12/06/2014

Edo Cherry Blossoms ISSA

[ . BACK to DARUMA MUSEUM TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


. Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 in Edo .


. WKD : Cherry Blossoms (sakura 桜) .

....................................................................................................................................................

江戸桜花も銭だけ光る哉
edo sakura hana mo zeni dake hikaru kana

Edo Cherries --
glittering coins outshine
their blossoms

Tr. Chris Drake

This hokku is from the second month (March) in 1820, when Issa was in and around his hometown. "Edo Cherries" (edo-zakura) in the first line is one name for "Somei-Yoshino Cherries," a type of cherry tree artificially created by gardeners in Somei, a village on the edge of Edo, who crossed two traditional types of cherry trees. The Somei nurseries also produced other kinds of new flowers and trees and actively marketed them. Some of these creations became very popular with samurai lords, who generally had very large gardens, and with Edo's merchants, most of whom sought to imitate the warrior class. In Issa's time various nurseries competed to see which could create the most striking or unusual new varieties of flowers and trees. Flower contests became common in the city, and Issa has several hokku about the unnatural shapes of the artificially large and fancy chrysanthemums that became popular in Edo, where the flowers could be amazingly expensive.

Edo Cherries became a choice commodity not long before Issa was sent by his father to Edo to find a job, so he has no doubt seen them in bloom and has compared them with other, more traditional types, such as the wild mountain cherries growing in profusion at Mt. Yoshino. Edo Cherries have bowl-like blossoms that are a strong red at the center when they first bloom, though they gradually turn to a very light pink before they fall, and the blossoms grow fairly close together, covering the whole tree and giving it a rather ostentatious look that many Edoites preferred.

Issa, however, isn't overly impressed by either the blossoms or the tree. He says "even" (mo) the blossoms, so he may refer to the fact that the tree is mainly for show: only very sour cherries or no cherries at all grow on it. And he may feel the overall shape of the tree is a bit unbalanced, since the blossoms bloom before the leaves appear. The tree's main value is commercial, he feels, and in a narrow sense he seems to have been right, since this ornamental type of cherry became even more popular during the period when Japan was modernizing and today is regarded as "traditional," at least in urban areas. It is also popular around the world.

Chris Drake

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::





「江戸桜ルネッサンス&夜桜うたげ」の魅力
Edo Sakura Renaissance

- source : /mery.jp/15729

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The Flower of Edo (Sukeroku Yukari no Edozakura)
Painted by Utagawa Kunisada I 1832
This work depicts the scene of "The Flower of Edo (Sukeroku Yukari no Edozakura)", one of the series Eighteen Great Kabuki Plays.
The popular actors such as Matsumoto Kōshirō, Ichikawa Ebizō and Iwai Hanshirō, whose names have been passed down until today, played the roles in this play.
Sukeroku is said to have been performed for the first time in 1713 (Shōtoku 3) when Ichikawa Danjūrō II played the role in "Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) Beloved of the Great Houses (Hanayakata Aigo no Sakura (cherry blossom))" performed by the Edo Yamamuraza troupe.
The play continued to be refined by the great actors and finally became one of the Kabuki-Jūhachiban (Ichikawa Danjūrō family collection of best plays) in 1832 (Tenpō 3). At this time, Danjūrō VII passed down his professional name to Danjūrō VIII and took on his former name again, Ichikawa Ebizō V.
In this scene, Otokodate Hanakawado Sukeroku, actually Soga Gorō, goes in and out of the Yoshiwara (licensed prostitution quarters in Edo) to investigate the treasure sword and repeatedly had a fight with brothel customers to make them draw a sword.
The ink used for the letters of Matsumoto Kōshirō, who played Ikyū, is thick, and the inlaid wood marks can be found around his face.
In addition, Kōshirō wears a costume with Hanakatsumi pattern, which symbolizes the Bandō family. It is assumed that Bandō Mitsugorō III was scheduled to perform the role of Ikyū and the block had been completed, but it was suddenly decided that Kōshirō play the role, and only the face was replaced.
- source : Tokyo Metropolitan Library

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Latest updates about Issa on facebook - CLICK to join !



. WKD : Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 - Introduction .


[ . BACK to DARUMA MUSEUM TOP . ]
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

No comments: