[MoE] Iaponia III

Day 5,209, 15:37 • Published in Japan Japan • by Violence Seth

Hey there, MoE Seth here. I'd like to thank everyone who contributed and those who helped sponsor last weeks Haiku contest. I didn't expect such a big turnout, thank you all again for making it such a success. Y'all wrote such wonderful Haikus.

A special congratulations to our 60k winner Rabbit of Caerbannog with her Haiku; Springset

Spirited fountain
Red sunrays on the plane sing
Beyond the flowers

And now a piece about the master of haiku poetry himself,

Matsuo Bashó


I know I already said that I wouldn't be covering Oku no Hosomichi, but that was mostly because the translations online were either way too literal or unintentionally comical. So to remedy this I found a copy in bookstore in town translated by Nobuyuki Yuasa which I think translates the work quiet well.

A little preface; Bashó was a travelling poet born near Kyoto in 1644. As a youth he befriended the son of a local lord, opening him up to the world of court aesthetics and collaborative verse called Renku in the seventeen-verse syllable style. He became a recluse as a young man, often erroneously conflated with his homosexuality by 19th century Western scholars, although same sex relationships weren't taboo in Edo period Japan. He continued both studying and collaborating with other poets, living in a humble hut outside of Edo until the death of his lord set him off on his adventures.


Bashó relied of the hospitality of temples and fellow poets. His earliest writing is strongly intertwined with Zen Buddhism and by the time he took to the road his "travel log" style of writing began to earn him acclaim where ever he roamed. I highly suggest buying a copy of Oku no Hosomichi (The Narrow Road to the Deep North). I'll leave you with three excerpts;

1. "... Finally I sold my house, moving to the cottage of Sampú for a temporary stay. Upon the threshold of my old home, however, I wrote a linked verse of eight pieces and hung it on a wooden pillar. The starting piece was:

Behind this door,
Now buried in the deep grass,
A different generation will celebrate
The Festival of Dolls*."

* Doll's Festival

Yuasa's translation makes it so much more intellagable to a monolinual English speaker such as I.
This was the best I could find via randomly scouring the net;
from Iaponia I;

A owner of the old thatched hut
Is also changed to another
It’s the Doll’s Festival.

2. "... The chestnut is a holy tree, for the Chinese ideograph for chestnut is Tree placed directly below West, the direction of the holy land. The Priest Gyóki* is said to have used it for his walking stick and the chief support of his house.

The chestnut by the eaves
in magnificent bloom
Passes unnoticed
By men of this world "

* The Priest Gyóki

3. "... I left for the Ise Shrine*, though the fatigue of the long journey was still with me, I wanted to see the dedication of a new shrine there. As I stepped into the boat, I wrote:

As firmly cemented clam-shells
Fall apart in autumn,
So I must take to the road again,
Farewell, my friends. "

* The Ise Shrine


I hoped you enjoyed reading. Perhaps we could try a collaborative project and create our own linked verse or Renku? Let me know if you're interested in the comments below or message me.

\o/

Ya Boi,
あなたの友達

セス 🇯🇵
Seth, eJapan MoE