Category: Travel

Getting Exiled Isn’t Fun: Poem Number 11

Another random poem I found lately. Interesting enough, it has some relation to the much later poem by Emperor Gotoba (poem 99):

JapaneseRomanizationTranslation
わたの原Wata no haraO tell her, at least,
八十島かけてYasoshima kaketethat I’ve rowed out,
heading towards
こぎ出ぬとKogi idenu tothe innumerable isles
人には告げよHito ni wa tsugeyoof the ocean’s wide plain,
あまのつり舟Ama no tsuribunéyou fishing boats of
the sea-folk!
Translation by Dr Joshua Mostow

The poet author was Sangi Takamura (参議篁, 802 – 852), “Counselor Takamura”, also known as Ono no Takamura. He was one of the premiere poets of his time, particularly with Chinese poetry, which was very popular in that era. People considered him a rival to the famous Chinese poet Bo Juyi, which was quite a compliment. Bo Juyi’s poetry is frequently recited or mentioned in many works from the Nara and Heian periods (such as the works of Lady Murasaki, poem 57).

For his talent with Chinese poetry, Takamura was selected to be part of the 837 embassy to Tang Dynasty China, the same one as Abe no Nakamaro (poem 7). Such trips were prestigious, but also incredibly perilous, because Japanese ships were not designed to cross deep sea, and withstand frequent typhoons. Plus ambassadors had to stay for 10+ years at a time, and some never returned from China at all, as in Nakamaro’s case.

Takamura, while revered by Emperor Saga, also had a dubious reputation for being a straight-shooter. As an eccentric genius he had a tendency to annoy everyone, including Emperor Saga.

It was probably for these two reasons, his hesitancy to carry out his ambassadorial duties, and his lack of tact, that Takamura was exiled to Oki Island and sent this poem back home as he headed for exile.

Oki Island shown above in the featured photo (photo by Yuvalr, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons), is where Emperor Gotoba (poem 99) was also exiled centuries later and stayed there for 20 years before he died. It is a lonely island facing the cold, windy Japan Sea/East Sea and far removed from the Court. Noble-born members of the Court were often exiled here, among other locations (see poem 100) for some length of time until they either died, or the reigning Emperor granted clemency. Fortunately, Takamura was pardoned a year a later, and allowed to return home.

One other note is that the poem slightly violates the traditional 5-7-5-7-7 syllable count in most waka poems. The third verse has 6 verses. Poets did occasionally violate this rule, probably for good reasons, but it’s interesting when it comes up. Then again, in Takamura’s case, maybe he just wanted to annoy people, or he just didn’t care. 🤭

The Wonders of Mount Fuji: Poem Number 4

This was something I read recently that I felt like posting:

JapaneseRomanizationTranslation
田子の浦にTago no ura niAs I set out on
うち出でて見ればUchi idete mirebathe beach of Tago, and look,
白たへえのShirotae noI see the snow
constantly falling
富士の高嶺にFuji no takane nion the high peak of Fuji,
雪は降りつつYuki wa furitsutsuwhite as mulberry cloth.
Translation by Dr Joshua Mostow

This poem was composed by Yamabe no Akahito (山部赤人, dates unknown ) who according to Mostow was a contemporary of Hitomaro (poem 3). He is also one of the Thirty Six Immortals of Poetry and was a leading poet during the reign of Emperor Shomu and contributed to the Manyoshu. He is revered alongside his contemporary, Kakinomoto no Hitomaro (poem 3) as a “saint of poetry”. Compared to Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, Yamabe is known for a poetry style focused on the beauty of nature such as this poem, rather than clever verse.

Yamabe, for his part, served as a court poet under the pious Emperor Shomu. Unfortunately there is no information about his life before he served in the Court. My new book points out that since he was never mentioned in the historical document the Shoku Nihongi, Yamabe was probably a low-ranking bureaucrat.

Mostow carefully explains that this poem, like many of the earlier poems in the Hyakunin Isshu were written in an old Japanese-Chinese hybrid script called manyōgana and was thus open to many interpretations. In fact, the poem has evolved over time and the version in the Hyakunin Isshu is only one such version. The version above, compiled by Fujiwara no Teika (poem 97), was in an imperial anthology called the Shin-Kokin Wakashu. But the original version, poem 318 in the Manyoshu, read like so:

JapaneseRomanizationRough Translation1
田子の浦ゆTago no ura yuAs I passed
うち出でて見ればUchi idete mirebathe bay of Tago, and looked,
ま白にそMashiro ni soI saw the white snow
富士の高嶺にFuji no takane nifalling on the high peak
雪は降りけるYuki wa furitsukeruof Mount Fuji.
1 apologies in advance for any mistakes or for quality of translation

In this version, it sounds like Akahito is describing something more in the past, and the poem doesn’t use a pillow word (see below) to describe the snow. It uses the more mundane description of “very white”, not “white as mulberry cloth”.

The aforementioned vagaries of Manyogana script also matter because there’s much debate about where Akahito actually was when composing this poem. The location of Tago no Ura is now Suruga Bay in Shizuoka Prefecture, but originally may have meant some place much closer to Mount Fuji, under it’s “shadow”, so to speak.

One other interesting note for readers of this blog is the middle line, shirotae no, which as you may recall from poem 2 is one of those special “pillow words” used in Japanese poetry. It is a very idiomatic term which conveys something that is gleaming white, or as Professor Mostow translates, white as mulberry cloth. At some point in history, the third verse changed from a more mundane description of snow to a much more impactful description.

P.S. Featured photo is Mount Fuji as seen from Suruga Bay, photo by Shinichi Morita, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

No Refuge In This World: Poem Number 83

This is a well-known poem in the Hyakunin Isshu, and I felt worth posting here:

JapaneseRomanizationTranslation
世の中よYo no naka yoWithin this world
道こそなけれMichi koso nakerethere is, indeed, no path!
思ひい入るOmoi iruEven deep in this mountains
山の奥にもYama no oku ni moI have entered, heart set,
鹿ぞ鳴くなるShika zo naku naruI seem to hear the deer cry!
Translation by Dr Joshua Mostow

The author, Kōtai Gōgū no Daibu Toshinari (皇太后宮大夫俊成, 1114 – 1204), or “Master of the Grand Empress’s Palace, Shunzei”. He is also known as Fujiwara no Shunzei, or Fujiwara no Toshinari (俊成 can be read either way), the father of Fujiwara no Teika . Additionally, a surprising number of other poets in the Hyakunin Isshu were associated with (poem 81, 86 and 87), studied under Shunzei (poem 89 and 98), or were directly in opposition to him (poem 79). Shunzei is probably the second most important person in the Hyakunin Isshu after his son of course. 😏

This poem is both moving and technically strong. For example, according to Mostow, the phrase omoi iru is a “pivot word”, meaning that both the words before and after hinge on its double meanings: omoi-iru “to set one’s heart on” and iru “to enter”.

Again, as Mostow explains, the poem generates quite a bit of debate because it’s not clear what concerned him so much. Was it melancholy, a sense of his mortality, or was the state of society at the time (i.e. the decline of the Heian Period)?

Speaking of a deer’s cry, I found this video one of the famous “Nara deer”:

The Nara deer are more domesticated versions of the wild deer in Japan, but it gives you an idea what Shunzei must have heard deep in the woods 900 years ago.

P.S. See poem 5 for something similar.

Contentment: Poem Number 8

An early poem by an obscure and mysterious figure:

JapaneseRomanizationTranslations
わがいほおはWaga io waMy hut is to
都のたつみMiyako no tatsumithe capital’s southeast
しかぞすむShika zo sumuand thus I live. But
世をうぢじ山とYo wo ujiyama topeople call it “Uji, hill
人はいふうなりhito wa iu nariof one weary of the world,” I hear.
Translation by Dr Joshua Mostow

The poem was composed by a Buddhist monk named Kisen Hōshi (喜撰法師, dates unknown), in English lit. “Dharma master Kisen”. Kisen Hōshi lived in the mid-9th century, and this is the only poem known to be his, though others may exist. He is considered one of the original Six Immortals of Poetry and is mentioned in the preface of the official anthology, the kokin wakashū.

The location is a place called ujiyama (宇治山), located on the Tatsumi region southeast of Kyoto, which in turn is named after the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. In this context, tatsumi (辰巳) meaning literally “dragon-snake” refers to the direction (southeast) relative to the capitol of Kyoto, then Heian-kyō.

Due to word-play of “uji” meaning either 宇治 (“uji”) or 喜し[つらい] (“ushi[tsurai]”), this place was associated with sorry or grief, so few poeple chose to live here. Since that time, it has been renamed in honor of its resident and is now called kisenzan (喜撰山). Someone did a really nice write-up on their visit to Kisen-zan with photos and a view of what is purported to be Kisen’s original hut. Also, the famous Buddhist temple of Byōdōin also can be found there. It was located south of the capital at the time, Kyoto.

The poem is a tricky one and lends itself to two possible interpretations according to Professor Mostow. One interpretation has been that Kisen came there out of grief and weariness of the world, and made it his home. Mostow provides evidence that instead, Kisen lived there contentedly, and only heard from others that it was called brief mountain.

As there is a Buddhist tradition since the time of the Buddha to withdraw from the entanglement of the world, and find peace of mind. This tradition has led to the Buddhist monastic community that exists today in various parts of the world. Kisen is one of many who sought solace in places like Ujiyama. Question is, did he find only sorrow, or did he find contentedness?

Maybe only Kisen will ever know that.

Memories of the Old Capitol: Poem Number 61

Sorry for the lengthy hiatus everyone. Been a long couple of weeks, but I am excited to post this poem in honor of women poets this month, and timely because of the coming of spring:

JapaneseRomanizationTranslation
いにしへえのInishie noThe eight-petalled cherries
奈良の都のNara no miyako nofrom the Nara capital
八重え桜Yae-zakuraof the ancient past
けふきょう九重えにKyo kokonoe nitoday nine layers thick
にほひおいぬるかなNioi nuru kanahave bloomed within your court!
Translation by Dr Joshua Mostow

Isé no Tayū (伊勢大輔, dates unknown), also known in English as “Lady Ise” was another lady in waiting for Empress Shoshi, as was Lady Murasaki (poem 57) and Lady Izumi (poem 56), but was the newbie apparently.

According to Lady Ise’s own diary, she had to present a poem on the fly to the Bishop from the ancient capital of Nara and its Buddhist institutions, who had brought a lovely eight-petaled cherry blossom as a gift. This variety of cherry blossom is known as yae-zakura (八重桜) in Japanese. Further, the capitol of Japan had moved to Kyoto centuries earlier, but people in Kyoto still looked back to Nara at times for nostalgic reasons. Empress Shoshi’s father, Fujiwara no Michinaga (the same one mentioned in Lady Murasaki’s diary) had asked Lady Murasaki to compose the poem, but for reasons not understood, she deferred to Lady Ise because she was new. 

Thankfully, her poem was a success. As Professor Mostow notes, it does a really nice job balancing the “ancient” with the modern, and the eight petals of the blossom with the metaphorical nine-layers of the Imperial court.

No wonder she made the inner-circle of Empress Shoshi. 😌

Happy Spring everyone!

P.S. Nara is a pretty awesome place to visit in Japan, definitely recommend.

P.P.S. Featured photo is of cherry blossoms at the University of Washington in 2022, taken by me

An Awesome Poetic Comeback: Poem Number 60

This is one of my most favorite poems in the Hyakunin Isshu due to its backstory and its clever delivery and was composed by the daughter of Lady Izumi:

JapaneseRomanizationTranslation
大おお江山ŌeyamaŌe Mountain and
いく野の道のIkuno no michi nothe road that goes to Ikumo
遠とおければTō kerebaare far away, and so
まだふみも見ずMada fumi mo mizunot yet have I trod there,
nor letter seen,
天の橋立Ama no Hashidatefrom Ama-no-Hashidate
Translation by Dr Joshua Mostow

This poem was composed by Ko-Shikibu no Naishi (小式部内侍, 1000? – 1025), daughter of Lady Izumi (poem 56). She too was a handmaiden of Empress Shoshi like her mother. The “ko” in her name implies a “junior” lady-in-waiting (shikibu) compared to her mother.

Sadly, she died in her 20’s, leaving her mother behind with a granddaughter to care for, and for such a talented poet, she has only a handful of poems in official anthologies.

According to the backstory of this poem, Lady Izumi was away in the province of Tango with her (current) husband, and there was a poetry contest in the capital. Ko-Shikubu, age 15, was selected to represent her mother. Middle Counselor Sadayori (poem 64) teases her saying:

What will you do about the poems? Have you sent someone off to Tango [to ask your mother for help]? Hasn’t the messenger come back? My, you must be worried.

trans. Joshua Mostow

To which the young and bold Ko-Shikibu pulled at Sadayori’s sleeve and composed this poetic reply off-the-cuff. While less obvious in English, the poem is a master piece because it recites three places in Tango in geographic order, has two puns (iku in Ikuno also means to go 行く, and fumi means both a letter 文 and to step 踏み) and the bridge mentioned, Ama-no-Hashidate, is associated with “stepping” too.

As the story goes, Sadayori was totally speechless and couldn’t come back with a good reply, so he ran off. My new book implies that they evidentially fell in love later like a modern romcom.

Think of this exchange as an 11th century Japanese rap-battle, and Ko-Shikibu trashed her opponent. Well done! 👏🏼👏🏼

P.S. Featured photo is “Travelers on a mountain path along the coast”, by Utagawa Hiroshige, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Rustling of the Grass: Poem 58

The next poem in our series devoted to women was composed by the daughter of Lady Murasaki, Daini no Sanmi:

JapaneseRomanizationTranslation
ありま山ArimayamaWhen the wind blows
猪い名の笹原Ina no sasawarathrough the bamboo-
grass field of Ina
風吹けばKaze fukebanear Arima Mountain
いでそよ人をIde soyo hito wosoyo—so it is:
忘れやはわするWasure ya wa suruhow could I forget you?
Translation by Dr Joshua Mostow

Daini no Sanmi (大弐三位, dates unknown), was the daughter of Lady Murasaki (poem 57) and was an accomplished poet as well. Her name in the Hyakunin Isshu is a sobriquet and comes from her husband’s position as Assistant Governor-general of Dazaifu province (daini). She served as the wet-nurse for Emperor Go-Reizei, she achieved the prestigious Third Rank in the Court hence “sanmi”.

This poem seems simple at first, which Professor Mostow explains as a poem composed about a man who had grown distant toward Daini no Sanmi, and that he was uneasy because he believed her feelings for him had changed. However, the poem contains some clever word-play too. The first three lines lead up to the word soyo which is an otomatopeoia for the sound of rustling grass, but also means “so it is!”. Professor Mostow explains that this is meant to convey to the man that she was the one was uneasy (because he was uneasy?). In other words, she was worried about his feelings because she cared about him. It’s amazing how one word can make all the difference like that when the context is just right.

Also, as a bit of reference, Arima Mountain, or arimayama (有馬山) is in the northern part of the city of Kobe, and boasts one of the most famous and oldest hot-spring resorts in all of Japan called Arima Onsen (有馬温泉). The Hyakunin Isshu Daijiten states that the combination of bamboo grasses at Ina (猪名) and Mount Arima was a popular setting used by many poets in antiquity.

One interesting aspect about the Hyakunin Isshu as a collection of poems is its tendency to have poets related to other poets in the anthology. The poems are not necessarily close to one another numerically, but quite a few poets in the anthology are related to another poet either as the child, parent, siblings, etc. You can see it through the women poets, but also through many of the male poets as well: Kiyohara no Motosuke (poem 42) is the father of Sei Shonagon (poem 62) and grandson of Kiyohara no Fukayabu (poem 36).

Hello, I Love You: Poem Number 51

This is the final poem in our series dedicated to Valentine’s Day:

JapanaeseRomanizationTranslation
かくとだにKaku to daniCan I even say
えやはいぶきのEyawa ibuki no“I love you this much”?—No, and so
さしも草Sashimogusayou do not know of it
さしも知らじなSashimo shiraji naanymore than of the sashimo grasses of Ibuki,
もゆる思ひいをMoyuru omoi womy burning love for you!
Translation by Dr Joshua Mostow

Fujiwara no Sanekata Ason (藤原実方), the poem’s author, was the grandson of Fujiwara no Tadahira (poem 26). True to his heritage, Sanetaka had an impressive record as a poet as well, and his poetry was frequently included in official anthologies such as the Shūishū among others. He was thought to also be friends with Sei Shonagon (poem 62) and Fujiwara no Michinobu (poem 52).

Sanekata apparently was quite full of himself too, and he later paid for this. According to my new book, Sanekata was a darling in his youth and frequently socialized with Emperors Enyu and Kazan. According to one story, when the Imperial procession went flower-viewing, Sanekata accompanied them, but then a heavy rain started. Everyone started to scatter, but Sanekata supposedly said “if I am going to get wet, might as well do it under the blossoms”, and he thus stood under a flowering tree. One Fujiwara no Yukinari later commented “that’s fine in poetry, but Sanetaka is a fool”. Sanetaka and Yukinari apparently had a prolonged and bitter hatred of one another, and in one incident Sanetaka took Yukinari’s headdress and angrily threw it into the garden. Emperor Ichijo, who caught sight of this, rebuked Sanetaka’s crass behavior, demoted him in rank, and sent him to the remote province of Mutsu as punishment. Yukinari, for his part, was later promoted head of the Imperial Archives.

According to Mostow, this poem was sent to a woman he was first starting to court, so the poem is an introduction of sorts to her, since she probably didn’t know who he was. The poem is as technically strong as it is bold, as Professor Mostow explains in detail. The reference to “Ibuki” is probably to a famous mountain in Japan called Mount Ibuki which has a variety of wildlife, including a kind of grass called sashimogusa or mogusa and is part of the Mugwort family. Mugwort was used in moxibustion, so it was burned, and this poem uses this as a symbol of his burning love.

According to Mostow, there is further word-play in the poem as sashimo can be read as sa shimo meaning “that much”, while the words mogusa and omohi reinforce each other to emphasize the passion of his burning love.

If Sanetaka wanted to introduce himself to a lady, he sure did a fine job of it!

P.S. Another poem about mugwort.

P.P.S. Featured photo is of a Japanese Mugwort (yomogi, ヨモギ) by Qwert1234 / CC BY-SA 3.0, courtesy of Wikipedia

A Broken Thread: Poem Number 89

For our fourth poem in honor of Valentine’s Day, I thought this was an excellent choice:

JapaneseRomanizationTranslation
玉のをおよTama no o yoO, jeweled thread of life!
絶えなば絶えねTaenaba taeneif you are to break, then break now!
ながらへえばNagaraebaFor, if I live on,
しのぶることのShinoburu koto nomy ability to hide my love
よはりもぞするYowari mo zo suruwill most surely weaken!
Translation by Dr Joshua Mostow

The author of this poem, Shokushi Naishinnō (式子内親王) was the daughter of Emperor Go-Shirakawa and was high priestess, or saiin (斎院), of the Kamo Shrine near Kyoto (office website, Japanese only). Because the Kamo Shrine was so central to the spiritual protection of the capitol, the high-priestess could only be the daughter of an emperor, and was expected to be a vestal virgin. She would serve as the high-priestess until such time as a new emperor was enthroned.

The daughter of Emperor Go-Shirakawa received a world-class education in poetry from none other than Fujiwara no Shunzei (poem 83), and later by his son, Fujiwara no Teika (poem 97), the compiler of the Hyakunin Isshu. The Hyakunin Isshu Daijiten also alludes to rumors that Teika and Shokushi Naishinnō later had a romantic relationship. Further, researchers have noted that Teika frequently mentions her in his journal.

However, if the two had a romantic relationship, they never married. Shokushi Naishinnō became the high priestess and led a celibate life. According to one story, after Shokushi Naishinnō passed away, it is said that Teika’s strong feelings of longing for her eventually led to the sprouting of teikakazura flowers (Asiatic Jasmine, Trachelospermum asiaticum) around her grave.

Shokushi Naishinnō, in addition to being the high priestess, also left a considerable poetry collection in her own right. This poem belonged to another anthology under the subject of “hidden love”, according to Mostow. This was a popular subject of poetry contests and similar poems can be found in the Hyakunin Isshu as well.

One other note here is the imagery of strings of jewelry symbolizing one’s life, as in the first verse of the poem above. It seems to have been a frequent metaphor and there are example poems dating all the way to the Manyoshu that use similar imagery.

Twin Peaks: Poem Number 13

The second poem in our series devoted to Valentine’s Day is this one:

JapaneseRomanizationTranslation
筑波嶺のTsukubane noLike the Mina River
みねより落つるMine yori otsuruthat falls from the peak
みなの川Minano-gawaof Mount Tsukuba
恋ぞつもりてKoi zo tsumoriteso my longing has collected
淵となりぬるFuchi to naru nuruand turned into deep pools.
Translation by Dr Joshua Mostow

The poem was composed by Yōzei-in (陽成院, 868 – 949), known in English as Emperor Yōzei. According to commentaries, the poem was intended for “the princess of Tsuridono” who was Emperor Kōkō’s daughter. Sadly, Emperor Yōzei is better known for his severe mental instability in later years, and his other poetry was seldom never published.

Nevertheless, the analogy of Mount Tsukuba, pictured above, was an excellent choice. The mountain is famous in Japanese culture, especially for the two peaks: one called nantai (男体, “Man”) on the western side, and nyotai (女体, “Woman”) on the eastern side. It was a frequent topic used in love poetry back in the day. Even today, it is a very popular destination for tourists and nature lovers.