
watching
as I turn forty

la lune de la faim
me regarde dormir
j'ai quarante ans

Villeneuve, Jocelyne, Canada
http://pages.infinit.net/haiku/quebec.htm

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.. .. .. .. .. Snow Moon

snow moon
two silhouettes
holding hands

Eugenio Mark
http://www.tinywords.com/haiku/2004/02/13/?comments=all

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Related words

***** .. .. .. .. MOON and its LINKS..


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HUNGER
topic for haiku
category : HUMANITY


HUNGER was the theme of the Shiki Kukai in August 2009

Here are some haiku about hunger in Kenya


watching the stars...
a hungry boy forgets
to eat his supper

~ Catherine Njeri Maina


wilted maize
rustling in the wind --
an emaciated child

~ Patrick Wafula



story telling time --
no one feels like telling one
on an empty stomach

~ Raymond Otieno

Kenya Haiku Forum


hunger-
people on the long queue
waiting relief food

Siboko Yamame
Kenya, August 2009



. WASHOKU
Famine in Japanese History 　


Famine in spring (shunkyuu)
kigo for late spring

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

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Home town (furusato)

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Home village, home town, home land
(furusato ふるさと　故郷、古里)
Heimat

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Non-seasonal Topic
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

The mention of the word FURUSATO in Japan will bring a lot of emotions to the heart, it is very very dear to the Japanese!
The German HEIMAT seems a bit similar in emotional potential.

Let us look at some expressions with this word, as they are are used in Japanese haiku.

There are many clichees with the Japanese "hometown" feeling, for example the red dragonfly, the graves of the ancestors, the Autumn festival at the local shrine and the food flavor of home (furusato no aji), expecially the miso soup made by mother (o-fukuro no aji).




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Heimatland, homeland,
another possibility to translate FURUSATO, has various other nuances in other languages.
What Does "Homeland" Mean to You?

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hometown, home village, my native place, furusato
..... ふるさと　故郷、古里　故里　郷土　郷里
"my old village", "my home village", "my native village"

place where I was born, umare kokyoo 生まれ故郷
home country, kyookoku 郷国、郷関

mura 村　village


The place where one was born is usually called "my home town", furusato. The place where one has lived a long time during his life is the "second home" (dai-ni no furusato). In my case, the mountains of Ohaga in Okayama are my second home.

Some people have to live away from their native place and can not return for various reasons, but they will always remember it.

Even if we travel back to the hometown, we might find our old parent's house gone.

The Japanese word KOKYOO sounds rather stiff, whereas FURUSATO is pleasing to the ear. Therefore FURUSATO is used mostly in haiku. Ever since Matsuo Basho used it in his famous haiku, it has been used again and again. Some haiku may sound sentimental just because the use of this word. Yet, since we all can resonate with the feeling of belonging there, most haiku are well liked.

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home of my family, kakyoo 家郷
home of my mother, bokyoo 母郷
my homeland, the country where I come from, kunimoto　国許

The place where I was born and raised. My mother's house is most often used in haiku. But this word is not shown in many big dictionaries. It has been derived for poetry from Japanese words like "my motherland" bokoku, "my mothertongue" bokoku.
I remember, in German, we rather say "My father's house, Vaterhaus", "Father's country, Vaterland".

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my home mountains, kozan　故山
.............　　　　 yamazato 山里

Japan is a very mountainous country, so many villages are sourrounded by high and low mountains. It sounds a bit like a word of old Chinese poetry.

My home here in Okayama has a sort of kozan feeling to it. Most villagers are just like a large family, with all its twists of community life.

Whereas yamazato refers to the village itself, the reverse, satoyama 里山, refers to the mountains around a village, especially the part that is used by all for common purposes and in, or rather was, an important part of the rural ecology.


The Traditional Rural Landscape of Japan
. Satoyama 里山 さとやま


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land where I was born, shoogoku　shookoku 生国　
place of birth, shusshin chi 出身地
the honorable land of your birth, o-kuni お国

One of these questinos you hear as a foreigner: o-kuni wa dochire desu ka?　Where have you been born? Even amongst Japanese, it matters whether you are born in Hokkaido or Okinawa or on the Mainland.

The Japanese reading of SHOKOKU is rather oldfashioned and not mentioned in many dictionaries. SHOOGOKU sounds more pleasant in haiku.

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longing for the homeland, bookyoo 望郷
。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。　kaikyoo　懐郷
thinking of the homeland, shikyoo　思郷

These words have already been used in Chinese poetry of old, during the period of the six dynasties 220 AD - 589 AD.
Some of the Japanese Envoys to China (kentooshi) , especially Abe no Nakamaro, have used these expressions to make poems about their longing for Japan.

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. furusato haiga ふるさと俳画
haiga from the homeland / heartland .


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................................... kigo for summer:

to return home, kisei 帰省
..... ................... kikyoo 帰郷
person returning home, kiseishi 帰省子
to return to Kyoto, kikyoo 帰京
returning home, kichoo 帰朝
........................ sato-gaeri 里帰り

The season for returning to one's hometown and family is during the O-Bon Festival in August and the New Year . Students and workers return home to pray at the family graves.
But even this custom, which leads to a country-wide traffic congestion, the kisei rasshu　帰省ラッシュ, is getting less every year. People rather take a normal holiday during this time and visit leisure lands or go abroad. Since the rush is greatest during the summer holiday time, it is a kigo for summer.

Sato-gaeri, to return home to mother, was also a custom for pregnant women just before giving birth.

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one's house of birth, home of birth
.................... seika　生家
..................... jikka 実家

Jikka is used more casually, but seika means business, family business and a lot of traditions related to one's position in the family and the local neighbourhood. It does not only mean the building of the home itself.


客として生家にありぬ菊枕
kyaku to shite seika ni arinu kiku-makura

only a guest
in the house I was born -
chrysanthemum pillow

Ichiba Motomi 市場基巳


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home country, kyookoku　郷国
mother country, bokoku　母国
ancestor's country, sokoku 祖国

This is expecially important for Japanese, who have emigrated to a foreign country for some reason, to a place with strange food and a strange language. They feel very emotional using these words.

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foreign land, takyoo　他郷
.....。。。。。 takoku　他国
strange land, ikoku　異国
................. ikyoo　異郷
..... ......... ikyoo　異境

takyoo, takoku or ikyoo can be used for an area or country in Japan or ourside of Japan. ikoku is always a land that is NOT one's motherland. This is also called "foreign land", gaikoku、外国. A person like myself, German living in Japan, is always a foreigner, gaikoku-jin 外国人、called gaijin 外人 for short.

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place where I was born, ubusuna 産土
.......................... seichi　生地
......................... jimoto　地元

The place where a baby is born and gets its first clothes (ubugi). There the local gods live (ubusunagami 産土神), who protect the baby. In haiku, it can therefore carry a lot of meaning.

. ubugami 産神 "deity of birth" .
Visit to a temple of the God of one's birthplace (ubusunagami - 産土神)
. ubusuna mairi 産土神参 .
kigo for the New Year


Locally grown vegetables and other food are also jimoto vegetables.

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dialect, local speach, namari なまり、訛
dialect of the country, kuninamari　国訛
language of the region, hoogen　方言
language of the land, okuni kotoba　お国言葉

Although Japanese are proud of their unity, there are a lot of local differences. A person from the North will hardly understand someone from the southern island of Kyushu. You learn the local language from your parents, siblings and people around you. Just by the way people talk you can get a hint of where they were born.

During the Edo period, when travelling for leisure purposes was not very frequent, peopel from outside were soon recognized by the way they talked. One of the trainings for a good spy (ninja) was the ability to imitate many dialects from Japan, so they would not be found out when talking in the market place of a village.

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................................... kigo for late autumn:

. mura kabuki 村歌舞伎（むらかぶき）village kabuki
... jikyooten, ji kyoogen 地狂言（じきょうげん） village kyogen
... ji shibai, jishibai 地芝居 (じしばい) local performance
... mura shibai 村芝居（むらしばい）performance in the village


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This concludes the tour of words around the home towns and home villages in Japan.
The difference between the concept of Motherland and Fatherland is striking.

What is the usage in your country?

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Worldwide use

Germany

Heimat. Heimatland (home land), Vaterland (fatherland)

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Things found on the way

The famous Japanese song "My Homeland"
Orinally composed by Teiichi Okano (1878-1941)

Usagi oishi kano yama
Kobuna tsurishi ka no kawa
Yume wa ima mo megurite
Wasuregataki furusato

Ika ni imasu? chichi haha
tsutsuganashi ya? tomogaki
Ame ni kaze ni tsuketemo
Omoi izuru furusato

Kokorozashi wo hatashite
Itsu no hi ni ka kaeran
Yama wa aoki furusato
Mizu wa kiyoki furusato


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山里は冬ぞさびしさまさりける
人めも草もかれぬと思へば

Yamazato wa. Fuyu zo sabishisa masarikeru.
Hitome mo kusa mo. Karenu to omoeba.

Winter loneliness
In a mountain village grows
Only deeper, when
Guests are gone, and leaves and grass
Are withered: troubling thoughts.

28 - Minamoto no Muneyuki 源宗于朝臣


. Ogura Hyakunin Isshu Poems 小倉百人一首 .


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HAIKU


Matsuo Basho
旧里や臍の緒に泣くとしの暮
ふるさとや ほぞのおになく としのくれ
furusato ya hozo no o ni naku toshi no kure

town where I was born -
as I weep over my umbilical cord
the year comes to a close
Tr. Ueda

Written in 1687 貞享4年, Oi no Kobumi

This hokku has the cut marker YA at the end of line 1.
Japanese mothers keep the umbilical cord as a memento of the birth of their babies.
heso no o, hozo no o 臍の緒 umbilical cord
When Basho has the chance to hold it in his hands again in Iga Ueno, he is overwhelmed with the memories of his late mother and father.



Photo: ©（牛久市森田武さん撮影）

Haiku Stone Monument in Iga Ueno
http://www.ese.yamanashi.ac.jp/~itoyo/basho/oinokobumi/oino13.htm#ku3

my home town -
I weep over my navel string
at the end of the year
Tr. Gabi Greve



umbilical cord box へその緒寿箱
The box is called Kotobuki-bako 寿箱　"Long Life Box", and sold at many shrines in Japan. There are many variations, with a small baby doll clad in kimono above the navel string.

. heso no o へその緒と伝説 the umbilical cord .


里古りて柿の木持たぬ家もなし
sato furite kaki no ki motanu ie mo nashi

- furusato ふるさと　故郷、古里 home village, home town, Heimat -
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .


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. WKD : Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 .


里の火の古めかしたる月夜哉
sato no hi no furumekashitaru tsukiyo kana

moonlight
in a village
with old lamps
Tr. Chris Drake

This hokku is from the intercalary 8th month (Sept.) of 1805.
Issa was then living mostly in Edo, which had many forms of illumination at all hours of the night. A visit to a small village that uses mostly weak, old-style lamps and torches seems to have reacquainted Issa with the primordial power of autumn moonlight.

Chris Drake


小庇に薪並おく雪解哉
kobisashi ni maki narabe oku yukige kana

inside the house
on rows of firewood
melting snow
Tr. Chris Drake

This hokku is from the second month (March) of 1818, when Issa was visiting students in the area around his hometown. The cutting word is at the end, and the first two lines modify the third, so the snow melt is the main focus. The hokku seems to be both about the hard work that has to be done in early spring and about the disappearing border between inside and outside. Snow is rapidly turning into wet, glistening traces of snow on the bark of the logs of firewood that have been brought indoors and placed in the area just inside the walls of the house to dry. Spring and the environment have both been brought inside the house, but the wet snow is disappearing, and although the border between inside and outside remains, it is weaker than before, as if it, too, were melting.
Moreover, the reason the firewood was brought inside seems to be because the snow outside has also begun to melt and soak into the wood, so logs both outside and inside are glistening or at least wet with snowmelt, and the inside of the house becomes a kind of modified outside. Spring literally seems to permeate or soak into the inside of the house and the people living in it -- people who have until recently been cooped up inside during a long, snowy winter.

In modern Japanese hisashi means eaves or a canopy, but in Issa's time it meant the narrow space between the main pillars supporting the roof and the outer walls. On the sides of ordinary houses, the pillars were commonly flush with the outer walls, but the front and back of the house often extended outward beyond the pillars, creating a bit of extra space just inside the front and back doors and porches. Issa says it is a "small hisashi," so it's probably only a few feet wide.
In Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines, and large houses, this space was wider and usually ran around the inside of all four walls, but farmhouses were more cramped.

Chris Drake


- quote
hisashi　廂 - Also written 庇.
The area surrounding the moya 母屋 or core of a temple building.
A narrow aisle-like area, usually only one bay wide. It can extend entirely around the moya or on one, two or three sides. The floor of the moya and the hisashi is the same level throughout. Hisashi may also refer to an unenclosed veranda or corridor protected by either additional eaves underneath those of the main roof or by the extension of the eaves of the main roof over the open hisashi. Although the architecture of Shinto shrines was affected to some extent by the importation of Buddhism, the interior floor plan remained relatively simple, with the exception of that of Kibitsu Jinja Honden 吉備津神社本殿 and Haiden 拝殿, in Okayama prefecture (1390-1425).
Both the worship hall and the inner sanctuaries are surrounded by narrow corridors like enclosed hisashi. The rooms of palaces and mansions of the mid-Heian period were surrounded by corridors. Example: the residence of Fujiwara Teika 藤原定家 (13c) in Kyoto. The plans include core areas surrounded by corridors which resemble the moya and hisashi of temple buildings.
- source : JAANUS


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furusato ya yoru mo sawaru mo bara no hana

My native village
on approach and to the touch
a bramble rose.

Issa
http://www.ahapoetry.com/haiku.htm

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give me a homeland,
and a passionate woman,
and a winter alone

Issa
http://www.tapsns.com/haiku.php?mode=list&page=15

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国がらや田にも咲するそばの花
kunigara ya ta ni mo saki suru soba no hana

such is my homeland!
blooming in rice fields
buckwheat

Issa, tr. David Lanoue
http://haikuguy.com/issa/haiku.php?code=576.03a

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露の玉 ひとつひとつに 故郷あり
tsuyu no tama hitotsu hitotsu ni kokyoo ari

dewdrops ...
in this one, in this one too
my dear homeland

Tautropfen -
in diesem, in diesem auch
meine Heimat

Issa
Tr. Gabi Greve


in beads of dew
one by one my home
village

Tr. David Lanoue
More of Issa's FURUSATO haiku !




我村や春降雪も二三尺
waga mura ya haru furu yuki mo ni san shaku

my home village -
even the spring snow falls
two or three shaku
Tr. Gabi Greve

one shaku is about 30 cm or 1 foot.


hitotsu hitotsu ni
. Numbers used in Haiku .



夕時雨馬も古郷へ向てなく
yuu shigure uma mo furusato e muite naku

rainy winter night--
the horse neighs too
toward his home village

Issa



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Masaoka Shiki and his hometown, Matsuyama

故郷やどちらを見ても山笑ふ
furusato ya dochira o mite mo yama warau

my hometown　－
wherever I look
mountains are smiling

. mountains smiling, yama warau 山笑う .


故郷はいとこの多し桃の花
furusato wa itoko no ooshi momo no hana

in my hometown
there are so many cousins -
peach blossoms



ふるさとや親すこやかに鮓の味
furusato ya oya sukoyaka ni sushi no aji

my dear hometown -
my mother is well and
the taste of sushi

. Shiki and the sushi of his hometown .



故郷や祭りも過ぎて柿の味
furusato ya matsuri mo sugite kaki no aji

my hometown -
after the festival
the taste of persimmons


松山の城を見おろす寒さかな
Matsuyama no shiro o miorosu samusa kana

this coldness
looking down from the castle
of Matsuyama

. Matsuyama 松山 and Masaoka Shiki .



Reference : www.cc.matsuyama-u.ac.jp

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kaisan no aida ni furusato ya yomogi-mochi

between sea and mountains
there is my homeland !
rural ricecakes

Matsumoto Yachiyo

yomogi-mochi are special rice cakes made from mugwort and provoke a feeling of homeland and mother's cooking.

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aka tonbo kaeru furusato to ari ni keri

red dragonfly -
at least I have a home town
to come back to

Satoo Fumiko

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kiriboshi ya kakyoo sutetaru ni wa arazu

dried long radish -
I just could not leave behind
my family home

Kojima Ken

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daikon hosu tsuma koozen to kuni namari

drying large radishes -
my wife proudly talks
in local dialect

Furutachi Soojin


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みじか夜や村雨わたる板庇
mijika yo ya murasame wataru itabisashi

this short night -
a shower passes over the planks
of the eaves

Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村


. murasame 村雨 (むらさめ) "rain on the village"
a passing shower, a kind of "evening shower" (yuudachi　夕立) after a hot summer day.
This is a welcome shower that brings a special sound to a village with thatched-roofed homes.
The eaves were covered with wooden planks, sometimes fortified with stones as in the photo above, to prevent them flying off in a typhoon. Below the eaves was the place to enjoy in summer, meet the neighbours, chat and have a drink.




. mura shigure, murashigure　村時雨 "village shower"
passing winter shower
kigo for early winter


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色深きふるさと人の日傘かな
iro fukaki furusatobito no higasa kana

the strong colors
of summer umbrellas from folks
in my hometown

Nakamura Teijo 中村汀女 (1900 - 1988)


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yamazato ni kodomo no egao aki matsuri

.. .. .. in the mountain village
.. .. .. all children laughing -
.. .. .. autumn festival

Photo and Haiku by Gabi Greve, Autumn Festival

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home at last
our valley yet more lovely
through tears

ancient forest
every green leaf
born this year

the stream
of my childhood
new water

old farmer's
hard hands are gentle
planting seedlings

© Sequence by Denis Garrison, USA, July 2006


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Immigrants

oak trees
my twenty-two years
as an immigrant

Ella Wagemakers, Philippines - Holland


o o o o o


snow deepening...
I've forgotten my Chinese
name

Chen-ou Liu, Taiwan - Canada


o o o o o


Christmas eve -
I dream about Germany
in Japanese

Gabi Greve, Germany - Japan


o o o o o


"Are there oaks in Yemen?"...
roots fed by tears
in Germany

Heike Gewi, Germany - Yemen
Kigo Hotline, December 2010



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Related words

***** My country, my province (waga kuni)

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