Charles Trumbull states the problem succinctly:. Successful haiku, Shirane argues, must work along both axes.
Locating a verse in the cycle of seasons has always been an important aspect of the vertical for Japanese poets. Much like the syllabic shell of the haiku, however, the elaborate seasonal understanding that developed in Japan exports badly to the West.
One of the delightful aspects of travelling in Japan in spring and autumn is to observe so many Japanese people actively celebrating seasonal transience.
The sight of blue tarpaulins spread beneath the trees or red-covered benches to indicate that tea is available, is ubiquitous and cheerful. Even the newspapers are enlivened by pictorial evidence of the way Japanese sensibility engages with the seasons. Here are some examples from The Daily Yomiuri.
Fuji as it gradually sinks early Saturday morning in Gotenba, Shizuoka Prefecture. Enduring nature claiming precedence over the transience of politics. An item on ogi Miscanthus Japanese silver plume grass, one of the seven flowers of autumn was accompanied by a waka the name for Japanese tanka poetry until about from a 12 th century imperial anthology, the Shinkokinshu , which laments the havoc this grass can wreak on gardens.
Yet the ogi is respected and I noticed how it appears, often linked to a red moon, on many pieces in the famous Bizen pottery area. By way of contrast it would not be unusual for an Australian newspaper to feature on its leading pages photographs of floods or bushfires, but it would be unusual to show, as part of the news, the advent of flannel flowers in spring, the appearance of wattle in late winter and summer swathes of kangaroo grass, accompanied by a poem.
Letters from Japanese friends almost always begin with a comment on the weather or reference to a festival. On a more mundane level, even the type of canned drinks in vending machines change from summer to autumn. In Matsuyama celebrated the year anniversary of the poet Shiki, who was a leader in reforming haiku, previously known as hokku. Matsuyama has a museum dedicated to Shiki and this was the location of the 3 rd Pacific Rim Haiku Conference in April at which I was invited to present a paper on haiku in Australia.
A highlight of my own haiku-writing experience was to sit beneath cherry trees at Matsuyama Castle, picnicking with friends and writing haiku. On a blue tarpaulin, of course. On several occasions, I have heard it said in Japan that it is best to live like a follower of Shinto and be buried as a Buddhist. A neat piece of pragmatism. Munemichi Kurozumi:. In turn they felt a sense of simple and direct reverence for all things which helped nurture and sustain that rice, from the land itself, to water, wind, and the source of them all — the sun.
In this sense of reverence one can see the beginnings of Shinto. Shinto is a spiritual tradition of gratitude for the blessings of the kami , the object of worship in Shinto. And Shinto is a tradition of warm and intimate spiritual communication between kami and human beings.
So if we think about respect for the kami that lies in the mountain, the pebble, the mouse, the tree, we start to understand the close observation of natural phenomena and the sense of transience that permeate Japanese haiku. Japanese attention to detail is legendary. Haiku itself is about the observation of detail and the awareness of transience.
It is common for haiku poets to write their own death poem around the age of This gives the poet a chance to express how their life has been spent and how they might like to be remembered. In Japan, anyone is welcome to write this diminutive genre. In addition, it allows the writer to write about any subject in daily life. This does not mean that it is not taken seriously.
An insight into the activities of Japanese haiku-writing groups led by highly respected haijin haiku masters is provided by American diplomat, Abigail Friedman, in The Haiku Apprentice. Friedman recounts in detail her experiences within one such group over a two-year period in Japan. After this, for several years more they translated the monthly Shiki haiku that was posted in the lobby of the museum.
Together, sabi and wabi represent aestheitc qualites much appreciated in Japan: the values that lead to a love of the simple, unpretentious, nonstandard, weatherworn and neglected rather than the new, the shiny, the regular, the glamourous or the sensational. By Michael Gunton and George Marsh to the top. Site Contents home reference bibliography books The Lessons Basho's Spirit teachers secondary teachers primary self study Show Don't Tell teachers self study. In traditional haiku there is always some reference to a seasson.
The Japanese have always been very aware of the changing seasons. Over the centuries many weather features, flowers, fruits, animals and customs have become specifically linked with one time of year or another. Even things that are present all the year or most of the year, like the moon and rain and frogs, represent, by poetic convention, one particular time the moon, unless otherwise stated, always refers to the Harvest Moon in mid-September by Japanese convention.
These are known as kidai. The English word rain, on the other hand, gives you the impression that it rains haphazardly in all seasons of the year. At first glance, it seems impossible for those who are used to that sort of rain to appreciate the subtleties in haiku.
But, as we know, English is equipped to describe different kinds of rain pour, drizzle, sluice, etc. To some extent, in any case, the suggestive power of these short poems depends on this stylization. Another good example would be blossoms. A blossom is a kigo for spring, but the type of blossom indicates when in spring. Plum blossoms for early spring, cherry for mid spring, and peach for the mellow late spring, to name a few. The Bush Warbler jap: Uguisu is a bird associated with spring and a spring kigo, as well.
This means, for us purists, that we must take great care to use language, specific to English, that mirrors the Japanese understanding for haiku and not simply mimic the wording and style. A simple kigo example for English would be New Years Day. Like Liked by 1 person.
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