5/31/2013

fifth lunar month

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The Fifth Lunar Month 五月 gogatsu - 皐月 Satsuki -

In the old lunar calendar of the Edo period,

spring lasted from the first month to the third,
summer from the fourth month through the sixth,
autumn from the seventh month through the ninth,
winter from the tenth month through the twelfth.

. WKD : The Asian Lunar Calendar and the Saijiki .


. Edo Saijiki 江戸歳時記 .



source : art.jcc-okinawa.net/okinawa/edonosiki


under construction
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- - - - - H A I K U and S E N R Y U - - - - -

. hatsugatsuo uri 初鰹売り  first Katsuo bonitor vendor .


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- - - To join me on facebook, click the image !

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. Edo Saijiki 江戸歳時記 .


. - Doing Business in Edo - 商売 - Introduction .

. senryu, senryū 川柳 Senryu poems in Edo .


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5/27/2013

sendoo boatsman

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- watashibune ferry, see below
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sendoo sendō 船頭 boatman, ferryman, chief fisherman

sentoo 船頭 / 船首 "head of a boat", bow of a boat/ship


source : blog.otsue.com

fune no osa 船の長(おさ) chief fisherman
funanori no kashira 船乗りの頭(かしら)chief fisherman

Along the coastal region, the chief fisherman had to read the waves and the storm to bring the boat back home safely.
The owner of a ship was often a different person, for example a rich merchant.



sendoo kouta 船頭小唄 song of a boatman / boatsman

There are many famous songs along the many rivers of Japan, where the boatman starts singing at an especially beautiful part or after a dangerous part in a narrow river.


. fune 舟 boats and ships on the rivers of Edo .

. WKD : ships and boats of all kinds .

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- - - - - proverbs and sayings

せんどう 馬方(うまかた)お乳(ち)の人(ひと) sendoo umakata o-chi no hito
a boatman, a horse leader, a wet nurse

These were the three professions that could make a profit from the weakness of a tired traveler of others or because of their high position (like the wet nurse of a daimyo).


船頭(せんどう)多くして船(ふね)山に上る sendoo ooku shite fune yama ni noboru
"Too many captains and the boat will go up a mountain."
Too many cooks spoil the soup.


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CLICK for more images !


choki 猪牙 short for chokibune 猪牙舟
watashibune わたし舟 / 渡し舟 / 渉舟 ferry boat

small, long and thin wooden boat with no roof, river taxi in Edo

The town of Edo was full of canals and waterways for transportation of goods and people.
The boatman with one bamboo pole or one ore would lead his boat skilfully through the often crowded waterways.

There were also more than 50 famous river crossings (watashi 江戸の渡し) with ferries over the rivers of Edo.
関宿 Sekiyado, 野田、流山、松戸、市川、浦安
Takeya no watashi 竹屋の渡し crossing in Asakusa, Sumidagawa / 向島の渡し / Matsuchi no watashi 待乳(まつち)の渡し
Yakiri no watashi - Yagiri no watashi 矢切の渡し
Yoroi no Watashi / Nihonbashi River

Sumidagawa no watashi 隅田川の渡し
- More in the WIKIPEDIA !

. Yagiri no watashi 矢切の渡し, the river crossing of Yagiri .

関宿 Sekiyado
Sekiyadomachi 関宿町 located in Higashi-Katsushika District, Chiba.
Sekiyado was a river port and castle town in the Edo period, with Sekiyado Castle as the center of Sekiyado Domain, a feudal domain of the Tokugawa shogunate in Shimosa Province.

Takahashi Hiroaki




Sekiyado no yukibare 雪の関宿 Clearing after a Snowfall at the Sekiyado
. Kawase Hasui 川瀬巴水 (1883 - 1957) .


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quote
Waterways
To guard against attacks on Edo Castle, a network of strategic moats, streams, and canals was laid out in a spiral pattern. Waterways for freight transport formed a vertical and horizontal grid.
At the points of intersection
between the roads and the waterways, bridges were built and short ferry routes called watashi ("crossings") were also developed. Because waterways and roads intersected in so many places, Edo had a huge number of bridges. At the time, Osaka was known as the "water city" because of its many bridges - about 200 in all - but Edo put the "water city" to shame with over 500 bridges. Landing points called kashi ("river banks") were established at various points along the waterways for unloading freight. Warehouses and markets were set up at the landing points, and these spots became hubs for the distribution of goods in Edo.
Along wide rivers like the Sumida,
the long distances between banks prompted the development of ferry service even at points served by bridges. As of 1907 there were 18 ferry crossing points along the Sumida River. Ferries were even established on manmade waterways such as the Nihonbashi River. One of these, Yoroi no Watashi on the Nihonbashi River, is immortalized in a woodblock print by Utagawa Hiroshige in his series of 100 famous views of Edo.
Koji Chikamatsu - source : web-japan.org/tokyo...


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船頭よ小便無用浪の月
sendô yo shôben muyô nami no tsuki

hey boatman
no pissing on the moon
in the waves!



春風や犬の寝聳るわたし舟
haru kaze ya inu no nesoberu watashibune

spring breeze--
a dog stretched to sleep
in the ferryboat

Tr. David Lanoue

. WKD : Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 in Edo .


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蛍見や船頭酔うておぼつかな
hotarumi ya sendoo yoote obotsukana

watching fireflies -
the boatsman is drunk
and we worry


Fireflies from Seta - 瀬田の蛍哉
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .


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chokibune boat near the Yoshiware pleasure quarters


夕薄暑江戸の資料に猪牙舟も
yuuhakusho Edo no shiryoo ni chokibune mo

mild summer evening
at the Edo Period Museum
there is even a Choki boat


Saitoo Toshiko 斉藤淑子 Saito Toshiko
Edo Shiryookan in Fukagawa 深川江戸資料館〒135-0021 東京都江東区


. hakusho 薄暑 (はくしょ) mild weather in early summer .
lit. "light heat"
kigo for early summer

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役人の骨っぽいのは猪牙に乗せ
yakunin no honeppoi no wa choki ni nose

a serious official
is best invited
to take a choki boat trip


Senryu from the times of
. Tanuma Okitsugu 田沼意次 (1719 - 1788) .


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watashibune わたし舟 / 渡し舟 / 渉舟 ferry boat

. Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 in Edo .

こがらしや炭売ひとりわたし舟
kogarashi ya sumiuri hitori watashibune

withering wind -
only one charcoal seller
on the ferry boat



一わたし遅れた人にしぐれ哉
hito-watashi okureta hito ni shigure kana

late for the only
ferry boat he gets caught
in the sleet . . .


The cut marker KANA is at the end of line 3.


さみだれや水に銭ふむ渉舟
samidare ya mizu ni zeni fumu watashibune

samidare rain -
in the water I step on a coin
in the ferry boat


. WKD : boats and ships .

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. Japanese Legends - 伝説 民話 昔話 – ABC-List .


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Iwate 岩手県 和賀郡 Waga district 東和町 Towa town

. kitsune きつね fox and 藁細工の職人 making things of straw .

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Rokubei iwa 六兵衛岩 Rokubei Rock

The beautiful young Rokubei went to お伊勢参り a pilgrimage to Ise.
He took the ferry boat, but his kasa 笠 strawhat fell into the river. When he came home from the pilgrimage, he fell ill and was about to die. The ill Rokubei got up, went out and hid in the cave of a rock, where he became known as the "Rokubei Rock".
The 竜宮の姫 princess from the Dragon Palace had liked him a lot and called him to her quarters.




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Kochi 高知県 幡多郡 Hata district 三原町 Mihara town

Nakahira Sobei no borei 中平宗兵衛の亡霊 The ghost of Nakahira Sobei
The righteous Sobei was beheaded by the local official, but his spirit jumped on a ferry boat and only his voice was heard.
This spirit went to his parent's home and obtained three meals. His head showed up in a dream of his father.

- further reference : city.shimanto.lg.jp... -



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Nara 奈良県 吉野町 Yoshino town

. tanuki 狸 - mujina 狢 - racoon dog, badger legends .
There was a ferry boat moved by pulling a rope over the river. A fermer pulled strongly and thought he heard a voice, but when he got out, there was nobody.
He might have been bewitched by a Tanuki ...



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Niigata 新潟県 五泉市 Gosen city

higan sama 彼岸様 Honorable Equinox person
At the end of the equinox, the spirit of dead person is going back, Relatives make offerings of dumplings for the river crossing at Sanzu no Kawa 三途の川の渡し the river to the Other World.
For lunch they prepare うどん Udon noodles and sent the spirit off early.

. higan 彼岸 equinox .

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- reference : Nichibun Yokai Database -

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The Boatman in international legends:

- Compiled by Elaine Andre -
Haiku Culture Magazine, 2013

- - - - - - famous ferrymen
The Epic of Gilgamesh
The Grail Legends
Noah
The Story of Siddhartha

King Arthur is ferried to the sword held by the hand of the Lady of the Lake.
source : educationscotland.gov.uk...

Charon
In Greek mythology, Charon or Kharon is the ferryman of Hades who carries souls of the newly deceased across the rivers Styx and Acheron that divided the world of the living from the world of the dead. A coin to pay Charon for passage, usually an obolus or danake, was sometimes placed in or on the mouth of a dead person.
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !

Psychopomps (from the Greek word psuchopompos, literally meaning the "guide of souls")
are creatures, spirits, angels, or deities in many religions whose responsibility is to escort newly deceased souls to the afterlife.
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !

The Elvin people depart in "The Return of the King" (JRR Tolkien's Trilogy) the movie:
The Elves of Middle Earth - Galadriel
source : www.fanpop.com


Painting -


The Ferryman - Camille Corot (French, Paris 1796–1875 Paris)
source : www.metmuseum.org...

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. fune 舟 boats and ships on the rivers of Edo .


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- #fune #watashi #waterway #canal #watashibune -
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5/26/2013

yadofuda - visitor sign of a lodging

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yadofuda, shukusatsu 宿札 - visitor sign of a lodging
sekifuda 関札

During the Edo period, when a feudal lord (daimyo) was on trip to or from Edo, he stayed over night at an inn in a shukuba post station at the inn provided for him.
While he was there with his entourage, the inn put up a sign with his name at the entrance.
Other travelers would know that an important person was lodging there and could make other arrangements.

It was a wooden sign, about 1 meter long and 30 cm wide.


source : kan.hirashige.com

yadofuda
from the main lodging (honjin) at the station Yakake 矢掛宿本陣 in Okayama



. hatago 旅籠, 旅篭 lodging, inn .

. kanban 看板 Shop Signs .


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戸の口に宿札名乗れほととぎす
to no kuchi ni yadofuda nanore hototogisu

at the front entrance
hang out your visitor sign -
hototogisu

Tr. Gabi Greve

Written about 天和元年, Basho age 38 to 40.

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


. hototogisu ホトトギス, 時鳥 Little Cuckoo .
Cuculus poliocephalis



source : danbelu50
seen at Fukushima 福島県の戸の口, 五十四郡 - 天和年間  


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mibun seido class system

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The Class System of Edo
mibun seido 身分制度 (みぶんせいど) status system, Klassensystem

At the end of the Edo period, there were about
6-7% samurai,
80-85% farmers,
5-6% merchants and craftsmen,
1.5% priests for Shinto and Buddhism - - - and
1.6% Eta and Hinin.


shinookooshoo 士農工商 Shinokosho - Shi-No-Ko-Sho
the four social classes of
warriors, farmers, craftsmen, and merchants


source : blog.katei-x.net/blog

Once a person was born into one class, it was almost impossible to make its way up to a higher class.

A similar system of classification in India is called "cast system".


Above these four classes were the aristocrats, the Shogun in Edo and the Emperor himself with the Imperial Family.


. kuge 公家 aristocrats .

. soo, sō 僧 Monk, Priest / oshoo 和尚 Osho .




source : skyivory.net
four ivory figures of representatives of the four classes

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. samurai 侍, buke 武家, bushi 武士   .
Lord of a Domain, Daimyo, daimyoo 大名
"light legs", ashigaru 足軽 common foot soldier


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. farmer 農民 noomin, hyakushoo 百姓
Edo no noogyoo 江戸の農業 farming business .







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. shokunin 職人 craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker .
koojin 工人 artisan

. daiku 大工 carpenter .
tooryoo 棟梁  master carpenter

. “Hida no Takumi” 飛騨の匠 Hida’s Master Builders. .

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merchants 商人 shoonin

Echigoya Merchant 越後屋 and Mitsui 三井

Omi Hino Shoonin 近江日野商人 Hino Merchants from Omi

Zeniya Gohei 銭屋五兵衛 merchant and engineer


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craftsmen and merchants were also called
choonin, chōnin 町人 "townspeople", Chonin

- quote -
Chōnin 町人, "townsman"
was a social class that emerged in Japan during the early years of the Tokugawa period. The majority of chōnin were merchants, but some were craftsmen, as well. Nōmin (農民, "farmers") were not considered chōnin. The socioeconomic ascendance of chōnin has certain similarities to the roughly contemporary rise of the middle class in the West.
- - - - - Origins
By the late 17th century the prosperity and growth of Edo had begun to produce unforeseen changes in the Tokugawa social order. The chōnin, who were theoretically at the bottom of the Edo hierarchy (shinōkōshō, samurai-farmers-craftsmen-merchants, with chōnin encompassing the two latter groups), flourished socially and economically at the expense of the daimyo and samurai, who were eager to trade rice (the principal source of domainal income) for cash and consumer goods. Mass-market innovations further challenged social hierarchies.
For example, vast Edo department stores had cash-only policies, which favored the chōnin with their ready cash supply.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !


CLICK for more photos of the Chonin life in Edo !
江戸町人の生活 (目で見る日本風俗史1)
岸井良衛監修



江戸町人の生活空間 -- 都市民の成長
戸沢行夫

Coming mostly from far-away regions to Edo with the Daimyo lords, these new "townspeople" had to adjust to the new life, with flooding, fires and epidemics. They were a strong and proud kind and always fell back on their feet, helping each other to rebuild, restructure, renovate and live as best and joyful as they could.

Edo Culture: Daily Life and Diversions in Urban Japan, 1600-1868
Matsunosuke Nishiyama, ‎Gerald Groemer - 1997
This team undertook a detailed examination of the social history of Edo's artisan and merchant classes (collectively known as chonin, "townspeople") ...
- reference source : books.google.co.jp -



- quote -
Nishiyama Matsunosuke
is one of Japan's most prominent historians of Edo popular culture. Edo Culture. Daily Life and diversions in Urban Japan, 1600-1868 contains thirteen of his articles in English translation. The translator and editor Gerald Groemer added an introduction, notes, a bibliography, and a glossary to facilitate the English reader. The articles included in this volume are a small selection of Nishiyama's complete works.

Nishiyama's most influential work, his study of the iemoto system (Iemoto no kenkyu-) appeared in 1959. Iemoto is defined in Groemer's glossary as 'a hierarchical system in which a real or nominal family head (iemoto) passes on a 'house art' to disciples who in turn may have their own pupils' (p. 272). The iemoto system as the central organizing principle of the life of Edo artisans and merchants is an important element in all of Nishiyama's writings. Other recurrent themes are the adoption of elite traditions by the emerging class of townspeople and the cultural exchange between urban and rural areas. Nishiyama also led the 'Edo Townspeople Study Group' (Edo cho-nin kenkyu-kai), which resulted in the publication of the five-volume Edo cho-nin no kenkyu- (1973-1975). This work still stands out as one of the most important publications on the daily life and activities of the people of Edo. Nishiyama's collected works appeared as a set of seven volumes in the 1980s.

In the author's introduction, Nishiyama explains his basic ideas regarding Edo popular culture. In Nishiyama's view, scholars in the past have too easily dismissed Edo-period culture as inferior to other periods. However, the value of Edo culture should not be looked for in extant artefacts, but in the unprecedented breadth and diversity of cultural activities. The general involvement of all kinds of people in artistic life and cultural pursuits constitutes the unique quality and importance of Edo culture, and it is this aspect that should be the focus of study.

The subsequent twelve chapters are divided into three parts. In Part One, called Edo: The City and Its Culture, the first chapter describes Edo as the capital of the Tokugawa shogun and as a warrior city. The second chapter focuses on the other inhabitants of this town: artisans and merchants who were proud of their own distinct city culture and their identity as Edokko (children of Edo). The third chapter considers aesthetic concepts which were central to the life and ideals of Edo in general and of the pleasure quarter, Yoshiwara, in particular. In the fourth chapter Edo publishers and the production process of books and prints is described. The final chapter of this part is devoted to the religious life of Edoites and is based mainly on Edo meisho zue, a 26-volume guide on annual customs which was published between 1834 and 1836.

The second part of the book, called The Town and The Country,
consists of three chapters which describe various aspects of the relation between urban and rural culture. Chapter Six discusses the provincial culture of the Kasei period (1804-1830) in which contacts and cultural exchange between urban centres and rural areas became particularly strong. Increased cash-crop cultivation and other forms of trade intensified the communication between city people and rural population. Chapter Seven focuses on the numerous travellers in Japan and their role as cultural intermediaries. Both professional travellers such as performing artists, exorcisers, priests and monks, as well as the huge crowds of common pilgrims are taken into consideration. Chapter Eight examines the iemoto of culinary schools and the transmission of secret culinary information.

The third part of the book is called Theater and Music: From the Bakufu to the Beggar.
Chapter Nine considers the widespread influence of No-, which is usually viewed in the limited context of samurai cultural life. Nishiyama however, shows the considerable influence that No- music and songs exerted on popular culture, and follows the process of adaptation of some No- schools to the rapidly increasing numbers of students. Chapter Ten continues on the theme of iemoto and performing arts, and highlights the possibilities for upward social mobility of musically talented individuals. In Chapter Eleven the Kabuki theatre is considered in relation to annual events. It also discusses the role of actors as instigators of new forms of fashion. The final chapter examines various forms of performing arts in the period of transition to the modern era.

Nishiyama is a pioneer in the study of the popular culture of the Edo period. Although his essays tend to be somewhat superficial and often lack the precise data and definitions required by modern scholarship, his importance in the development of the study of Edo popular culture cannot be overestimated. By adding valuable background information, the translator and editor Gerald Groemer has made up for much of the lack of concrete data. One of the good aspects of Nishiyama's work is his strong reliance on contemporary publications as sources of evidence. In the English translation, this use of contemporary works is elaborated by including many illustrations from Edo-period publications.
Edo Culture is well worth reading for anyone interested in Edo literature and in the social context of art production and consumption in the Edo period.
- source : Margarita Winkel - Leiden University -

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. eta 穢多 (えた) "filthy mass" , burakumin .
the "untouchables" of the Edo period - die Unberührbaren
burakumin (部落民, Literal translation: "small settlement people") - hamlet people

Their leader was called
弾左衛門 Danzaemon.



CLICK for more illustrations.


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Sanctuaries of the City: Lessons from Tokyo
Anni Greve
source : books.google.co.jp


under construction
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- - - - - H A I K U - - - - -

下々に生れて夜もさくら哉
shimojimo ni umarete yoru mo sakura kana
shimo-jimo ni

born lower class
they view cherry blossoms
at night, too

Tr. Chris Drake


This hokku is placed at the end of a haibun Issa wrote at the end of the 1st month (probably March) in 1811, while he was in Edo, and the hokku refers to the haibun. In this short piece Issa describes getting up very early and going out before dawn, presumably to see the cherry blossoms, on the first fair day after a period of extended rain. The horizon is beginning to grow light, and as he walks along a bank of the Sumida River, he can just make out the dim shape of the big boat used by the shogunate, and he guesses that the shogun will also be going out to view the blossoms today. This leads to remarks on the peaceful conditions in shogun-ruled Japan, especially in Edo, where it's comparatively safe to go out blossom-viewing at any time.

When Issa reaches some cherry trees, he sees an apparently itinerant old monk gazing at the blossoms and talking to himself. Then a stylish woman appears and walks around among the blossoming trees as she cleans her teeth with a toothpick. Her mussed hair indicates she's just gotten up, so she may be out watching the cherries very early because the shop she runs opens early -- or she might be a sex worker resting after work. In any case, Issa says she looks so experienced she must have gone through ten husbands.

Then five or six men carrying large buckets go by. The men's job is cleaning city people's privies and carrying the contents to boats that take it as fertilizer to farms just outside Edo. When the men jokingly insult the woman, she humorously returns the insult with interest, sizzling the men's earlobes. Issa says she uses "very unfeminine foul language." None of this, however, disturbs the peaceful feeling created by the cherry blossoms scattering in the breeze like snow. All of this is just the way, Issa implies, "lower-class" people enjoy spring blossoms around the clock, and he further implies that they know more about the beauty of star- and dawn-lit blossoms than their rulers do. He of course includes himself in this collection of commoners.

The term "lower-class people" in the first line of the hokku is used rather ironically by Issa, since it is a phrase normally used by upper-class samurai and Kyoto aristocrats. By using the phrase, Issa is parodying the point of view of the people onboard the shogun's boat in the river who are preparing for a ruling-class blossom-viewing outing filled with daylight and spectacle that will be attended by the shogun himself. Samurai sometimes view cherry blossoms at night, but they bring along so many outdoor lamps that they might as well be viewing the blossoms in daylight.

In contrast, most commoners have to work both night and day to make ends meet and can view the cherries only at odd times after, before, or while they do their jobs. But even latrine cleaners love cherry blossoms and will visit while it's still dark as well as during the day just to be near the cherries for a short while. These night visits are no doubt more precious to the commoners who make them than even the grandest blossom-viewing party is to the shogun.

Chris Drake

. Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 Issa in Edo .




Hanami in Ueno 江戸風俗図巻

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- #burakumin #eta #mibun #chonin #shonin #samurai -
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5/25/2013

Meguro

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Meguro ku 目黒区 Meguro ward

quote
Meguro (目黒区, Meguro-ku)
is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan.
It calls itself Meguro City in English.
Meguro hosts fifteen foreign embassies and consulates.

The Higashiyama shell mound contains remains from the paleolithic, Jōmon, Yayoi, and Kofun periods.
The area now known as Meguro was originally two towns, Meguro proper and Hibusuma, all parts of the former Ebara District of Musashi Province. The two were merged into a Meguro ward for Tokyo City in 1932 and since then the ward has remained with no alterations to its territory.
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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. Chayazaka 茶屋坂 Chayazaka "Tea Stall Slope" .
Meguro 目黒区三田二丁目 Mita second district, 中目黒二丁目 Naka-Meguro second district
and the story of - - - - - Meguro no Sanma 目黒の秋刀魚 Sanma fish from Meguro - - - - -

. Chiyogasaki district 千代ヶ崎 "Chiyo peninsula", Lady Chiyo .

. Himonya 碑文谷 Himonya district - Legends .

. Jiyuugaoka, Jiyūgaoka 自由が丘 Jiyugaoka district .

. Kakinokizaka 柿の木坂 / 柿ノ木坂 / 柿木坂 Kakinoki slope district .
"Slope of the Persimmon Tree"

. Kamimeguro, Kami-Meguro 上目黒 "Upper Meguro" district .
Kami-Meguro was home to the hawks and falcons hunting grounds (takajo 鷹所)of the Shogun, first developed by Tokugawa Ieyasu himself, because he was an avid hunter.
takagari 鷹狩り hunting with hawks and falcons

. Komaba 駒場 "Horse place" district .
with hunting ground

. Yanagishima 柳島 Yanagishima district "Island of Willow Trees" .

. Yuutenji, Yūtenji 祐天寺 Yutenji district .

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歌川広重 by Utagawa Hiroshige - Meguro Fudo

. Meguro Fudo Temple 目黒不動 .
- - - - - and
Joojuu-in 成就院( Tako Yakushi たこ薬師)Temple Joju-In



mochibana 餅花 New Year's decoration of willow, etc. branches with colored rice balls
- quote -
Meguro Fudo Mochibana 目黒不動餅花
Meguro Fudō is a Fudō hall of Taiei-zan Ryūzen-ji, a temple of the Tendai Buddhist sect.
The worship of Fudō (the Buddhist deity Acala) had been fluorishing among common people since the Edo period,
and Meguro Fudō became one of the most popular destinations for pilgrims
as well as those seeking entertainment near Edo.
The temple town was always full of visitors.
This was one of the 江戸の三冨 'Edo-Santomi', three shrines that sold official shogunate 富くじ tomikuji tickets (lottery in the Edo period).
- source : Tokyo Metropolitan Library -

. Meguro Temple Rakan-Ji 目黒の羅漢寺 500 Arhats .

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yuuhi, Yuhi no Oka 目黒太鼓橋夕日の岡 / yuhigaoka 夕日が丘 Yuhi Hill
Meguro Taikobashi Drum Bridge

Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重

- quote -
Taiko-bashi bridge 太鼓橋
Taiko-bashi over the Meguro River was a stone bridge built by merchants of the Edo's Hatchōbori area
who used their private funds taking six years from 1764 (the fourteenth year of Hōreki) to complete it.
The bridge was called Taiko-bashi for its round shape and also for its resemblance to a drum.
- source : Tokyo Metropolitan Museum -
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- quote -
Meguro-ame 目黒飴(めぐろあめ) Candy from Meguro
Meguro-ame (candy) is famous as a souvenir among those visiting Meguro Fudō Temple.
Shops selling ame, awamochi or mochibana (types of rice cakes) lined the street in front of the gate of the temple.
- source : Tokyo Metropolitan Library -

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- - - - - H A I K U - - - - -

栗飯や目黒の茶屋の發句會
kurimeshi ya Meguro no chaya no hokku-kai (発句会)

rice with chestnuts -
the hokku meeting at the tea shop
in Meguro


. Masaoka Shiki 正岡子規 .

. WKD : kurimeshi 栗飯 rice cooked with chestnuts .

Near the present station of Meguro, there used to be a tea shop on the hill, with a view to Mount Fuji.



Fujimi chaya 富士見茶屋 "tea shop to view Mount Fuji"

Its speciality was sweet sake (amazake 甘酒) rice with bamboo shoots (takenoko gohan 筍飯) and, you guess it, kurimeshi 栗飯.




. Edo no takenoko 江戸の筍 bamboo shoots in Edo .

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歩き出す今日は目黒の祭かな
arukidasu kyoo wa Meguro no matsuri kana

they start walking -
today is the festival
in Meguro . . .


Kishimoto Naoki 岸本尚毅 (1961 - )

Meguro has a few famous festivals during the year.

quote
寺・神社の祭礼等の一覧表
寺社名 所在地 期日
瀧泉寺 目黒区下目黒三丁目20番26号 毎月28日が縁日
「甘藷まつり」は10月28日
八雲氷川神社 目黒区八雲二丁目4番16号 1月・5月の19日、9月の第3土曜日・日曜日
「剣の舞」は9月
碑文谷八幡宮 目黒区碑文谷三丁目7番3号 9月中旬
「桜まつり」は、桜の開花期間中
大鳥神社 目黒区下目黒三丁目1番2号 9月9日に近い土曜日・日曜日
(剣の舞は日曜日のみ)、11月の「酉の市」
上目黒氷川神社 目黒区大橋二丁目16番21号 8月の第4土曜日・日曜日
天祖神社 目黒区上目黒二丁目32番15号 9月第1土曜日・日曜日
中目黒八幡神社 目黒区中目黒三丁目10番5号 9月の第3土曜日・日曜日
十日森稲荷神社 目黒区中央町二丁目17番15号 10月第1土曜日・日曜日
烏森稲荷神社 目黒区上目黒三丁目39番14号 9月の第3土曜日・日曜日
熊野神社 目黒区自由が丘一丁目24番12号 9月の第2土曜日・日曜日
北野神社 目黒区青葉台一丁目16番2号 9月の第3土曜日・日曜日
高木神社 目黒区南二丁目1番40号 9月中旬
source : www.city.meguro.tokyo.jp/gyosei

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. Japanese Legends - 伝説 民話 昔話 – ABC-List .

Shrine Ikejiri Inari Jinja 池尻稲荷神社



Inari no tatari いなりの祟り the curse of Inari
A man named 八郎右衛門 Hachiroemon liven here in the Edo period. All villagers were worshippers of the Inari Shrine and believed that the Inari Fox Deity would punish them if they did not behave well. Once Hachiroemon was disrespectfull during the New Year rituals and when he came home, his wife was bewitched by a fox. Hachiro wanted to help his wife and tried to locate the fox, even destroying a small sanctuary in the compound. The fox came out and apologized and took away the curse of the Shrine.


- quote -
Ikejiri Inari Jinja
東京都世田谷区池尻2-34-15
The shrine history tells us that it was founded during the Meireki Period (1655-1657) and served as the tutelary deity of the then Ikejiri and Ikezawa villages. Reflecting the powers attributed to it, it was worshipped as the Inari of both Protection from Fire and of Child Rearing. During the Edo Period, the shrine was well known for its
“Eternal Well,”(涸れずの井戸 karezu no ido) a spring which did not dry up even during the longest droughts. It was situated on what was then known as the Ōyama Kaidō, a main road connecting Akasaka-Hitotsuki Mura, now the area around the Toyokawa Inari Tokyo Betsuin in Motoakasaka, with the Oyama-Afuri Jinja in Iseyama in Kanagawa-ken and which in parts also served as a back road for the Tōkaidō.
The Eternal Well was said to be the first drinking water always available after the road left Akasaka-Hitotsuki and magical powers were quickly attributed to it. So much so in fact that according to the shrine notice board an exhortation from a kami, Yakuriki Myojin (薬力明神), enshrined at Kyōto's Fushimi Inari Taisha,
"Believe in the Kami, pray sincerely three times for recovery from your illness, drink the water of the spring as if it were divine medicine, and you will be cured by a God of Medicine, Yakuriki Myojin" was given wide circulation.
The water from the spring which fed the Eternal Well is still used in the Temizuya.
- more
- source : Shinto, Rod Lucas -


- quote -
Ikejiri Soshi-dō Kitazawa Awashima-no-yashiro 北沢粟島社 池尻祖師堂
Kitazawa Awashima Myōjin Shrine is situated in the precinct of Shingan-ji Temple of the Jōdo Buddhism established in 1608 (the thirteenth year of Keichō) as a chapel to enshrine the posthumous name plate of Yuki Hideyasu, the second son of Tokugawa Ieyasu.
When Shingan-ji Temple was opened, Awashima Myōjin was called upon from Kishū (Wakayama prefeceture).
- source : Tokyo Metropolitan Museum -

Shimo-Kitazawa 下北沢 is in Setagaya.
. Setagaya ku 世田谷区 Setagaya ward .

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- reference : Nichibun Yokai Database -

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- ###meguro #ikejiri #kitazawa #taikobashi -
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5/19/2013

Fukagawa

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. Famous Places of Edo .
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Fukagawa 深川 Fukagawa district
This is one of the representative shitamachi Old-town parts of Tokyo.
Now in Kootoo Kōtō 江東区 Koto Ward.

The name goes back to
Fukagawa Hachiroemon 深川八郎右衛門
In 1596, Tokugawa Ieyasu was hunting in the region and found some people working in the wetland, trying to make ditches. Ieyasu asked them the name of the place, but it did not have any.



Ieyasu asked the leader of the group of seven people about his name.
“I am Fukagawa Hachiroemon from Settsu Province, and these are my followers,"answered the man. He had been sent to develop this part of the Kanto area by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
“Well, then, name the area Fukagawa," Ieyasu told him.
So Hachiroemon continued to built a village and fields for his followers.
Settsu 摂津 is now part of Osaka.
The family of Hachiroemon became the village head of 27 sub-villages of the Fukagawa area.
In 1757 the family died out, however.
Their graves are now in 泉養寺 Senyo-Ji(市川市国府台).

Hachiroemon was buried and his soul came to recide in the Shrine in his honor,
深川神明宮 Fukagawa Shinmeigu.
The Shrine is located in the old home of Hachiroemon. He had a small Hokora shrine, where he prayed every day to 伊勢神宮 the Deity of Ise Jingu for the safety of his followers and the development of the region.
The Mikoshi and festivals of this Shrine are well-loved among the Edoites.
The most important is
例大祭は8月14日(蔭祭り) August 18 - Kage-Matsuri
- reference source : fukagawa-shinmei.com -

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. Fukagawa Fudo Do (Fudoo Doo) 深川不動堂 Temple .
The Fudo Hall in Fukagawa was the "Edo Branch" of the famous Fudo in Narita.
- - - - - and
Fukagawa Tomioka Hachimangu Shrine 富岡八幡宮


Open Garden at the Hachiman Shrine in Fukagawa
Mountain Opening at Fukagawa Hachiman Shrine
Opening of the Garden at Fukagawa Hachiman Shrine
深川八幡山開き Fukagawa Hachiman yamabiraki 歌川広重 Utagawa Hiroshige

. Monzen-Nakachō 門前仲町 Monzen-Nakacho district . - Koto
lit. a town at the gate of a temple or shrine.

- quote -
Fukagawa Tomioka Hachiman Shrine 深川富岡八幡
Tomigaoka Hachimangū Shrine was founded at Eitai-jima
(present-day Saga-chō, Kōtō Ward) in 1627 (the fouth year of Kan'ei). It is also called Fukagawa Hachimangū and as the tutelage deity of Genji, it was protected by their descendent, the House of Tokugawa, and so propspered as the largest Hachimangū in Edo.
The Festival is counted as one of the "Three grand festivals of Edo",
along with Sannō Festival of Hie Shrine in Akasaka and Kanda Festival of Kanda Myojin Shrine.
- source : Tokyo Metropolitan Museum -

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. Fukagawameshi ふかがわめし/ 深川 Rice from Fukagawa .
Fukagawa-don, a bowl of rice topped with a miso-based stew of clams (asari) and green onions.



CLICK for more info about the Basho-An 芭蕉庵 in Fukagawa.

The Basho-An had had been a caretaker's lodge at a Carp Farm owned by Sugiyama Sanpu, the Koiya 鯉屋.
. Sugiyama Sanpu 杉山杉風 (Sampu), Matsuo Basho and Fukagawa .


. Fukagawa 深川 and the Tatsumi Geisha 辰巳芸者 .

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. Fukagawa Sagacho district 深川佐賀町 .

. Susaki, Suzaki 洲崎 / 須崎 / 州崎 Susaki area .

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quote
A Blue-Collar Working District
Fukagawa is one of the newer neighborhoods in downtown Edo. It is located on the east bank of the Sumida river, just a short distance inland from Kiba. In fact, Kiba is officially a part of the Fukagawa area, with the same local officials responsible for governing both areas. Like Kiba, Fukagawa is a slightly marshy, low-lying district criss-crossed by dozens of canals. There are a few main roads through the area, most of them running parallel to the coast from the area around Eitai bridge. However, the easiest way to get around Fukagawa is by boat.

The main east-west canals -- the Onagigawa and the Konakigawa -- run from the Sumida river in downtown Edo to the Ara river, about 10 kilometers to the east. Both are busy thoroughfares for both passenger traffic and goods. Some of the passengers riding to and fro on the canals are travelling between their homes in Fukagawa and the downtown area. However, there are also many people from the city who are on their way to one of the many sites of interest in Fugagawa. But regardless of where they are headed, almost all of the people in this area travel by boat, because Fukagawa is the center of the network of canals that criss-cross the city.
One landmark that draws only a few visitors, but is nonetheless a place of great importance in Edo, is the so-called "banana villa" (Basho-an).
It is the home of Matsuo Basho, one of Japan's greatest poets.
snip
Not far from the banana villa is another landmark of Fukagawa -- the Tomioka Hachiman Shrine. The shrine is located right in the heart of Fukagawa. The main road, Nakamachi-dori, crosses in front of the temple's main gates, and a huge boat landing with wide stone steps brings visitors right to the front gates of the temple. In front of the boat landing is a broad plaza surrounded by tea shops and food stalls. Nakamachi-dori runs past the boat landing, from east to west, and just across the street is the first torii gate that marks the entrance to the shrine. Tomioka Hachiman Shrine was built around 1625, not long after the main canal from Edo to Gyotoku was completed. The shrine is dedicated to the war god, Hachiman. Many of Japan's major cities -- especially cities that have served at the headquarters of the bakufu (military government) -- have shrines to Hachiman.
- snip - see LINK above - Tomioka Hachimangu Shrine 富岡八幡宮
Before Tokugawa Ieyasu moved to Edo, the Hachiman shrine in this area was located a bit further to the east, in Sunamura. The tiny village of Sunamura is located on a patch of high ground in the midst of the marshes, about five kilometers east of Edo. It is one of the oldest settlements in the area, but remains fairly rural and isolated due to the surrounding marshes. ...
Although many of the visitors to Tomioka Hachiman Jinja and Sanju-San Gendo are samurai, the Fukagawa neighborhood is mainly home to blue-collar workers who work in various parts of Edo. While almost the entire shita-machi area of Edo can be roughly described as "working class", few areas are as representative of the hard-working day laborers who keep the city running smoothly. The neighborhoods of Edo are divided into cho ("towns") that average about one hectare in size (2.5 acres). Each cho has its own local leaders and its own local services such as the ban-nin ("town watch", or police) and the shobo-nin (firefighters). Most cho are further divided into about a dozen ban ("blocks" of houses). In Fukagawa, most of the ban are occupied by five or ten row houses (nagaya). These are long, two-story buildings that contain up to a hundred individual "apartments". Usually, two row houses are built around a central square with one or more wells and some green space between the two buildings where people can relax and socialize, and where the children can play.

The central square between the row houses is the focus of daily life for residents. Most nagaya have only small windows facing the street, while the doors of each apartment face the central square. The central square is semi-paved, and has a few small trees and shrubs. At one end of the square is a large well, which everyone in the "block" uses for washing and drinking water. At the other end of the square is a public toilet. In most residential districts of Edo, public toilets are the norm. The people of Edo do not dump their sewage into the rivers or oceans, as is done in many other cities around the world. Instead, all human waste is collected, composted and recycled as manure for farming. This is one reason why Edo has a relatively low incidence of disease -- there is no sewage to pollute the water supply or serve as a breeding ground for bacteria. In this sense, sanitation in Edo is far more advanced than in most other parts of the world. Manure collectors visit the neighborhood once a week, and carry away the waste to a composting area in the countryside. This keeps the entire town clean and sanitary.

The apartments in the nagaya are very small. Each individual unit has a single room about six tatami mats in size. A tatami is a heavy straw mat used on the floor of most Japanese homes. Since the mats are always made to a specific size, rooms are often measured in terms of the number of tatami on the floor. A six-tatami room is about 3.5 meters (12 feet) square.

Typically, an entire family -- parents, children and perhaps grandparents as well -- will live in one of these rooms. However, in cases where several adult siblings live in the same "block", they may share the cost of a separate third apartment for the grandparents.

These relatively crowded conditions are one reason why the central square is the focus of daily life. Houses are too small for the family to spend all day indoors. In fact, the apartments are mainly used just for sleeping. All other daily chores are done in the central square.In the evenings, after a hard day's work, the men will bring out mats and spread them on the ground, then spend the evening talking to their neighbors, smoking, sipping sake and eating the food that the women of the neighborhood have prepared.
source : www.us-japan.org/edomatsu

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- quote -
Fukagawa Kiba 深川木場 Fukagawa Timberyards
by 長谷川雪旦 Hasegawa Settan
Kiba means a timber yard where timber is stored.
In Edo, since Tokugawa Ieyasu had opened the shogunate government, demand for timber had increased due to the construction of Edo Castle, Daimyo residences, temples and shrines and town houses and so, and in 1641 (the eighteenth year of Kan'ei), the government gathered all the timber yards to Eitai-jima.
It is then called Kiba (later, Motokiba) and became the origin of the place name.
In 1701 (the fourteenth year of Genroku), with the expanding of urban areas and the further increase of demand for timber, Kiba was moved to slightly eastwards, Fukagawa, and that was the birth of the 300,000 square meters of Fukagawa Kiba.
- source : Tokyo Metropolitan Museum -

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. Sunamura 砂村 "Sand village" districts .
It has four sub-districts, North, East, South and New : 北砂 Kitasuna、東砂 Higashisuna, 南砂 Minamisuna and 新砂 Shinsuna -
Since 1889 known as 砂町 Sunamachi, combined with other small districts nearby.
Sunamachi Ginza Shopping District -located at Kitasuna

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quote
Fukagawa Edo Museum - 深川江戸資料館
is a community culture center that was established in 1986. It has an Edo period display of reconstructed Fukagawa Saga-cho houses as well as a small theater and a lecture hall, coupled with the Shirakawa branch of Koto-ku administrative office. Since its opening, the center has held exhibitions regarding the history of Edo Fukagawa and has provided space for many cultural activities.
source : www.kcf.or.jp/fukagawa

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. Hamagurichoo 蛤町 Hamaguri Cho district .
former 深川蛤町 一・二丁目 Fukagawa Hamaguri cho first and second district until 1911


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- - - - - H A I K U - - - - -


深川上の橋 Fukagawa Kami no Hashi
. Kawase Hasui 川瀬巴水 (1883 - 1957) .
Twenty Views of Tokyo

初雪や懸けかかりたる橋の上
hatsu yuki ya kakekakaritaru hashi no ue

first snow -
on the bridge
under construction

Tr. Gabi Greve


Written in 1693 元禄6年冬
The Great Bridge of Fukagawa 深川大橋 over the Sumida river 隅田川 had been under construction.
Basho took a great interest in the waterways of Edo, he had been working for the waterworks government department for a while.


Later, when the bridge was finished, he expressed his joy in another hokku:

皆出でて橋を戴く霜路哉
mina idete hashi o itadaku shimoji kana

everybody comes out
to use the new bridge
and the frosty road . . .

Tr. Gabi Greve

Written on the 7th day of the 12th lunar month in 1693, 元禄6年12月7日
On the 8th day 12月8日, the bridge was named Shin Oohashi 新大橋 Shin Ohashi "New Big Bridge".
Finally it was named Shin Ryoogokubashi 新両国橋. Shin Ryogoku-bashi.

This hokku has the cut marker KANA at the end of line 3.
hashi o itadaku - "to partake of the bridge", to use the bridge in gratitude, since now it was possible to reach the other shore without a great detour to find another bridge.


MORE - places visited by
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .



大はしあたけの夕立 - Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重


Shin-Ōhashi - Kobayashi Kiyochika 小林清親 (1847 - 1915)

. WKD : Bridge (hashi 橋) .


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- Kobayashi Issa -


洲さき汐干かり shiohigari at Fukagawa Susaki 深川洲崎 in Spring
Hiroshige


深川や桃の中より汐干狩
Fukagawa ya momo no naka yori shiohigari

Fukagawa !
through the peach blossoms
people are gathering shells

Tr. Gabi Greve

. WKD : shiohigari 汐干狩 hunting (for clams and seafood) on the shore .
shiohigari - gathering shells and small seafood at low tide.
Fukagawa had a great flatland tidal area where people could collect cheap seafood.



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深川や蠣がら山の秋の月
Fukagawa ya kakigara yama no aki no tsuki

Fukagawa --
an oyster shell mountain
and autumn's moon


Makoto Ueda explains that many residents of Fukagawa shucked shellfish, creating hills of shells. He translates kakigara as "seashells," but Issa's meaning would seem to be more specific;
Dew on the Grass: The Life and Poetry of Kobayashi Issa

Tr. and Comment : David Lanoue




深川や舟も一組とし忘
Fukagawa ya fune mo hito-gumi toshiwasure

Fukagawa--
on a boat, too, a party
drinks away the year

Tr. David Lanoue



古池や先御先へととぶ蛙
. furu ike ya mazu o-saki e to tobu kawazu .
yamabuki ya mazu o-saki e to tobu kawazu - Issa at the Basho-An 芭蕉庵


. Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 Issa in Edo .

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深川や敗戦の日も祭笛
Fukagawa ya haisen no hi mo matsuribue

Oh Fukagawa!
even on Cease Fire Day
the sound of festival flutes

Tr. Gabi Greve

Itoo Itoko 伊藤いと子 Ito Itoko


. WKD : haisen no hi 敗戦の日 Cease Fire Day .
Day the World War II ended in Japan, August 15


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素堂忌に深川遠き祭かな
Sodoo ki ni Fukagawa tooki matsuri kana

on Sodo Memorial day
in far-away Fukagawa
there is a festival . . .

Tr. Gabi Greve

Masuda Ryuu-U 増田龍雨 Masuda Ryu-U (Dragon-Rain)
(1874 - 1934)
He studied haiku with 久保田万太郎 Kubota Mantaro.



Yamaguchi Sodoo 山口素堂 Yamaguchi Sodo
. WKD : Sodoo Ki 素堂忌 (そどうき) Sodo Memorial Day .
On the 15th day of the eighth lunar month 陰暦八月十五日.


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深川のかんかん照りの祭かな
Fukagawa no kankan-deri no matsuri kana

during the greatest summer heat
at Fukagawa there is
the festival . . .

Tr. Gabi Greve

Ooki Amari 大木 あまり Oki Amari
(1941 - )
She was born in Tokyo.




source : blog.goo.ne.jp/twinshiro/e
Festival at Fukagawa Hachimangu - 深川八幡祭り(深川祭)

. WKD : 深川八幡祭 Festival at Fukagawa Hachimangu .
kigo for early autumn

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Lumberyard at Fukagawa (Fukagawa kiba 深川木場)
from the series One Hundred Views of Musashi Province (Musashi hyakkei no uchi)
Kobayashi Kiyochika (1847–1915)

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. Kootoo ku, Kōtō 江東区 Koto ward, "East River" .
and many legends from Fukagawa :
Fukagawa Kitagawa 深川北川町 / Fukagawa Sendai Kaigan 深川仙台海岸

. Edo bakufu 江戸幕府 The Edo Government .

. Famous Places and Powerspots of Edo 江戸の名所 .

. Doing Business in Edo - 商売 - Introduction .

. shokunin 職人 craftsman, craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker .

. Japanese Architecture - The Japanese Home .

. Interior Design - The Japanese Home .

. Legends and Tales from Japan 伝説 - Introduction .
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[ . BACK to DARUMA MUSEUM TOP . ]
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
- #fukagawa #fukagawaedo #fukagawakiba #sunamura #sunamachi #kiba -
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