Tag: Kokinshu

Spring or Fall: Which is Better?

As fall is approaching, I wanted to share an interesting anecdote provided by my book on the Manyoshu. It seems that throughout Japanese antiquity, poets frequently debated which is better: spring or fall.

The first example comes from Princess Nukata in the 7th century, whom we discussed here and here, she wrote a lengthy poem (a chōka poem, not the usual tanka poem) in the Manyoshu (poem 16). She discusses the pros and cons of spring and of fall:

Original Manyogana1JapaneseRomanizationRough Translation2
冬木成 春去來者 冬ごもり 春さり來れば Fuyu gomori haru sari kurebaWhen winter passes and spring comes
不喧有之 鳥毛来鳴奴鳴かざりし鳥も來鳴きぬNakazarishi tori mo nakinuBirds that didn’t sing before, now come and sing
不開有之 花毛佐家礼抒 山乎茂咲かざりし 花も咲けれど 山を茂みSakazarishi hana mo sakeredo yama wo shigemiFlowers that didn’t bloom before now bloom, but because the mountains grass is so thick
入而毛不取 草深 執手母不見入りても取らず 草深み 取り手も見ずIrite mo torazu kusabukami torite me mizuOne cannot go and pick flowers, let alone see them.
秋山乃 木葉乎見而者 秋山の 木の葉を見ては Aki yama no ko no ba wo mite waWhen you look at the leaves in the mountains during fall,
黄葉乎婆 取而曾思努布黄葉をば 取りてそしのふMomiji wo ba torite soshi no fucollecting the yellow leaves is especially prized.
青乎者 置而曾歎久青きをば 置きてそ歎くAoki wo ba okite so nagekuLeaving the green leaves as they are is regrettable.
曾許之恨之 秋山吾者そこし恨めし 秋山われはSokoshi urameshi akiyama ware waIn spite of that, autumn in the mountains is spectacular…
a – I am heavily indebted to this site for both the original text. Translation is based in part on that site, but also my Manyoshu book, but probably lots of mistakes. Translating a five-line poem in archaic Japanese is hard enough… 😅

Speaking of the Manyoshu, its compiler Otomo no Yakamochi (poem 6 of the Hyakunin Isshu, かさ) left us some very nice poetry about spring:

Original Manyogana1JapaneseRomanizationRough Translation2
春苑春の苑Haru no sonoBeneath
紅尓保布紅にほふKurenai ni hofuthe shining crimson
桃花桃の花Momo no hanaorchard of
下照道尓下照る道にShita deru michi nipeach blossoms
出立オ嬬出で立つ少女Idetatsu otomea young maiden lingers.
Poem 4139, book 19

and about fall:

Original Manyogana1JapaneseRomanizationRough Translation2
秋去者秋さらばAki sarabaWhen fall comes
見乍思跡見つつ思へえとMitsutsu shinoe tothink fondly of those
妹之殖之妹が植ゑえしImo ga ue shipink blossoms
屋前乃石竹やどのなでしこYado no nadeshikoof days gone by
開家流香聞咲きにけるかもSaki ni keru kamoand remember me.
Poem 464, book 3

Otomo no Yakamochi wrote both of these poems about his beloved wife, but the second was composed shortly after her parting. The word nadeshiko has special meaning in Japan and has a very feminine, demure3 meaning.

Returning to the debate between spring and fall, Ki no Tsurayuki (poem 35 of the Hyakunin Isshu, ひとは) took up the same topic centuries later. This is poem 509 from an imperial anthology, the Shuishu :

JapaneseRomanizationRough Translation2
春秋にHaru aki niSpring or Fall?
おもひいみたれてOmoi mitareteMy thoughts are a mess,
わきかねつWaki kanetsuand I cannot decide.
時につけつつToki ni tsuketsutsuThe more time passes,
うつるこころはわUtsuru kokoro wathe more my heart shifts back and forth.
1 This is a rough translation, all mistakes are my own.

The debate was even cited in the famous 12th century novel Tales of Genji written by Lady Murasaki (poem 57 of the Hyakunin Isshu, め):

春秋の争ひに、昔より秋に心寄する人は数まさりけるを、名立たる春の御前の花園に心寄せし人びと、また引きかへし移ろふけしき、世のありさまに似たり。

“Since antiquity, in the debate about spring versus fall, many people lean toward fall, and yet some very noteworthy people who view the Imperial gardens in spring may yet change their mind, as is the way of the world.”

Princess Nukata all the way back in the Manyoshu seemed to imply that autumn was preferable, and it seems that most of the aristocracy shared this view. In fact if we divide up the poems of the Hyakunin Isshu by season, there are more fall poems than spring:

Spring Poems, first verse listedFall Poems, first verse listed
Hana no iro (poem 9)
Kimi ga tame haru (poem 15)
Hito wa isa (poem 35)
Inishie no (poem 61)
Morotomo ni (poem 66)
Haru no yo no (poem 67)
Takasago no (poem 73)
Hana sasou (poem 96)		Aki no ta no (poem 1)
Ashibiki no (poem 3)
Okuyama ni (poem 5)
Waga io wa (poem 8)
Chihayaburu (poem 17)
Ima kon to (poem 21)
Fuku kara ni (poem 22)
Tsuki mireba (poem 23)
Kono tabi wa (poem 24)
Ogurayama (poem 26)
Kokoroate ni (poem 29)
Yamagawa ni (poem 32)
Shiratsuyu wo (poem 37)
Yaemugura (poem 47)
Arashi fuku (poem 69)
Sabishisa ni (poem 70)
Yū sareba (poem 71)
Akikaze ni (poem 79)
Yo no naka yo (poem 83)
Nageke tote (poem 86)
Murasame no (poem 87)
Kirigirisu (poem 91)
Miyoshino no (poem 94)
Note: summer only has 4 poems, winter has 9 (same as spring).

But what do you think? Are you Team Spring, or Team Fall?

Edit: added Hyakunin Isshu poetry chart.

1 If you’re wondering why I post Manyogana for some poems, but not others, it depends on the era. The Manyoshu is the oldest anthology by far, and at that time, there was a brief writing system that took Chinese characters, but used them in a phonetic way for Japanese language (a.k.a. Manyogana). By the time of Ki no Tsurayuki and Lady Murasaki, centuries later, this had been replaced with hiragana script. This blog strives to both be accurate and accessible, so I try to balance both needs.

2 These are all rough translations on my part, and likely have mistakes. Any such mistakes are entirely my own.

3 Not to be confused with the “very demure, very mindful” meme. 😛

Feeling Young, Kokinshu Poem 52

While re-reading the Pillow Book lately, one of the people in Sei Shonagon’s anecdotes recites a poem from an Imperial anthology: the Kokin Wakashu (Kokinshu for short).1 When I looked up the poem, it really struck me when I read it. Since I have an English translation of the Kokin Wakashu, and since many of the poems from the Hyakunin Isshu were originally published in the Kokin Wakashu, I figured it would be fun to post other poems from the same anthology.

This poem, poem number 52 of the Kokin Wakashu, reads as follows:

JapaneseRomanizationTranslation
年ふればToshi furebaAs the years stream by
よはわひいはわ老いぬYowai wa oinumy own life passes from me
しかはあれどShika wa aredostill I am renewed
花をおし見ればHana oshi mirebawhen I but see the blossoms
物思もなしMono omoi mo nashimy heart’s sorrows disappear
Translation by Laurel Rasplica Rodd and Mary Catherine Henkenius

The headline of this poem reads “seeing cherry blossoms in a vase before the Somedono Consort [Empress]“.2

The author of the poem, Fujiwara no Yoshifusa (藤原良房, 804 – 872), was the first member of the Fujiwara clan to assume the post of Regent to the emperor. This was at a time when the Fujiwara were a rising star in the Imperial court, had married into the Imperial family, and Yoshifusa was the grandfather of the young Emperor Seiwa. So, he had much to celebrate. However, even the powerful grow old and die, and Yoshifusa was no exception.

What I really like about this poem is that in spite of his own fears of growing old, he still can enjoy life here and now and feel young again.

I am at the age where I can definitely start to feel my age, and the years ahead of me are likely fewer than the years behind me, and yet I am rarely bothered by it. I often find moments of joy in life, playing with my kids, enjoying nerdy fandom, and savoring poetry like this, so I know how Yoshifusa feels.

1 Nowadays, people quote movies, TV shows and such. I can quote more gags from The Simpsons than I care to admit. Back then, people quoted poetry from earlier generations.

2 Many poems in the Kokin Wakashu included a headline to explain the scene of the poem, or provide some background. These were not carried over when the poems were collected in the Hyakunin Isshu since they were already well-known poems, or possibly just for the sake of brevity.

The 101st Poem of the Hyakunin Isshu

While watching competitive karuta online, and in person, I noticed that there is a certain poem that is read at the outset of a match, but what’s interesting is that this is a poem that is not actually part of the Hyakunin Isshu.

This poem is called the joka (序歌), or preliminary poem, and reads:

JapaneseRomanizationTranslation
難波津にNaniwazu niIn Naniwa Bay,
咲くやこの花Sakuya kono hananow the flowers are blossoming.
冬ごもりFuyugomoriAfter lying dormant all winter,
いまを春べとIma o harubé tonow the spring has come
咲くやこの花Sakuya kono hanaand the flowers are blossoming.
Translation courtesy of Chihayafuru Fandom Wiki

What’s interesting from a historical standpoint is that this poem was composed by a 3rd century immigrant to Japan named Wani (王仁), who came from the Korean kingdom of Baekje1 and is credited with introducing the Analects of Confucius and the Thousand-Character Classic to Japan at a time when it was actively trying to import knowledge and culture from the mainland. I’ve talked about Japan and Baekje here as well.

The poem by Wani was so highly-praised it was felt in antiquity that if you were going to know any Waka poem, you had to at least know this one. Hence over time it became the opening poem for karuta competitions. Like many poems of the Hyakunin Isshu, it was originally preserved in the official Imperial anthology, the Kokinshū.

In karuta matches, the poem is always read before the match begins. My guess is that reciting this poem helps to calibrate or warm-up the players before the match actually begins. Apparently, the last two verses, the shimo no ku (下の句) in karuta, are repeated twice. Once it’s read twice, the match begins.

It’s fascinating to note that this poem has been in existence for 1,700 years, and is still going strong!

P.S. Photo is Osaka (Naniwa) Bay at sunset, Quelgar’s photos, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

1 A time when the Korean peninsula was divided into three warring kingdoms. Baekje probably had the closest relationship with the early Yamato Court of Japan due to proximity and mutually beneficial relations.