10/31/2013

naginata - halberd

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naginata 薙刀 / 長刀 / 眉尖刀 Japanese halberd
Hellebarde

- quote
one of several varieties of traditionally made Japanese blades (nihonto) in the form of a pole weapon. Naginata were originally used by the samurai class of feudal Japan, as well as by ashigaru (foot soldiers) and sōhei (warrior monks).



A naginata consists of a wooden shaft with a curved blade on the end; it is similar to the Chinese guan dao or the European glaive. Naginata often have a sword-like hand guard (tsuba) between the blade and shaft when mounted in a koshirae. The 30 cm to 60 cm long naginata blade is forged in the same manner as traditional Japanese swords. The blade has a long tang (nakago) which is inserted in the shaft (nagaye or ebu). The blade is removable and is secured by means of a wooden peg (mekugi) that passes through a hole (mekugi-ana) in both the nakago and the nagaye (ebu).

The nagaye (ebu) ranges from 120 cm to 240 cm in length and is oval shaped. The area of the nagaye (ebu) where the naginata nakago sits is the tachiuchi or tachiuke. The tachiuchi (tachiuke) would be reinforced with metal rings (naginata dogane or semegane), and/or metal sleeves (sakawa) and wrapped with cord (san-dan maki). The end of the nagaye (ebu) had a heavy metal end cap (ishizuki or hirumaki). When not in use the naginata blade would be covered with a wooden sheath (saya).

Naginata can be used to batter, stab or hook an opponent', but due to their relatively balanced center of mass, are often spun and turned to proscribe a large radius of reach. The curved blade makes for an effective tool for cutting due to the increased length of cutting surface.
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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- quote
Women’s Weapons: The Naginata
Barbara Lazar

Between the 12th and approximately the 15th centuries women defended themselves, their families and their homes. They concealed daggers in their sleeves or sashes and delivered their deadly blades with great accuracy. Women also used the naginata, which is a pole having a long, curved sword at the top. For an ambush, women swung naginata in narrowed places, cutting the legs of horses to disable the enemy soldiers.



Sometimes women fought alongside their husbands in battle. And they were expected to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) if dishonored. There is a case of a woman using suicide to protest her husband’s abuse.

Even in modern times, Japanese girls learn the ancient art of naginatajutsu— wielding the naginata.
- source : barbaralazar.com


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. ashigaru 足軽 common foot soldier, "light legs" .

. soohei, sōhei 僧兵 monk-warrior, monk-soldier .


. WKD : naginata hoozuki 長刀ほおずき / 薙刀酸漿 whelk's egg capsules .
Rapana venosa - akanishi アカニシ


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. Kumasaka Choohan 熊坂長範 Kumasaka Chohan .
a famous robber of the 12th century




by Utagawa Kuniyoshi 歌川国芳


熊坂が大長刀を秋の風
kumasaka ga oonaginata o aki no kaze

blowing on Kumasaka's
great halberd ...
autumn wind

Tr. David Lanoue



熊坂が大長刀をあられ哉
kumasaka ga oonaginata o arare kana

hailstones
on the great halbeard
of Kumasaka . . .

Tr. Gabi Greve

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



熊坂が長刀にちる螢哉
kumasaka ga naginata ni chiru hotaru kana

fireflies
scattered by the halberd
of Kumasaka . . .

Tr. Gabi Greve

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

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The Six Realms ("Paths") of Karma-Bound Existence (rokudoo)
by Issa and Kakuro

4. Fierce, angry Ashura demigods

chiru hana ni tachi naginata mo kazarikeri
-- Kakuro

when blossoms fall
they get out their
swords and halberds


. rokudoo 六道 the six realms .
and the hungry ghosts


. Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 in Edo .


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長刀の影おぼろなり橋の月 
naginata no kage oboro nari hashi no tsuki

the shadow of a halberd
in the haze -
moon on the bridge 


. Masaoka Shiki 正岡子規 .
written in 1898


. WKD : oborozuki 朧月 hazy moon .





Benkei at the Gojo Bridge in Kyoto 京の五条の橋
. Benkei and Ushiwakamaru 牛若丸と弁慶 - 武蔵坊弁慶 .





Benkei with a halberd 長刀弁慶 - ema 絵馬 votive tablet

. Otsu-E 大津絵 paintings from Otsu .


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夕月や長刀鉾の静なる
yuuzuki ya naginataboko no shizuka naru

evening moon -
the halberd float
becomes quiet

Tr. Gabi Greve

Tsunoda Chikurei 角田竹冷




Gion Festival in Kyoto
. naginata boko 長刀鉾(なぎなたぼこ)halberd float .



長刀のもつとも揺れて鉾廻る
naginata o mottomo yurete hoko mawaru

the halberds
shake most when the float
is turned round


Inamatsu Kinkoo 稲松錦江 Inamatsu Kinko


turning around a festival float during the Gion festival

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10/30/2013

Nihon - Japan

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nihon, nippon  日本 Japan

- quote
Japan
(Japanese: 日本 Nippon or Nihon; formally 日本国 Nippon-koku or Nihon-koku, literally "[the] State of Japan")
is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is sometimes referred to as the "Land of the Rising Sun".

Japan is an archipelago of 6,852 islands. The four largest islands are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku, which together comprise about ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area. Japan has the world's tenth-largest population, with over 126 million people. Honshū's Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the de facto capital city of Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million residents.
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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. waga kuni 我が国 / わがくに / 我国 my country, my province .
with more haiku by Issa

- - - - - Some synonyms to express JAPAN

日本(にっぽん) 日(にち) ジャパン 日本国 大日本 大日本帝国 日東
皇国 Kookoku / 倭国(わこく) Wakoku /  扶桑 Fusoo
大八洲(おおやしま) Ooyashima /  瑞穂(みずほ)の国  Mizuho no kuni /  豊葦原(とよあしはら) Toyoashihara /  皇御国(すめらみくに) Sumeramikuni
母国 祖国 国内 内地 

. Akitsushima 秋津島 "Island of the Dragonflies .



source : web.kansya.jp.net/blog
Map of Japan in the Edo period 江戸時代の日本地図


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

The price of rice has fallen so low that lower-class people are experiencing many hardships.
This is a situation people in other countries must envy.


日本の外ケ浜迄おち穂哉
nippon no soto-ga-hama made ochibo kana

fallen rice grains
cover all of Japan
up to its northern tip

Tr. Chris Drake


This hokku is from the 12th lunar month (January) of 1819, the month before the beginning of the year evoked in Year of My Life. Issa's headnote, translated above, is found just before the hokku in the posthumous anthology of hokku published by Issa's followers in 1829, where the hokku is given precisely as it appears in Issa's diary. As the headnote makes clear, falling rice prices in recent years have been hurting rice farmers, who have to pay very high taxes and find it difficult to survive on the small amount of profit they get from selling the extra rice that they don't consume. The rice harvest of 1818 was particularly good, so at the time the hokku was written the market is glutted and rice prices are falling. Farmers have more rice than they can sell and store, and, according to Issa, even in the far north of Honshu -- Japan's northern border at the time, an area not known for its great harvests -- farmers don't bother to go out and collect all the stray grains of rice that have fallen to the ground during harvesting.

Normally farmers glean very carefully for all the grains of rice that fall to the ground at harvest time, since each one is precious, but this year fallen rice grains all over Japan just lie on the ground rotting. There may be some indirect criticism of the shogunate here for failing to take steps to stabilize the rice market and protect farmers from the year-to-year fluctuations in rice crops. There is also sadness and irony as Issa both praises Japan and criticizes it at the same time.

Some Japanese commentators have called this hokku ultra-nationalistic, but their criticism is surely beside the point. Issa says people in other countries probably envy Japan for its good rice crops, but he also implies that they, too, like Japan's ruling class, would like to see farmers exploited and unable to share in the bounty. Issa may think that the ships from various countries that have been landing in Japan in recent years and asking for trading rights envy Japan and want to exploit it. Only a few months before, in the summer of 1818, the British ship Brothers landed in Uraga, south of Edo/Tokyo, and strongly asked for trading rights, only to be rejected. Many Japanese, including no doubt Issa, had heard about the dangers of colonialism, and most did not believe that the foreigners who arrived in Japan had benign intentions. Issa does have several hokku praising peace in Japan, but the present hokku is not a simplistic assertion of Japan's superiority over all foreign nations.

Chris Drake


. Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 in Edo .



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. Japanese Architecture - cultural keywords used in haiku .


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10/28/2013

yoroi - armour

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yoroi 鎧 armour, armor of a samurai
gusoku 具足 armour
..... kogusoku 小具足 smapp pieces of armour equipment (like facemask, forearm sleeves, thigh guards, shin guards, bear-fur boots
kachuu 甲冑 katchu, armor and helmet


- quote
The ō-yoroi, oo-yoroi (大鎧) is a prominent example of early Japanese armor worn by the samurai class of feudal Japan. The term ō-yoroi means "great armor."


by Yoshitoshi

Ō-yoroi first started to appear in the 10th century during the middle and late Heian period, and came into widespread use in the Genpei War around the 12th century when the call for armor was at its peak. Significant aspects of this armor were designed for cavalry archers. The box shaped ō-yoroi was heavy and did not allow as much movement or flexibility as its counterpart the dō-maru, so the armor fell out of favor in the fifteenth century when samurai shifted to mostly infantry tactics.

Components
The basic components of the ō-yoroi and other samurai armor are known collectively as the “hei-no-rokugu” or simply “rokugu 六具,” which means six articles of arms.
The six major components are the  胴 (chest armour), kabuto (helmet), mengu 面具 (facial armour), kote 籠手 (armoured sleeves), sune-ate 脛当 (shin armour), and the hai-date 脛楯 (thigh armour).
The ō-yoroi combines plate and scales (kozane) laced together (lamellar). One specific advance over earlier armors is that the kozane of ō-yoroi are first laced together and then covered with lacquer, which enhances resistance to corrosion. The dō of the ō-yoroi is unique from later models because it is composed of two separate parts instead of one piece with an opening on the side or back of the dō to allow the samurai to put on the armor.

Clan Identification
The color, design, and material of the lacing identified the clan of the warrior. The clans were also identified by the designs painted on the armor. Many of the clans used symbols as a crest, such as cherry blossoms or depictions of deities. The color and design of lacing the plates together, odoshi, was a system used for identification on the field. There were many different color combinations that identified warriors from a distance.
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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Onoda Teruhiko 小野田光彦 armor maker, Showa period
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !


yoroishi, yoroi shi 鎧師 craftsman producing armour
- - - - - gusokushi, gusoku shi 具足師
- - - - - katchuushi 甲冑師

There are different schools in Nara, Kishu (Wakayama), Kyoto and other regions.

kabutoshi, kabuto shi 兜師 helmet maker



. Edo Katchu 江戸甲冑 Warrior Armor from Edo .
and armor decorations with Fudo Myo-o 不動明王


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Samurai families used to decorate a yoroi in the tokonoma alcove  and place the mochi in front of them.



. yoroi mochi 鎧餅 "armor rice cake" .
a New Year decoration
gusoku mochi 具足餅 armor-plate rice cake

Gusokubiraki, gusoku biraki 具足開 "opening the armour"
gusoku kagamimochi 具足鏡餅
gusoku kagami wari 具足鏡割
gusoku iwai 具足祝 celebrating armour
busoku kagamibiraki 武具鏡開

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ise-ebi ise ebi いせえび (伊勢海老/伊勢蝦) lobster, spiny lobster
The samurai of Kamakura saw an auspicious connection with their armour (yoroi) and the back shell of the lobster.

. Seafood for Autumn .


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Tango no sekku 端午の節句 "Boy's Festival"
a traditional Japanese event observed on May 5th as a celebration for boys' talisman and health. Families including boys observe it, displaying yoroi kabuto (an armor), gogatsu ningyoo (dolls for the Boys' Festival), or koinobori (carp-shaped streamers). Although this tradition has continued to this day, after World War May 5th started to be called "children's day". It is observed as a holiday recognizing children's (boys and girls) happiness.

. WKD : Seasonal festival in the fifth lunar month .




source : matsugan.co.jp/may_doll

Matsuyama no yoroi ningyoo 松山の 鎧人形 dolls wearing armour, made in Matsuyama

. musha ningyoo 武者人形 Samurai Dolls .
kabuto ningyoo かぶと人形 "helmet decorations"
ayame ningyoo あやめ人形 iris dolls
kabuto 兜 samurai helmet


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


薫風やもよぎ匂ひの鎧ぬぐ
kunpuu ya moyogi nioi no yoroi nugu

fragrant breeze -
I take off my armour
smelling of leek


. moyogi, moegi 萌葱 a kind of leek .

. WKD : kunpuu 薫風、kaze kaoru 風薫 scented breeze .
kigo for summer


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借具足我になじまぬ寒さ哉
kari yoroi ware ni najimaru samusa kana

this coldness
like a borrowed armour
not fit for my body

Tr. Gabi Greve

The cut marker KANA is at the end of line 3. I reversed the word order for more natural English.

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夕雲雀鎧の袖をかざしかな
yuuhibari yoroi no sode o kazashi kana

a skylark in the evening
adds a decoration to the sleeve
of the armour plate . . .


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

. Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 in Edo .

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山の桜にひしと鎧ひけり
尾崎紅葉

枯葉を鎧う女泉を抱き眠る
八木三日女

山車統べて鎧皇后立ち給ふ
山口誓子


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. Japanese Architecture - cultural keywords used in haiku .


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10/24/2013

ISSA - kiku chrysanthemum

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. Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 in Edo .



by Tsuchiya Koitsu



hatsugiku 初菊(はつぎく)first chrysanthemum

white chrysanthemum, shiragiku 白菊
yellow chrysanthemum, kigiku 黄菊

Many Japanese kigo in connection with chrysanthemums:

. WKD : kiku 菊 chrysanthemum .
kigo for autumn and other seasons


酒臭き黄昏ごろや菊の花
sake kusaki tasogare goro ya kiku no hana

the smell of sake
around about dusk...
chrysanthemum

The Chrysanthemum had special importance to Issa, especially after his 1814 marriage to Kiku, who was named after this flower.

David Lanoue has more than 44 haiku about the Chrysanthemum.

隠居菊, 菊の花, 痩菊, 大菊, 小菊, 野菊, 祭り菊, 夏菊


芭蕉忌に先つつがなし菊の花
bashooki ni mazu tsutsuganashi kiku no hana

safe and sound
on Basho's Death-Day...
chrysanthemum



斯う通れ通れとや門の菊
kô tôre tôre to ya kado no kiku

"This way, pass through
pass through!"
the gate's chrysanthemum



- source : haikuguy.com David Lanoue


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- - - - - Translations and comments by Chris Drake

大名を味方にもつやきくの花
daimyoo o mikata ni motsu ya kiku no hana

a chrysanthemum
backed by
a domain lord


This hokku is from a group about chrysanthemum shows/contests (kiku-awase, kiku-kurabe), probably in Edo, in the Ninth Month (about October) in 1817. Issa was in Edo earlier in the year, but by the Ninth Month he'd returned to his hometown area, so this must be a hokku based on a rumor he'd just heard or perhaps a memory. A daimyo is a domain lord and rather different from a warlord. Warlords had ravaged the country in the 16th c. and earlier, but in the 17th c. the Tokugawa shogunate gained the upper hand and enforced a kind of Pax Romana, establishing a nationwide system of domains (han), each overseen by a daimyo lord who had pledged his allegiance to the shogunate in Edo. (Daimyo has become an English word, so perhaps it's better to use it than "domain lord.") One way a daimyo was prevented from rebelling and making war was his duty to leave his wife and heir as de facto hostages in his mansion in Edo, while he himself spent alternate years in Edo and his local domain.

While they were living in Edo, the mostly very rich daimyo concentrated mainly on ceremonial work and their hobbies. Chrysanthemums were considered to be a noble flower in samurai culture, and some daimyo liked to raise and train large, elaborate chrysanthemums. Commoners also loved raising and creating new strains of chrysanthemums, and in the late Edo period the craze for training and sculpting chrysanthemums almost reached the proportions of the tulip craze in Europe. Issa's hokku was written during one of the high points in the craze, and he has a rather low opinion of chrysanthemum training and chrysanthemum shows/competitions for various reasons.

The chrysanthemum (or group of chrysanthemums) in this hokku has been placed in a show, at which various prizes have been given or soon will be. It's unlikely a daimyo would submit a chrysanthemum under his own name. Instead he would probably use a proxy, either a retainer or a rich commoner, who would be able and willing to mix with lowly commoners. In the hokku before this one Issa evokes a contest loser finding out that the chrysanthemum that beat his was submitted for a daimyo. So it appears that contest judgments were -- as art and other contests are reputed to be even today -- heavily influenced by money and social position. Probably the winning judgment on the chrysanthemum has been made already and the creator or at least submitter revealed. Since Issa says "supported/backed /favored by," I interpret this to mean either that the name of the daimyo's proxy has been revealed or that the submitter has been revealed to be a proxy for a daimyo.

There is surely irony and satire in the fact that a great daimyo is revealed to be indulging in such materialistic competitions, and by implication spending a lot on bribes, thus showing that in this respect he is basically no different from commoners, except in the degree of his corruption. Because of the great wealth and social influence daimyo and some merchants possessed, the world of sculpted chrysanthemum shows/contests is clearly regarded by Issa to be just as corrupt as the society in which it developed.

The first hokku in this series:

人間がなくば曲らじ菊の花
ningen ga nakuba magaraji kiku no hana

if there were no humans
there would be no
crooked chrysanthemums



Here "crooked" suggests not only "misshapen" (by sculpting) but also the ethical judgment that resides in the Japanese magar-.





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薮原や何の因果で残る菊
yabuhara ya nan no inga de nokoru kiku

overgrown meadow --
what karma, chrysanthemums,
keeps you alive?

bushes, grass, trees
and these chrysanthemums --
what's kept you alive?



This hokku is from the 10th month (November) of 1815, when Issa was traveling in the area just east of Edo. The hokku before and after this hokku in Issa's diary give a good idea of its context.
The previous hokku:

kigi no ha ya kiku no mijime ni sakinikeri

tree leaves --
what miserable
chrysanthemum petals


The flowers are unable to grow well in the shade and among all the bushes and wild grass around them, and Issa is amazed they've survived this long. Wild chrysanthemums usually resemble daisies and bloom in clusters, so I use the plural for them.
Then, following the first hokku above, is this one:

akagiku no akahaji kaku na mata shigure

red chrysanthemums,
don't blush so from shame --
cold rain again


Issa asks some red wild chrysanthemums with scraggly blossoms not to feel ashamed of being seen in their pitiful condition, and he assures them that cold early winter rain, which is beginning to fall again, will soon cool off their hot, blushing faces.

The hokku following these three are about the Ten Nights services in which Pure Land (Honen) sect monks chant Amida's name for ten days and nights, beginning on 10/6, so Issa seems to be thinking about the buddha-nature of the chrysanthemums and marveling at how they manage to survive even in a very difficult environment.
The Japanese word for karma is gou ( 業 ), and the word Issa uses in the first hokku above is inga (因果), literally 'cause and effect,' which is short for dependent co-origination, the Buddhist notion that cause and effect are never simple but dependent on and interlinked with a wide network of other relationships and actions. In Japanese the word 'cause and effect' was also sometimes used in a secular way by people speaking about causation in general, while 'karma' in English doesn't commonly refer to ordinary cause and effect, so there is some slippage in translation here.

I doubt that Issa is asking in a simple linear way about what kind of deeds the chrysanthemums did in previous lives. He is probably talking, I assume, about the other-power behind the amazing ability of the flowers to bloom in a very hard place, and he also seems to be talking about more than the individual flowers. I think his notion of karma is a kind of ecosystemic one, with many different factors involved, factors that ripple outward, perhaps infinitely, and overlap with Amida. Issa seems to be wondering what all the various factors might be. He may be wondering, for example, whether the chrysanthemums are themselves silent versions of Amida's name.

Finally, inga (cause and effect; karma) seems to have several meanings in this hokku by Issa:

chiru arare hato ga inga o kataru sama

hail falling --
pigeons seem to be
discussing karma


and/or: its/their karma
and/or: what's happening
and/or: what's causing it

Chris Drake

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縁の猫勿体顔や菊の花
en no neko mottaigao ya kiku no hana

porch cat's face sez
chrysanthemum-viewing
by invitation only


This autumn hokku is from the 9th month (October) of 1820, when Issa was living in his hometown. Some probably potted chrysanthemums (or perhaps only one) stand on or near the low, narrow wooden porch just outside a room. The wall between the room and the porch consists mainly of sliding doors, which seem to be open now. The cat has positioned itself just right to be the viewer in chief.

Chris Drake

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幸に遅々さくややたら菊
saiwai ni oso-oso saku ya yatara kiku

plain chrysanthemum,
you're lucky
you've bloomed late


This hokku is from the fall of 1819, the year evoked in Issa's Year of My Life. It is from a copy by Issa's follower Baijin of Issa's Eighth Diary and doesn't indicate the month. In Issa's own diary, in the section for the 9th month, a slightly different version appears:

saiwai ni raku-raku saku ya yakuza-giku

"failed" chrysanthemum,
you're lucky you've bloomed
at your own chosen pace


The plain, ordinary chrysanthemum in Baijin's copy (or scribal variation) is ambiguous. It could be a plain-looking cultivated chrysanthemum, or it could be a wild field chrysanthemum. I take it to be a failed fancy chrysanthemum, because Issa could have used the word for field chrysanthemum if he had wanted to and because Issa's own calligraphic version seems to evoke a failed cultivated chrysanthemum. In the second hokku, Issa's own version, the meaning is pretty clear. In Issa's time chrysanthemums had begun to be grown as a cash crop, partly for export to Edo and other cities and partly for local people, who had begun to follow the Edo-centered craze for big, fancy chrysanthemums. The flower in Issa's own calligraphic version has been grown and trained by a grower, but despite 4-5 months of effort, the chrysanthemum never developed into the fancy shape the grower had hoped to sculpt it into.

To Issa the flower seems to be a dropout more interested in taking things easy and enjoying itself than in being stretched and tweaked into fashionable abstract shapes loved by humans. Issa feels the easygoing chrysanthemum, considered a failure by the grower and his customers, is lucky to have followed its natural inclinations. In Baijin's copy of the hokku, an ordinary-looking cultivated chrysanthemum seems to have bloomed later than the chrysanthemums which responded to the grower's fancifying techniques and therefore received more care and nutrition. In both versions the important things for Issa are the feelings and the health of the flower itself and not how the flower looks to humans. Issa also seems impressed by the way dropout chrysanthemums that are rejected as lacking beauty or vigor actually end up as beautiful flowers. They are the lucky ones, because they have a natural beauty and health the fragile fancy flowers will probably never experience. The musical play of vowels and consonants in Issa's own diary version also suggests the chrysanthemum's delight at being itself.

Chris Drake


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大菊のさんだらぼしやけさの雪
. oo-giku no sandara-boshi ya kesa no yuki .
big chrysanthemum under a round straw cover


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. WKD : Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 - Introduction .


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10/23/2013

BUSON - harusame spring rain

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. Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 in Edo .
(1715-1783)

. WKD : harusame 春雨 spring rain .

- Yosa Buson and haru 春 spring

under construction
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霖雨(ながあめ)に生かへりたる若和布
harusame ni ikikaeritaru wakame kana
naga-ame ni ikikaeritaru wakame kana
(1769)

in spring rain / in the long rain of spring
they come back to live,
these wakame kelp . . .


. WKD : wakame, 若布, 和布 kelp .
kigo for spirng


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春雨にぬれつつ屋根の手毬かな
. harusame ni nuretsutsu yane no temari kana .
(1769)

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春雨の中を流るる大河かな   
harusame no naka o nagaruru taiga kana
(1782)

in the middle
of spring rain there flows
a large river . . .


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


. Buson and kawa 川 river, rivers .


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はるさめや綱が袂に小提灯 
harusame ya ami ga tamoto ni kochoochin

spring rain -
the prostitute carries a small lantern
near her sleeve


ami 綱, lit. "a net", is a prostitute on Modoribashi, Kyoto 京都戻橋.


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春雨や同車の君がさざめ言
harusame ya doosha no kimi ga sasamegoto

spring rain -
in the carriage next to me
your loving murmurings



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春雨や人住みて煙壁を洩る
harusame ya hito sumite kemuri kabe o moru

spring rain -
people live here and smoke
seeps through the wall


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春雨やいざよふ月の海半ば
harusame ya izayou tsuki no umi nakaba




春雨や蛙の腹はまだぬれず
. harusame ya kawazu no hara wa mada nurezu .
(1782)


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はるさめや暮なんとしてけふもあり 
春雨や暮れなんとして今日も有
harusame ya kurenamu to shite kyoo mo ari
(1782)

this spring rain -
it is getting darker
but today lingers on



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春雨や小磯の小貝濡るほど
harusame ya koiso no kogai nururu hodo
(1769)

spring rain -
just enough to wet the small shells
on the small beach




source :youtisyodoukan


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春雨や身にふる頭巾着たりけり
harusame ya mi ni furu zukin kitarikeri


. WKD : zukin 頭巾 hood .

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春雨やものかたりゆく蓑と笠
harusame ya mono katariyuku mino to kasa - monogatari yuku

spring rain -
a mino-raincoat and a rain-hat
talk to each other


. Personification, gijinka 擬人化 .


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春雨やもの書ぬ身のあはれなる
harusame ya mono kakanu mi no aware naru
(1777)

spring rain -
I can not write a thing
and feel so sad


The word aware used in the hokku by Basho (and Buson) is difficult to translate and has a slightly different nuance in each poem.
. aware 哀れ and Matsuo Basho .


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春雨や菜飯にさます蝶の夢 
harusame ya nameshi ni samasu choo no yume

the dream of a butterfly

. choochoo 蝶 and Chuang Tzu .


. WKD : nameshi 菜飯 "cooked rice with leaves" .
kigo for spring


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春雨やゆるい下駄かす奈良の宿
harusame ya yurui geta kasu nara no yado
(1780)

spring rain -
they lend me loose woooden sandals
at the inn in Nara





. WKD : geta 下駄 wooden sandals .
If the thong of the sandals is too loose, it is hard to walk in them.

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haru usu no kokoro ochitsuku ochiba kana

harmonizing
with the springtime mortar -
falling leaves

Tr. Addiss

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


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- - - - - haru no ame 春の雨 rain in spring - - - - -


柴漬(ふしづけ)の沈みもやらで春の雨 - shibazuke
fujizuke no


雛見世の灯を引くころや春の雨 
- 雛店に客が減り、灯を消して閉店するころ。春の雨が降っている。


池と川ひとつになりぬ春の雨

物種の袋ぬらしつ春の雨 

ぬなは生ふ池の水かさや春の雨


滝口に灯を呼ぶ声や春の雨
. takiguchi ni too o yobu koe ya haru no ame .
at the Takiguchi samurai quarters at the Imperial Palace, Kyoto




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. WKD : Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 - Introduction .

. Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 in Edo .

. BUSON - Cultural Keywords and ABC-List .


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10/22/2013

BUSON - haru spring

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. Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 in Edo .
(1715-1783)


. WKD : haru 春 spring .


under construction
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. Buson : harusame 春雨 spring rain .

Buson : haru no ame 春の雨  rain in spring

yuku haru 行春 at the end of this entry

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今日のみの春を歩いて仕舞けり
kyoo nomi no haru o aruite shimaikeri

only today left
to walk in spring
and then it's over . . .


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


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. furudera ya hooroku suteru seri no naka .
(spring) dropwort. old temple. throwing horoku plates


. haru no kure ieji ni toki hito bakari .
(spring) spring dusk. homeward road. people wandering


. haru no umi hinemosu notari notari kana .
(spring) sea in spring. onomatopoetic - notarinotari


. haru no yo ni tootoki gosho o moru mi kana .
(spring) spring night. Imperial Palace in Kyoto


. haru no yo ya tarai o hirou machi hazure .
(spring) spring night. I pick up a washing tub outside of town


. imo ga kakine shamisengusa nohana sakinu .
(spring) sheperd's purse. my lover in the hedge



. nanohana ya tsuki wa higashi ni hi wa nishi ni .
(spring) rapeseed flowers. moon in the east, sun in the west
- - - - -   菜の花や昼(ひる)ひとしきり海の音


. shiraume ni akuru yo bakari to nari ni keri - - - shira-ume 白梅 .
(spring) white plum blossoms. - death poem of Buson

. shiraume ya taga mukashi yori kaki no soto .
(spring) white plum blossoms. old days. outside the fence

. shunsui ya Shijoo Gojoo no hashi no shita .
(spring) water of spring. bridges of Shijo and Gojo in Kyoto

. sujikai ni futon shikitari yoi no haru .
(spring) night in spring. futon bedding.


. ume ochikochi minami subeku kita subeku .
(spring) plum blossoms. everywhere. go south? go north?


. yamabuki ya Ide o nagaruru kannakuzu .
(spring) yellow mountain rose. Ide, river in Kyoto, famous for yellow mountain roses (Kerria japonica )


. yuku haru ya omotaki biwa no daki kokoro .
(spring) spring is leaving. carrying a heavy biwa lute. I think about


. yuku haru ya Yokawa e nobori imo no kami .
(spring) spring is leaving. The Deity of Smallpox moves up the Yokawa river (in Kyoto)


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柴漬の沈みもやらで春の雨 - shibazuke pickles
fushizuke no - haru no ame


橋なくて日暮れんとする春の水 - haru no mizu
hashi nakute

畠うつや鳥さへ啼(なか)ぬ山蔭に - yamakage
hata utsu ya


骨拾ふ人に親しき菫 かな - sumire
hone hirou hito ni


陽炎や名も知らぬ虫の白き飛ぶ - mushi no shiroki tobu
kageroo ya


閣に座して遠き蛙をきく夜哉 - kawazu o kiku
kaku ni zashite


片町に更紗(さらさ)染めるや春の風 - sarasa
katamachi


これきりに径(こみち)尽きたり芹の中 - seri no naka
kore kiri ni


女倶して内裏拝まん朧月
onna gushite dairi ogaman oborozuki


遅き日のつもりて遠き昔かな
osoki hi no tsumorite tooki mukashi kana



人間に鶯鳴くや山桜
ningen ni uguisu naku ya yamazakura

鶯 の鳴くやちいさき口開けて
uguisu no naku ya

うぐひすや家内揃(そろ)ふて飯時分
uguisu ya

鶯のあちこちとするや小家(こいえ)がち
uguisu no achi kochi to suru

鶯の声遠き日も暮れにけり
uguisu no koe



海手より日は照つけて山桜
umite yori hi wa teritsukete yamazakura


誰が為の低き枕ぞ春の暮 - makura
tagatame no hikuki makura zo haru no kure

よもすがら音なき雨や種俵 - tawara
yomo sugara oto naki ame no tanedawara


行く春や白き花見ゆ垣の隙
yuku haru ya shiroki hana miyu kaki no suki - see above shiraume ya taga mukashi yori kaki no soto

行く春や逡巡として遅桜
yuku haru ya shunjun toshite osozakura



歩行歩行(ありきありき)もの思ふ春の行衛(ゆくえ)かな
まだ長うなる日に春の限りかな
花に寝て我(わが)家遠き野道かな

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from the collection of

萩原朔太郎 - 郷愁の詩人 与謝蕪村 -
Hagiwara Sakutaro - Buson, the nostalgic poet
- source : www.aozora.gr.jp/cards




- - - - - 春 - SPRING - - - - -

. Yosa Buson - Spring Poems Collection .


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(translations are at terebess)


yuku haru no izuchi ikikemu kakaribune
(1769)

yuku haru no shiribeta harau rakka kana

yuku haru ya bijin onore ni somuku kana


yuku haru ya doosha no kimi no sasame goto
In the Heian period (794~1192) nobility used an ox-drawn carriage as a meansof transportation. 'Dosha no kimi' is a lady riding together with a court noble on the same ox-drawn carriage.
. harusame ya doosha no kimi ga sasamegoto .



yuku haru ya kogu to mo mienu takigibune


行春や眼に合はぬめがね失ひぬ
. yuku haru ya me ni awanu megane ushinainu .
(spring) spring is leaving. my glasses that do not fit are lost



yuku haru ya mizu mo yanagi no ito ni yoru


ゆく春やむらさきさむる筑波山
. yuku haru ya murasaki samuru Tsukuba yama .

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ゆく春や撰者をうらむ歌の主
yuku haru ya senja o uramu uta no nushi
(1769)

spring is passing -
he blames the judges,
this poet


He had taken part in a poetry meeting but his poem had not been elected by the judge or judges. uta no nushi - the owner of the poem, is a humourous take on himself.
senja 撰者 "selector", one who elects a poem or runs a competition, an editor of a magazine.


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. WKD : Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 - Introduction .

. Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 in Edo .

. BUSON - Cultural Keywords and ABC-List .


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ezooshi illustrated books

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. seihonshi 製本師 bookbinder .
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ezooshi 絵草子 / 絵草紙 Ezoshi, illustrated book or magazine
ezoushi, ezōshi

It is more than a "picture book" for children.



本屋は、浮世絵や戯作を出版する「絵草子屋」 ezooshiya store
and
漢文、学問、和歌の本などを出す「物の本屋」mono no honya for Chinese literature, science and waka poetry.
source : www.lian.com/TANAKA

- quote
Ezoushi - Also written 絵双紙.
An illustrated booklet published during the Edo period.
These were short publications written in kana 仮名 and illustrated with pictures reporting contemporary events, in journalistic or fictional fashion, or sometimes a mixture of the two.

In a broader sense, various kinds of illustrated books such as *akahon 赤本, *aohon 青本, *kurohon 黒本, *kibyoushi 黄表紙, *goukan 合巻 and *eiri joururibon 絵入浄瑠璃本 are included in the category of ezoushi.

These books were published in great numbers during the Edo period, and the publishers, who were often also booksellers, were known as ezoushiya 絵草子屋 or jihon tonya 地本問屋 (wholesalers of jihon).
Jihon was a term used to distinguish the popular picture books and novelettes produced in Edo from similar books published elsewhere, or from books which were more difficult to read, such as scholarly works or classics.
- source : JAANUS

- quote
Ehon Azuma Asobi Ezoshi-dana 絵草紙店
This picture depicts the storefront of the 蔦屋耕書堂 Tsutaya Koshodo, a picture print shop.
At the entrance there is a sign with the name of 蔦屋重三郎 Tsutaya Juzaburo
and advertisements are also arrayed for a book written by 山東京伝 Santo Kyoden
and collections of 狂歌本 Kyoka (comic poems), while 錦絵 nishiki-e are laid in the interior of the store
and a samurai warrior in traveling garb is illustrated.
Pictures included in "Picture Book: Amusements of Edo" were originally painted as illustrations
in a sumi-e style (Japanese ink painting) for "Amusements of Edo",
which was a collection of Kyoka (comic poems) published by Tsutaya Juzaburo in 1799.
While Katsushika Hokusai, a painter of pictures for this book, is famous as an ukiyo-e (woodblock) artist,
he also produced a number of illustrated Kyoka books that were published by Tsutaya.
"Picture Book: Amusements of Edo" was produced as a book of color prints
that were extracted from the collection of Kyoka.
- source : Tokyo Metropolitan Library

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. Karukaya 苅萱 Japan's First Illustrated Book .

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Very extensive reference



- quote
Jihon and Ezoshi
Two types of bookshop were prominent during the Edo period.
One was shomotsu-ya which dealt in books of scholarly and religious material. The other type of bookshop was kozōshiya which published and sold mainly books for entertainment such as ukiyo-e and illustrated books called ‘kusazōshi’.
In Edo, kozoshi-ya were also known as jihondon-ya (sellers and publishers of local books) and these-- contributed to the evolution and development of many narrative arts that represented both the lives and values of Edo residents.
- source : www.library.metro.tokyo.jp - index

Bookshops of Edo
Tsutaya Jūzaburō (1750 - 1797) was one of the most well-known heads of a jihondonya. He was involved in the publication of many book-genres and picture prints. These included Yoshiwara saiken (guidebooks of the licensed quarter), ehon (picture books), nishiki-e (colored wood-block prints), keiko-bon (collections of Japanese songs), and ōraimono (textbooks for children). He also enjoyed friendships with many persons of culture and high-education, whom he helped with the publication of their works.
- source : www.library.metro.tokyo.jp - page 1

Revival of Classical Literature in the Edo Period
The Bunka era (1804-1818) saw the rise of a particular style of literature called gōkan (compendia) that was popular in Edo.
- source : www.library.metro.tokyo.jp - page 2

Gathering of people in the ‘ren’ salon
Haikai (linked verses) was one of the most important literary genres of the Edo period.
kyōka and senryū
- source : www.library.metro.tokyo.jp - page 3

. saiken 細見 "detailed guide books" of Yoshiwara and Kabuki .

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- quote -
Azuma Nishiki-E 東錦絵 Nishiki-e from Tokyo
Edo-e 江戸絵 Edo prints


The Principle of Nishiki-e
Sustainability in Japan's Edo Period--300 Years Ago!
Japan in the Edo era had technologies to make it possible to mass-produce nishiki-e, plate prints in multicolor. Nishiki-e is one of the most original art forms created by the Japanese. Nishiki-e artwork was a creative commodity for the general public. It not only nurtured the Japanese people's sensitivity to art over the centuries, but also inspired French impressionists so much that its influence is still evident in today's visual art of the world.
It was rare in those days
to have a product where so much value was added into one piece of paper that was being mass produced. However, because the whole production process required only simple materials--paper and board and painting tools--the energy consumption did not rise above the levels of solar energy obtained during the preceding few years.
We call this ability to rapidly create great value while best meeting consumer needs with only limited resources, the "Nishiki-e Principle". It is for certain this principle was the basis for leading a better-quality life while only using scarce solar energy resources.
All nishiki-e materials, except for the blades of the woodblock carving knives, were made from sustainable botanical resources. Other than the simple materials, only the detailed work of human hands is required. The Japanese paper used for Nishiki-e were made from young branches of paper mulberry matured in the preceding year or two at the most. Woodblocks were mainly made from cherry wood and craftsman fully utilized this resource, by using both sides of woodblock boards. Except in the case where one whole side was one color, one woodblock would be carved for several colors. It was typical to use only five woodblocks to print a nishiki-e in ten colors. More interestingly, professional craftsmen were hired specifically to shave used woodblock boards flat so that they could be reused over and over.
Since the technology of nishiki-e had made it possible
to print complex colors and figures easily, nishiki-e became a popular local product of the Edo town, being also called "azuma-nishiki-e" or simply, "edo-e." As many nishiki-e shops were built in several parts of Edo town in the early 19th century, the nishiki-e price fell down to an affordable 16 or 32 mon, often found in children's pocket money. ("Mon" is a monetary unit of the Edo Period. Sixteen mon is about U.S.$3-6.)
Just like today's children
collect their favorite character goods, it appears that their Japanese counterparts in the Edo era bought woodcut prints produced by their favorite artists such as Toyokuni or Kunisada (popular nishiki-e artists of the era). Those ordinary children who lived in the community flats along narrow streets were playing with picture cards created by artists who have become highly renowned and valued worldwide today.
In a matured society, some people appear to become patrons and aid creators of artwork. In Europe, such patrons were found among royalties, aristocracy or rich local magnates. In Edo Japan, plain commoners including children fulfilled the role of patrons through the purchase of their favorite nishiki-e woodcut prints with pocket change. Thanks to the invention of nishiki-e, the Japanese received many benefits-some of which they were not conscious of.
The effect of the nishiki-e principle
is seen most visibly in hand-crafted products. Today manual production may appear to be inferior to mass-production in efficiency, as no matter how experienced the artists are they can never make exactly the same item in shape or function twice. However, this apparent inefficiency in nishiki-e was in fact a huge benefit in disguise. The strongest point is that because each item is slightly different, customers could easily choose the items that struck their fancy. It is said in Japanese, "ten people, ten colors"--hand-made art is easily adapted for each person's unique tastes.
Take the example of a hoe, ...
- continued here
- source : japanfs.org/en... Eisuke Ishikawa -

- quote -
Nishiki-e 錦絵 from "Guide to Famous Spots of Edo -
In the late Edo period, Ukiyo-e (woodblock prints of everyday life in the Edo period)
produced in Edo were known as "Nishiki-e" (brocade pictures) on account of their bountiful colors,
and were extremely popular Edo miyage 江戸土産 (Edo souvenirs).
Ukiyo-e were sold by publishers called 地本問屋 jihon-donya or 絵草紙屋 ezoshi-Ya
who handled unique Edo books, and they contributed significantly to the development of Edo culture.
This picture shows the front of the 通油町 Tōriabura-chō branch shop of 鶴屋喜右衛門 Tsuruya Kiemon,
a publisher whose main shop was located in Kyoto.
Their Edo branch operated as both a 書物問屋 shomotsu-donya (publishers of regular books)
and a 地本問屋 jihon-donya.
- source : Tokyo Metropolitan Library

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- quote -
Eastern-Style Comic Tanka Library (Azumaburi Kyōka Bunko)
This is a color picture book with portraits of 50 representative kyōka (comic tanka) poets in the late Edo period and their own kyōka. The portraits were drawn like dynastic poets by Kitao Masanobu (his popular writer name is Santō Kyōden).
Azumaburi Kyōka Bunko (Eastern-Style Comic Tanka Library) was drawn by a young and energetic ukiyo-e (woodblock prints) artist, Kitao Masanobu (or Santō Kyōden), selected by Yadoya Meshimori (his real name was Ishikawa Masamochi), and produced by Tsutaya Jūzaburō, a person famous for his great performance, promoting Kitagawa Utamaro and Tōshūsai Sharaku to be successful later. The success of this book also made him a top-selling publisher.
Kyōka, or a Japanese poetic style that has a 5-7-5-7-7 syllable pattern with socially satirical, ironic and witty verse, had its highlight during the period between 1781 and 1789. Kyōka poets were samurai warriors, merchants, Edo residents and local people and they were very active in those days, enabling cross-social and cross-regional networks to be established.
- source : Tokyo Metropolitan Library -

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Edo Sparrow (Edo Suzume) 江戸雀 (えどすずめ)
The Edo Suzume (sparrows)' was the first periodical published in the Edo period. It was compiled from practical guides to famous places in Edo and in the final section it lists up all the Daimyō residences, shrines and temples, neighborhoods and bridges with the explanation that it intended to summarize the area covering approx. 12km in every direction. It forms together with the guides of Kyoto and Osaka (Namba), the 'Three Suzume'.
Many of the Edo periodicals published in the early Edo period focused more on introducing Edo as a booming town rather than serving as an exact and utilitarian geographical guide. As Edo bookshops were as yet not fully developed, most of them were published in the Kamigata (present day Osaka). This is considered to be the earliest Edo periodical and was authored and published by Edo residents and it is also highly rated as a picture book containing illustrations by Moronobu Hishikawa who is considered to be the founder of Ukiyo-e paintings.
At the introduction, it says that practical guides to famous local places, historic sites, temples and shrines were privided for the benefit of those who came to Edo from their home regions. The city center is divided by direction and each one is depicted in great detail from Daimyō residences, shrines and temples and famous historic sites all the way to streets and houses allowing us to know how to reach there.
- source : Tokyo Metropolitan Library -

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kibyooshi Kibyōshi 黄表紙 Kibyoshi "Yellow Cover Books"
is a genre of Japanese picture book kusazōshi (草双紙) produced during the middle of the Edo period, from 1775 to the early 19th century. Physically identifiable by their yellow-backed covers, kibyōshi were typically printed in 10 page volumes, many spanning two to three volumes in length, with the average number of total pages being 30. Considered to be the first purely adult comicbook in Japanese literature, a large picture spans each page, with descriptive prose and dialogue filling the blank spaces in the image.
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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A Smash Hit for the Local Book Trade (Atariyashita Jihon Doiya)
A kibyōshi (illustrated storybook with a yellow cover) by Jippensha Ikku who is famous as the author of "Tōkaidōchū hizakurige", a best selling book in the Edo period. From this picture we can see how books were sold at that time.
Jihon doiya is a shop that deals in nishiki-e (colored woodblock prints) and kusa-zōshi (illustrated storybooks), which is unique to the Edo period. "Atariyashita", the title of this kibyōshi (illustrated storybook with a yellow cover) means in the language of Edo period that the books issued by the jihon doiya sold very well.
In this book, the owner of a jihon doiya Murata-ya gives some mysterious drug to a lazy writer, Jippensha Ikku. After taking the drug, the writer immediately completes his manuscript. Murata-ya engraves printing blocks, prints the manuscript and sells the book. It becomes a best-seller and Murata-ya treats Ikku with soba (buckwheat noodles), Ikku's favorite.
This book shows the process of publishing – engraving, printing, folding printed papers, collating and binding – and selling in detail.
- source : Tokyo Metropolitan Library -

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Kinkin-sensei's Dream of Splendor (Kinkin Sensei Eiga no Yume)
金々先生栄花夢
During the Annei (1772-1781) and Bunka (1804-1817) periods, kibyōshi (illustrated storybook with a yellow cover) for commoners became very popular. It is said that the first kibyōshi was "Kinkin sensei eiga no yume" by Koikawa Harumachi.
The author, Koikawa Harumachi 恋川春町 (1744-1789) was very talented and known as a kyōgen (satirical) poet, kibyōshi (illustrated storybook with a yellow cover) writer and ukiyo-e (woodblock prints) artist. Born in a samurai family, he became a core member of Suruga Kojima somain as an officer of Takiwaki-Matsudaira family and he had access to information about the domain government.
He became a popular author with "Kinkin Sensei Eiga no Yume". In 1788 (Tenmei 8), he published "Ōmu Gaeshi Bunbu no Futamichi". Soon afterwards, the book became a subject of control for having criticized the Shogunate and Harumachi passed away some time after this. The book was based on the scenario of "Kōryō Issui no Yume" of a noh song "Kantan". On a slit that was put on the inside of the cover of the second edition of the book, there was a picture of the main character Kinmura Kinbei. The picture shows him lying and dreaming of an awa-mochi (millet cake) shop on his way to moving to Edo.
The character is welcomed by a rich merchant as the future head, but he keeps spending money and plays around until he is kicked out – then, he wakes up and realizes that the peak of one's life passes while cooking awa-mochi. Waking from a dream, he decides to go back to his home town. With modern and intelligent description, the book is regarded as a historical work that heralded the beginning of the "kibyōshi" period.
- source : Tokyo Metropolitan Library -

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blue prints (aizuri-e - 藍摺絵)
"In the late 1820s a new imported blue pigment became more readily available and affordable to woodblock print publishers. This intense blue was developed in Berlin by a color manufacturer in the early 18th century, and had been sporadically imported to Japan as early as the 1780s, primarily for use by painters. Hasui The color was known as bero, a derivation from the Dutch Berlyns blaauw ('Berlin blue'); in English it is often called Prussian blue. Unlike the natural pigments previously used for print-making; this blue was strong, vibrant, and stable. While there may be examples where bero was used on woodblock prints in the 1820s, it was not widely utilized until circa 1830 when the costs decreased and the quantities increased (apparently as a result of competition between the Dutch and Chinese importers).
By 1830 the production of the landscape series, 'Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji' by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) was underway, a landmark series which was initially advertised as aizuri-e ('all blue') series rendered in bero. At about the same time, a relatively unknown artist, Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858), began his landscape series, 'Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido.' The inarguable success of these two ambitious projects essentially mark the advent of a new genre of ukiyo-e: landscape prints."
- source : woodblockprints.org/index... -

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. WKD : History of Saijiki .

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"Bakemono Hakonesaki" - written by unknown and illustrated by Torii Kiyonaga

"Shirimakuri Goyoujin" - written and illustrated by Jippensha Ikku

"Narita Dochu Hizakurige" - by Kanagaki Robun and illustrated by Ichimatsusai Yoshimune

"Ninso Tenohira Roya San Mitoshi Sajiki" - written and illustrated by Santo Kyoden

"Oni Kojima Homare no Adauchi" - by Shikitei Sanba and illustrated by Utagawa Toyokuni

"Keisei Suikoden" - by Kyokutei Bakin and illustrated by Utagawa Kuniyasu

"Akutai no kyoukotsu" - written and illustrated by Santo Kyoden

"Kanataduna Chushingura" - by Santo Kyoden and illustrated by Kitao Shigemasa

"Kanewaraji" - by Jippensha Ikku and illustrated by Tsukimaru ,Yoshimaru and Kunimaru

"Oo Edo Bakemono Saiken" "Edo Bakemono Soushi" - by Adam Kabat

"Edo Gesaku Bunko" - by Hayashi Yoshikazu : Kawade Shobo Shinsha

"Edo Gesaku Soushi" - by Tanahashi Masahiro

"Edo no Gesaku Ehon" - by Koike Masatane

"Dochu Sugoroku" - by Ryutei Tanehiko and illustrated by Utagawa Kunisada

"Kyokun" - by Jippensha Ikku and illustrated by Katsushika Hokusai

"Boshu Higami Myokengu Riyaku no Sukedachi" y Jippensha Ikku and illustrated by Utagawa Toyokuni

"Omisoka Akebono-zoshi" - by Santo Kyozan and illustrated by Utagawa Toyokuni

"Mitsunoura Naniwa no Adauchi" - by Jippensha Ikku and illustrated by Utagawa Kunisada

- What is Kusazoshi ?
How to make Kusazoshi
- source : geocities.jp/kusazoshi -


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otogizooshi 御伽草子 popular tales

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otogi zoushi 御伽草子
Popular stories which flourished from the late Kamakura to the early Edo period.
The name derives from an early 18c collection of twenty-three short stories entitled otogi bunko 御伽文庫 (The Companion Library) collected and printed by Shibukawa Seiemon 渋川清右衛門, a publisher in Osaka. The title was changed to Otogi zoushi (The Companion Book) in a later version published in 1801. Once introduced, the term quickly became generalized to include a whole body of popular stories such as folk-tales, didactic narratives, war stories, etc.

Because these stories were appreciated by people from all levels of society, they were frequently illustrated and made into scroll paintings *emaki 絵巻 and picture books
*nara- ehon 奈良絵本 dating from the Muromachi to the early Edo periods. The stories were also recited by chanters and priests sometimes with the help of illustrations *etoki 絵解. The illustrations were painted in a naive style using bright colors, usually by anonymous artists. However, official painters produced a limited number of refined illustrations for the families of emperors and shoguns.

Otogi zoushi were the forerunners of Edo period *kana zoushi 仮名草子 (a story book in kana 仮名 script) and *ukiyo zoushi 浮世草子 (a story book of the floating world). Literary scholars today prefer using the terms Muromachi jidai monogatari 室町時代物語 (Muromachi Period Tales) or Chuusei shousetsu 中世小説 (Short Stories of the Middle Ages) to more precisely describe these short stories.
- source : JAANUS

hachimonjiyabon 八文字屋本
kana zooshi 仮名草子 / ukiyo zooshi 浮世草子

13 translations of the most famous Otogi Zoshi - Kyoto University
- source : edb.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp

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ukiyo zooshi 浮世草子 Ukiyo-zoshi - books about the floating world

. Matsuo Basho and the Floating World .

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ukiyo zoushi 浮世草子
Lit. Books soushi 草子 of the Floating World (ukiyo 浮世).
Printed books containing illustrated prose stories which developed from the kamigata 上方 (Osaka-Kyoto) region and flourished between the 1680s and 1770s. Ukiyo zoushi reflected the culture of the townpeople chounin 町人, and the subject matter was their lives, romances and pursuit of pleasure. The word ukiyo had a range of associations arising from the Buddhist sense of this transient world of sorrows.

In works by well-known writer Ihara Saikaku 井原西鶴 (1642-93), this sense applied more particularly to what belonged to the present, and the varying manifestations of fleeting life in contemporary times. Saikaku also celebrated the human passion of sexual love koushoku 好色 in his novels, beginning with his KOUSHOKU ICHIDAI OTOKO 好色一代男 (Life of an Amorous Man ; 1682). Ukiyo zoushi came in a variety of forms and styles, but there were certain categories established by Saikaku in his major works.

These included koushokumono 好色物, amorous pieces centering around the pleasure quarters, chouninmono 町人物, which dealt with the economic lives of townsmen, and setsuwamono 説話物, which included tales of curious happenings gathered from legends and folklore.
A fourth category dealt with bukemono 武家物, aspects of the lives of samurai 侍. At the time Saikaku was writing, popular fiction in an easily read script was referred to as *kana zoushi 仮名草子, and it was not until about 1710 that the term ukiyo zoushi was mentioned as a genre. Even then, it referred to the amorous fiction earlier known as koushokubon 好色本. It was later, during the Meiji period (1868-1912), that these Edo period novels describing the tribulations of this world were called ukiyo zoushi.

The printed books generally came out in sets of five or six fascicles of hanshibon 半紙本, that is, books made from *hanshi 半紙 paper, folded in half and trimmed. The dimensions of these books could vary but were approximately 165 x 235 mm. (6 1/2 x 9 1/4").


Nishizawa Ippuu 西沢一風 (1665-1731) produced many ukiyo zoushi inspired by Saikaku as well as historical romances such as GOZEN GIKEIKI 御前義経記 (Yoshitsune's Story Told Before His Excellency ; 1700). Ejima Kiseki 江島其磧 (1666-1735), author of KEISEI IROJAMISEN 傾城色三味線 (The Courtesan's Amorous Shamisen ; 1701), wrote books for the important Kyoto publishing house, Hachimonjiya 八文字屋. Kiseki and the bookseller Hachimonjiya Jishou 八文字屋自笑 (d.1745) as a team produced numerous ukiyo zoushi which were known as *hachimonjiyabon 八文字屋本 and served to make the genre more popular and accessible. Kiseki also developed a type of ukiyo zoushi known as katagimono 気質物, which consisted of sketches of townspeople and their doings.

Designers of the illustrations in these books included the authors themselves, such as Saikaku, as well as prominent *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 artists. Nishikawa Sukenobu 西川祐信 (1671-1751), Kawashima Nobukiyo 川島叙清 (fl.1711-36) and Yoshida Hanbee 吉田半平衛 (fl.c. 1660-92) were well-known illustrators for these books in the kamigata region.

In Edo, Hishikawa Moronobu 菱川師宣 (c. 1618-94), Furuyama Moroshige 古山師重 (fl. 1678-89), Sugimura Jihee 杉村治兵衛 (fl.c.1680-98), and Okumura Masanobu 奥村政信 (1686-1764) all produced illustrations for ukiyo zoushi.

In around 1766, however, after the deaths of Kiseki and Hachimonjiya Jishou, the Hachimonjiya publishing house in Kyoto was sold, and ukiyo zoushi as a literary form was almost extinguished, although a few books of this type continued to be produced.
- source : JAANUS

kooshokumono 好色物 / chooninmono 町人物

. Ihara Saikaku, Ibara Saikaku 井原西鶴 .

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Obtaining Images: Art, Production, and Display in Edo Japan
by Timon Screech (Author)



The Edo period (1603–1868) witnessed one of the great flowerings of Japanese art. Towards the mid-seventeenth century, the Japanese states were largely at peace, and rapid urbanization, a rise in literacy and an increase in international contact ensued. The number of those able to purchase luxury goods, or who felt their social position necessitated owning them, soared. Painters and artists flourished and the late seventeenth century also saw a rise in the importance of printmaking. There were dominant styles and trends throughout Japan, but also those peculiar to specifc regions, such as the Kanto (Edo) and the Kamigata (Osaka and Kyoto) and, more remotely, Nagasaki.

Obtaining Images introduces the reader to important artists and their work, but also to the intellectual issues and concepts surrounding the production, consumption and display of art in Japan in the Edo period. Rather than looking at these through the lens of European art, the book contextualizes the making and use of paintings and prints, elucidating how and why works were commissioned, where they were displayed and what special properties were attributed to them.

Different imperatives are at work in the art of different traditions, and Obtaining Images firmly anchors the art of Japan of this period in its contemporary context, offering a highly engaging and comprehensive introduction for the student and general reader alike.
- reference source : www.amazon.com ... -

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Painting of the Realm:
The Kano House of Painters in Seventeenth-Century

by Yukio Lippit (Author)



In this eloquent and far-ranging work, Yukio Lippit explores the seventeenth-century consolidation of Japanese painting by the famed Kano painting house, whose style evolved from the legacy of Zen monk-painters of the medieval era and intertwined Chinese with native Japanese practices. Legitimacy was transmitted from master to disciple in a manner similar to that in religious traditions. Lippit illuminates the role of key factors--bequeathal of artworks, authentication of art, painting in the mode of famous masters, collections of art, and the use of art in governance--in establishing the orthodoxy of the Kano painters and their paramount role in defining Japanese painting.

The Painting of the Realm is pathbreaking in its analysis of the discursive operations of the Kano school and its posing of large questions about painting that exceed narrow artist-centered, formalist analysis. Lippit has undertaken a bold and dense study of painting production and reception, presenting original and compelling interpretations.
- reference source : amazon.co.jp -

Edo no Ehon 江戸の絵本 Picture books from Edo
. umesatoclub.com/~mojiquiz ... .

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. kitan sooshi 鬼譚草紙 Kitan Soshi "demon stories" .
奇譚草紙 Kitan Soshi Magic Stories

. shuppansha 出版社 publishing company, book publisher .
ABC - Introduction

. kashihonya, kashihon'ya 貸本屋 booklender, booklender
furuhonya, furu-honya 古本屋 selling old books in Edo .


. Famous Book Titles from Japan - Edo .

. Teikin Oorai, Teikin ōrai 庭訓往来 textbooks .

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春雨や傘さして見る絵草子屋
harusame ya kasa shashite miru ezooshiya

spring rain:
browsing under an umbrella
at the picture-book store

Tr. Beichman

Janine Beichman has commented perceptively, "A quiet feeling of spring rain is splendidly evoked, but the identity of the browser is deliberately left vague in order to evoke better the quality of the rain." This is an excellent example of a shasei haiku. There is never mention of a "you" or "I," but the atmosphere is perfectly evoked.
source : Donald Keene - The Winter Sun Shines In

. Masaoka Shiki 正岡子規 visiting shrines and temples .

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. seihonshi 製本師 bookbinder .

. Japanese Architecture - cultural keywords used in haiku .


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