Wind in various kigo (kaze)

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Wind (kaze)


***** Location: Japan, worldwide
***** Season: many seasons, see below


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Explanation

The God of Wind, Fuujin 風神



. Gods of Wind and Thunder 風神雷神 .



. Yakusa no ikazuchi　八雷神 Eight Gods of Thunder .

. Oikazuchi no Kami 大雷神 Ikazuchi no Kami .
Deity of Thunder


WIND just like that (kaze 風 )
is not a kigo in Japan but a nonseasonal topic.
The same holds for the word STORM.

Wind was (and still is) important for the fishermen and farmers of Japan.
Some seasonal winds are beneficial, some are quite destructive. Some regional winds were necessary to prepare dried fish, fruit and vegetables.

But since the wind is a constant partner throughout the year, there are many detailed phenomenon used as kigo for it. Other expressions about the seasonal winds are just "season words" and never made it to the kigo selection, because no haiku poet choose to write a haiku about it.


Let us go through the WIND during the seasons.


Read about the Japanese Gods of the Elements, including the God of Wind
by Gabi Greve
http://darumapilgrim.blogspot.com/2005/02/suijin-god-of-water.html

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spring wind -
the mind just soars and soars
and soars

© Photo and Haiku by Gabi Greve
http://happyhaiku.blogspot.com/2005/04/wind.html


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Spring

spring breeze (harukaze 春風、haru no kaze 春の風)
The reading of "shunpuu しゅんぷう" is not frequent in haiku.
This is a soft and gentle wind on a sunny day. spring wind sounds too general as a translation, since in could be a strong wind, a soft wind or any other kind.
This wind blows from an eastern or southern direction and indicates that the winter patterns of wind are now changing.

It reminds of an old Chinese poem
shunpuu taitoo 春風駘蕩 a gentle mild wind, where people wander around in peace and leisure and enjoy the warm wind blowing.

春風駘蕩自心和　
-　　春風駘蕩(たいとう）自ずから心和らぐ
径草愈青華彩多　
-　　径草愈（いよいよ）青くして華（はな）は彩（いろどり）多し
誰茉莉花低緩唱　
-　　誰ならん茉莉花（まつりか）を低く緩やかに唱うは
将時万物賜歓歌　
-　　将に時は万物に歓びの歌を賜わんとす
（下平声五歌韻）
茉莉花＝モーリファ
駘蕩＝のどかでのんびりしている

source : Yomikudash
...

"bright breeze" is not a kigo, but a topic for haiku.
. . . . . and not to confuse with

. shining spring wind, kaze hikaru　風光る
... soft wind, kaze yawaraka 風やわらか（かぜやわらか）
... spring shines, shunkoo,shunkō 春光


Spring Breeze, more haiku


first strong south wind in Spring, haru ichiban　春一番
this is followed by second, third and fourth South wind
..... haru niban 春二番, haru sanban　春三番, haru yonban　春四番
This is usually quite a strong storm or gusty wind on the coast of the East side of Japan, toward the end of February. It used to be a kind of negative kigo, pertaining to the hardships of the fishermen in Nagasaki. Later on, it became more positive, since after haru ichiban, we know that spring is coming.


East wind (kochi 東風)
strong East wind (tsuyogochi　強東風)
morning East wind (asagochi　朝東風)
evening East wind (yuugochi　夕東風)
real East wind, magochi　正東風
larks East wind, hibarigochi　雲雀東風
plum blossoms and East wind, umegochi 梅東風
cherry blossom and East wind, sakuragochi 桜東風

shell-drawing wind (kaiyose 貝寄風,貝寄) west wind of late March or early April
On February 22 of the lunar calendar, there was a festival at the temple Tenoo-Ji in Osaka. People used to collect shells which the wind had brought to the shores and use them as an offering to the gods. It is usually a western seasonal wind and rather strong.

Nirvana West wind (nehan nishi 涅槃西風)
Higan West wind (higan nishi　彼岸西風)
West wind during the Nirvana festival (Nehan-e, March 15) or spring equinox.

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wind up mount Hira, Hira hakkoo　比良八荒
..... hakkoo no are 八講の荒れ wild wind of mount Hira Hakko
Usually the wind comes down from the mountain peak (oroshi　降ろし）, but sometimes in spring the situations is just the opposite. This is a rather strong western wind, most frequent in March at Lake Biwa.
Hira is a famous mountain range there and the downwind is called "Hira oroshi".

http://koayu.eri.co.jp/Biwadas/wd010324.htm


observance kigo for mid-spring

Hira hakkoo 比良八講 prayer ceremony for Hira
24th of the second lunar month

A ceremony of the Hokke Hakkoo 法華八講 "Eight recitations of the Lotus Sutra scrolls" at the shrine Shirohige Jinja 白髭神社 with prayers to the deity Hira Myoojin 比良明神 (Hira gongen 比良権現, Shirohige Myojin 白鬚明神). Mountain ascetics from Mt. Hieizan in Kyoto come down to read the sutras for four days. This is the time when the wind blows hard and Lake Biwa is showing huge waves.
The red torii gate of the shrine is a landmark at Lake Biwa and the shrine is probably the oldest around the lake.
There is also a stone memorial with a haiku by Matsuo Basho and Murasaki Shikibu nearby.

. Reference : Shirahige Shrine


北むけば比良八講の寒さかな
kita mukeba Hira hakkoo no samusa kana

facing north
there is the cold wind
at the Hira ceremony

Matsuse Seisei (1869 - 1937)





source : Hira Hakko Festival 2005 / Pure Land Mountain

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breeze during snow melt (yukige kaze 雪解風)

breeze on the tree buds (ko no me kaze 木の芽風)
There are some other nice kigo with the tree buds, like "ko no me doki" time of the tree buds.

"shining spring wind", kaze hikaru　風光る
"the wind shines"
On a fine sunny spring day, when nature is gently swaying in the spring breeze.
"kaze hikaru" is also the name of a famous manga.


strong spring wind, haru hayate 春疾風
spring storm, haru are 春荒
..... haru arashi 春嵐


North wind in Spring, haru kita　春北風

kurogita 黒北風 (くろぎた) "black northern wind"
..... kurogeta くろげた
Usually in March, when the winter weather patterns begin to change, but come back once more to a cold breeze. Especially feared at the coastline of the Japanese Sea. In Tamba the fishermen call it kurogeta and are afraid to go out on sea, because the boats frequently fall pray to the wind.

gentle south wind on the cherry blossoms, sakuramaji　桜まじ
maji is a gentle Spring wind, usually in Kyushu.

"oily south wind", aburamaji 油まじ
..... abura kaze　油風, aburamaze 油まぜ
Southern wind in the areas of Tookai, Kinki, Chuugoku and the Seto Inland sea. IT is a gentle wind and makes the sea look like oil had been poored on it.


. mookoo kaze 蒙古風（もうこかぜ）Mongolian wind
baifuu 霾風（ばいふう）wind with yellow sand　
koosa 黄砂 (こうさ) yellow sand (from the Gobi desert)



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.. .. .. Wind in other spring words



toy balloon, "wind ship" （fuusen　風船)
traditionally made of paper (kami fuusen 紙風船)
lately of rubber (gomu fuusen ゴム風船).
seller of balloons, fuusen uri 風船売（ふうせんうり）
baloon, Luftballon.

This does not include the
hot air balloon (バルーン baruun, 気球 kikyuu).
They are a TOPIC.



windwheel (kazaguruma 風車)
pinwheel, wind wheel, Windrädchen

http://www.chikuen.com/japanese/category2.html


kazaguruma uri 風車売（かざぐるまうり)
seller of windwheels


plant kigo for early summer
kazaguruma no hana 風車の花 (かざぐるまのはな)
"windwheel flower"
tenshiren 転子蓮（てんしれん）
tenshi botan 纏糸牡丹（てんしぼたん）
kazagurumasoo 風車草（かざぐるまそう）"windwheel plant"
Calystegia pubescens, a kind of morning glory


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. tsurushibina つるし雛 / 吊るし雛 small hanging hina dolls .


kamifuusen, kami fuusen 紙風船 toy baloon (from paper)

With the wish that the girl will play with it skilfully and grow up healthy.

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kazaguruma 風車 windwheel

A favorite toy of small children. The rainbow colors may ward off evil. With the hope that the child will be blessed with favorable winds and influences in life.


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SUMMER



. wind in SUMMER (natsukaze 夏風) 　
There are many regional winds along the shore of Japan, with different names.


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Autumn


kigo for early autumn

aki no hatsukaze 秋の初風 (あきのはつかぜ)
first wind of autumn
..... hatsu akikaze 初秋風（はつあきかぜ）
..... hatsukaze 初風（はつかぜ）"first wind"

This expresses a feeling that the hot, humid summer is coming to an end and a cooler breeze is bringing some refreshment.


"voice of the reeds", wind in the reeds, ogi no koe 荻の声


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observance kigo for all late autumn
kaze ire, kazeire, kaze-ire 風入れ（かぜいれ） "airing the treasures"
at the treasure house Shosoin in Nara and many temples
Shoosoin bakuryoo 正倉院曝涼 (しょうそういんばくりょう)
After a humid summer, the scrolls and treasures are taken out of their boxes and hang out to air and dry.
Visitors are often allowed to come and enjoy the temple treasures.


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kigo for all autumn

autumn breeze, autumn wind, wind of autumn
(akikaze, shuufuu, aki no kaze 秋風)
sofuu 素風（そふう）"simply wind"
kinpuu 金風（きんぷう）"golden wind"

ironaki kaze 色無き風 (いろなきかぜ) wind without color
kaze no iro 風の色（かぜのいろ）color of the wind
..... kazairo, kaza-iro 風色

This wind carries with it the sound of rustling leaves
This autumn wind is associated with the color WHITE.
"The wind of autumn has no color (iro naki kaze)" is an old saying, therefore it is white.

Read more about this color by clicking on the following haiku:


ishiyama no ishi yori shiroshi aki no kaze

autumn wind
whiter than the white cliffs
of this mountain

Matsuo Basho
Tr. Gabi Greve


soorai 爽籟 そうらい refreshing sounding autumn wind


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first autumn storm, hatsu arashi 初嵐
(early autumn)
Usually from end of autust till mid-september, but not as strong a storm as a real typhoon of the mid-autumn season. It is followed by the nowaki, see below.

Typhoon (Japan) Hurricane
oshiana おしあな
typhoon-like wind from south-east.
taifuu 颱風 / 台風(たいふう) typhoon
(mid-autumn)


wild autumn flowers in the wind (hananokaze 花野風)
This refers to fields bright with blossoms of autumn flowers. As the season reaches its peak, a wide variety of wild plants flowers or ripens into seed, to be tossed in the autumn winds. Broad expanses of fields at the feet of mountains may turn bright with color when the autumn flowers are in bloom. Wildflowers have a distinctive beauty unlike that of cultivated flowers -- and a slightly desolate quality that appears when they are briefly at their peak and about to fall. The seasonal word hanano, associated with autumn, was already in use by medieval waka and linked verse poets. It has long been a favorite of haikai poets, as well.

voice of autumn　(aki no koe　秋の声, shuusei 秋声)
"sound of autumn" (aki no oto　秋の音)
particularly at night: wind in trees, plants; patter of leaves, rain; insect cries; and so on
"feeling autumn" (shuuki （秋気).


. richi no kaze 律の風（りちのかぜ）melancolic wind of richi
richi no shirabe 律の調べ (りちのしらべ) the sound of richi




storm, equinoctial storm "Field Divider" (nowaki 野分, nowake　野分け)
(mid-autumn)
apparently an old name for "typhoon", in haikai understood to emphasize the wind, as opposed to typhoons in which rain is most prominent.
The simple translation "windstorm" for this one seems problematic, after all, any storm is a windstorm.



mountain wind in the Seto Inland Sea area
yamaze　やまぜ, yamaji　やまじ
It blows from the mountains down to the flat costal areas.


"wind at the end of O-Bon", okuri maze 送りまぜ、送南風
South wind at the end of the O-Bon festival, according to the Lunar Calendar.
... Southern Wind, maji　南風
In Central Japan, this was the wind along the coast that would send the old sailing ships on their way toward the North, for trade with Hokkaido.


Northern Wind, "great western wind" takanishi　高西風
Wind from Northwest, especially in Kyushu and the Sanin Region of Western Japan.
It blows when it is time for harvesting the rice fields, and was therefore also called
"blowing away the chafs" momi otoshi 籾落とし


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kigo for mid-autumn


aogita 青北風 (あおぎた) "green northern wind"
A dialect word used in Hirado and Iki island of Kyushu, sometimes also in Western Japan. This is a strong wind blowing on clear autumn days.



taro-storm , taro-tempest (imo-arashi 芋嵐 （いもあらし）
wind strong enough to batter the leaves of a taro plant

kibi-arashi 黍嵐 (きびあらし) storm in the millet fields



kariwatashi kari watashi 雁渡し (かりわたし)
"geese are passing"
A northern wind in the Izu and Ise area. This wind comes with rain to start with, but later the rain stops and autumn weather with strong wind continues. It is just the time when the geese start to fly over the region.




sakeoroshi, sake oroshi 鮭颪 (さけおろし)
"blowing down on the salmon"
Strong wind during the time when the salmon come to the rivers of Northern Japan to lay eggs.


. WASHOKU
Salmon (sake)
salmon, sake (when in the water) 鮭　
... pronounced shake when used as food on the table.


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kigo for late autumn

oonishi 大西風 (おおにし) great western wind
A low pressure system comes over the pacific toward Northern Japan, carrying strong north-western gales.



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Winter

winter wind, fuyu no kaze 冬の風 (ふゆのかぜ)
..... fuuyukaze 冬風（ふゆかぜ）
cold wind, kanpuu 寒風（かんぷう）
wind makes it cold, kaze sayuru 風冴ゆる（かぜさゆる）
wind makes it freezing, itekaze 凍て風（いてかぜ）



dry wind, sorakaze 空風 (からかぜ)
karakkaze 空っ風（からっかぜ）
anaji 乾風 (あなじ)
..... anaze あなぜ、anashiあなし
dry cold wind from Siberia, blowing into Western Japan


Strong Sibirian winds blowing into Northern Japan along the Sea of Japan coast,
tamakaze たま風 (たまかぜ)
tabakaze たば風（たばかぜ）

strong wind in the bay of Tokyo, bettoo べっとう


Withering Wind kogarashi, Cold Gales. Early Winter.



shimaki しまき【風巻（き）】 strong wind
In olden times, the Character for wind was also pronounced SHI. This is a wind that whirls around things, it blows in Northern Japan and Hokkaido. With snow, it is
yuki shimaki 雪しまき



north wind, kita 北風　（きた）
..... kita kaze 北風（きたかぜ）
hokufuu北風（ほくふう）、sakufuu 朔風（さくふう
saku means north
..... narai ならい , 北風（ならい）
northwind blowing, kita saku 北吹く（きたふく）
strong northern wind, oogita 大北風（おおぎた）
northwind in the morning, asagita 朝北風（あさぎた）



north wind coming down the mountains, kita oroshi
北颪 きたおろし
..... kitaoroshi 北下し（きたおろし）
..... kita shibuki 北しぶき (きたしぶき)

Some mountains are especially famous for its cold winds:
cold wind down from Mt. Asama, Asama oroshi
cold wind down from Mt. Akagi, Akagi oroshi
cold wind down from Mt. Ibuki, Ibuki oroshi
cold wind down from Mt. Hieizan, Hiei oroshi
cold wind down from Mt. Rokko, Rokko oroshi



snowstorm "wind and snow" (fuusetsu　風雪)

"wind flowers" snowflakes (kazahana 風花)


© Photo Gabi Greve
http://happyhaiku.blogspot.com/2005/04/sunbeam-for-us-all.html

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fuyunagi, fuyu nagi 冬凪 (ふゆなぎ) windless, calm in winter kannagi 寒凪（かんなぎ）windless in the cold
..... itenagi 凍凪（いてなぎ）
The wind has died down, and the sea is calm, often in the morning.




wind is crying, kaze ga naku　風が泣く
wind caught in the fences and hedges, like a flute, mogaribue 虎落笛　（もがりぶえ)


wind through the small apertures of a building,
sukimakaze 隙間風　（すきまかぜ）
himamoru kaze ひま洩る風　（ひまもるかぜ）
hima, here means sukima.



cut of the skin by a cold sucking wind,
"sickle weasel", kamaitachi 鎌鼬 (かまいたち)
kamakaze 鎌風（かまかぜ）
itachi is a weasel, people thought of this like the bite of a weasel.
WKD : Weasel : A sword named "Sickle-Weasel".

. Kamaitachi 鎌鼬 "sickle weasel" yokai monster.



hoshi no irigochi 星の入東風 (ほしのいりごち)
early winter


"Gods are leaving" kami watashi 神渡し (かみわたし)
kami tatsu kaze 神立風（かみたつかぜ）
According to the old lunar calendar in Novemer, when the deities of Japan, who gathered in Izumo, take leave and go back to their local areas.
There is usually a strong wind in the Izumo area.


sechigochi 節東風 (せちごち)
late winter
yooka buki 八日吹き (ようかぶき)
shiwasu yookabuki 師走八日吹き（しわすようかぶき）



Strong wind on the Kobo Daishi Day, daishi koo buki
大師講吹き
According to the old lunar calendar in November. Day of Kobo Daishi is the 21 of each month.
WKD : Kobo Daishi Kukai


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New Year



first wind 初風 (はつかぜ) hatsu kaze
..... haru no hatsukaze 春の初風（はるのはつかぜ）
first wind of spring (the New Year)
..... first east wind 初東風 (はつごち) hatsugochi (hatsu kochi)
..... sechigochi 節東風（せちごち）


. hatsu matsukaze 初松風 first wind in the pines .
..... first wind in the pines 初松籟 (はつしょうらい) hatsu shoorai
..... 初松韻（はつしょういん）hatsu shooin, "first sound in the pines"
a rather strong wind that moves the pine branches


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More WIND vocabulary, as topic for haiku


amatsukaze あまつかぜ【天つ風】 wind blowing from the high sky
The TSU is in fact a NO, ten no kaze.
am Himmel wehender Wind


arashi 嵐 storm
The Chinese character shows a mountain from which the wind blows. In waka, it was also written araji 有らじ
Together with other indicators, it is used as a kigo, as we have seen above.


hakaze はかぜ【葉風】 "leaf wind"
Often in summer, when he moves the leaves in the forest. It is a kind of wind that can easily be heared.

hakaze はかぜ【羽風】 "feather wind"
Gentle wind, said to come up when the birds and small beetles wave with their wings or when gentle maiden dance with long-sleeved robes.


mafuu まふう【魔風】, makaze まかぜ demonic storm
This word is already used in ancient literature.
dämonischer Wind, furchtbarer Sturm


reppuu れっぷう【烈風】 violent wind, gale
about ca. 28-32 m/s, able to move the trunks of large trees
When it blows over the sea, the waves stand quite tall.


Saho kaze, Saokaze さほかぜ【佐保風】 wind from mount Saho
Saho was mountain in the old capital of Heiankyo, now in the north of Nara. The deity Princess Saho-Hime is supposed to have lived there.
It has a gentle touch and gives a certain elegance to a haiku.
. Sahohime, Saohime,
Sao-hime 佐保姫 （さほひめ / 狭穂姫） Princess Saohime




shippuu, hayate 疾風 strong wind
Often used as a compound, for spring.


yamakaze やまかぜ【山風】 wind blowing down from the mountain
Or a wind bowing in a mountainous region. It brings cold to the valleys below in the night.



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Worldwide use

Alaska
. Taku Winds .
along the Taku River



Egypt, North Africa
Khamsin wind


Europa
Storm, Gale in Europe Sturm


Kenya
November wind


North America
nor'easter, northeaster
kigo for winter
macro-scale storm along the East Coast of the United States and Atlantic Canada.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !



List of Local Winds
http://mediatheek.thinkquest.nl/~ll118/en/development/types.list.html

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Things found on the way

There is a famous haiku by Matsuo Basho about the white wind of autumn.

ishiyama no ishi yori shiroshi aki no kaze
石山の石より白し秋の風

whiter than the white stones
of Ishiyama mountain <>
autumn wind
(Tr. Gabi Greve)


According to the Erh Ya, one of the earliest Chinese dictionaries,　green is the color of spring, red is the color of summer, white is the color of autumn, and black is the color of winter. The spirit of　autumn is clear and white. Thus, the autumn wind is characterized as　a white wind that is the message of this poem.

Read more about this haiku of Basho here:
Stone Mountain, Ishiyama

... The Color WHITE in Haiku


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like dust in the wind

an image applied to Taira no Kiyomori
and his high but finally vain ambitions
. Taira no Kiyomori 平 清盛 .


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HAIKU

風色やしどろに植ゑし庭の秋
kazairo ya shidoro ni ueshi niwa no aki

color of the wind -
a sparcely planted
garden in autumn

Basho, age 51 in Iga Ueno
a greeting poem to his host, . Toodo Genko 藤堂玄虎 Todo Genki, 渡辺長兵衛 Watanabe Chobei .

Later he changed the last line variously:


風色やしどろに植ゑし庭の萩
... niwa no hagi

color of the wind -
sparcely planted
bush clover in the garden

or (to keep the sls in English)

color of the wind -
sparcely planted bush clover
in the garden
Tr. Jane Reichhold

the color of wind / planted artlessly / in an autumn garden

the color of wind / planted artlessly in a garden / bush clover

the color of wind / planted artlessly / in a garden of reeds


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


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春風や　堤長うして　家遠し
harukaze ya dote nagoo-shite ie tooshi

spring breeze -
the river bank so long and
my home so far
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

Yosa Buson

Read more about this famous haiku and its translations here.

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風神の愁思のまぶた重かりき
fuujin no shuushi no mabuta omokariki

the eyelids
of the wind god are heavy
with autumn melancholy

Adachi Kimihiko 足立公彦


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kaze no oto takeyabu ni kaze matsu ni kaze

The sound of wind
Wind in the bamboo grove
Wind in the pines

Read a special essay about "The sound of wind" kaze no oto
by Gabi Greve

. "The sound of wind" kaze no oto .


. - Matsuo Basho - The Sound of Wind - .


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wind -- amidst
new oak leaves,
your goodbye

Ella W.

(the new oak leaves place this as a spring haiku).



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. SAIJIKI - HEAVEN in all seasons 　

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Wild Boar (inoshishi)

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Wild Boar (inoshishi, Japan)

***** Location: Japan, other regions
***** Season: Late Autumn
***** Category: Animal

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Explanation

The ancestor of the farmer's pig, this wild one roams the forests of all of Japan, excluding Hokkaido, so they say. It sleeps during the daytime and comes out the feed in the evening. It likes small animals like mice, earthworms and river crabs, but also feeds on rice and other grains, fruit and nuts. The farmers of course do not like to share their rice harvest with the wild boars. Smile at the story of old Basho and his fellow farmers below, not much different from my life in the mountains here !

Nowadays, all rice fields in my area are sourrounded by electric fences or metal fences. But since the boars easily jump more than one meter, it does not help much. After the typhoon in September 2005, we have them as twighlight visitors on the fields around the home and spend supper listening to them shoving through the nearby bamboo grove, making eerie sounds as they waddle past.

During the Edo period, poor country people started eating the meat of this "whale of the forest" and called the meat peony (botan). The meat of deer was maple leaf (momiji) and that of the horses was called cherry blossoms (sakura). Thus the pious Buddhists could pretend to eat vegetarian. The raw meat is arranged on the plate to look like a peony flower, see below. It is then put in a broth and boiled together with vegetables.

I remember a "Wild boar party" when our local hunter had shot one animal and invited all the neighbourhood to participate in its decimation. The carcass was placed on his pickup truck in the garden and everyone could cut his favorite piece, eat it raw with garlic (sashimi), boil it to stew in a large pot or eat it in noodle soup, barbeque it or whatever. The taste of raw wild boar bacon was quite delicious ! By the time all had eaten for 6 hours or more, not much than the tail was left of the animal. Even the bones had disappeared in some stomach. And the whole boiled head was a special delicacy, with eyeballs and all eaten...

Gabi Greve, September 2005



Uribo Baby Boar and his Mother
by Mondo Takagaki, my friend

Bizenyaki―Bizen Pottery - 備前焼

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Other Japanese kigo with this animal:

wild boar, inoshishi, Sus scrofa いのしし、猪
..... yacho 野猪, shishi　猪
baby boar, uribo 瓜坊 (means melon boy)
whale of the mountain forest, yamakujira 山鯨

watch keeper against the boars, shishi ban　猪番
path of the boars, shishi michi 猪道
fence against the boars, shishigaki 猪垣
trap to catch boars, shishi wana　猪罠

. shishigaki 猪垣 walls and fences.
- and shishiana 猪穴 holes

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hunting for boars, shishkari　猪狩　
kigo for all winter


meat of the wild boar, shishi niku 猪肉
wild boar stew, shishinabe 猪鍋、(kigo for winter)
..... peony stew 牡丹鍋
WASHOKU ... Meat from the Mountains 　


. inoshishi 猪 wild boar 2013 .
Inoshishi Curry and Deer Curry


. momonjiya ももんじ屋 ・百獣屋　in Edo
selling meat "from one-hundred wild animals" .

With a shop sign of the yamakujira　山くじら wild boar.
(the whale of the mountain)


Utagawa Hiroshige

bridge Bikunibashi in snow びくにはし雪中 / 比丘尼橋
. Edo no hashi 江戸の橋　the bridges of Edo .


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Genjuan no ki 幻住庵記 ( The Hut of the Phantom Dwelling )
By Matsuo Basho

..... my grass hut.
Mountain home, traveler's rest-call it what you will, it's hardly the kind of place where you need any great store of belongings. A cypress bark hat from Kiso, a sedge rain cape from Koshi-that's all that hang on the post above my pillow. In the daytime, I'm once in a while diverted by people who stop to visit.
The old man who takes care of the shrine or the men from the village come and tell me about the wild boar who's been eating the rice plants, the rabbits that are getting at the bean patches, tales of farm matters that are all quite new to me.

And when the sun has begun to sink behind the rim of the hills, I sit quietly in the evening waiting for the moon so I may have my shadow for company, or light a lamp and discuss right and wrong with my silhouette.

- Genjuuan　Ki 幻住庵記 Genju-an Records -
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .

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At the shrine Mitsumine Jinja in Japan they sell a talisman against the damage of wild boars and deer to the crops. It is in the form of a wolf.
Read an article by Gabi Greve about

Japanese Wolf Worship
....... at . Mitsumine Shrine .


The white wild boar 白猪 (shirai, shira-i) is a messenger of the fire deity.

. Fire Deity and shrine Atago Jinja .

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Quote by Texasboars:
Here's the Inoshishi of Japan aka Yamakujira. Inoshishi translates "lion of Ino", and Yamakujira translates "mountain whale". Both names reflect the Japanese view of these creatures as being large and fierce. My son took these pics in downtown Kobe while walking to his college.



Wild Boars in Kobe City


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December 2010
In many parts of Japan, wild boars are becoming a great nuisance, since the hunters are too few and old (or dead), but the boars thrive in the abandoned fields of remote villages.

heavy snowfall -
his funeral
in black and white

Gabi Greve, 2008




Our neighbour puts out stuffed animals in winter. They are mounted on some bicycle wheels and spin around . . .

Some come close to my own daily walk up to the mailbox. We have put up some pinwheels to distract them, but it seems not effective. They are slowly destroying the steep slopes to the neighbours and between the fields.

Gabi Greve


. Scarecrows, wild boar scares
with more photos of the boar scares.



full moon night -
the carcass of a wild boar
on the road

Gabi Greve, August 2, 2012


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Worldwide use

Germany

Wildschwein.

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India

Almost wild pigs at the RiverCauvery, partaking of the offerings to the Gods !



© Photo Johannes Manjrekar


wild pigs -
even the gods have to
share food

Gabi Greve
I saw a similar scene at an offering place in Kathmandu, Nepal.


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Things found on the way

Four Choju-giga scrolls (Choojuu Giga 鳥獣戯画）
There is a famous old scroll depicting animals frolicking, mimicking human behaviour.
The Frog in the Manga

One of these paintings, the frog and wild boar
http://www.kokingumi.com/ChojuGiga/37.html

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The wild boar is one of the 12 Asian zodiac animals.
kanreki <> the circle of 60 years begins again


2007 is the Year of the Wild Boar 亥.


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HAIKU


. - - Matsuo Basho and the Wild Boars - - .

猪もともに吹かるる野分かな
inoshishi mo tomo ni fukaruru nowaki kana

Even a wild boar
With all other things
Blew in this storm.
http://www.big.or.jp/~loupe/links/ehisto/ebasho.shtml

Written in 1690 元禄3年 - see the Genjuan 幻住庵滞 Genju-An text above.

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猪の床にも入るやきりぎりす
inoshishi mo toko ni mo iru ya kirigirisu

penetrating even
the lair of a wild boar—
cricket’s cry
Tr. Barnhill


Basho about the snoring of his disciple Shadoo, Shadō 洒堂 Shado
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .


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twighlight zone -
wild boars harvesting
the fallen rice



Dämmerung -
Wildschweine ernten
den umgefallenen Reis

Read what they did after typhoon Navi in my neighbourhood.
Wild Boars , September 2005,

Gabi Greve

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tracks in the snow--
wild boars must have danced here
last night

Gabi Greve (Japan)
from the Yomiuri Shinbun, August 2005

Go-Shichi-Go / Susumu Takiguchi

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Wild Boar Stew, a kigo for Winter


http://www.eonet.ne.jp/~r1takahashi/touring/repo/2004_11_tanbasasayama.html


牡丹鍋　豊かな森の恵みかな
botan nabe -　yutaka na mori no　megumi kana

wild boar stew -
the fertile woods bestowing
delicious benefits

... ... ...

牡丹鍋　畑嵐の罰のかな
botan nabe -　hatake arashi no　batsu no kana

wild boar stew -
devastating the fields
you end up here!

… Botan is the word for Peonia flowers, since the thinly sliced meat of the wild boar is arranged to look like such a flower on a big plate. I wonder how real peonia stew would taste.

Botan Nabe, wild boar stew

Gabi Greve, 2004

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Wildschweinbraten
und ein Humpen Met -
Germanenfreuden

wild boar roast
and a mug of mead -
pleasures of the old Germans

Gabi Greve


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-  day of the wild boar in october -


外堀にりんとゐのこのかがりかな
sotobori ni rin to inoko no kagari kana

by the outer moat
bonfires strong and forceful --
night of the wild boar
Tr. Chris Drake

The hokku is from the 10th month (November) of 1815, when Issa, living in his hometown, is back in greater Edo on a three-month visit. The hokku evokes the night of the first Day of the Wild Boar in the 10th month, the month governed by the wild boar according to Sino-Japanese zodiacal calendrical thought.

On this day people of all classes eat special rice cakes believed to increase fertility and protect against disease. They also light hearths, ovens, leg and hand warmers, and other fires for winter and spring use. Edo castle uses the occasion to display of its power and magnificence by lighting large, bright bonfires in iron baskets hanging at key points in and around the castle and at the gates in the wall at the inner ends of two bridges that cross the outer moat. On a practical level, the bonfires are used to light the way for daimyo domain lords and shogunal officials who live outside the moat as they arrive at around sundown to attend an obligatory celebration in the castle on the night of the first Day of the Wild Boar.

All daimyo lords and shogunal officials, including those who live inside the outer moat, are required to attend this celebration, during which they symbolically acknowledge their subservience and pledge once more their fealty to the shogun by accepting fancy rice cakes made from newly harvested rice. The lords and officials and their men are in their most formal clothes and closely follow strict protocol as they go through the gate. Both the lords and the hanging bonfires are imposing, yet there is something utterly serious and as cold as the November night about the whole scene. Issa, who must be standing outside the outer moat, seems to realize that the bonfires are as much for spectacle and for use in identifying each attendee at this mandatory event as they are for simple illumination and that this gravitas and well-lit formal precision are a consciously used image of power itself.

Chris Drake

. Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 in Edo .





Boar, the Twelfth Month
Ishikawa Toyomasa　石川豊雅 (act. 1770–1790)


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Related words

***** Wolf (ookami) Japan

***** Farmers work in Autumn


***** . Whale, whales (kujira) 　Japan
Walfisch


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WASHOKU ... Meat from the Mountains 　



. ANIMALS in AUTUMN
SAIJIKI

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White Night

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White night, midnight sun, polar day

***** Location: Polar Circles
***** Season: Mid-Summer
***** Category: Heavens

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Explanation




© Photo by Isabelle Prondzynski, 2005

White night is a night on which it never gets completely dark, because the sun does not descend sufficiently far below the horizon. This phenomenon is observed at sufficiently high latitudes in summer.

At latitudes starting from about the polar circle (also slightly below, due to refraction), instead of twilight the sun may be visible all night, which is referred to as midnight sun.

White nights have become a common symbol of Saint Petersburg, Russia, where the last 10 days of June are celebrated with cultural events. Scandinavia, where this effect can also be observed, is also known as The Land of the Midnight Sun.
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/encyclopedia/W/Wh/White_night.htm

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Read about midnight sun.

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Worldwide use

Japan

hakuya, byakuya 白夜
It is not experienced in Japan itself, but some haiku poets use it now when they are on a trip to areas, where they can see it.


***** . geshi byakuya 夏至白夜（げしびゃくや）
white night of the summer solstice 　
kigo for mid-summer


Gabi Greve

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Russia

White Night in St. Petersburg

Technically speaking the so-called "White Nights" are not unique to St. Petersburg, but only here have the northern nights received such a poetic acclaim. What could be more romantic than walking along rivers and canals when night is as bright as early evening? It is the world's only metropolis where such a phenomenon takes place every summer. Every year there are days when the downtown St. Petersburg is full of people, even at night. It is a great time for those in love and ... for High School graduates who usually get their diplomas about June 21-22.

From late May to early July nights are bright in St. Petersburg, but the real White Nights normally last from June 11 to July 2. The nature of the White Nights (Beliye Nochi) can be explained by the geographical location of St. Petersburg. It is the world's most northern city with a population over 1 million. St. Petersburg is located at 59 degrees 57' North (roughly on the same latitude as Oslo, Norway, the southern tip of Greenland and Seward, Alaska).

Due to such a high latitude the sun does not go under the horizon deep enough for the sky to get dark. The dusk meets the dawn and it is so bright that in summer they do not turn street lighting on. If the weather is cloudy you might not see any White Night, though on a clear day you can get a feel for a White Night even in mid-July.
Bonne chance!

http://www.cityvision2000.com/city_tour/whitenights.htm

.. .. ..

The Mariinsky Theatre

Along with the long-awaited coming of summer to our city we are once again hosting the Stars of the White Nights festival, now in its thirteenth year. Since the time of its inception it has exerted a magnetic appeal, drawing lovers of Russian culture from all over the world to St Petersburg, each year presenting a unique programme of ballets, operas and symphony music.

The 2005 festival opens to a premiere of Richard Wagner´s opera Tristan und Isolde, which is making its return to the theatre´s repertoire almost one hundred years after the legendary production by Vsevolod Meierhold. The new production is by the young but already acclaimed Dmitry Chernyakov.

One of the distinguishing features of this year´s festival programme is the series of concerts and performances by musical ensembles and theatre companies from countries on the Baltic Sea. The opera programme includes all the premieres of the current season, performances by stars of the Mariinsky Opera Company Olga Borodina, Anna Netrebko and Vladimir Galuzin as well as world-renowned bass René Pape in Wagner´s Parsifal, the Finnish National Opera (Rasputin with Matti Salminen in the main role) and the Norwegian Opera (Peer Gynt) in addition to chamber programmes with soloists from the Mariinsky Academy of Young Singers.

http://www.mariinsky.ru/en/playbill/festivals


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

身を燃やす白夜のパブの海賊酒

it burns my body -
this pirates liquor
in a white night
　

冬男, Fuyu Otoko, Ashita no Kai
http://www.ashitano-kai.gr.jp/f-saiziki.html

(Tr. Gabi Greve)

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midsummer night
sun rises
where it sets

That was a simple observation from the deck. The sun went down to the horizon, and then up again from (almost) the same place (we were still south of the Arctic Circle...), and the sky never lost its light where the sun was.

white night --
board games and red wine
till our eyes close

The white nights occurred when the sky remained cloudy, and we could not see the sun setting. Thus, the remaining daylight was more generally present, not pin-pointed in a particular area of the sky.

© Haiku and Photo, Isabelle Prondzynski,
from a trip to Norway in 2005

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white night
on the budding oak
puffs of snow

copyright 3/15/1999 by Wendy C. Bialek
http://haiku.cc.ehime-u.ac.jp/~shiki/shiki.archive/html/9903/0665.html

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white night -
I draw the curtains
on a daylight moon

a white night --
salmon bones curled
against a log

Cindy Zackowitz, Alaska, 1999
http://haiku.cc.ehime-u.ac.jp/~shiki/shiki.archive/html/9906/0779.html

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white night --
moon is swimming out
of the stone lion's jaws

summer midnight --
the polar sun clings
to the pine tips

Salehard summer --
the opaque-white night drips
with mosquitoes

polar midnight --
salmonberry gleaming
on the swamp hillock

Olga Hooper
From the city of Salehard, on the Polar Circle

Here are two more photos of Salehard:

http://www.t-l.ru/cgi-bin/digest.cgi?//PhotoGallery/salehard/salehard_19.jpg
(Salehard, the bank of the river Poluy)

http://www.t-l.ru/cgi-bin/digest.cgi?//PhotoGallery/salehard/salehard_17.jpg
(stella "The Polar Circle", reared right at the 66°33' parallel)


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white nights
severity of northern rocks
hidden in a stone

Gennady Nov
Joys of Japan, February 2012


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Related words

***** Polar night : Kigo for Winter

The opposite phenomenon of white night,
polar night, is observed in winter when the sun is sufficiently below the horizon, so that there is insufficient sunlight or no light at all. (A lingering dusk may occur, if the sun is only 12 degrees or less below the horizon.)
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/encyclopedia/m/mi/midnight_sun.htm

HAIKU

.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Siberian series
by Olga Hooper

Aurora Borealis
over the poor village
the splendor of lights

Polar night --
thick vapor encircles
children's laughter

New Year's cold --
again my son brings home
a stray kitten

Siberian frost --
vapor from thawed out soil
under the bitch's belly

Polar night --
sparkle of precious stones
in a tundra sky

So called "northen lights", or "Aurora Borealis" is what I try to describe in the 'Polar night' haiku. It's a magnificent show in the dark night sky over Salechard which I had the chance to witness a few times. It was a rare thing in the place where I lived, and is difficult to compare to anything else ... So, I tried to describe it as 'precious stones sparkling in the sky'.

http://thegreenleaf.co.uk/HP/Duets/Olga/00olgahaiku.htm


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Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis)
Arctic Fox's tail. 気象北極光. Nordlicht
kigo for spring



For reasons not fully understood by scientists, the weeks around the vernal equinox are prone to Northern Lights.
In other words, spring is aurora season. Observations from NASA spacecraft are shedding new light on this old mystery.
Canadians walking their dogs after dinner, Scandinavians popping out to the sauna, Alaskan Huskies on the Iditarod trail—all they have to do is look up and behold, green curtains of light dancing across the night sky. Spring has arrived!
source : NASA science news, 2008


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***** . geshi byakuya 夏至白夜（げしびゃくや）
white night of the summer solstice 　　


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Whitebait (shirauo)

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Whitebait (shirauo)

***** Location: Japan, other areas
***** Season: Early Spring
***** Category: Animal
shira uo, shira-uo
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Explanation


whitebait / icefish, shirauo 白魚 シラウオ
Salanx microdon

whitebait soup, shiraojiru 白魚汁
whitebait boat, shiraoubune 白魚舟
whitebait net, shirauo-ami 白魚網

whitebait fire, shiraobi 白魚火

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They are quite a delicasy here in Japan. There are various types, usually from rivers. They are fished from rivers and lakes, usually from February to May.


http://www.akita-gulmet.net/special/


Click HERE to see some
and the way they are eaten in Japan

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Whitebait are young fish; in Europe the term applies to young herring, but in other parts of the world it is used for similar fish of other species. Whitebait are tender and edible. The entire fish is eaten including head, fins and gut but typically each 'bait' is only 25-50 mm in length and about 3 mm in cross-section.

Whitebaiting is the activity of catching whitebait.

1 New Zealand Whitebait
2 Australian Whitebait
3 United Kingdom Whitebait
4 Chinese Whitebait

© Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitebait

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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

明ぼのや しら魚しろき こと一寸
akebono ya shirauo shiroki koto issun

Matsuo Basho

at dawn -
how white the whitebait
of just one SUN
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

- - - - - issun 一寸 about 3 cm or one inch



http://www.ese.yamanashi.ac.jp/~itoyo/basho/nozarasi/nozara21.htm


In the twilight of dawn // a whitefish, with an inch // of whiteness.
(© Makoto Ueda)

Early dawn,
young white fish shining in ephemeral white,
hardly an inch long
(© Nobuyuki Yuasa)

Early dawn – // whitefish, an inch // of whiteness
(© Haruo Shirane)

Dawn-scaling – //a whitefish, with an // inch of whiteness.
(© Lucien Stryk)

In the dawn: // a whitebait, whiteness // one inch long.
(© Thomas McAuley)

акэбоно я
ширауо широки
кото иссу-н
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/dmitrismirnov/BASHO_Haiku_A.html



quote
In the light of dawn
the white of whitefish gleaming
just an inch or so

This comes from Basho’s Bleached Bones in a Field.
”Just before dawn I went to the beach when it was still dark.”
Here he jotted down the above haiku with the lines from a poem by Tu Fu ringing in his ears:

Every whitefish has its own life
In nature just an inch or so long.

- Tr. and Comment : Bill Wyatt


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


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白魚やきのふも亀の放さるる
shirauo ya kinoo mo kame no hanasaruru

whitebait--
yesterday they parted ways
with the turtle



白魚のしろきが中に青藻哉
shirouo no shiroki ga naka ni aomo kana

amid the white
of the whitebait
duckweed's green



白魚に大泥亀も遊びけり
shirauo ni ôdoro-game mo asobi keri

among the whitebait
a big mud turtle
plays too



白魚のどっと生るるおぼろ哉
shirauo no dotto umaruru oboro kana

darting whitebait
suddenly are born...
night haze

Issa

The season word in this haiku, oboro, refers succinctly to a hazy night of spring. Shinji Ogawa explains: "The word, dotto is an onomatopoetic word that describes sudden movements of things of a large number. It seems that the scene is of fishing. The whitebaits are running in a large numbers from the sea into the rivers to spawn in spring. Fishermen scoop them with large nets. In the hazy night, one cannot see the whitebaits swimming in the river, but when the net is raised, the whitebaits suddenly emerge in the net."

Issa Haiku Tr. David Lanoue

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Related words

***** Haiku Topics: White (shiroi)

***** WKD : FISH as a kigo



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Whale, whales (kujira)

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Whales, Walfisch (kujira)

***** Location: Japan, other areas
***** Season: See below
***** Category: Animal

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Explanation

Whale, kujira 鯨
kigo for all winter in Japan

semi kujira 背美鯨（せみくじら）Eubalaena japonica

makkoo kujira 抹香鯨（まっこうくじら）sperm whale
Physeter macrocephalus

zatoo kujira 座頭鯨（ざとうくじら）humpback whale
Megaptera novaeangliae

iwashi kujira 鰯鯨（いわしくじら）sei whale
Balaenoptera borealis］
nagasu kujira 長須鯨（ながすくじら）
Balaenoptera musculus
..... shironagasu kujira 白長須鯨（しろながすくじら）

kokujira 小鯨（こくじら）"small whale"

isana 勇魚（いさな）Isana. old name for the whale




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humanity kigo for all winter



. hokei 捕鯨 (ほげい) whaling, whale hunting 　
kujira tsuki 鯨突（くじらつき）spearing a whale
isana tori 勇魚取（いさなとり）
kujirabune 鯨舟（くじらぶね）whaler, boat for whaling
..... hokeisen 捕鯨船（ほげいせん）
kujirami 鯨見（くじらみ）outlook for whales
..... kujiraban 鯨番（くじらばん）
ichiban mori 一番銛（いちばんもり）first harpoon
niban mori 二番銛（にばんもり）second harpoon


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kujiranabe 鯨鍋 (くじらなべ) whale hodgepodge
kujirajiru 鯨汁（くじらじる）soup with whale meat


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humanity kigo for all summer



shio kujira 塩鯨（しおくじら） salted whale meat
sarashi kujira 晒鯨 (さらしくじら) salted whale meat
kawa kujira 皮鯨（かわくじら）whale skin


Matsuo Basho wrote in "Kuzu no Matsubara" 葛の松原

水無月や鯛はあれども塩鯨
minazuki ya tai wa aredomo shiokujira

in June
having salted whale is better than
sea bream
Tr. Reichhold


Sixth Month--
though there is sea bream
this pickled whale meat
Tr. Barnhill

Barnhill comments:
"Sea bream is more of a delicacy, but for Basho what fits the season and his aesthetics is the lighter fare of cold, white whale meat favored by the common people."


source :　turbobf1516

During the Edo period, a lot of whale was landed in Nagasaki (Hirado, Ikitsuki and the Goto islands) and prepared with salt to last on the long way via the Nagasaki Kaido road 長崎街道 or the Hirado Kaido 平戸街道 road to find its way to Edo.
Even now Shio-Kujira is served in many schools in Nagasaki, with grated onions and marinated in soy sauce. It is also deep-fried as tatsuta age.

Whale meat revived in Nagasaki
source : david-in-tokyo.blogspot


minazuki 水無月 "month without water"
This refers to the time just before the rainy season when water is scarce in the wells and fields.
- - - - - another reading is
mizu no tsuki　水の月 "month with water"
sixth lunar month, now July


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

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WDCS is the global voice for the protection of whales,
dolphins and their environment

Introduction to Scientific Whaling

In 200O, Japan's research whaling fleet returned home with 88 whales out of the 160 planned to be killed in the north-western Pacific Ocean. In 2001, Japan began its programme to sample up to 100 minkes, 50 Bryde's and 10 sperm whales in the north-western Pacific Ocean, based on the country's spurious argument that whales are competitors with humans for dwindling fish resources. This hunt was on top of the 500 plus minke whales that it is already hunting in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary and the North Pacific.

The use of 'scientific permits' within the IWC is a controversial subject. Whilst Article VIII of the ICRW allows for a member nation to self-allocate quotas for 'scientific purposes', the majority of the IWC members believe that Japan and Norway, have abused this 'loophole' in the Convention.
Whilst many nations have used scientific permits to keep their struggling whaling industries alive, scientific permits really came into their own in the 1970s. The Faroese used scientific permits to maintain their commercial fin whale fishery, despite official IWC protection for the North Atlantic fin whale from 1976. In April 1985, the Japanese Minister for Fisheries, Moriyoshi Sato said, "the government (of Japan) will do its utmost to find ways to maintain the nation's whaling in the form of research or other forms". Japan began its scientific whaling programme in 1987, and continues to kill up to 540 minke whales every year. In 2000, it expanded its hunt in the North Pacific to include sperm and Bryde's whales.

The Japanese whaling programme has been repeatedly condemned by the International Whaling Commission. In 1995 the IWC recommended that members "should...refrain from issuing [scientific] permits in sanctuaries involving the killing of cetaceans in such sanctuaries" (IWC/47/30, Rev.1). The IWC also passed a resolution recommending that "scientific research intended to assist the comprehensive assessment of whale stocks and the implementation of the Revised Management Procedure "shall be undertaken by non-lethal means" (IWC/47/31).

On the 11th December 1995, the US Secretary of Commerce certified Japan under the 1978 Pelly Amendment to the Fisherman's Protective Act of 1967, noting that "Japanese nationals are engaged in scientific whaling activities that diminish the effectiveness of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) conservation program".
http://www.wdcs.org/dan/publishing.nsf/allweb/784FDCC28FBB876080256F3500551521

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Worldwide use

Alaska

humpback whales return home from Hawaii
kigo for spring

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Hawaii

whale watching



especially in Hawaii, it is a big attraction.
There is also some whale watching going on in Japan.
Whales might be seen during the whole year, but during the summer holidays the whale watching is most prominent, therefore it might be considered

humanity kigo for all summer


Whale Watching
Check the Whale-Watching-Web
http://www.helsinki.fi/~lauhakan/whale/

Whale Watching World Wide


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Things found on the way



Moby Dick モビー・ディック

Moby-Dick; or, The Whale
was written by American author Herman Melville and first published in 1851.
It is considered to be one of the Great American Novels and a treasure of world literature.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !


inspired by lines from Melville's "Moby Dick"

Growing grim
cold November in my soul
waiting for spring

William Sheehan
Joys of Japan, February 2012


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- Walfang -

Die Geschichte des Walfangs in Japan reicht weit in die Vergangenheit, erste Beschreibungen finden sich bereits im Kojiki , der ältesten Geschichtschronik des Landes aus dem achten Jahrhundert. Im 17. Jh. war die Stadt Taiji in Wakayama der Mittelpunkt des Walfangs mit Handharpunen.
Alle Teile eines Wals wurden verwertet, vom Fett über Fleisch bis zu den Knochen und Kiemen. Ein altes Sprichwort sagt: "Vom Walfisch gibt es nichts wegzuwerfen, nur seine Stimme."
Seit Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts wurden moderne Methoden des Fischfangs vom Westen übernommen. Während der Lebensmittelknappheit nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg war billiges Walfleisch eine wichtige Nahrungsquelle und wurde auch als Mittagessen in Schulen gereicht.
Im Jahre 1962 betrug die Fangmenge von Walen 226 000 Tonnen, sank aber bald ab. Die Internationale Walfangkommission sprach 1986 ein Verbot für den kommerziellen Walfang aus. Japan umgeht dieses Verbot seither dadurch, dass man den Walfang als wissenschaftliches Forschungsprogramm deklariert.

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HAIKU


大航海時代終りし鯨かな 　　
daikookai jidai owarishi kujira kana

the time of great seafarers
is now over -
all these whales

Hashimoto Eiji 橋本榮治 (1953 - )



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Whale's fluke
tosses water up -
the memory of it...

Zhanna P. Rader


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A whale!
Down it goes, and more and more
up goes its tail!

Buson, Yosa (1716-84)
Followed after Basho, but with his own style.


The whale squirts water
Don't kill the whale he is nice
He likes everyone.

Donny - third grade student

　©　Greenpeace, Haiku Contest 2006
Read the whole collection HERE !



My four year old son
says he wants to change the world
he's heard the whale's song...

Posted by: Jennifer Cherkasov at January 26, 2006
source: weblog.greenpeace.org, MORE : Haiku Contest 2006

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deep blue --
in front of the whale
migration route

tons of tenderness --
a baby whale on the back
of its mother

Davorka Lukas, Croatia
June 2009


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Related words

***** ..... FISH as a kigo




Utagawa Hiroshige

***** yamakujira 山鯨（やまくじら） "whale of the mountain"
. Wild Boar (inoshishi)



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Welsh Onion Head (negi boozu)

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Welsh Onion Head (negi boozu)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Late Spring
***** Category: Plant

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Explanation

The Welsh Onion, Allium fistulosum and others of this lily family.

The Japanese name comes from the look of it, almost a personification for the
"Bald Head of Priest", boozu 葱坊主
welsh onion flower, negi no hana 葱の花
welsh onion jewel, negi no gibo　葱の擬宝



http://opencage.info/pics/large_2121.asp

The origin of this plant is China, Sibiria and the Altai region, but it was introduced to Japan very early and is already mentioned in the "Nihon Shoki" Chronicles.
In April and May, the heads start sticking out on long stalks and before the flower openes they look like a bald head of a priest (at least to the Japanese eye).

The plant as food is a kigo for winter, see below. It has medical properties and is eaten in soups and stews.


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Let us look at the Japanese word for monk or priest, boozu.
This is originally the word for the head priest of a temple or retreat (ichiboo 一坊、一寺) and only later was used for any monk. Some priests and monks were called Tera Hooshi or Yama Hooshi at Temple Enryaku-Ji (寺法師、山法師), but in contrast to them, the priests and monks from Temple Mii-Dera were called boozu or Honorable Priest, goboo 御坊.
Later during the Edo period, young priests who worked for a local lord (daimyoo) or the Edo government were also called boozu. Nowadays, any young boy with a shaven head is a boozu.
(Quoted from Saijiki for Buddhist Events ).

The flower of the Dogwood looks similar to these Mountain Priests, see the entry for Dogwood .

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The round head of the leek flower is also called "Jewel" gibo 擬宝珠. Here is a picture of such a form on the border of a bridge. You also find this pattern of a figure as the head tile of a temple.


http://www.linkclub.or.jp/~mcyy/kyo/uji/01.html

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Talking of BOOZU, here is another natural phenomen which the Japanese call by this name, now a "Bald Priest Head in Hell", jigoku boozu.


http://www.ajkj.jp/ajkj/oita/beppu/kanko/jigoku/jigoku_bouzu.html

The bubbeling mud of many hot springs forms to look like a bald head!

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Worldwide use

USA

View all Allium thumbnails at the PLANTS Gallery


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Things found on the way


Maho Sensei Negima

Negi's name is actually a pun. In Japanese, Negi means scallion, or green onions or Welsh onions, and are also in the same family as leek, which is a national symbol of Wales, where Negi comes from. Many of his students address him using the playful "-bozu" honorific, which means something along the lines of "kiddo" or "squirt", but "negibozu" ("onion head") is also a slang term meaning a callow or inexperienced youth.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0480493/trivia


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. Octopus Priest, tako boozu 蛸坊主 　


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Origa (Olga Hooper) has a nice haiga with this flower



http://www.livejournal.com/users/origa/54405.html

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HAIKU

At an NHK program, this plant was the object of a Haiku Meeting.
http://www.nhk.or.jp/haiku/html/haiku15-4-12.htm
(Tr. Gabi Greve)


葱坊主一本足りない色鉛筆
negi boozu ippon tarinai iro enpitsu

Welsh onion heads -
of my color pencils
one is missing

. . . . .


葱坊主睡魔のおりてきし真昼
negi boozu suima no orite kishi nirune

Welsh onion head -
sleep comes over me,
time for a midday nap


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人間に退屈しおり葱坊主
ningen ni taikutsu shiori negi boozu

getting tired of
being a human -
Welsh onion heads


Matsuzaki Tetsunosuke 松崎鉄之介
Quoted from the Saijiki for Buddhist Events


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negi boozu -
my neighbour plants
a few more

Gabi Greve, Spring 2010



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Related words

***** Stone Leek, Welsh Onion, Green Onion,
Chinese Onion, Spring Onion
these and the following are kigo for all winter .
The plants have small bulbs and long green stalks.

stone leek, negi 葱、
. . . nebuka (root-deep) 根深
leek leaves, leafy leeks, hanegi 葉葱

leek soup, negijiru 葱汁
leek rice gruel, negizoosui 葱雑炊

leek field, negibatake 葱畑
pulling out leeks, negi nuku 葱抜く


Welch Onion (alternative spelling), Poree, Lauch
. WASHOKU
Leek in Japanese Food 　
and more LEEK KIGO !


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葱白く洗いたてたるさむさ哉
negi shiroku araitate taru samusa kana

leeks washed
all white and clean -
such a coldness!

Matsuo Basho
http://homepage2.nifty.com/zatsugaku/zatugaku/980913.html


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立ち並ぶこけしの如き葱坊主
tachinarabu kokeshi no gotoki negi boozu

standing in a row
like kokeshi dolls -
welsh onion heads

source : santoukahuu


. Kokeshi wooden dolls and haiku 　


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