Home - About Haiku - About Issa - About Me - What's New

572 haiku out of 9486

1821

.元日も立のままなる屑家哉
ganjitsu mo tatsu no mama naru kuzuya kana

on New Year's Day, too
standing "as is"...
trashy house

1821

.元日も別条のなき屑屋哉
ganjitsu mo betsujô no naki kuzuya kana

New Year's Day
nothing to report...
trashy house

On the first day of the year and the beginning of spring, the poet's house is "just as it is" (mama) with "no accidents or mishaps" (betsujô no naki), nothing out of the ordinary.

1821

.元日やどちらむいても花の娑婆
ganjitsu ya dochira muite mo hana no shaba

on New Year's Day
everywhere, a corrupt world's
blossoms

The word shaba refers to the Buddhist notion of a fallen age, the "Latter Days of Dharma." In Pure Land Buddhist belief, the present age of mappô is the third and worst of three ages that followed the historical Buddha's entrance into nirvana. First came the age of Right Dharma (shôbô) during which Buddhist teaching, practice, and enlightenment all existed. According to Shinran, this golden age lasted five hundred years. Next came a millennium of Imitative Dharma (zôbô), when only teaching and practice were possible, not enlightenment. The present, third age of mappô, the Latter Days of Dharma, comprises a ten thousand year period of corruption in which only Buddhist teaching survives; practice and enlightenment are unattainable through ego-corrupted self-power (jiriki). In our depraved age, Shinran insists, only the Other Power (tariki) of Amida Buddha can bring about enlightenment.

1821

.あら玉の春早々の悪日哉
aratama no haru haya-baya no akubi kana

a new spring starting--
early, so early
turns sour

Literally, the first day of the year and of the spring proves to be an "unlucky day" (akubi).

1821

.ことしから手左り笠に小風呂敷
kotoshi kara te hidari kasa [ni] ko-buroshiki

from this year on
in my left hand, umbrella-hat
in the right, knapsack

Shinji Ogawa helped to clear up Issa's meaning in this obscure haiku. The poet begins, "From this year on, an umbrella-hat in my left hand." So far, no problem. The haiku ends with ko-buroshiki, which Shinji translates as "a little carrying cloth." What is the connection between the bamboo umbrella-hat and the cloth? Issa leaves out a particle between the two parts of the haiku; the editors of Issa zenshû believe that he intended to write, ni; (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 1.24. In this context, Shinji notes, ni doesn't signify "in" or "on" but rather, "and." So, Issa is saying: "From this year on, an umbrella-hat in my left hand and a little carrying cloth [in the right]" Now we have the literal meaning, but what are the implications? Shinji explains, "A furoshiki was one of the important necessaries of life in Issa's day. It is a piece of square cloth of about a yard by a yard. In Issa's day there was no shopping bag, no suitcase, no knapsack. A furoshiki took care of all these functions." Issa is carrying his umbrella-hat in his left hand, and "hand baggage" in his right.

The meaning of this New Year's poem, then, is that Issa has re-committed himself to a life of poetic wandering.

1821

.ことしから丸儲ぞよ娑婆遊び
kotoshi kara marumôke zoyo shaba asobi

from this year on
clear profit, carousing
in this world

In a prescript to this haiku, Issa writes that he was stricken with paralysis on the previous Tenth Month, 16th day, and nearly died. Now, however, he greets the new year "as a reborn person walking the earth." Shinji Ogawa adds, "This haiku expresses his joy of recovery from paralysis. He expresses his joy with the down-to-earth word 'profit'." Though the term shaba has Buddhist connotations, suggesting the notion of a fallen age (the Latter Days of Dharma), Shinji believes that Issa is using the word to mean "this world" without religious connotations.

1821

.ことしからまふけ遊びぞ花の娑婆
kotoshi kara môke asobi zo hana no shaba

from this year on
just carousing...
this world of blossoms

A related haiku written at the time has a prescript in which Issa writes that he was stricken with paralysis on the previous Tenth Month, 16th day, and nearly died. Now, however, he greets the new year "as a reborn person walking the earth." Shinji Ogawa adds, "This haiku expresses his joy of recovery from paralysis. He expresses his joy with the down-to-earth word 'profit'." Though the term shaba has Buddhist connotations, suggesting the notion of a fallen age (the Latter Days of Dharma), Shinji believes that Issa is using the word to mean "this world" without religious connotations.

1821

.正月が二つありとや浮寝鳥
shôgatsu ga futatsu ari to ya ukine tori

the First Month celebration
starts up again...
waterfowl

Ukinedori, which literally means, "birds who sleep while floating," is a general term for waterfowl. Their honking and quacking sounds like a spring celebration to Issa.

1821

.正月の二ッもなまけ始かな
shôgatsu no futatsu mo namake hajime kana

First Month, second day
the laziness
begins

1821

.けさの春別な村でもなかりけり
kesa no haru betsuna mura demo nakari keri

spring's first dawn--
there's not a village
where it isn't

1821

.家根々の窓や一度に明の春
yane-yane no mado ya ichi do ni ake no haru

roof after roof
windows open all at once...
first of spring

"Open" is implied, not stated.

1821

.こけるなよ土こんにゃくも玉の春
kokeru na yo tsuchi konnyaku mo tama no haru

don't shrivel!
even for the devil's tongue
a prosperous spring

Konnyaku is devil's tongue root (Amorphophallus Rivieri) that is kneaded into a festive jelly.

1821

.門口や自然生なる松の春
kado-guchi ya jinen bae-naru matsu no haru

at my gate
wildly it grows...
spring pine

Shinji Ogawa writes, "Commonly, there is a pine tree around the entrance of the traditional Japanese house. The pine tree is normally well-trimmed. I think Issa's 'wild pine' means an untrimmed pine."

If this is true, the unkempt pine serves as a metaphor for the poet--just as his "trashy house" (kuzuya) does in other poems. In Pure Land Buddhist terms, Issa embodies the ideal of non-striving naturalness, being "just as I am."

This haiku is one of the "essential" 188 picked by the translator. back next

1821

.初春のけ形りは我と雀かな
hatsu haru no kenari wa ware [to] suzume kana

we start the spring
in our everyday clothes...
me and the sparrow

Kenari refers to ordinary clothes. Issa and the sparrow are wearing nothing fancy on New Year's Day; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 567.

1821

.春立や庵の鬼門の一り塚
haru tatsu ya io no kimon no hitori tsuka

spring begins--
on the hut's unlucky side
a grave

The unlucky quarter (kimon) is the northeast.

1821

.春立や切口上の門雀
haru tatsu ya kirikôjô no kado suzume

spring begins--
the obligatory
sparrows at the gate

1821

.すすけても年徳神の御宿哉
susukete mo toshi tokujin no o-yado kana

it's sooty too--
the New Year god's
home

Issa comments on the state of his house, filled with winter soot. Even the toshi-dana (New Year's shelf), where offerings to the New Year's god have been placed, is sooty.

1821

.年神に御任せ申す五体哉
toshigami ni o-makase mô[su] gotai kana

entrusting all
to the New Year's god...
head to toe

Issa entrusts to the New Year's god gotai, literally, his five appendages (head, two arms, two legs). In other words, his whole body.

1821

.とぶ工夫猫のしてけり恵方棚
tobu kufû neko no shite mo ehôdana

thinking about jumping
the cat's a pilgrim too...
New Year's god shelf

This comic haiku refers to the New Year's custom of visiting a shrine or temple located in a lucky direction. The cat takes aim at the toshi-dana (New Year's shelf), where offerings to the god have been placed.

Kufû is an old word that has the modern equivalent, shian: a thought or a plan; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 518.

1821

.呑連の常恵方也上かん屋
nomi-zure no jôehô nari jôkanya

for drinking buddies
the usual New Year's pilgrimage...
sake shop

This haiku refers to a New Year's pilgrimage, in a lucky direction, to a shrine or temple. In this case the destination is a shop that serves high-quality hot sake (jôkanya).

1821

.御忌参りするも足品手品哉
go-kimairi suru mo ashijina tejina kana

even on Honen's Death-Day--
shaky feet
shaky hands

Issa wrote this haiku in Ninth Month, 1821. The previous year, on the 16th day of Tenth Month, he suffered a slight stroke. Shinji Ogawa believes that the phrase, ashijina tejina, which literally means "foot magic and hand magic," could be Issa's creative way of saying that his hands and feet are still shaking from the stroke. Hônen was the founder of the Pure Land sect. In Issa's time, his death anniversary was celebrated from the 19th to the 25th day of First Month (in modern times, it's celebrated on these same days of April). It may be a new year, but the poet is still trembling from last year's stroke.

1821

.斎日は踏るる臼も休み哉
sainichi wa fumaruru usu mo yasumi kana

on the fast day
even the foot mill
is idle

It is a religious day of fasting (sainichi) in the New Year's season. Everyone takes the day off.

1821

.小松引人とて人のおがむ也
ko matsu hiku hito tote hito no ogamu nari

yanking up a little pine
he says
a prayer

Pulling up a young pine tree on the first day of Rat is a custom that originated in China. Shinji Ogawa explains that its purpose was to bring good luck or longevity. A more literal paraphrase: "Even though he is a man yanking up a little pine, he is also a praying man." This poem alludes to the Buddhist precept against taking life.

1821

.主ありや野雪隠にも門の松
nushi ari ya no setchin ni mo kado no matsu

even for the man
pooping in the field...
New Year's pine

French translator Jean Cholley interprets no setchin ("field outhouse") as a person doing his business in an open field; En village de miséreux: Choix de poèmes de Kobayashi Issa (Paris: Gallimard, 1996) 167. My Japanese advisor, Shinji Ogawa, concurs. I had assumed that no setchin is an outhouse in a field, but Shinji notes that an outhouse is called setchin, not no setchin. The phrase, kado no matsu ("gate's pine") refers to a traditional New Year's decoration made of pine and bamboo. Shinji believes that Issa's use of it in this context is humorous. Instead of a decoration, Issa means an actual pine tree. Shinji writes, "I think that someone is doing his business behind a pine tree, so that the tree is at the moment occupied." The "outhouse" is imaginary.

1821

.御年初を申し入れけり狐穴
o-nensho wo môshi-ire keri kitsune ana

sending a "Happy
New Year!"
down the fox's hole

1821

.御年初の返事をするや二階から
o-nensho no henji wo suru ya ni kai kara

my New Year's greeting
is answered...
second floor

1821

.堅人や一山越てから御慶
katajin ya hito yama koshite kara gyokei

a good man--
crossing a mountain to say
"Happy New Year!"

Katajin is an honest, steady, upright, reliable person.

1821

.門礼や片側づつは草履道
kado rei ya kata kawa-zutsu wa zôri michi

New Year's gate greetings--
on each side of the road
tracks of sandals

Shinji Ogawa notes that zôri are expensive sandals--appropriate footwear for this auspicious day. Though Issa doesn't literally mention "snow," Shinji pictures sandal-shaped footprints in the snow on each side of the road. Though at first I imagined the phrase "sandal road" (zôri michi) refers to the clomping sound of sandals, Shinji points out that zôri, made of soft materials, don't clomp. Since this is a New Year's haiku situated in the mountains of Issa's home province of Shinano (today's Nagano Prefecture), it is more likely that "sandal road" refers to footprints in snow.

1821

.門礼や猫にとし玉打つける
kadorei ya neko ni toshidama uchi tsukeru

"Happy New Year!"
at the gate, tossing the cat
a present

1821

.米値段許り見る也年初状
kome nedan bakari miru nari nenshojô

reading it to discover
the price of rice...
New Year's greeting letter

Shinji Ogawa explains that nenshojô means "New Year痴 greeting letters." In this particular one, a reference to that year's price of rice is "the eye catcher," suggesting that the letter's recipient is a practical-minded farmer, perhaps Issa.

1821

.武士やいひわけ云てから御慶
samurai ya iiwake iute kara gyokei

a samurai--
after an apology
a "Happy New Year!"

When I first read this haiku, I assumed that a person of inferior social station was meeting his superior, a samurai. Shinji Ogawa explains that in fact it is the samurai who is issuing the apology. In this way, Issa teases samurai society with their exaggerated formalism. Instead of just saying, "Happy New Year," the samurai adds an apologetic statement, perhaps for neglecting seasonal greetings or something of this sort. Shinji adds, "It is still very common to begin a greeting with this sort of apology."

1821

.年玉を貰ひに出る御慶かな
toshidama wo morai ni izuru gyokei kana

going out to collect
my presents...
making my New Year's rounds

1821

.年礼や下駄道あちは草履道
nenrei ya geta michi achi wa zôri michi

making their New Year's rounds
tracks of clogs
tracks of sandals

The New Year's well-wishers walk about in wooden clogs (geta) and straw sandals (zôri). In another haiku in which Issa uses the phrase, "sandal road" (zôri michi), Shinji Ogawa believes that this refers to footprints in snow. That particular haiku is also situated in the New Year's season, and so it is natural to assume a snowy scene, especially in the mountains of Issa's home province of Shinano (today's Nagano Prefecture).

1821

.途中にて取替にする御慶哉
tochû nite torikae ni suru gyokei kana

meeting enroute
a quick exchange...
"Happy New Year!"

Shinji Ogawa sees this as a comical scene in which two persons, most likely neighbors, bump into each other on their ways to give New Year's greetings. Because they meet enroute, they "exchange their greetings on the spot."

1821

.武士村やからたち垣の年始状
bushi mura ya karatachi kaki no nenshijô

samurai street--
over the quince hedge
"Happy New Year!"

Karatachi is a fruit tree (Bengal quince). Shinji Ogawa notes that karatachi ("quince") "is a thorny bush suited for hedge."

1821

.坊主天窓をふり立て御慶哉
bôzu atama wo furitate gyokei kana

the priest's shaved head
perks up...
"Happy New Year!"

Or: "the shaved-bald head�" The person in the haiku might be a Buddhist priest or else a man whose head is shaved, like such a priest.

1821

.も一ッ狐の穴へ御慶かな
mo hitotsu kitsune no ana e gyokei kana

down one more
fox's hole...
"Happy New Year!"

1821

.一番のとし玉ぞ其豆な顔
ichi ban no toshi-dama zo sono mamena kao

the best New Year's
present!
her pink cheeks

Or: "his." Literally Originally, I translated the last phrase, "her tiny face," since Issa writes, literally, "bean-sized face" (mamena kao). Commenting on a similar haiku, Shinji Ogawa informed me that mame signifies "healthy" when it is used as an adjective. He adds that "bean-sized face is, however, not totally impossible but less likely." The words ichi ban ("number one") can mean first or best. An alternate reading, then, would be "the first New Year's present..."

1821

.江戸衆や庵の犬にも御年玉
edo shû ya io no inu ni mo o-toshidama

people of Edo
even for the hut's dog
a New Year's gift

Or: "for my hut's dog."

1821

.年玉を配る世わなき庵哉
toshi-dama wo kubaru sewa naki iori kana

no one to give
New Year's presents to...
little hut

Shinji Ogawa comments, "It is Japanese custom to give children New Year's presents and to exchange gifts with the neighbors. However, Issa was rather an outsider who quarreled with his stepmother [and half brother] for the inheritance from his father. Accordingly, Issa had rather cold relations with his neighbors."

1821

.とし玉を二人前とる小僧哉
toshidama wo futari mae toru kozô kana

taking two helpings
of New Year's gifts...
little boy

"Little priest" (kozô) can mean any little boy. Shinji Ogawa explains that the phrase, futari mae toru, means "to take something twofold." The child greedily helps himself to a second gift.

1821

.とし玉に見せ申す也豆な顔
toshidama ni mise mô[su} nari mamena kao

now show us
your New Year's gifts...
pink cheeks

Or: "his New Year's gifts." Shinji Ogawa notes mame signifies "healthy" when it is used as an adjective. Commenting on a different haiku by Issa that uses the expression, mamena kao, he writes that "bean-sized face is � not totally impossible but less likely."

1821

.とし玉の上にも猫のぐる寝哉
toshidama no ue ni mo neko no gurune kana

on top
of the New Year's gifts...
cat curled asleep

1821

.とし玉や留主の窓からほふりこみ
toshidama ya rusu no mado kara hôrikomi

New Year's gift--
tossed in the window
while I was out

Or: "while he was out." Issa leaves up to the reader's imagination the identity of the person.

1821

.子宝が棒を引ても吉書哉
ko-dakara ga bô wo hiite mo kissho kana

the treasured child
writes with a cane...
year's first calligraphy

This is a rewrite of a haiku of 1819, which begins with the phrase, tsui-tsui to ("nimbly, nimbly"). The year's first calligraphy is being written in mud or snow.

1821

.何のその上初夢もなく烏
nanno sono jô hatsu yume mo naku karasu

you've wrecked
my year's first dream!
cawing crow

Shinji Ogawa writes, "In Japan, cawing crows in the early morning are customarily treated as a noisy nuisance."

1821

.小順礼もらひながらや凧
ko junrei morai nagara ya ikanobori

the little pilgrim
while receiving alms
flies a kite

The little pilgrim is on a New Year's visit to a shrine or temple. Issa doesn't state directly what the child is receiving, but I assume it to be alms.

Shinji Ogawa agrees with this interpretation.

Three years later (1824), Issa rewrites this haiku, focusing on a "pilgrim" instead of a "little pilgrim," and substituting no for ya.

the pilgrim
while receiving alms
kite flying

1821

.万歳のかはりにしゃべる雀哉
manzai no [ka]wari ni shaberu suzume kana

in place
of begging actors
chattering sparrows

This haiku refers to begging actors who make their rounds during the New Year's season.

1821

.御座敷や菓子を見い見い猿が舞
o-zashiki ya kashi wo mii-mii saru ga mau

sitting room--
eyes locked on his treat
the monkey dances

Dancing monkeys perform their tricks in the New Year's season. The monkey's hard-earned reward (kashi) is some sort of candy or pastry.

1821

.親猿がをしへる舞の手品かな
oya saru ga oshieru mai no tejina kana

mother monkey
teaches her baby...
dance moves

The mother monkey, literally, teaches her baby dancing "tricks" (tejina), a word that suggests they are captive performers working for a human master. Their dancing earns money for their master, so the fact that the mother is passing on dance tricks to her offspring must be a pleasing site to him. Looking deeper into the haiku, we see the loving ties of one generation to the next, as knowledge passes from parent to child.

1821

.舞猿や餅いただきて子にくれる
mai saru ya mochi itadakite ko ni kureru

dancing monkey--
he gives his rice cake
to the child

Or: "he gives his rice cakes/ to the children." Issa leaves the number of children to the reader's imagination.

I originally translated this using the plural, but my friend Nena, who composed Italian and French translations for this haiku, believes that the singular "child" makes more sense in context. The fact that the child is alone, perhaps lonely, adds emotional meaning to the monkey's kind gesture.

1821

.捨人もけさは四角にざうに哉
sutebito mo kesa wa shikaku ni zôni kana

even for the holy hermit
today, a square
of zoni!

Sutebito is a person who has rejected the world: a "hermit" or a "recluse"; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 885.

Zôni, glutinous rice cakes with vegetables, is enjoyed in the New Year's season.

1821

.もう一度せめて目を明け雑煮膳
mô ichi do semete me wo ake zônizen

if only you'd open your eyes
one more time...
zoni on the dinner tray

Zôni, glutinous rice cakes with vegetables, is enjoyed in the New Year's season.

This haiku was written in memory of Issa's son, Ishitarô. He and his wife Kiku placed a bowl of zôni in front of his mortuary tablet; Makoto Ueda, Dew on the Grass: The Life and Poetry of Kobayashi Issa (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2004) 133.

1821

.我庵もけさは四角な雑煮哉
waga io mo kesa wa shikaku-na zôni kana

in my hut
today, a square
of zoni!

Zôni, glutinous rice cakes with vegetables, is enjoyed in the New Year's season.

1821

.かざり餅仏の膝をちょとかりる
kazari mochi hotoke no hiza wo choto kariru

rice cake offerings--
on Buddha's lap
for just a little while

Kazari mochi ("decoration rice cakes"), also called kagami mochi ("mirror rice cakes"), are round rice cakes used for New Year's offerings. In this haiku, as Shinji Ogawa explains, someone "borrows" Buddha's lap to place the cakes upon...for a while.

I suppose that Issa left the cakes as offerings to the Buddha for about as long as he could stand it (just "a little while"), then ate them.

1821

.台所の爺に歯固勝れけり
daidoko no jiji ni hagatame katare keri

old man in the kitchen--
his New Year's tooth-hardening
beats mine

This haiku refers to a special tooth-hardening meal eaten in the New Year's season. The sorry state of Issa's teeth is magnified by the fact that an old man has a more complete set.

1821

.皺面にとそぬり付るわらひ哉
shiwa-zura ni toso nuritsukeru warai kana

a New Year's toast
for his wrinkled face...
laughter

Spiced sake (toso) is a New Year's drink.

1821

.七草やだまって打も古実顔
nanakusa ya damatte utsu mo kojitsu kao

though she pounds the seven herbs
without singing...
a wise old face

Or: "though he pounds." The seven herbs of health (nanakusa) were eaten at New Year's. Usually, as Shinji Ogawa explains, the pounding was accompanied by a little song: "Oh Seven Herbs! Before the Chinese bird comes over Japan..." It was believed that a mythical bird from China flying over Japan would do "many bad things."

In this case, the person pounding the herbs doesn't chant, but has a "face that knows ancient customs" (kojitsu kao).

1821

.大原や人留のある若菜つみ
ôhara ya hito-dome no aru wakana tsumi

a big field
with a "Keep Out" sign...
picking herbs

Wakana (young greens or herbs) are picked on the sixth day of First Month--a traditional New Year's observance.

1821

.かすむ程たばこ吹つつ若菜つみ
kasumu hodo tabako fukitsutsu wakana tsumi

almost mist
the smoke of their pipes...
picking herbs

Wakana (young greens or herbs) are picked on the sixth day of First Month--a traditional New Year's observance.

1821

.小坊主に行灯もたせて若なつみ
ko bôzu ni andon motasete wakana tsumi

letting the little boy
hold the lantern...
picking herbs

Wakana (young greens or herbs) are picked on the sixth day of First Month--a traditional New Year's observance.

Just as the expression kozô ("little priest") can be taken literally or to mean any little boy, the "little priest" (ko bôzu) in this haiku might signify not only a Buddhist acolyte but any small, smooth-headed boy.

Shinji Ogawa notes that motasete means not simply "(the little priest) holds (the lantern)" but "having (the little priest) hold (the lantern)." The herb picker, he adds, "may be a high priest or Issa himself." I have accordingly changed the middle phrase of my translation from "holds the lantern" to "must hold the lantern."

1821

.鶏に一葉ふるまふわかな哉
niwatori ni hito ha furumau wakana kana

the chicken is treated
to one...
New Year's herbs

Wakana (young greens or herbs) are picked on the sixth day of First Month--a traditional New Year's observance.

1821

.一引はたばこかすみやわかなつみ
hito hiki wa tabako kasumi ya wakana tsumi

for each one picked
a puff on the pipe...
herbs

Wakana (young greens or herbs) are picked on the sixth day of First Month--a traditional New Year's observance.

1821

.杜の陰しかも出がけのはつ烏
mori [no] kage shikamo degake no hatsu karasu

the woods are dark
but out and about...
the year's first crow

1821

.在合の鳥も初声上にけり
ariai no tori mo hatsu koe age ni keri

from this bird
the year's first song
rises

1821

.春めくやこがね花咲山の月
harumeku ya kogane hana saku yama no tsuki

it's springtime!
golden flowers
mountain moon

1821

.春めくやのらはのらとて藪虱
harumeku ya nora wa nora tote yabu-jirami

it's springtime!
even the thicket's lice
move into the field

1821

.永き日は只湯に入が仕事哉
nagaki hi [wa] tada yu ni iru ga shigoto kana

a long day--
even getting in the bath
is a chore

1821

.日永とて犬と烏の喧嘩哉
hi naga tote inu to karasu no kenka kana

a long day--
the dog and the crow
quarreling

1821

.狗が鼠とる也春の雨
enokoro ga nezumi toru nari haru no ame

the dog has caught
a mouse...
spring rain

In an almost identical haiku, the seasonal phrase is "spring breeze."

1821

.春風や犬にとらるる薮鼠
haru kaze ya inu ni toraruru yabu nezumi

spring breeze--
a thicket mouse
caught by the dog

1821

.春風や袴羽織のいせ乞食
harukaze ya hakama haori no ise kojiki

spring breeze--
in coat and trousers
a dandified beggar

In another version of this haiku (same year), the beggar is in Edo. Shinji Ogawa suspects that ise in this context denotes a "dandy." Since in the other haiku of the beggar in Edo, he believes that Issa is ridiculing the haiku poets in Edo. Shinji adds, "In those years, Issa, though his own reputation was sky-high, was very critical about the low quality of Edo haiku."

Gabi Greve notes that "Hakama is an outer garment worn over the kimono that is either split between the legs like pants or non-split like a skirt. Hakama pants originated as an outer garment to protect samurai warriors' legs from brush when riding a horse. Today, the hakama is worn as formal attire for ceremonies, traditional Japanese dance, artists and martial arts."

In this haiku, is Issa noting that the beggar is well-dressed, perhaps better dressed than Issa?

1821

.春風や袴羽織の江戸乞食
harukaze ya hakama haori no Edo kojiki

spring breeze--
in coat and trousers
an Edo beggar

In another version of this haiku (same year) the beggar is "dandified" (ise kojiki).

Gabi Greve notes that "Hakama is an outer garment worn over the kimono that is either split between the legs like pants or non-split like a skirt. Hakama pants originated as an outer garment to protect samurai warriors' legs from brush when riding a horse. Today, the hakama is worn as formal attire for ceremonies, traditional Japanese dance, artists and martial arts."

1821

.灸すんで馬も立也春の風
kyû sunde uma mo tatsu nari haru no kaze

even for the horse
a dose of burning wormwood...
spring breeze

Sharp sticks of wormwood are stuck into various parts of the body and burned to ensure good health. Here, even a horse receives the treatment.

1821

.かすむ日や宗判押しに三里程
kasumu hi ya shûban [oshi] ni san ri hodo

day mist--
the census taker reckons it
about seven miles

One ri is 2.44 miles. The mist, in this haiku, extends for three ri: over seven miles.

The expression shûban oshi refers to a census taker stamping his seal; Issa zenshû (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 4.155.

1821

.灯火やかすみながらに夜が明る
tomoshibi ya kasumi nagara ni yo ga akeru

lamplight
in the spring mist...
dawn

The mist is so thick, the sun doesn't penetrate. Someone's lamp fills in for the sunrise.

1821

.御仏と一所に霞む天窓かな
mi-botoke to isshô ni kasumu atama kana

me and Buddha--
our heads
in the mist

The image is comic yet profound. Issa and Buddha--as represented by a stone or wooden statue--are side-by-side, their heads lost in spring mist. On the surface, the connection is merely funny, but upon deeper contemplation, a spiritual connection is revealed. Even a "sinful" poet like Issa is one with the Buddha. The "mist" of Being unites them.

This haiku is one of the "essential" 188 picked by the translator. back next

1821

.陽炎や目につきまとふ笑い顔
kagerô ya me ni tsukimatô warai-gao

heat shimmers--
his laughing face
lingers

Shortly after New Year's, 1821, Issa's third child, the infant boy Ishitaro, died of suffocation while bundled on his mother's back. This haiku, written shortly after the tragedy, refers to Ishitaro.

1821

.本堂の上に鶏なく雪げ哉
hondô no ue ni tori naku yukige kana

atop the main temple
a rooster crows
"Snow's melting!"

1821

.足もとに鳥が立也はるの山
ashi moto ni tori ga tatsu nari haru no yama

a bird at my feet
takes off...
spring mountain

Shinji Ogawa notes that the phrase, ashi moto ni tori ga tatsu ("a bird flies out near my feet") is an idiom for an unexpected surprise. The phrase is normally used in busy affairs of daily life. Issa痴 humor, Shinji notes, is that he applies it in its literal sense.

1821

.散る花に順礼帳も開帳哉
chi[ru] hana ni junreichô mo kaichô kana

into the scattering blooms
pilgrims
and Buddha

An image of Buddha is being carried from a temple to be displayed outside. A Gabi Greve points out, junreichô is a pilgrim's stamp book. For Issa's audience, familiar with such books that pilgrims carried from temple to temple, the image of stamp books would have been natural and significant. In English translation, this detail is obscure and distracting--and so I render the second phrase simply as "pilgrims."

1821

.御影供にも御覧に入るさくら哉
miekô ni mo goran ni iru sakura kana

the Founder's image on display
along with...
cherry blossoms!

In the old Japanese calendar, Third Month, 21st day, a sacred image of the founder of Shingon Buddhism was shown at the temples of this sect.

1821

.褒美の画先へ掴んで二日灸
hôbi no e saki [e] tsukande futsukakyû

gnawing the edge
of the prize painting...
burning wormwood

The last phrase of this haiku, futsukakyû, signifies "burning wormwood on the second day of Second Month." On this day of the traditional Japanese calendar, sharp sticks of wormwood are stuck into various parts of the body and burned to ensure good health for the rest of the year. I picture a child gnawing on a picture that he has won as a prize ... to cope with the pain.

1821

.一鍬に雪迄返す山田哉
hito kuwa ni yuki made kaesu yamada kana

the same hoe
plows the snow too...
mountain rice field

1821

.松を友鶴を友なる田打哉
matsu wo tomo tsuru wo tomo naru ta uchi kana

friend of the pine
friend of the crane...
he plows his field

1821

.朝顔の畠起して朝茶哉
asagao no hata okoshite asa cha kana

tilling the morning-glory
field...
morning tea

The pointed repetition of "morning" occurs also in Issa's Japanese: asagao ("morning-face" blossom) and asa cha ("morning tea"). The plowman enjoys a tea break.

1821

.恋猫や恐れ入たる這入口
koi neko ya osore-itaru hairiguchi

the lover cat
filled with remorse
at my door

Or: "at the door."

Shinji Ogawa translates the middle phrase, osore-itaru, "remorseful."

What does the cat have to feel guilty about? Is Issa poking fun at nighttime sinners who repent in the morning?

1821

.のら猫の妻乞声は細々と
nora neko no tsuma kou-goe wa hoso-boso to

the stray cat's
yowl for love
a bit weak

At first, I read the third phrase as koma-goma: "minutely detailed." Shinji Ogawa explains that the correct reading, in this context, is hoso-boso: "weak."

1821

.のら猫の妻のござるはなかりけり
nora neko [no] tsuma no gozaru wa nakari keri

the stray cat's wife
doesn't
show

I've re-done this translation, but I'm still not entirely satisfied with it. Issa's Japanese is humorous, using ultra-polite language, referring to the cat's wife. She fails to make her grand entrance (gozaru wa nakari).

Karma Tenzing Wangchuk offers this (hilarious) translation:

the alley cat's
honorable wife no. 1
cancels her appearance

1821

.小奇麗にしてくらす也やもめ鳥
kogirei [ni] shite kurasu nari yamome tori

she keeps the nest
nice and neat...
widow bird

Though Issa is known for humor in haiku, this one tugs at the heart strings � hard.

1821

.鳶の巣も鬼門に持や日枝の山
tobi no su mo kimon ni motsu ya hie [no] yama

the black kite's nest, too
in the unlucky direction...
Mount Hie

The "black kite" in the scene (tobi) is a bird, not the paper kind. The "unlucky direction" (kimon) is the northeast.

1821

.鶯がふみ落しけり家の苔
uguisu ga fumi-otoshi keri ie no koke

nightingale stomping
knocks it down...
the house's moss

The moss is growing on the roof. In another haiku of 1821, Issa writes that a crow knocks moss blossoms off of the house's ridge pole:

ya no mune ya karasu ga otosu koke no hana

house's ridge-pole--
the crow flings down
moss blossoms

1821

.鶯も人ずれてなく上野哉
uguisu mo hitozurete naku ueno kana

the nightingale sings
like he's been around...
Ueno

Ueno is a famous place for blossom viewing. In the original version of this haiku, Issa begins, uguisu mo ("the nightingale, too"), but he revises it later to: uguisu no ("the nightingale's"). My translation follows the revision. Otherwise, it would begin: "the nightingale also sings..."

1821

.鶯もほぼ風声ぞ梅の花
uguisu mo hobo kazagoe zo ume no hana

the nightingale, too
a bit hoarse from a cold...
plum blossoms

Issa uses two spring season words in the poem: nightingale and plum blossoms, a popular combination in Japanese art.

1821

.鶯やあきらめのよい籠の声
uguisu ya a[ki]rame no yoi kago no koe

the nightingale
resigned to his fate...
voice in a cage

1821

.日本に来て紅つけし乙鳥哉
nippon ni kite beni tsukeshi tsubame kana

arriving in Japan
wearing rouge...
the swallows

Or: "the swallow."

The red coloration of the bird(s) reminds Issa of rouge.

1821

.紅紛付てずらり並ぶや朝乙鳥
beni tsukete zurari narabu ya asa tsubame

wearing rouge
lined up in a row...
morning swallows

The swallows are red-tinted by the morning sun. Issa fancies that they have put on their morning make-up.

1821

.蟻程に人のつづくや夕雲雀
ari hodo ni hito [no] tsuzuku ya yûhibari

like marching ants
person after person...
an evening lark

Issa adopts the lark's aerial perspective.

1821

.関守の口真似するや雉の声
sekimori no kuchi mane suru ya kiji no koe

mocking the barrier
guard's voice...
pheasant

1821

.なくな雁いつも別は同じ事
naku na kari itsumo wakare wa onaji koto

don't cry, geese
parting is always
the same thing

1821

.山吹に差出口きく蛙哉
yamabuki ni sashideguchi kiku kawazu kana

in yellow roses
making rude remarks...
a frog

The frog has made "an un-called for remark" (sashideguchi). Shinji Ogawa notes that kiku in this contest means to talk, not to listen.

This is the third of a series of three haiku, written back-to-back in Issa's journal (in Eighth Month, 1820) on this subject. The first two haiku begin with the phrase, Edo River (edogawa).

1821

.梅の花笠にかぶって鳴蛙
ume no hana kasa ni kabutte naku kawazu

with a plum blossom
umbrella-hat, croaking
frog

A wonderful, whimsical image.

1821

.つめびらきする顔付の蛙哉
tsumebiraki suru kao-zuku no kawazu kana

his face all ready
for negotiation...
a frog

The word tsumebiraki, according to the editors of Issa zenshû, refers to a negotiation or the granting of an interview (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 4.227, note 3. Shinji Ogawa agrees, and he notes the connection between this poem and one that Issa wrote a bit later in his journal (same month: Twelfth Month, 1821):
hito rikutsu iu ki de suwaru kawazu kana

he prepares to state
his case...
squatting frog

1821

.一理屈いふ気で居る蛙哉
hito rikutsu iu ki de suwaru kawazu kana

he prepares to state
his case...
squatting frog

The frog seems as if he is in a mood to present a "reason" or "argument" (rikuktsu).

1821

.浅黄てふあれば浅黄の桜哉
asagi chô areba asagi no sakura kana

when butterflies
are pale blue, pale blue
cherry blossoms

Cherry blossoms are pale pink but, according to Issa, change color in the presence of light blue butterflies. This interesting poem suggests an affinity between the delicate insects and blossoms.

1821

.生れでて蝶は遊ぶを仕事哉
umaredete chô wa aso[bu] wo shigoto kana

from birth on
for butterflies, playing
is their job

1821

.おとなしや蝶も浅黄の出立は
otonashi ya chô mo asagi no idetachi wa

well behaved--
the butterfly, too
wears light blue

Issa imagines that the butterfly is wearing a light blue "garment" or "traveling clothes" (idetachi). Who else in the scene is wearing blue? Issa?

1821

.狂ふのも少じみ也浅黄蝶
kuruu no mo sukoshi jimi nari asagi chô

the crazy one
calms down a bit...
light blue butterfly

The butterfly is "raving" or "running amuck" (kuruu).

1821

.こっそりとしてあそぶ也浅黄蝶
kossori to shite asobu nari asagi chô

playing their games
on the sly...
pale blue butterflies

1821

.参詣のつむりかぞえる小蝶哉
sankei no tsumuri kazoeru ko chô kana

counting heads
of the shrine visitors...
little butterfly

Pilgrims are visiting a Shinto shrine. The butterfly, flitting from head to head, seems to be counting them. Tsumuri is an old word for "head."; see Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1106.

1821

.蝶まふや馬の下腹ともしらで
chô mau ya uma no shitahara to mo shirade

butterfly dancing--
under the horse's gut
unaware

1821

.蝶見よや親子三人寝てくらす
chô mi yo ya oya-go sannin nete kurasu

butterfly, look!
parents and child, three
sleep together

This haiku was written in Third Month of 1821, two months after the death of Issa's third child, Ishitarô. His words to the butterfly express, poignantly, his own deepest wish.

1821

.寝仲間に我も這入るぞ野辺の蝶
ne nakama ni waga mo hairu zo nobe no chô

I crawl in to join
the sleepers...
meadow butterflies

1821

.寝並んで小蝶と猫と和尚哉
ne narande ko chô to neko to oshô kana

sleeping in a row--
little butterfly, cat
priest

The priest is a head priest. In the poem, Issa shows relationship and loving connection between three quite different creatures. Presented in a progression from small to large; the butterfly, cat and priest show themselves to be, in the moment, a little family.

This haiku is one of the "essential" 188 picked by the translator. back next

1821

.野ばくちの銭の中より小蝶哉
no bakuchi no zeni no naka yori ko chô kana

gambling in the field--
from the pot
a little butterfly

1821

.風ろ水の小川へ出たり飛小蝶
furo mizu no kogawa e detari tobu ko chô

taking a dip
in the creek's bath water...
little butterfly

1821

.湯の中のつむりや蝶の一休
yu no naka no tsumuri ya chô no hito yasumi

in the hot tub
on someone's head...
butterfly's rest stop

Tsumuri is an old word for "head."; see Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1106.

1821

.世の中を浅き心や浅黄蝶
yo no naka wo asaki kokoro ya asagi chô

with a light heart
in this world...
light blue butterfly

Or: "butterflies."

1821

.草の葉に虻の空死したりけり
kusa no ha ni abu no sorajini ni shitari keri

on a blade of grass
the horsefly
plays dead

In a similar haiku of 1820, a mosquito plays dead on a blade of grass.

1821

.親蜂や蜜盗まれてひたと鳴
oya hachi ya mitsu nusumarete hita to naku

the parent bee
its honey being stolen
buzzes close

Evidently, Issa didn't realize that the only identifiable "parent" bee would be the queen, not the ones buzzing about the honey thief. Hita to is an old expression for close, direct, immediate, personal action; see Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1391.

1821

.子もち蜂あくせく蜜をかせぐ也
ko mochi hachi akuseku mitsu wo [ka]segu nari

the bees with children
are work-a-holics...
making honey

Did Issa realize that the "parent" bee was the queen and not the nectar-gatherers? Whether he did or not, in this haiku of 1821 he attributes the diligent work ethic of the bees to the fact that there are children to fed, back in the hive. In an ordinary scene of bees buzzing from flower to flower, Issa sees parental love.

1821

.蜂の巣の隣をかりる雀哉
hachi no su no tonari wo kariru susume kana

renting a spot
next to the beehive...
sparrows

1821

.小坊主が転げくらする菫哉
ko bôzu ga koroge kurasuru sumire kana

the little boy
tumbling all day...
violets

Just as the expression kozô ("little priest") can be taken literally or to mean any little boy, the "little priest" (ko bôzu) in this haiku might signify not only a Buddhist acolyte but any small, smooth-headed boy.

1821

.痩我慢して咲にけり門椿
yase gaman shite saki ni keri kado tsubaki

with a yogi's self-denial
they've bloomed...
camellias at my gate

Or: "camellias at the gate." Issa doesn't specify that it's his gate, but this can be inferred.

He wrote this haiku in Ninth Month, 1821, with the prescript, "Spring." It's a reordering of a haiku written earlier that year, in Fourth Month:

waga kado ni yase gaman shite saku tsubaki

at my gate
with a yogi's self-denial...
blooming camellias

A year later (1822), he writes a similar haiku:

yase gaman shite saki ni keri kado no ume

with a yogi's self-denial
it's bloomed...
my gate's plum tree

1821

.我門に痩我慢して咲く椿
waga kado ni yase gaman shite saku tsubaki

at my gate
with a yogi's self-denial...
blooming camellias

Issa wrote this haiku in the Fourth Month of 1821. Later that year, in Ninth Month, he reorders the images:

yase gaman shite saki ni keri kado tsubaki

with a yogi's self-denial
they've bloomed...
camellias at my gate

1821

.若雀椿ころがして遊ぶ也
waka suzume tsubaki korogashite asobu nari

young sparrows
playing ring-around-the-
camellia

1821

.一本の梅でもちたる出茶屋哉
ippon no ume de mochitaru de-chaya kana

with one blooming
plum tree
teahouse of reeds

A de-chaya was a make-shift booth sheltered with reeds situated on a roadside; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1126.

Shinji Ogawa offers an alternate translation:

supported by a blooming
plum tree
the roadside tea-stand

1821

.梅咲や信�のおくも草履道
ume saku ya shinano no oku mo zôri michi

plum blooming--
deep in Shinano, too
tracks of sandals

Shinano (present-day Nagano Prefecture) was Issa's home province. Even in this countrified place city refinement can be found, as blossom-viewers go forth wearing traditional zori sandals. In another haiku in which Issa uses the phrase, "sandal road" (zôri michi), Shinji Ogawa believes that this refers to footprints in snow. That particular haiku is situated in the New Year's season, and so it is natural to assume a snowy scene, especially in the mountains of Issa's home province of Shinano (today's Nagano Prefecture). I believe that the present haiku, since it takes place in spring ("plum blossoms" = spring), refers to footprints that have beaten a track in the dirt of a road.

1821

.梅しんとしておのづから頭が下る
ume shin to shite onozukara zu ga sagaru

still plum blossoms
my head, by itself
bows

Or: "the head."

Issa bows to the quiet, still blossoms. More accurately, "the head, by itself" is bowing without conscious intention on the part of the poet. For this reason, I first translated zu ga sagaru literally as "the head bows," rather than "my head bows." However, Shinji Ogawa believes that this must be first person, "my head." Otherwise, he writes, "the haiku loses its intensity."

1821

.おのづから頭が下る也梅の花
onozukara zu ga sagaru nari ume no hana

by itself
my head bows...
plum blossoms!

Or: "the head."

Issa bows to the blossoms. More accurately, "the head, by itself" is bowing without conscious intention on the part of the poet. For this reason, I first translated zu ga sagaru literally as "the head bows," rather than "my head bows." However, in a note on a similar haiku in which a head "by itself bows," Shinji Ogawa writes that first person, "my head," preserves the poem's intensity in English.

1821

.片袖は月夜也けり梅の花
kata sode wa tsuki yo nari keri ume no hana

on one sleeve
the bright moon...
plum blossoms!

Literally, the moon is on "one sleeve." Does this imply that the plum blossoms are on the other sleeve, i.e., on the other side of where the poet sits or stands?

Originally, I translated the opening phrase less literally: "on one side," but Sakuo Nakamura points out that "sleeve is a key word that can not be dropped." I think he's right. Issa's image is personal, palpable. The moon is on this sleeve: my sleeve!

1821

.黒塗の馬もいさむや梅の花
kuro nuri no uma mo isamu ya ume no hana

even the black lacquered
horse flashes bright!
plum blossoms

Issa prefaces this haiku with the note, "At a (Shinto) shrine."

Is the horse reflecting the glowing blossoms?

In an undated rewrite, the horse "glitters" (pika-pika).

1821

.こなたにも安置して有梅の花
kona[ta] ni mo anchi shi[te] are ume no hana

even here
a holy image enshrined
plum blossoms

1821

.在郷や雪隠神も梅の花
zaigô ya setchin-gami mo ume no hana

even for the god
of the outhouse...
plum blossoms

1821

.つんとして白梅咲の不二派寺
tsunto shite shira ume saku no fujiha-dera

stuck-up plum trees
blossoming white...
Fujiha Temple

A temple of the Nichiren sect; Issa zenshû (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 4.183, note 1.

1821

.亭坊が空上戸でも梅の花
teibô [ga] sora jôgo de mo ume no hana

the head priest
pretends to be a drinker...
plum blossoms

A teibô is the head priest of a Buddhist temple.

1821

.百程の鳥井潜れり梅の花
hyaku hodo no tori i-kugureri ume no hana

about a hundred birds
passing through...
plum blossoms

1821

.風の神ちくらへござれ花が咲
kaze no kami chikura e gozare hana ga saku

go away, divine wind
to the Northern Sea!
cherry blossoms

In the shorthand of haiku, "blossoms" (hana) can mean "cherry blossoms." Now that the cherry trees are in bloom, Issa begs the wind to go somewhere else, thus allowing the petals to stay on the branches for as long as possible.

Chikura refers to the sea between Japan and Korea; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1044.

The expression kaze no kami has the same meaning as kamikaze: a "providential wind" or the "wind of the gods." Long after Issa's time, the word was used to describe suicide planes packed with explosives that pilots flew into enemy ships.

1821

.風はやり仕廻へば花も仕舞哉
kaze hayari shimaeba hana mo shimai kana

when the wind
is finally done, so are
the blossoms

In the shorthand of haiku, "blossoms" (hana) can mean "cherry blossoms." The wind has blown all the blossoms off the branches.

1821

.さく花や祖引雨がけふも降
saku hana ya sode hiku ame ga kyô mo furu

cherry blossoms--
a sleeve-tugging rain
again today

The expression, sode hiku, literally denotes dragging one by the sleeve; metaphorically, it refers to seduction. Here, it appears that the rain is holding Issa back from going out to view the blossoms.

"Blossoms" (hana) can denote cherry blossoms in the shorthand of haiku.

1821

.三絃で親やしなふや花の陰
samisen de oya yashinau ya hana no kage

with a samisen
she supports her parents...
blossom shade

A samisen is a long-necked, three-stringed banjo-like instrument, played with a plectrum. By implication, a lovely geisha is also in the scene. The setting may be Yoshiwara, the licensed brothel district near Edo (today's Tokyo).

Shinji Ogawa explains that oya yashinau signifies, "supports parents."

Issa portrays the geisha with depth and humanity. Outwardly beautiful, she is even more beautiful in her soul.

1821

.高井のや只一本の花の雲
takai no ya tada ippon no hana no kumo

Takai Field--
just one blossom cloud
on a trunk

The "blossom cloud" (hana no kumo) is a cherry tree in bloom.

1821

.団子など商ひながら花見哉
dango nado akinai nagara hanami kana

while selling his dumplings
and such...
blossom viewing

Or: "her dumplings." The food vendor is paying only partial attention to his or her business, taking in the glory of the cherry blossoms.

1821

.手をかざす鼬よどこだ花の雲
te wo kazasu itachi yo doko da hana no kumo

shading his eyes
where are you gazing, weasel?
blossom clouds

In Shinji Ogawa's interpretaiton, a Japanese weasel (itachi), "like a prairie dog, stands and watches far away."

1821

.年寄の腰や花見の迷子札
toshiyori no koshi ya hanami no maigo fuda

around the old man's waist
blossom viewing...
a name tag

Issa writes the kanji for "blossom" (hana) twice; the editors of Issa zenshû believe that this is meant to be read as hanami ("blossom-viewing"); (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 1.217. In the shorthand of haiku, "blossoms" (hana) can mean "cherry blossoms."

Shinji Ogawa notes that maigo fuda has two meanings: one is a sign or illustration of lost child, and the other is an address tag on a person to prevent from going astray. In the case of this haiku, he suspects that the latter is the case. The old man may be suffering from Alzheimer's.

1821

.花咲や牛は牛連馬は馬
hana saku ya ushi wa ushi-zure uma wa uma

cherry blossoms--
cows follow cows
horses, horses

Shinji Ogawa notes that the phrase, ushi wa ushi-zure uma wa uma ("cows follow cows, horses follow horses") is a metaphoric expression similar to "birds of a feather flock together." He suggests:

blossom-viewers
flock according to
their feathers

I think that Issa's Japanese is too wonderfully evocative to lose the cows and horses in translation. On a concrete level, one pictures actual cows and horses, each keeping to its group, walking along to view the spring blossoms: a silly bit of humanizing that I'd like to preserve in my English version. And the metaphorical sense, that cows and horses represent different human groups (peasants, samurai, merchants...), is not impossible to realize if one reflects a bit on Issa's cows and horses.

"Blossoms" (hana) can denote cherry blossoms in the shorthand of haiku.

1821

.花寒し犬ものがれぬくさめ哉
hana samushi inu mo nogarenu kusame kana

cherry blossom cold spell--
even the dog
can't help but sneeze

"Blossoms" (hana) can denote cherry blossoms in the shorthand of haiku.

1821

.花の山東西南北の人
hana no yama tôzainamboku no hito

blossoming mountain
from east, west, north, south
they come

Or: "blossoming mountains." "Blossoms" (hana) can denote cherry blossoms in the shorthand of haiku.

1821

.花ふぶき泥わらんじで通りけり
hana fubuki doro waranji de tôri keri

blizzard of blossoms--
with muddy sandals
passing through

"Blossoms" (hana) can denote cherry blossoms in the shorthand of haiku. Someone (Issa?) trods on the fallen blossoms, muddying them with muddy straw sandals.

1821

.菩薩達御出現あれ花の雲
bosatsu-tachi go-shutsugen are hana no kumo

Buddha's saints
come out! come out!
clouds of blossoms

"Blossoms" (hana) can denote cherry blossoms in the shorthand of haiku.
A bodhisattva (bosatsu) is a Buddhist saint who has returned to the world on a compassionate mission to awaken others.

Shinji Ogawa describes the scene: "Issa is pleading with the Buddha's saints to emerge since there are clouds of cherry blossoms." In paintings, Buddha and his saints arrive riding colorful clouds.

1821

.一尺に足らぬも花の桜哉
isshaku ni taranu mo hana no sakura kana

one foot tall
isn't enough...
for cherry blossoms

Issa seems to be referring to a bonsai tree. In an earlier revision (1814) the tree was three feet tall.

1821

.馬は馬連とて歩く桜哉
uma wa uma tsure tote aruku sakura kana

horses follow horses
on their way...
cherry blossoms

In a similar haiku of 1821, Issa has the phrase, ushi wa ushi-zure uma wa uma ("cows follow cows, horses follow horses").

cherry blossoms--
cows follow cows
horses, horses

This, according to Shinji Ogawa, is a metaphoric expression similar to "birds of a feather flock together." The same thing is true of this haiku, he says, which he translates:

Like birds of a feather
we (or they) walk...
blossom viewing

In both haiku, Issa's Japanese is wonderfully evocative. I don't want to lose the silly concrete image (horses following horses on their way to a blossom viewing), even though this literal translation might lose the metaphorical sense. A translator's dilemma!

1821

.こっそりとあれは浅黄の桜哉
kossori to are wa asagi no sakura kana

stealthily
those have turned pale blue...
cherry blossoms

1821

.それそこは犬の雪隠ぞ山桜
sore soko wa inu no setchin zo yama-zakura

over there's
the dog's toilet...
mountain cherry blossoms

Shinji Ogawa notes that Issa doesn't mean "toilet" literally.

1821

.田楽のみそにくっつく桜哉
dengaku no miso ni kuttsuku sakura kana

sticking to
the bean curd soup...
cherry blossoms

The cherry blossoms have fallen into a miso soup containing bean curd (tofu) cut into squares and skewered on a spit. See Maruyama Kazuhiko, Issa haiku shû (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1990; rpt. 1993) 318, note 1712.

1821

.山吹に手をかざしたる鼬哉
yamabuki ni te wo kazashitaru itachi kana

in yellow roses
shading his eyes to gaze...
a weasel

A weasel peers out from among the yamabuki (yellow roses).

In Issa zenshû, Vol. 1, the animal is itachi: a Japanese weasel. However, in Vol. 3, it is identified as momoga, the Japanese assapan (flying squirrel); Issa zenshû (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 1.237; 3.155. Since Vol. 1 was published later than Vol. 3, I have followed the former text.

In his journal for 1821, Second Month, Issa follows the above haiku with a similar one:

te wo kazasu itachi yo doko da hana no kumo

shading his eyes
where are you gazing, weasel?
blossom clouds

In Shinji Ogawa's interpretaiton, a Japanese weasel (itachi), "like a prairie dog, stands and watches far away."

1821

.山吹や出湯のけぶりに馴れて咲
yamabuki ya ideyu no keburi ni narete saku

yellow roses--
used to the hotspring's steam
they bloom

1821

.短夜を橋で揃ふや京参り
mijika yo wo hashi de sorou ya kyô mairi

in the short night
crossing bridges en masse...
Kyoto pilgrimage

This haiku refers to a short night of summer.

1821

.暑いぞよけふも一日遊び雲
atsu[i] zoyo kyô mo ichi nichi asobi-gumo

summer heat--
today, all day
the playful clouds

Originally, I translated asobi-gumo as "teasing clouds," but Sakuo Nakamura notes that this adds a negative feeling not found in Issa's language: that the clouds are bad playmates. Following his suggestion, I have revised my translation.

1821

.涼風の窓が極楽浄土哉
suzukaze no mado ga gokuraku jôdo kana

cool breeze--
through the window
Pure Land Paradise!

Issa is referring to the Western Paradise of Amida Buddha.

1821

.涼しさや一畳敷もおれが家
suzushisa ya hito jô shiku mo ore ga ie

coolness--
one tatami mat spreads
in my house

A tatami mat is the perfect sitting place for enjoying the cool air. Richer people have many in each room; just one suffices for Issa.

1821

.涼しさは小銭をすくふ杓子哉
suzushisa wa [ko] zeni wo sukuu shakushi kana

coolness--
ladling coins
with a spoon

One assumes that this is a portrait of some shopkeeper, not "Shinano's Chief Beggar," Issa! A shakushi is a sort of serving spoon or ladle for rice or soup. See Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 822.

1821

.夕涼に笠忘れけり後の宿
yûsuzu ni kasa wasure keri ato no yado

evening cool--
my umbrella-hat left
at the last inn

Literally, the hat was left at the last "dwelling" (yado). I take this to mean an inn. The air was so wonderfully cool, Issa went out bareheaded, leaving his kasa behind.

1821

.五月雨又後からも越後女盲
satsuki ame mata ato kara mo echigo goze

in Fifth Month rain
behind me too...
a blind woman from Echigo

Or: "blind women..." French translator Jean Cholley pictures a group; En village de miséreux: Choix de poèmes de Kobayashi Issa (Paris: Gallimard, 1996) 193.

The province of Echigo is called Niigata Prefecture today.

Shinji Ogawa notes that mata ato kara mo means "from the behind also (a blind woman from Echigo)," implying that there are other blind women from Echigo in front. He adds, "They may or may not be beggars. They might be on the way to Zenkôji Temple."

"Fifth Month rain" (samidare) pertains to the old lunar calendar; it would be June rain in the present calendar. Shinji observes, "In the modern Japanese sense, May weather consists of mostly fair days, not cold, not hot, in the best season of the year. Therefore, May rain is very pleasant in modern Japanese sense. On the other hand, samidare (May rain in old Japanese), is the June rain that falls day after day, creating high humidity and helping mold to grow in the corners of the house."

1821

.五月雨に金魚銀魚のきげん哉
samidare ni kingyo ginyo no kigen kana

in Fifth Month rain
feeling like silver
or goldfish

Issa puts the fish in the opposite order: "goldfish, silver fish." The problem with keeping this order in English has to do with the wingless insect, "silverfish," which might be confused with a "silver fish" (a silver-colored fish). In my translation I reverse the order to avoid this ambiguity.

1821

.五月雨や沈香も焚かず屁もひらず
samidare ya jinkô mo takazu he mo hirazu

in Fifth Month rain
no incense
no farts

Literally, Issa is "not burning incense, not farting," an idiomatic expression that Shinji Ogawa translates as, "not doing anything substantial."

"Fifth Month rain" (samidare) pertains to the old lunar calendar; it would be June rain in the present calendar. Shinji Ogawa observes, "In the modern Japanese sense, May weather consists of mostly fair days, not cold, not hot, in the best season of the year. Therefore, May rain is very pleasant in modern Japanese sense. On the other hand, samidare (May rain in old Japanese), is the June rain that falls day after day, creating high humidity and helping mold to grow in the corners of the house."

1821

.五月雨やたばこの度に火打箱
samidare ya tabako no tabi ni hiuchibako

Fifth Month rain--
time for tobacco
and tinderbox

"Fifth Month rain" (samidare) pertains to the old lunar calendar; it would be June rain in the present calendar. Shinji Ogawa observes, "In the modern Japanese sense, May weather consists of mostly fair days, not cold, not hot, in the best season of the year. Therefore, May rain is very pleasant in modern Japanese sense. On the other hand, samidare (May rain in old Japanese), is the June rain that falls day after day, creating high humidity and helping mold to grow in the corners of the house."

1821

.なぐさみに風呂に入也五月雨
nagusami ni furo ni iru nari satsuki ame

just for fun
into the hot tub I go...
Fifth Month rain

1821

.何の其蛙の面や五月雨
nanno sono kawazu no tsura ya satsuki ame

what a face
this frog is making!
Fifth Month rain

One imagines that the expression is not one of approval.

1821

.今の間にいく夕立ぞ跡の山
ima no ma ni kiku yûdachi zo ato no yama

just now
how many cloudbursts?
the mountain in back

I believe that the mountain "in back" (ato no) is behind Issa's house.

1821

.葎にも夕立配り給ふ哉
mugura ni mo yûdachi kubari tamau kana

even the weeds
get a cloudburst
just for them

The plant is mugura, which some translators render as "goose-grass." Maruyama Kazuhiko defines it simply as zassô, "weeds"; see Issa haiku shû (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1990; rpt. 1993) 288, note 1537.

1821

.夕立を見せびらかすや山の神
yûdachi wo misebirakasu ya yama no kami

showing off
with a cloudburst...
god of the mountain

The "god" (kami) is a Shinto deity whom Issa treats with gentle humor.

1821

.夕立に迄にくまれし門田哉
yûdachi ni made nikumareshi kado ta kana

even the cloudbursts
hate it...
rice field by my gate

Or: "by the gate." Issa doesn't specify that it is his gate and field, but this can be inferred. Shinji Ogawa helped me to grasp this haiku: summer storms are missing Issa's little rice field, leading to poet to believe that even they must hate it.

1821

.夕立のうらに鳴なり家根の鶏
yûdachi no ura ni naku nari yane no tori

at the tail end
of the cloudburst crowing...
rooftop rooster

1821

.夕立の取って返すやひいき村
yûdachi no totte kaesu ya hiiki mura

the cloudburst
retraces its steps...
favoring the village

1821

.夕立のひいきめさるる外山かな
yûdachi no hiiki me saruru toyama kana

the cloudburst showing
favoritism...
mountain by the village

Toyama (often translated as "foothills") refers to any mountain located near a village; see Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1185.

1821

.夕立の真中に立座頭かな
yûdachi no mannaka ni tatsu zatô kana

standing dead center
in the downpour...
a blind man

A dismal scene. The man could be a blind minstrel.

1821

.夕立や赤い寝蓙に赤い花
yûdachi ya akai negoza ni akai hana

rainstorm--
on a red sleeping mat
a red flower

A negoza is a sleeping mat that one spreads on top of a futon in summertime to lessen the heat; see Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1279.

1821

.夕立や髪結所の鉢の松
yûdachi ya kamiyui-doko no hachi no matsu

rainstorm--
outside the hairdresser's
a potted pine

1821

.夕立や芝から芝へ小盃
yûdachi ya shiba kara shiba e ko sakazuki

rainstorm--
on this lawn, that lawn
just a cup's worth

Shinji Ogawa translates the phrase, shiba kara shiba e, "from the lawn here to the lawn there." The word, ko sakazuki literally means "small sake cup," but here, Shinji believes, it is more likely being used metaphorically to denote "a small amount of rain."

1821

.夕立や寝蓙の上の草の花
yûdachi ya negoza no ue no kusa no hana

rainstorm--
atop the sleeping mat
wildflowers

A negoza is a sleeping mat that one spreads on top of a futon in summertime to lessen the heat; see Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1279.

1821

.着ながらにせんだくしたり夏の雨
ki nagara ni sendaku shitari natsu no ame

washing my laundry
with my clothes on...
summer rain

1821

.雨雲やまごまごしては峰と成る
ame-gumo ya magomago shite wa mine to naru

rainclouds--
just to kill time
billowing

Or: "the raincloud."

1821

.小さいのも数に並ぶや雲の峰
chisai no mo kazu ni narabu ya kumo no mine

though small
they line up too...
peaks of clouds

Kumo no mine in Japanese signifies, literally, "clouds' peaks." When I translate this phrase I usually go with "billowing clouds," unless Issa is calling special attention to the mountain-like quality of the billows. Here, Issa notices a small "range" of mountain peaks in the sky.

1821

.山国やあるが上にも雲の峰
yama-guni ya aru [ga] ue ni mo kumo no mine

mountain country--
and above, too
peaks of clouds

Kumo no mine in Japanese signifies, literally, "clouds' peaks." When I translate this phrase I usually go with "billowing clouds," unless Issa is calling special attention to the mountain-like quality of the billows. Here, the "peaks" in the sky mirror those below.

1821

.けふからは乾さるる番ぞ青田原
kyô kara wa hosaruru ban zo aodabara

after today
it's your turn to dry up...
green rice field

Is Issa comparing the draining of the flooded rice field to his own aging process?

1821

.念仏も三絃に引く祭り哉
nembutsu mo samisen ni hiku matsuri kana

praising Buddha too
with her samisen...
festival

This haiku refers to the nembutsu prayer, "Namu Amida Butsu"--"All praise to Amida Buddha!" A samisen is a long-necked, three-stringed banjo-like instrument, plucked with a plectrum. By implication, a lovely geisha is the person praising Buddha.

1821

.赤々と旭長者や花御堂
aka-aka to asahi chôja ya hanamidô

shining in the dawn
a rich VIP...
Buddha amid birthday flowers

On the Eighth Day of Fourth Month in the old Japanese calendar, Buddha's birthday was celebrated. As Gabi Greve explains, a miniature hanamidô ("blossom temple hall") is set up at Buddhist temples and decorated with colorful flowers. Small statues of the child Buddha are also decorated with flowers. Here, the statue of Buddha appears as an opulent Very Important Person (chôja).

1821

.虻蜂の大吉日や花御堂
abu hachi no ôkichi nichi ya hanamidô

horseflies' and bees'
big lucky day...
Buddha's birthday flowers

Gabi Greve explains that hanamidô ("blossom temple hall") is a miniature hall set up at Buddhist temples and decorated with colorful flowers on Gautauma Buddha's birthday, celebrated on the Eighth Day of Fourth Month. Small statues of the child Buddha are also decorated with flowers, and hydrangea tea is poured over the statue by visitors.

1821

.蟻の道はや付にけり花御堂
ari no michi haya tsuki ni keri hanamidô

the ants rush
to make a road...
Buddha's birthday flowers

Gabi Greve explains that hanamidô ("blossom temple hall") is a miniature hall set up at Buddhist temples and decorated with colorful flowers on Gautauma Buddha's birthday, celebrated on the Eighth Day of Fourth Month. Small statues of the child Buddha are also decorated with flowers, and hydrangea tea is poured over the statue by visitors.

1821

.蛙にもちとなめさせよ甘茶水
kawazu ni mo [chi]to namesase yo amacha mizu

even a frog
is offered a sip...
Buddha's birthday tea

On the Eighth Day of Fourth Month in the old Japanese calendar, Buddha's birthday was celebrated. Since it was used in these festivities, hydrangea tea (amacha) became a season word for this day. Issa reiterates the religious theme of salvation belonging to all creatures. As Gabi Greve explains, a miniature hanamidô ("blossom temple hall") is set up at Buddhist temples and decorated with colorful flowers. Small statues of the child Buddha are also decorated with flowers, and hydrangea tea is poured over the statue by visitors.

The editors of Issa zenshû read the word nato as chito (chitto = "a litte bit"). I have followed their lead in my transcription; (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 1.281.

1821

.灌仏をなめて見たがるわらべ哉
kanbutsu wo namete mitagaru warabe kana

wanting to give
birthday Buddha a lick...
little child

On the Eighth Day of Fourth Month Gautama Buddha's birthday is celebrated. In this haiku, a child wants to lick or suck on the image of a child Buddha. Issa wrote a similar haiku in 1818, but in that poem the child is not allowed to lick the statue and therefore cries.

1821

.灌仏の御指の先や暮の月
kanbutsu no o-yubi no saki ya kure no tsuki

on the tip
of birthday Buddha's finger
setting moon

On the Eighth Day of Fourth Month in the old Japanese calendar, Buddha's birthday was celebrated. As Gabi Greve explains, a miniature hanamidô ("blossom temple hall") is set up at Buddhist temples and decorated with colorful flowers. Small statues of the child Buddha are also decorated with flowers.

1821

.白妙の花の卯月の八日哉
shirotae no hana no uzuki no yôka kana

for pure white flowers
Fourth Month, Eighth Day
has arrived!

On the Eighth Day of Fourth Month in the old Japanese calendar, Buddha's birthday was celebrated. As Gabi Greve explains, a miniature hanamidô ("blossom temple hall") is set up at Buddhist temples and decorated with colorful flowers. Small statues of the child Buddha are also decorated with flowers.

1821

.むだにして蜘が下るや花御堂
muda ni shite kumo ga sagaru ya hanamidô

a spider descends
in vain...
Buddha's birthday flowers

On the Eighth Day of Fourth Month in the old Japanese calendar, Buddha's birthday was celebrated. As Gabi Greve explains, a miniature hanamidô ("blossom temple hall") is set up at Buddhist temples and decorated with colorful flowers. Small statues of the child Buddha are also decorated with flowers.

Why is the spider's descent "in vain" (muda)? In another poem of the same year (1821), Buddha's birthday is said to be a lucky day for horseflies and bees. Is Issa suggesting that on this day, in this place, the child Buddha will protect living things, including the spider's prey?

Writing the word hanamidô, Issa reverses the characters for hana and mi.

1821

.山寺や蝶が受取甘茶水
yamadera ya chô ga uketoru amacha mizu

mountain temple--
the butterfly sips
Buddha's tea water

The butterfly is enjoying the water intended for hydrangea tea. On the Eighth Day of Fourth Month Buddha's birthday is celebrated. Since it is used in the festivities, hydrangea tea (amacha) is a season word for this day. As Gabi Greve explains, a miniature hanamidô ("blossom temple hall") is set up at Buddhist temples and decorated with colorful flowers. Small statues of the child Buddha are also decorated with flowers, and hydrangea tea is poured over the statue by visitors.

1821

.斯々と虻の案内や不二詣で
kôkô to abu no annai ya fuji môde

"Come this way!"
the horsefly guides
Mount Fuji's pilgrims

1821

.口がるな蛙也けり夕はらひ
kuchiga[ru]na kawazu nari keri yû harai

the frogs become
talkative...
evening's shrine boats

This haiku refers to a Shinto purification ritual that takes place in Sixth Month in the traditional Japanese calendar. One of the observances is to launch special shrine boats in water; see Kiyose (Tokyo: Kakugawa Shoten, 1984) 162. Shinji Ogawa adds that the most popular forms of the ritual involve (1) entering a shrine through the chinowa (a large ring made of woven reeds) or (2) going to a river and releasing a paper boat containing a paper doll (katashiro). As the doll drifts away it is thought to take "all unclean things with it."

1821

.子を連て猫もそろそろ御祓哉
ko wo tsurete neko mo soro-soro misogi kana

with the child
the cat, too, goes slow...
shrine boats

This haiku refers to a Shinto purification ritual that takes place in Sixth Month in the traditional Japanese calendar. One of the observances is to launch special shrine boats in water; see Kiyose (Tokyo: Kakugawa Shoten, 1984) 162. Shinji Ogawa adds that the most popular forms of the ritual involve (1) entering a shrine through the chinowa (a large ring made of woven reeds) or (2) going to a river and releasing a paper boat containing a paper doll (katashiro). As the doll drifts away it is thought to take "all unclean things with it."

Here, even a child and a cat seem to sense the gravity of the occasion.

1821

.笹舟を流して遊ぶ御祓哉
sasa-bune wo nagashite asobu misogi kana

floating to play
with a bamboo grass boat...
Shinto shrine

This haiku refers to a Shinto purification ritual that takes place in Sixth Month in the traditional Japanese calendar. One of the observances is to launch special shrine boats in water; see Kiyose (Tokyo: Kakugawa Shoten, 1984) 162. Shinji Ogawa adds that the most popular forms of the ritual involve (1) entering a shrine through the chinowa (a large ring made of woven reeds) or (2) going to a river and releasing a paper boat containing a paper doll (katashiro). As the doll drifts away it is thought to take "all unclean things with it."

1821

.しかつべに蛙も並んで夕はらひ
shikatsube ni kawazu mo narande yû harai

with grave seriousness
frogs line up too...
evening's purification

This haiku refers to a Shinto purification ritual that takes place in Sixth Month in the traditional Japanese calendar. One of the observances is to launch special shrine boats in water; see Kiyose (Tokyo: Kakugawa Shoten, 1984) 162. Shinji Ogawa adds that the most popular forms of the ritual involve (1) entering a shrine through the chinowa (a large ring made of woven reeds) or (2) going to a river and releasing a paper boat containing a paper doll (katashiro). As the doll drifts away it is thought to take "all unclean things with it."

Shikatsube is an old word meaning sober or serious; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 751.

1821

.正直に風そよぐ也御祓川
shôjiki ni kaze soyogu nari misogi-gawa

the wind rustles
truthfulness...
river shrine boats

This haiku refers to a Shinto purification ritual that takes place in Sixth Month in the traditional Japanese calendar. One of the observances is to launch special shrine boats in water; see Kiyose (Tokyo: Kakugawa Shoten, 1984) 162. Shinji Ogawa adds that the most popular forms of the ritual involve (1) entering a shrine through the chinowa (a large ring made of woven reeds) or (2) going to a river and releasing a paper boat containing a paper doll (katashiro). As the doll drifts away it is thought to take "all unclean things with it."

1821

.痩蚤を振ふや猫も夕祓
yase nomi wo furuu ya neko mo yû harai

rousting his skinny fleas
the cat too...
evening's purification

This haiku refers to a Shinto purification ritual that takes place in Sixth Month in the traditional Japanese calendar. One of the observances is to launch special shrine boats in water; see Kiyose (Tokyo: Kakugawa Shoten, 1984) 162. Shinji Ogawa adds that the most popular forms of the ritual involve (1) entering a shrine through the chinowa (a large ring made of woven reeds) or (2) going to a river and releasing a paper boat containing a paper doll (katashiro). As the doll drifts away it is thought to take "all unclean things with it."

1821

.髪のない頭も撫る茅の輪哉
kami no nai atama mo naderu chinowa kana

rubbing even
the hairless head...
purification hoop

This haiku refers to a hoop made out of miscanthus reed, used for a summer purification ritual. If one passes through it, one is protected from infectious diseases. In this haiku, even a hairless old person (Issa?) seeks the hoop's benefit.

1821

.茅の輪哉手引て潜る子があらば
chinowa kana te hiite kuguru ko ga araba

purification hoop--
we'd go through hand-in-hand
if I had a child

This haiku refers to a hoop made out of miscanthus reed, used for a summer purification ritual. If one passes through it, one is protected from infectious diseases.

Issa wrote this poem in Sixth Month, 1821. Earlier that year, Issa's third child, Ishitarô, suffocated while bundled on his mother's back. By this point all three of his children had died.

Shinji Ogawa assisted with this translation.

1821

.蝶々の夫婦連してちの輪哉
chôchô no fûfu-zure shite chinowa kana

two butterflies
pass through together...
purification hoop

Literally, the butterflies are "husband and wife" (fûfu).

This haiku refers to a hoop made out of miscanthus reed, used for a summer purification ritual. If one passes through it, one is protected from infectious diseases.

1821

.形代も肩身すぼめて流れけり
katashiro mo katami subomete nagare keri

with a shrug
the little plague god
floats away

On the last day of Sixth Month, a doll of straw or reed is set adrift on a river to exorcise disease and accident.

1821

.形代も吹ばとぶ也軽い身は
katashiro mo fukeba tobu nari karui mi wa

the little plague god
flies in the gust...
its body so light!

On the last day of Sixth Month, a doll of straw or reed is set adrift on a river to exorcise disease and accident.

1821

.形代や乗て流て笹葉舟
katashiro ya nosete nagarete sasaha fune

little plague god--
setting sail on a boat
of bamboo grass

On the last day of Sixth Month, a doll of straw or reed is set adrift on a river to exorcise disease and accident.

1821

.草花にくくり添たる粽かな
kusa-bana ni kukuri soetaru chimaki kana

bundled
with wildflowers too...
rice dumplings

Rice dumplings (chimaki) are wrapped in bamboo grass (sasa). In this case, wildflowers are included in the arrangement.

1821

.小坊主の首にかけたる粽かな
ko bôzu no kubi ni kaketaru chimaki kana

dangling from
the little boy's neck...
a rice dumpling

Just as the expression kozô ("little priest") can be taken literally or to mean any little boy, the "little priest" (ko bôzu) in this haiku might signify not only a Buddhist acolyte but any small, smooth-headed boy.

Rice dumplings (chimaki) are wrapped in bamboo grass (sasa).

1821

.猫の子のほどく手つきや笹粽
neko no ko no hodoku tetsuki ya sasa chimaki

the kitten unwraps it
with clever paws...
rice dumpling

The dumpling is wrapped in bamboo grass (sasa).

1821

.御祭や鵜も寝並んで骨休
o-matsuri ya u mo ne narande honeyasumi

festival--
cormorants asleep in a row
on holiday

Japanese fishermen use cormorants. Tied to a tether, these sea birds dive for fish that they are forced to disgorge. In this haiku, the birds enjoy the day off. It's a rearrangement of a haiku of 1818:

kyô wa u mo honeyasumi suru matsuri kana

even the cormorants
on holiday today...
festival

1821

.はなれ鵜や子の鳴門へ鳴もどる
hanare u ya ko no naku kado e naki modoru

baby comorant cries--
his mother, calling back
returns to the gate

Or: "her mother." In a similar haiku of 1819, the mother returned to the boat. About that haiku, the editors of Issa zenshû gloss hanare u ("loose cormorant") as a bird set free from its tether; (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 6.168, note 101.

1821

.けふの日やけぶり立る鵜のかせぎ
kyô no hi ya keburi tateru mo u no kasegi

today--
even in thick smoke
cormorants make their living

Japanese fishermen use cormorants. Tied to a tether, these sea birds dive for fish that they are forced to disgorge. Issa's meaning (I believe) is that these particular cormorants must work today despite the choking smoke from the boat's torches. Issa's expression is, literally, "rising smoke," but I use "thick smoke" in my translation to hint that the smoke is a negative factor in the scene, an added hardship for the hard-working birds.

1821

.子の鳴をかへり見い見い行鵜哉
ko no naku wo kaeri mii mii yuku u kana

looking back, back
to her crying children
cormorant departs

Japanese fishermen use cormorants. Tied to a tether, these sea birds dive for fish that they are forced to disgorge.

1821

.今日も今日も今日も今日もやだまし雲
kyômo kyômo kyômo kyômo ya da[ma]shi kumo

today too
today too...
cheating clouds

This haiku has the prescript, "Praying for Rain."

1821

.さをしかに書物負せて更衣
saoshika ni shomatsu owasete koromogae

I let the buck
carry my notebook...
new summer robe

Issa could be referring to a tame deer, like those found wandering the temple grounds at Nara.

1821

.手八丁口八丁やころもがへ
te hatchô kuchi hatchô ya koromogae

skillful hands
skillful mouths...
new summer robes

In a similar haiku, written the same year, Issa ends with kado suzumi ("coolness at the gate").

1821

.むだ人や隙にあぐんでころもがい
muda hito ya hima ni agunde koromogai

vain mankind!
so soon sick of their
new summer robes

Issa spells koromogae nonstandardly in this haiku: koromogai.

1821

.一丁に三人計りあはせ哉
itchô [ni] sannin bakari awase kana

about three people
per block...
summer robes

1821

.忽に寝じはだらけの袷哉
tachimachi ni ne-jiwa darake no awase kana

in no time
filled with sleep wrinkles...
my summer kimono

This haiku refers to the year's first day of putting on summer clothes. Issa, who liked his naps, wrinkles his summer kimono right away.

1821

.目出度さの浅ぎ袷や朝参り
medetasa no asagi awase ya asa mairi

in celebratory light blue
kimonos...
morning pilgrimage

Or: "in a celebratory light blue kimono..." Issa leaves to the reader's imagination whether there is one pilgrim or several dressed in this way. His haiku refers to the year's first day of putting on summer clothes.

1821

.十露盤にあごつっ張って昼寝哉
soroban ni ago tsuppatte hirune kana

with his chin propped
on his abacus...
siesta

In earlier versions of this haiku (1818 and 1819), the snoozing businessman in question has his elbows on the abacus. The chin on the abacus is a more humorous, better poetic image. It took three years, but Issa finally got it right.

1821

.わんぱくの相伴したる昼寝哉
wanpaku no shôban shitaru hirune kana

a naughty child
joins the adults...
siesta

The child "participates in" or "joins in" (shôban shitaru) the siesta. Though Issa doesn't say it, we can assume that the other sleepers in the scene are adults.

1821

.うんうんと坂を上りて扇かな
un-un to saka wo noborite ôgi kana

they huff and puff
up the hill...
paper fans flitting

1821

.灸点の背中をあをぐ団扇哉
kyûten no senaka wo aogu uchiwa kana

fanning his back sores
from burning wormwood...
Edo paper fan

In traditional medicine, sharp sticks of wormwood are stuck, and burned, for healing purposes or simply to ensure good health. Edo is today's Tokyo.

Shinji Ogawa writes, "Sensôji, or Sensô Temple, in Edo (Asaskusa) is very famous for the wormwood treatment."

1821

.蚊いぶしの中から出たる茶の子哉
ka ibushi no naka kara detaru cha no ko kana

emerging from
the smudge pot smoke...
tea cakes

This haiku refers to the custom of smoking out mosquitoes using the dense smoke of a smudge pot.

1821

.尻べたに筵の形や一涼み
shiribeta ni mushiro no nari ya hito suzumi

straw mat marks
on my butt...
a cool breeze

This is a rewrite of a haiku of 1818. In the original, the straw mat left a pattern on Issa's cheek. In this version, he decided to feature different cheeks.

1821

.あきらめて涼ずに寝る小僧哉
akiramete suzumazu ni neru kozô kana

giving up
waiting for cool air...
the little boy sleeps

Literally, a "little priest" (kozô) is involved. However, in Japanese this expression can mean any little boy.

1821

.江戸で見た山は是也一涼み
edo de mita yama wa kore nari hito suzumi

the mountain I saw from Edo
is now here...
a cool breeze

Edo is today's Tokyo.

1821

.鍬鍛冶が涼む真似して夜なべ哉
kuwa kaji ga suzumu mane shite yonabe kana

the blacksmith basks
in the cool air...
night work

The blacksmith is supposed to be working but instead "imitates" (mane shite) his neighbors who are sitting outside, enjoying the cool air.

1821

.捨人やよなべさわぎを門涼
sutebito ya yonabe sawagi wo kado suzumi

others toil in the evening
not the hermit...
coolness at the gate

Sutebito is a person who has rejected the world: a "hermit" or a "recluse"; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 885.

Shinji Ogawa notes that this haiku is a typical case of a "dangling modifier." Since the subjects are often hidden in Japanese sentences, there are many cases of dangling modifier. In this haiku, there are two subjects: the hermit and ordinary people. The hermit enjoys the evening cool while others work. The hermit, Shinji believes, might be Issa himself.

1821

.大切の涼相手も草の露
taisetsu no suzumi aite mo kusa no tsuyu

my treasured companion
for the cool air...
now, dew on the grass

This haiku has the prescript, "Deceased." Shinji Ogawa believes that Issa is referring to his infant son, Ishitarô, who died in the First Month of 1821; he wrote this haiku, the same year, in Ninth Month. The phrase, "dew on the grass" can mean "become dew on the grass," in other words, "pass away."

1821

.手八丁口八丁や門涼
te hatchô kuchi hatchô ya kado suzumi

skillful hands
skillful mouths...
coolness at the gate

I believe that Issa is describing people working and chattering while he lazily enjoys the coolness. He writes a nearly identical haiku in the same year, ending with koromogae ("new summer robes") In another haiku of 1821, he writes:

sutebito ya yonabe sawagi wo kado suzumi

others toil in the evening
not the hermit...
coolness at the gate

1821

.山陰や涼みがてらのわらぢ茶屋
yama kage ya suzumi-gatera no waraji chaya

mountain shade--
while enjoying the cool air
straw sandals, teahouse

The suffix -gatera, equivalent to -katagata, means "while" or "at the same time."

1821

.山々の講釈するや門涼み
yama-yama no kôshaku suru ya kado suzumi

talking about this mountain
and that...
coolness at the gate

In my first reading of this haiku, I pictured Buddhist priests, preaching. Shinji Ogawa notes that kôshaku can indeed be translated as "sermon" or "lecture," but in this case it more likely signifies, simply, "talking."

1821

.両国やちと涼むにも迷子札
ryôgoku ya chito suzumu ni mo maigo fuda

Ryogoku Bridge--
even in this moment of coolness
a lost child sign

Ryôgoku Bridge is the oldest of the major bridges crossing the Sumida River in Edo (today's Tokyo). It links the provinces of Shimosa and Musashi, hence its name, which means, "Both Provinces."

According to Maruyama Kazuhiko, Ryôgoku was a famous east-west bridge where people would gather to enjoy the cool of evening; Issa haiku shû (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1990; rpt. 1993) 132, note 637.

Shinji Ogawa translates chito suzumu ni mo: "even to cool oneself for a little while." The adverb, chito, means in this context "for a little while." In this brief, happy moment of enjoying the coolness on the bridge, a troubling reality intrudes.

1821

.虻一ッ馬の腹にて涼みけり
abu hitotsu uma no hara nite suzumi keri

one horsefly
on the horse's belly
cooling off

This haiku is funnier in Japanese, since "cooling off" or "enjoying the cool air" (suzumi) is understood as a primarily human activity. At the end of a hot summer day, people flock to bridges and shady spots to enjoy the coolness. Here, a horsefly does the same.

1821

.温泉のけぶる際より田植哉
onsen no keburu kiwa yori taue kana

touched by
the hot spring's steam...
planting rice

1821

.しなのぢや山の上にも田植笠
shinano ji ya yama no ue ni mo taue kasa

Shinano road--
atop the mountain, too
rice planters' umbrella-hats

1821

.人の世や山の上でも田植うた
hito no yo ya yama no ue demo taue uta

world of man--
even atop a mountain
rice planters singing

1821

.俗人に抱れながらもかのこ哉
zokunin ni dakare [na]gara mo kanoko kana

being hugged
by a worldly fellow...
fawn

The scene is (most likely) a Buddhist temple where the tame deer run free. A "wordling" or "lay person" (zokunin) hugs the fawn; this person is probably Issa. The fawn is a creature of innocence and religious purity, yet it deigns to be hugged by a person grimed by the dust of this world.

1821

.母親と同じ枕の手負哉
haha oya to onaji makura no teoi kana

sharing
his mother's pillow...
wounded deer

This image of a fawn lying next to his dying mother (wounded by a hunter's arrow), is one of Issa's most tragic.

Sheila Windsor helped to polish the translation.

1821

.垣外へ必らず出るな羽抜鳥
kaki soto e kanarazu deruna hanuke tori

by all means
stay inside the fence!
molting bird

Issa suggests, with tongue in cheek, the bird looks naked without its feathers, so it shouldn't leave the yard and be seen in public.

Kaki can be translated as "fence" or "hedge."

1821

.子は親をつくづく見るや羽ぬけ鳥
ko wa oya wo tsuku-zuku miru ya hanuke tori

the baby birds' eyes
riveted on mother...
molting

In this comic a fledgling stares fixedly at his or her molting parent, as if trying hard to recognize this sudden stranger. Molting is a summer seasonal word in Japanese haiku. In the summertime, birds shed their old feathers, which are replaced by new ones. This natural process provides a moment of humor for Issa, as the baby bird stares ... and wonders.

1821

.今の間やえど見てもどる時鳥
ima no ma ya edo mite modoru hototogisu

just now
back from its Edo tour...
cuckoo

Shinji Ogawa explains that edo mite modoru doesn't mean, as I first thought, "returning to see Edo," but rather, "returning from seeing Edo." Issa, like the bird, made frequent trips to and from the Shogun's city of Edo (today's Tokyo) in order to keep up with haiku activity in that cultural center.

1821

.大降や業腹まぎれのほととぎす
ôburi ya gôhara magire no hototogisu

in heavy rain
seething with resentment
cuckoo

1821

.初声は江戸へ江戸へと時鳥
hatsu-goe wa edo [e] edo [e] to hototogisu

morning's first voice
"To Edo! To Edo!"
cuckoo

Instead of a rooster crowing, the first birdsong of the day is that of the cuckoo (hototogisu). Edo is present-day Tokyo.

1821

.やあれまて声が高いぞ時鳥
yaare mate koe ga takai zo hototogisu

that voice of yours
too shrill!
cuckoo

Issa could be saying that the bird's call is too loud or too high-pitched. In my translation, I opt for the latter.

1821

.山人に鼻つままれなほととぎす
yamaudo [ni] hana tsumama[re]na hototogisu

don't get your nose picked
by the mountain hermit!
cuckoo

Yamaudo, literally, a "mountain person," can also mean a hermit, in this case, Issa? Shinji Ogawa notes that there is an idiom, hana tsumamare temo wakaranai hodo kurai: "It is so dark that you cannot tell who is picking your nose." Issa plays with this expression in the present haiku.

1821

.我先へ浅間巡りやほととぎす
ware saki e asama meguri ya hototogisu

trying to beat
Mount Asama's pilgrims...
cuckoo

Mount Asama is a volcano in Issa's home province of Shinano, active during the poet's lifetime. The eruption of 1783, when Issa was twenty-one years old and living in Edo (today's Tokyo), killed 1,151 people.

Shinji Ogawa notes that the phrase, ware saki means, "to strive to be first."

1821

.金の花咲た山より閑古鳥
kane no hana saita yama yori kankodori

on a mountain
of golden flowers in bloom
a cuckoo

The bird in question is a "mountain cuckoo" (kankodori). To avoid redundancy in the translation, it appears simply as "cuckoo."

1821

.閑古鳥でも来てくれようしろ窓
kankodori demo kite kure yo ushiro mado

even you, mountain cuckoo
visit me!
back window

Shinji Ogawa translates kankodori demo kite kure yo: "Someone, even the mountain cuckoo, please come to see me!"

1821

.閑古鳥鳴やねまればねまるとて
kankodori naku ya nemareba nemaru tote

a mountain cuckoo singing--
if I could only
sleep!

I first assumed that Issa was using nemaru in the sense of "to stay" or "to sojourn"; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1285. Shinji Ogawa, however, reads it as "to sleep" (variant of nemuru), so I've revised the translation.

1821

.此おくに山湯ありとやかんこ鳥
kono oku ni yamayu ari to ya kankodori

"In these wilds
there's a hotspring!"
mountain cuckoo

I picture the bird reporting this information to Issa--and so I have translated the first two phrases as a quotation. A "mountain hot spring" (yamayu) is nearby. I translate this simply as "hot spring" because my English for kankodori ("mountain cuckoo") already has the word "mountain in it," suggesting the location.

1821

.古郷は雲の下なり閑古鳥
furusato wa kumo no shita nari kankodori

my home village
beneath that cloud...
mountain cuckoo

1821

.山寺や炭つく臼もかんこ鳥
yamadera ya sumi tsuku usu mo kankodori

on the mountain temple's
coal grinder too...
mountain cuckoo

Before reading this haiku, I was aware of two types of usu or mill: (1) shiki usu (grinding hand-mill) and (2) a large wooden tub used for rice or herb cake making. Here, the bird is perched on some sort of tub or contraption in which charcoal is ground.

1821

.鶯や年が寄ってもあんな声
uguisu ya toshi ga yotte mo anna koe

nightingale
you're growing old...
but what a voice!

The seasonal reference of this haiku is to nightingales (uguisu) that are still singing in summertime.

Shinji Ogawa notes that mo signifies, in this context, "instead" or "despite"--not, as I first believed, "also."

1821

.年は寄っても鶯はうぐいすぞ
toshi wa yotte mo uguisu [wa] uguisu zo

though growing old
the nightingale's
a nightingale!

The seasonal reference of this haiku is to nightingales (uguisu) that are still singing in summertime.

Shinji Ogawa assisted with this translation.

1821

.行々し口から先へ生れたか
gyôgyôshi kuchi kara saki e umareta ka

reed thrush
were you born
mouth first?

I believe that Issa is referring to the bird's love of loud singing.

1821

.頭巾きた阿房阿房とや夕水鶏
zukin kita ahô ahô to ya yû kuina

"You're a lot of fools
wearing skullcaps!"
evening moorhen

Is Issa (through the moorhen) making fun of human fashion?

1821

.蛇も一皮むけて涼しいか
kuchinawa mo hito kawa mukete suzushii ka

with skin peeled off
snake
are you cool?

1821

.馬の背を掃おろしたる蛍哉
uma no se wo haki-orishitaru hotaru kana

sweeping them off
the horse's back...
fireflies

This is a revision of a haiku of 1815. In the original, the fireflies are swept off the back of a cow.

1821

.かくれ家は蛍の休所哉
kakurega wa hotaru no yasumi-dokoro kana

secluded house--
a firefly
resort

1821

.初蛍仏の花にいく夜寝る
hatsu hotaru hotoke no hana ni iku yo neru

first firefly
how many nights did you sleep
in Buddha's flowers?

A temple scene?

1821

.枕にも足のうらにもほたる哉
makura ni mo ashi no ura ni mo hotaru kana

from my pillow
to the soles of my feet
fireflies

1821

.ぼうふりの念仏おどりや墓の水
bôfuri no nebutsu odori ya haka no mizu

mosquito larvae
dance in memoriam...
the tomb's puddle

1821

.蚊柱や犬の尻から天窓から
ka-bashira ya inu no shiri kara atama kara

mosquito swarms--
from the dog's butt
and head

The mosquitoes are swarming in two columns (ka-bashira) that seem to emanate from both ends of the dog.

1821

.隙人や蚊が出た出たと触歩く
himajin ya ka ga deta deta to fure aruku

men of leisure--
"Mosquitoes have come!"
they say

R. H. Blyth reads the first phrase, himabito; see Haiku (Tokyo: Hokuseido, 1949-1952; rpt. 1981-1982/reset paperback edition) 3.802.

1821

.群蠅を口で追いけり門の犬
mure-bae wo kuchi de oi keri kado no inu

chasing the fly swarm
with his mouth...
dog at the gate

Or: "her mouth."

1821

.老牛も蠅はらふ尾は持にけり
oi ushi mo hae harau o wa mochi [ni] keri

even the old cow
has a fly-whisking
tail

1821

.老の手や蝿を打さへ逃た跡
oi no te ya hae wo utsu sae nigeta ato

the old hand
swats a fly
already gone

1821

.口明て蝿を追ふ也門の犬
kuchi akete hae wo ou nari kado no inu

gaping mouthed
and fly-hungry...
dog at the gate

Kai Falkman uses this haiku to illustrate the importance of preserving the original order of images in translation. R. H. Blyth begins his translation with "The dog at the gate," inversing the order of images and removing the "point" of the haiku, the revelation that the fly is being chased by a dog, guarding the gate. Falkman also notes "the similarity between the open mouth and the gate: two entrances," suggesting a parallelism between the first image and the last; see Understanding Haiku: A Pyramid of Meaning (Winchester, VA: Red Moon Press, 2002) 35.

1821

.そり立のつぶりを蠅に踏れけり
sori tate no tsuburi wo hae ni fumare keri

my clean-shaven head--
the flies
stomp on it

Tsuburi is an old word for "head"; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1101.

1821

.堂の蝿数珠する人の手をまねる
dô no hae juzu suru hito no te wo maneru

temple fly mimic--
hands
praying beads

1821

.群蠅の逃げた跡打皺手哉
mure-bae no nigeta ato utsu shiwade kana

after the fly swarm
escapes, swat!
my wrinkled hand

Or: "the wrinkled hand." Issa doesn't specify that it is his. R. H. Blyth, in his translation, prefers to imagine that it is; A History of Haiku (Tokyo: Hokuseido, 1964) 1.406.

1821

.やれ打な蝿が手をすり足をする
yare utsuna hae ga te wo suri ashi wo suru

don't swat the fly!
praying hands
praying feet

In this famous haiku Issa sees the natural "hand-rubbing" behavior of the fly as hands praying, pleading to be spared. Adding a comic twist, he notes that the fly is praying even with its feet!

This haiku is one of the "essential" 188 picked by the translator. back next

1821

.でくでくと蚤まけせぬや田舎猫
deku-deku to nomi make senu ya inaka neko

trudging along
enduring his fleas...
country cat

Or: "her fleas."

1821

.湖や山を目当に蚤およぐ
mizuumi ya yama wo meate ni nomi oyogu

in the lake
heading for the mountain...
the flea swims

A wonderful poem about the indomitable life-spirit. This flea reminds me of another of Issa's optimists:

katatsuburi soro-soro nobore fuji no yama

little snail
inch by inch, climb
Mount Fuji!

Shinji Ogawa believes that the insect in question is a "water-flea" (nomi-oyogu). I prefer to imagine that one of Issa's ordinary fleas has hopped (or has been dropped) into the water, and now swims for its little life, as in this haiku of ten years earlier:

sakazuki ni nomi oyogu [zo]yo oyogu [zo]yo

in a sake cup
a flea
swimming! swimming!

1821

.我宿は蚤捨薮のとなり哉
waga yado wa nomi sute yabu no tonari kana

my home--
next door to a thicket
of fleas

Literally, Issa's house is next door to a thicket where others (people? animals?) have discarded their fleas.

1821

.狗の夢見て鳴か夜のせみ
enokoro no yume mite naku ka yoru no semi

are you watching
the dog's dream?
cicada singing at night

1821

.鳴ながら蝉の登るやぬり柱
naki nagara semi no noboru ya nuri-bashira

chirring as he climbs
cicada on the lacquered
post

1821

.もろ蝉やもろ雨垂や大御堂
moro-zemi ya moro amadare ya ômidô

so many cicadas
so many raindrops from the eaves!
great temple hall

R. H. Blyth translates the middle phrase, "All kinds of raindrops dripping"; A History of Haiku (Tokyo: Hokuseido, 1964) 1.398. An amadare is an eavesdrop, where water falls from a roof's overhang. Shinji Ogawa warns that the "rain" may not actually be rain. There is Japanese idiom, semi-shigure, which literally means "cicada-rain," but actually denotes cicadas singing in such a great number that it sounds like pouring rain. When it's really raining, Shinji adds, cicadas are not likely to sing.

1821

.薮寺や夜もおりおり蝉の声
yabu tera ya yoru mo ori-ori semi no koe

temple in the thicket--
even at night, now and then
cicada song

1821

.鳴明す蓼くふ虫も好々に
naki akasu tade kuu mushi mo suki-zuki ni

some sing all night
some eat knotweed...
a matter of taste

Issa contemplates different insects, different lifestyles. In his original text the word "insect" (mushi) appears, but I think the English version is more effective without this.

A year later, he writes:

tade kuu ya hi ni iru mushi mo suki-zuki ni

some eat knotweed
some fly into flames...
a matter of taste

1821

.縁はなや上手に曲るかたつむり
en hana ya jyôzu ni magaru katatsumuri

verandah flower--
making a skillful turn
a snail

In a similar haiku of 1821 the snail comes down a straw fence skillfully.

1821

.かたつぶり気がむいたやらごろり寝る
katatsuburi ki ga muita yara gorori neru

the snail does just
as he pleases...
curled asleep

Or: "as she pleases."

1821

.元政の垣に昼寝やかたつむり
gensei no kaki ni hirune ya katatsumuri

having a siesta
on Gensei's fence...
a snail

Gensei was a scholar-monk who died in 1796. See Issa zenshû (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79), 4.166, note 1.

Kaki can be translated as "fence" or "hedge."

1821

.でで虫の其身其まま寝起哉
dedemushi no sono mi sono mama neoki kana

little snail, no different
asleep
awake

I see the snail in this poem as Issa's counterpart and, perhaps, his role model. Its perfect composure makes it a perfect Buddhist.

Nanao Sakaki reads the poem differently. He believes that Issa may be jealous of the snail: "I must think about money and human relations but the snail doesn't care, just goes to sleep, just walk[s] around, eat[s]...uh-oh, But not me, why? Why? That is his point. Why is important..."; Inch by Inch: 45 Haiku by Issa (Albuquerque: La Alameda Press, 1999) 70.

This haiku is one of the "essential" 188 picked by the translator. back next

1821

.わら垣や上手に落るかたつむり
wara kaki ya jyôzu ni ochiru katatsumuri

straw fence--
coming down skillfully
a snail

In a similar haiku of 1821 the snail turns on a verandah flower skillfully.

1821

.暑い世へ出るが蚯蚓の栄よう哉
atsui yo e deru ga mimizu [no] eyô kana

coming out
to a hot world, earthworm's
prosperity

Or: "earthworms'/ prosperity." Earthworms emerging from the ground is a summer event in the seasonal classification of haiku. This hot time of year is a time of luxury and prosperity (eyô) for the worms.

1821

.あばらやに痩がまんせぬぼたん哉
abaraya ni yasegaman senu botan kana

in my ramshackle hut
she holds her head high...
the peony

Or: "the peonies." Sakuo Nakamura points out that the verb senu makes the action negative ("not").

Jean Cholley's French translation guided my first translation, which began with the phrase, "not long for life." Cholley's flowers "don't endure for long" (ne tiennent à durer longtemps); En village de miséreux: Choix de poèmes de Kobayashi Issa (Paris: Gallimard, 1996) 191. Shinji Ogawa notes that yasegaman means "to endure something through pride." He writes, "I think that Issa has gorgeous peonies in his garden. How he says it is the question. If Issa said, 'I have gorgeous peonies in my garden,' then it may not be called a haiku. In order to glorify the beauty of the peonies, he devalues his house, ('my tumble-down house'), as usual, to intensify the contrast. To add an interesting relation to the contrast, Issa adopts the peony as his daughter (anthropomorphism). And he is saying, 'Despite her humble origin, the peony isn't intimidated at all'--a typical scene of a jewel in a dunghill."

1821

.痩庭にやせぼたんではなかりけり
yase niwa ni yase botan dewa nakari keri

in the pitiful garden
no pitiful
peonies!

1821

.なでしこのなぜ折たぞよおれたぞよ
nade[shi]ko no naze oreta zoyo oreta zoyo

why did the blooming
pink break?
oh why?

Shortly after New Year's, 1821, Issa's third child, the infant boy Ishitaro, died of suffocation while bundled on his mother's back. In this haiku of mourning, written shortly after the tragedy, Issa depicts his son as an innocent, broken flower.

1821

.物陰にこっそり咲や小なでしこ
monokage ni kossori saku ya ko nadeshiko

in something's shadow
slyly blooming...
little pink

1821

.浮草にふはり蛙の遊山かな
ukikusa ni fuwari kawazu no yusan kana

on the duckweed's softness
the frog's
picnic

Or: "the frogs'/ picnic."

According to the editors of Issa zenshû, Issa would have pronounced duckweed, ukikusa. Modern pronunciation = ukigusa; (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 1.403.

1821

.浮草や桶に咲ても風そよぐ
ukikusa ya oke ni saite mo kaze soyogu

duckweed--
even blooming in a bucket
wind-rustled

According to the editors of Issa zenshû, Issa would have pronounced duckweed, ukikusa. Modern pronunciation = ukigusa; (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 1.403.

1821

.御鼠ちょろちょろ浮草渡り哉
on-nezumi choro-choro ukikusa watari kana

Sir Mouse
nimbly, nimbly crosses
the duckweed

Choro-choro refers to an action that is done deftly, nimbly, quickly; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1069.

1821

.麦つくや大道中の大月夜
mugi tsuku ya daidô naka no ôtsuki yo

barley husking--
in the middle of the highway
a bright moon

The work continues into the night.

Mugi is a generic term that refers to several grains: wheat, barley, oats, and rye.

In a similar haiku written later (1825), a "tea kettle" (chagama) appears in the middle of the highway.

1821

.御地蔵の膝も眼鼻も苔の花
o-jizô [no] hiza mo mehana mo koke no hana

in holy Jizo's
lap, eyes, nose...
blooming moss

Jizô is the beloved guardian deity of children.

1821

.猫の寝た跡もつかぬぞ苔の花
neko no neta ato mo tsukanu zo koke no hana

undented
by the cat's nap...
moss blossoms

These tiny blossoms are tough and unyielding. The cat leaves no impression in them.

1821

.屋根の苔花迄咲いて落にけり
yane no koke hana made saite ochi ni keri

even the roof's moss
blooms
then scatters

1821

.家の棟や烏が落す苔の花
ya no mune ya karasu ga otosu koke no hana

house's ridge-pole--
the crow flings down
moss blossoms

1821

.夕陰や下手が植ても苔の花
yûkage ya heta ga uete mo koke no hana

evening shadows--
even the poorly growing
moss has bloomed

1821

.老僧が塵拾ひけり苔の花
rôsô ga chiri hiroi keri koke no hana

the old priest
picks off the dust...
moss blossoms

Originally, I had the priest sweeping the dust, but Sakuo Nakamura suggests that "picks off" is a more accurate translation of hiroi. In English, this makes the old priest's gesture appear even more intimate and respectful of the tiny blossoms.

1821

.うら窓の明り先なりことし竹
ura mado no akarisaki nari kotoshi take

blocking the light
of the back window...
this year's bamboo

1821

.若竹のわかい盛りも直過る
waka take no wakai sakari mo sugu sugiru

the young bamboo's
peak of youth, too
soon passes

The "too" (mo) implies a comparison with humans, particularly Issa, an "old" man of 59 years at the time.

1821

.筍の面かく猫の影法師
takenoko no tsura kaku neko no kagebôshi

scratching the face
of a bamboo shoot...
cat's shadow

When I first translated this haiku, I assumed that tsura kaku neko ("face-scratching-cat") meant that a cat was scratching its own face, and that takenoko ("bamboo shoot's(") situated this action among bamboo shoots. Shinji Ogawa explains that, taken together, takenoko no tsura kaku neko in fact means, "scratching the bamboo shoot's face."

1821

.筍の番してござる地蔵哉
takenoko no ban shite gozaru jizô kana

kindly guarding
the bamboo shoots...
holy Jizo

Jizô is the beloved guardian deity of children. Here, he extends his protection even to the baby bamboo.

1821

.桶の尻並べ立たるわか葉かな
oke no shiri narabe-tatetaru wakaba kana

upside-down buckets
stand in a row...
fresh green leaves

I assume that the buckets are drying in the sun.

1821

.けし炭の庇にかわくわか葉哉
keshizumi no hisashi ni kawaku wakaba kana

singed by charcoal
cinders in the eaves...
fresh new leaves

Someone has dumped charcoal cinders on the eaves of a house, where they singe "young leaves" (wakaba).

1821

.隙人やだらつきあきてわか葉陰
himajin ya daretsuki akite wakaba kage

a man of liesure
lazily sprawls...
shadow of new leaves

This could be a self-portrait of the poet.

1821

.塀の猫庇の桶やむら若葉
hei no neko hisashi no oke ya mura wakaba

cat on the fence
bucket on the eaves...
fresh green leaves

1821

.若葉して猫と烏と喧嘩哉
wakaba shite neko to karasu to kenka kana

fresh new leaves--
the cat and the crow
quarrel

1821

.若葉して福々しさよ無縁寺
wakaba shite fukubukushisa yo muenji

the fresh new leaves
happy and well...
Muen Temple

Muenji ("Muen Temple") is "a temple for the souls of dead persons who have no relatives" (Shinji Ogawa). Literally, then, the haiku reads:

the fresh new leaves
happy and well...
temple for the departed without relatives

Unfortunately, the last line stretches the poem too long for a good haiku in English. For this reason, I have left Muen untranslated.

1821

.上人が昼寝つかふや夏木立
shônin ga hirune tsukau ya natsu kodachi

the holy man
grabs a siesta...
grove of summer trees

The napper is identified as a shônin: a Buddhist saint or a priest.

1821

.むら雨や墓のしきみも夏木立
murasame ya haka no shikimi mo natsu kodachi

rain shower--
the grave's shikimi branches, too
are summer trees

Branches of the shikimi tree are placed on Buddhist graves. In my vision of this haiku, the rain is causing these branches to bud.

Shinji Ogawa doubts that Issa intended the above reading of shikimi. He writes that shikimi "means threshold." He visualizes the haiku in the following way: "Viewing the grave as a house, Issa saw the summer tree as the threshold."

1821

.作りながらわらぢ売なり木下闇
tsukuri nagara waraji uru nari ko shita yami

making a straw sandal
while selling it...
deep tree shade

The vendor is busy, selling a sandal while at the same time weaving it.

1821

.卯の花に布子の膝の光哉
u no hana ni nunoko no hiza no hikari kana

the deutzia blossoms
light up
my lap

Not translated: the subject of the haiku is wearing padded cotton clothing (nunoko).

1821

.卯の花の四角に暮る在所哉
u no hana no yosumi ni kureru zaisho kana

deutzia blossoms
on all four corners...
farmhouse at dusk

Issa uses zaisho sometimes to refer to a farmhouse, specifically, his house; and sometimes to refer to a farming town, specifically, his native village. Issa wrote this in Fourth Month 1821. He revised it later that year in Ninth Month to end with "the headman's house" (nanushi kana).

1821

.卯の花の四角に暮名主哉
u no hana no yosumi ni kureru nanushi kana

deutzia blossoms
on all four corners...
headman's house at dusk

A nanushi is the village headman. Issa wrote this haiku in Ninth Month, 1821. It is a revision of a poem composed earlier that year in Fourth Month. The original version has a "farmhouse" (zaisho). The two poems express different feelings. An ordinary farmhouse surrounded by deutzia blossoms is an image of natural riches compensating for poverty. A headman's house surrounded by the blossoms feels like a conspicuous display of status.

1821

.卯の花や子供の作る土だんご
u no hana ya kodomo no tsukuru tsuchi dango

deutzia in bloom
the children make
mud-dumplings

This haiku shows children at playtime. They imitate the important kitchen work of their mothers, only instead of using rice or genuine food ingredients, they use mud. Issa employs his favorite method of juxtaposition. The blooming of the deutzia shrubs, a summer event, is occuring side-by-side with the children's slapping together their muddy cakes. The reader must contemplate the deep connection of the two occurences. Is Issa suggesting that the shrubs and the children are doing essentially the same thing? Both are creators; both are creative. The shrubs create beauty in their blossoms; the children create dumplings, fantasy, and joy.

1821

.大江戸にまぢりて赤き李哉
ôedo ni majirite akaki sumomo kana

sprinkled into
great Edo...
red plums

1821

.もまれてや江戸の李は赤くなる
momarete ya edo no sumomo wa akaku naru

handled and squeezed
Edo's plums
turn red

Issa later revises this haiku, replacing "plums" with "mushrooms" (kinoko).

1821

.小盥の魚どものいふけさの秋
ko-darai no uo-domo no iu kesa no aki

the little tub's fish
announce...
"It's autumn's first morning!"

The ending -domo indicates that there is a large number of the same thing in the scene, in this case, fish; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1183.

1821

.門の月暑がへれば友もへる
kado no tsuki atsusa ga hereba tomo mo heru

moon at the gate--
as the heat dwindles
so do companions

A haiku about autumn weather: as the nights grow colder, fewer companions are outside with Issa, viewing the moon.

1821

.朝寒に拭ふや石の天窓迄
asa-zamu ni nuguu ya ishi no atama made

in morning's cold
wiping even the head
of the stone

The haiku that follows this one in Issa's journal reveals what the stone is: it is the monumental stone by the gate of the house:

asa-zamu ya zôkin ateru kado no ishi

morning cold--
a wipe of the cleaning rag
for the gate's stone

Both haiku were written in Ninth Month, 1821; Issa zenshû (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 4.207.

1821

.朝寒や雑巾あてる門の石
asa-zamu ya zôkin ateru kado no ishi

morning cold--
a wipe of the cleaning rag
for the gate's stone

Shinji Ogawa notes that ateru means, in this context, "to touch" or "to wipe"--not, as I first translated it, "to slap."

The previous haiku in Issa's journal is on the same topic:

asa-zamu ni nuguu ya ishi no atama made

in morning's cold
wiping even the head
of the stone

Both haiku were written in Ninth Month, 1821; Issa zenshû (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 4.207.

1821

.朝寒や茶ふくで巡る七大寺
asa-zamu ya chafuku de meguru shichidaiji

morning cold--
bloated with tea, visiting
Schichidai Temple

1821

.御地蔵も人をばかすぞ秋の暮
o-jizô mo hito wo bakasu zo aki no kure

even holy Jizo
bewitches people...
autumn dusk

Jizô is the beloved guardian deity of children.

In this strange haiku, Issa claims that kindly Jizô, too, can bewitch, enchant, confuse or delude people...like a fox spirit.

1821

.秋の夜や木を割にさへ小夜ぎぬた
aki no yo ya ki wo waru ni sae sayo-ginuta

autumn evening--
a sound to split trees even
pounding cloth

The noise is so piercing, Issa (who possibly is trying to sleep) exaggerates. In Japan and Korea, fulling-blocks were used to pound fabric and bedding. The fabric was laid over a flat stone, covered with paper, and pounded, making a distinctive sound. In my earlier translation, I use the phrase, "fulling-block," an arcane term that means nothing to most English readers. "Pounding cloth" is a translation solution provided by Makoto Ueda, whose example I gratefully follow; Matsuo Bashô (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1982) 53.

1821

.秋の夜や乞食村へも祭り客
aki no yo ya kojiki mura e mo matsuri kyaku

autumn evening--
even for beggar-town
festival guests

Issa wrote several haiku about "beggar-town," a village of poverty.

1821

.おのが田へ夜水を引て天の川
ono ga ta e yo mizu no hiite ama no kawa

haul some night water
to my rice field...
Milky Way!

Issa's phrase, "Heaven's River" (ama no kawa) refers to the Milky Way. Issa playfully asks it to water his rice paddy. Shinji Ogawa adds that there is a Chinese phrase, ga-den-in-sui ("drawing water to one's own rice field"), which signifies the promotion of one's own self-interest. Issa is playing with this phrase. On the one hand, his field seems grand, receiving water from Heaven痴 River, while on the other hand, his purpose is diminutive, since he only seeks to promote his own interest. This, Shinji notes, "is the structure of the humor."

1821

.かしましき寝ぼけ烏や天の川
kashimashiki neboke karasu ya ama no kawa

the half-asleep crows
raise a ruckus...
Milky Way

"Heaven's River" refers to the Milky Way.

1821

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

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

Fukagawa is a neighborhood in Edo (today's Tokyo) on Sumida River's east bank. The great haiku poet Bashô lived there in his Bashô-an ("Banana-leaf hermitage").

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 (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2004) 138.

1821

.片里は盆の月夜の日延かな
kata-zato wa bon no tsuki yo no hinobe kana

remote village--
the Bon Festival moon
postponed

This haiku refers to the Bon Festival. The Bon Festival of the Dead takes place in Eighth Month in the old lunar calendar. At this time, people light lanterns to guide their ancestors' spirits back home.

1821

.戸しょうじの洗濯したり盆の月
to shôji no sentaku shitari bon no tsuki

the paper door
gets a scrubbing...
Bon Festival moon

This haiku refers to the Bon Festival. The Bon Festival of the Dead takes place in Eighth Month in the old lunar calendar. At this time, people light lanterns to guide their ancestors' spirits back home.

1821

.もろこしをあぶり焦すや盆の月
morokoshi wo aburi kogasu ya bon no tsuki

roasting millet
till it's charred...
Bon Festival moon

This haiku refers to the Bon Festival. The Bon Festival of the Dead takes place in Eighth Month in the old lunar calendar. At this time, people light lanterns to guide their ancestors' spirits back home.

1821

.虻もとらぬ蜂をもとらぬ月見哉
abu mo toranu hachi [wo] mo toranu tsukimi kana

not swatting horseflies
not swatting bees...
moon gazing

Literally, Issa is refusing to "catch" the horseflies and bees, but "swat" works better in English, if one accepts Sakuo Nakamura's description of the scene. He pictures the insects surrounding the poet's head, bothering him. And yet, Issa lets them be, concentrating only on the moon. Sakuo adds, "At that moment, he enters into Nirvana."

1821

.在合の山ですますやけふの月
ariai no yama de sumasu ya kyô no tsuki

this here mountain
will have to do...
tonight's moon

R. H. Blyth translates the prescript to this haiku: "Ubasute was difficult for old legs." He goes on to say that Issa wanted to go moon-gazing at Ubasute one night, but the flooded Chikuma River and a broken bridge prevented this; A History of Haiku (Tokyo: Hokuseido, 1964) 1.406 overleaf. However, Shinji Ogawa notes that the flood that prevented Issa from going to Ubasute actually ocurred in Eigth Month of 1823--two years after this haiku. He cites Issa Daijiten (Taisyukan Shoten, Katuyuki Yaba, 1993) 159.

Ubasute or Obasute is a mountain in Issa's home province of Shinano (today's Nagano Prefecture) where old people were, according to legend, "thrown away": left to die. It was also known as Sarashinayama. Today it is called Kamurikiyama.

1821

.二番小便から直に月見哉
ni ban shôben kara sugu ni tsukimi kana

after a second piss
right away...
moon gazing

This haiku has an unusual phrase structure: 12-5 on ("sound units"), not the usual 5-7-5.

1821

.松が枝の上に座どりて月見哉
matsu ga e no ue ni za-dorite tsukimi kana

taking a seat
on the pine's branch...
moon gazing

This haiku has the prescript, "Daien Temple."

1821

.松の木のてっぺんにざす月見哉
matsu no ki no teppen ni zasu tsukimi kana

on the pine tree's
tippy-top...
moon gazing

1821

.名月や梅もさくらも帰り花
meigetsu ya ume mo sakura mo kaeri hana

harvest moon--
plum and cherry tree
blossoms return!

Issa's meaning can't be taken literally. He seems to be saying that the harvest moon of autumn creates such euphoria, especially for haiku poets, it is as if plum trees and cherry trees had their flowers return.

1821

.名月や出家士諸商人
meigetsu ya shukke samurai shoakindo

harvest moon-gazing
priests, samurai
merchants

Here Issa lists three of the four traditional social stations of feudal Japan, the unnamed fourth class being farmers--represented in the scene by the observing poet.

1821

.名月や茶碗に入れる酒の銭
meigetsu ya cha wan ni ireru sake no zeni

harvest moon--
digging in the teacup
for sake money

Rice wine (sake) is an indispensable part of harvest moon-viewing parties.

1821

.名月や八文酒を売あるく
meigetsu ya hachi mon sake wo uri-aruku

harvest moon--
the peddler selling
eight cent sake

Rice wine (sake) is an indispensable part of harvest moon-viewing parties.

1821

.名月や横に寝る人おがむ人
meigetsu ya yoko ni neru hito ogamu hito

harvest moon--
some are stretched out
some praying

Originally, I envisioned only two people in the scene. Shinji Ogawa, however, visualizes more: "some are lying down/ some praying." Several people, not just two, would typically attend a traditional Japanese moon-gazing party.

Sakuo Nakamura, thinking about Issa's biography, pictures a different scene: "I think there are only two persons in the scene. They are Issa and his wife."

The haiku was written in Ninth Month of 1821. Issa's wife Kiku would have been three months' pregnant at the time.

Indeed, it is a sweet image, picturing the husband and wife: one lying down (Issa?) and one praying (Kiku?). However, since Issa had plenty of haiku students and friends--and since the night of the harvest moon is one of the most important haiku-writing events of the year, one might reasonably picture him with a cohort of poets.

1821

.積薪の一ッ二ッや後の月
tsumu maki no hitotsu futatsu ya nochi no tsuki

firewood piles
one... two...
Ninth Month moon

This haiku refers to the full moon of the Ninth Month, 13th day. In the old calendar, there were two harvest moons: the 15th day of Eighth Month (this is the more important meigetsu) and the 13th day of Ninth Month.

Cold weather is coming. The piles of firewood are a visible sign that winter is just a few weeks away.

1821

.朝顔の再び咲や後の月
asagao no futatabi saku ya nochi no tsuki

the morning-glories bloom
a second time!
Ninth Month moon

The moon is so bright, the flowers that usually bloom only in the morning have done so again, at night.

This haiku refers to the full moon of the Ninth Month, 13th day. In the old calendar, there were two harvest moons: the 15th day of Eighth Month (this is the more important meigetsu) and the 13th day of Ninth Month.

1821

.月の顔としは十三そこら哉.
tsuki no kao toshi wa jû san sokora kana

the moon's face
just about 13
give or take

R. H. Blyth imagines that Issa is referring to age in years. He changes it to "twelve"--a reasonable edit, since a 13-year old in Issa's Japan would roughly correspond to a 12-year old in the West. This is because, in traditional Japan, a child was considered to be age one at birth; Haiku (Tokyo: Hokuseido, 1949-1952; rpt. 1981-1982/reset paperback edition) 2.406.

It turns out that Issa is talking about days, not years. This haiku refers to the full moon of the Ninth Month, 13th day. In the old calendar, there were two harvest moons celebrated: the 15th day of Eighth Month (this is the more important meigetsu) and the 13th day of Ninth Month. Here, Issa is saying that, judging by the moon's face, it looks to be about 13 days old in the Ninth Month.

1821

.口重の烏飛也秋の雨
kuchiomo no karasu tobu nari aki no ame

tongue-tied
the crow flies along...
autumn rain

Or: "the crows fly along." French translator Jean Cholley chooses to picture a flock; En village de miséreux: Choix de poèmes de Kobayashi Issa (Paris: Gallimard, 1996) 197.

Normally the crow is talkative, but the cold autumn rain has made him "slow of speech" (kuchiomo).

1821

.秋風にふいとむせたる峠かな
aki kaze [ni] fui to musetaru tôge kana

in autumn wind
staggering breathlessly...
mountain pass

Fui-fui is an old expression that denotes (1) a movement like shaking in a light wind, and (2) staggering or wavering without settling down; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1425. Issa is suddenly dizzy and breathless.

Jean Cholley translates fui to as soudain ("suddenly"); En village de miséreux: Choix de poèmes de Kobayashi Issa (Paris: Gallimard, 1996) 197. This is indeed one of the meanings of fui in the expression fui ni.

1821

.角力取が立て呉けり秋の風
sumotori ga tatete kure keri aki no kaze

a sumo wrestler
is left standing...
autumn wind

Though gusting hard, the wind doesn't "defeat" the wrestler.

1821

.葬礼の見物人や秋の風
tomurai no kembutsunin ya aki no kaze

onlookers
at a funeral...
the autumn wind

1821

.朝やけに染るでもなし露の玉
asayake ni someru demo nashi tsuyu no tama

dawn's glow
hasn't quite yet dyed
the dewdrops

1821

.芋の葉や我作りたる露の玉
imo no ha ya waga tsukuritaru tsuyu no tama

potato leaf--
I make a pearl
of dew

Issa playfully bends the leaf until the dew's glistening "pearl" is perfect.

1821

.白露もちんぷんかんのころり哉
shira tsuyu mo chinpunkan no korori kana

even for silver dewdrops
gibberish
rolling down

Issa's meaning seems to be that the silver dewdrops, like people, exist in a world of meaningless chatter for their short "lives," rolling to oblivion. This is not his most optimistic haiku!

1821

.白露やどっと流るる山の町
shira tsuyu ya dotto nagaruru yama no machi

with the silver dew
flowing along
mountain town

This haiku is similar to one written by Issa the previous year (1820):

asa tsuyu no nagare-ide keri yama no machi

floating forth
on the morning dew
mountain town

There's so much dew, Issa see it as a river that the town, like a great boat, is floating on.

1821

.葉から葉に転びうつるや秋の露
ha kara ha ni koro[bi] utsuru ya aki no tsuyu

from leaf to leaf
tumbling down...
autumn dew

"Dew" by itself is an autumn season word, so Issa rarely uses the phrase, "autumn dew" (aki no tsuyu). This is one of those rare times.

1821

.人鬼の天窓くだしや露時雨
hito oni no atama kudashi ya tsuyu shigure

the human goblins
bow their heads...
dew dripping down

Commenting on a different poem that captures the perspective of a mother bird, Shinji Ogawa explains that the phrase, hito oni can mean, "the goblins called men." Issa seems to be playing the same perspective game in this haiku. Tsuyu shigure is an old expression for so much dew falling from the sky, it seems like a winter rain; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1107.

1821

.一丸メ一升づつや蓮の露
hito marume hito shô tsutsu ya hasu no tsuyu

each round ball
two quarts...
lotus blossom dewdrops

The measurement referred to in the poem is "one shô": 1.8 liters.

1821

.一丸メいくらが物ぞ蓮の露
hito marume ikura ga mono zo hasu no tsuyu

how much water
in each round ball?
lotus blossom dewdrops

In a haiku that appears just a bit earlier in his journal (same year, same month), Issa ventures a guess:

hito marume hito shô tsutsu ya hasu no tsuyu

each round ball
two quarts...
lotus blossom dewdrops

1821

.むだ草は露もむだ置したりけり
muda kusa wa tsuyu mo muda oku shitari keri

in vain grass
dewdrops forming
in vain

1821

.村雨が露のにせ玉作りけり
murasame ga tsuyu no nise tama tsukuri keri

the rain shower left
imitation pearls...
dewdrops

1821

.山の町とっとと露の流れけり
yama no machi totto to tsuyu no nagare keri

the mountain town
with dewdrops everywhere
flowing

1821

.世の中は糸瓜の皮ぞみんな露
yo no naka wa hechima no kawa zo minna tsuyu

in this world
are snake gourds
on each one, dewdrops

1821

.梁上の君子も見やれ草の露
ryôjô no kunshi mo mi yare kusa no tsuyu

you look too
robber! dewdrops
in the grass

Shinji Ogawa explains that Issa is addressing the robber in this comic haiku--an improbable situation but rife with implications.

For saints and sinners, law abiders and law breakers, Nature offers the same glories.

1821

.翌も翌も翌も天気ぞ浅間霧
asu mo asu mo asu mo tenki zo asama-giri

tomorrow, tomorrow
and tomorrow's weather...
Mount Asama mist

Mount Asama is a volcano in Issa's home province of Shinano, active during the poet's lifetime. The eruption of 1783, when Issa was twenty-one years old and living in Edo (today's Tokyo), killed 1,151 people.

1821

.灯ろ見の朝からさわぐ都かな
torô mi no asa kara sawagu miyako kana

Bon lantern viewing
from morning on a ruckus...
Kyoto

The "capital" (miyako) was Kyoto in Issa's day. This is where the emperor and his court lived. Political and military power was centered in the Shogun's city of Edo, today's Tokyo. The Bon Festival of the Dead takes place in Eighth Month in the old lunar calendar. At this time, people light lanterns to guide their ancestors' spirits back home.

1821

.いざおどれ我よりましの門雀
iza odore waga yorimashi no kado suzume

dance, my little
dervishes!
sparrows at the gate

Or: "my little dervish!/ sparrow..." In Issa's time, yorimashi was a Shinto priest or shrine-serving woman who performed necromancy, raising spirits of the dead; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1721. Because they are dancing for a spiritual purpose, I translate yorimashi here as "devishes." Though the word can denote a person who takes on the sickness and bad luck of someone else, Issa isn't using it in this sense.

1821

.石太郎此世にあらば盆踊
ishitarô kono yo ni araba bon odori

if Ishitaro
were still in this world...
Bon Festival dance

Shortly after New Year's, 1821, Issa's third child, the infant boy Ishitaro, died of suffocation while bundled on his mother's back. The Bon Festival of the Dead takes place in Eighth Month in the old lunar calendar. At this time, people light lanterns to guide their ancestors' spirits back home.

1821

.踊から直に朝草かりにけり
odori kara sugu ni asa kusa kari ni keri

after the dance
right away, cutting
the morning grass

In Sakuo Nakamura's imagination, "Young people have danced all night and haven't slept. The sun rises and with it comes morning. Without sleeping, they start to work, cutting the grass." In this view, Issa's focus may be on the energy of youth.

The "dance" referred to pertains to the autumn Bon Festival. The Bon Festival of the Dead takes place in Eighth Month in the old lunar calendar. At this time, people light lanterns to guide their ancestors' spirits back home.

1821

.踊から直に草刈さはぎ哉
odori kara sugu ni kusa karu sawagi kana

after the dance
right away, grass-cutting
clamor

The "dance" referred to pertains to the autumn Bon Festival. The Bon Festival of the Dead takes place in Eighth Month in the old lunar calendar. At this time, people light lanterns to guide their ancestors' spirits back home.

1821

.おわかいぞ若いぞ夫婦星
o-wakai zo yare o-waka[i] zo meoto hoshi

so young
so very young!
husband and wife stars

Tanabata is a festival that takes place on the seventh day of Seventh Month. According to a romantic legend, two celestial lovers--the stars Altair and Vega--are separated by Heaven's River (the Milky Way). One night a year (Tanabata night), they cross the starry river to be together.

1821

.神国や天てる星も夫婦連
kami kuni [ya] amateru hoshi mo meoto-zure

Land of Gods--
even among Heaven's stars
husband and wife

Tanabata is a festival that takes place on the seventh day of Seventh Month. According to a romantic legend, two celestial lovers--the stars Altair and Vega--are separated by Heaven's River (the Milky Way). One night a year (Tanabata night), they cross the starry river to be together.

1821

.にこにこと御若い顔や夫婦星
niko-niko to o-wakai kao ya meoto hoshi

smiles beaming
on their young faces...
husband and wife stars

Tanabata is a festival that takes place on the seventh day of Seventh Month. According to a romantic legend, two celestial lovers--the stars Altair and Vega--are separated by Heaven's River (the Milky Way). One night a year (Tanabata night), they cross the starry river to be together.

1821

.ほすすきもそよそよ神もきげん哉
ho susuki mo soyo-soyo kami mo kigen kana

beards of pampas grass, too
rustle, rustle
divinely

1821

.あさぢふの素人花火に勝れけり
asajiu no shirôto hanabi ni sugure keri

better than
amateur fireworks...
reeds

Asajiu is a place where asaji, a sort of miscanthus reed, is growing; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 24-25. Shinji Ogawa assisted with this translation, pointing out that no is functioning as a subject-indicating particle (like wa: "as for"). The preceding word (asajiu) is the subject.

1821

.川舟や花火の夜も花火売
kawa-bune ya hanabi no yoru mo hanabi uri

river boat--
on a night of fireworks
still selling fireworks

1821

.手枕に花火のどうんどうん哉
temakura ni hanabi no dôn dôn kana

an arm for a pillow
fireworks boom!
ka-boom!

1821

.どをんどんどんとしくじり花火哉
dôn don don to shikujiri hanabi kana

boom! boom! ka-boom!
so many duds...
fireworks

1821

.朝寒の祝ひに坊主角力哉
asa-zamu no iwai ni bôzu sumô kana

in morning cold
a temple festival...
priests' sumo match

In the autumn season for sumo, even Buddhist priests wrestle.

1821

.乞食の角力にさへも贔屓かな
kojiki no sumô ni sae mo hiiki kana

even the beggar
has a favorite
wrestler

1821

.月かげや素人角力もひいきもつ
tsukikage ya shiroto sumô mo hiiki motsu

moonlight--
even the sumo amateur
has fans

Shinji Ogawa prefers the word "amateur" to "novice" because it is based more on the matter of profession rather than experience.

1821

.女房も見て居りにけり負角力
nyôbô mo mite iri ni keri make-zumô

his wife watched
the match...
defeated wrestler

Originally, I translated nyôbô literally as "ladies of the court." Shinji Ogawa points out that this is an idiom for "wife."

1821

.板行にして売れけり負角力
hankô ni shite urare keri make-zumô

in a woodblock print
for sale...
defeated wrestler

1821

.松の木に馬を縛って角力哉
matsu no ki ni uma wo shibatte sumô kana

he ties his horse
to the pine...
a sumo match

I picture a man stumbling upon an outdoor sumo match. He ties his horse to the tree, forgets whatever work or travel he should have been accomplishing--and joins the spectators.

1821

.芥火にかがしもつひのけぶり哉
akutabi ni kagashi mo tsui no keburi kana

burning rubbish--
a scarecrow too
goes up in smoke

1821

.風形に杖を月夜のかがし哉
kazanari ni tsue wo tsuki yo no kagashi kana

wind-bent in moonlight
the scarecrow leans
on a cane

1821

.去年から立道しなるかがし哉
kyonen kara tachidôshi naru kagashi kana

since last year
still standing...
scarecrow

I first translated this:

since last year
the last one standing...
scarecrow

However, Issa doesn't overfly specify that the scarecrow is the only one left standing. Shinji Ogawa notes that Issa states that a particular scarecrow, simply, "keeps standing." I have revised accordingly.

I wonder if Issa sees himself in this scarecrow: battered but, after another year, still standing?

1821

.国土安穏とのん気にかがし哉
kokudo annon to nonki ni kagashi kana

across the land
calm and happy-go-lucky...
scarecrows

This haiku has an unusual 8-4-5 pattern of on (sound units): kokudo annon to/ nonki ni/ kagashi kana.

1821

.子供らに開眼されしかがし哉
kodomora ni kaigen sareshi kagashi kana

children perform
the "opening of eyes"...
for the scarecrow

This haiku alludes to a religious ceremony involving a sacred image. The children, when they give the scarecrow its eyes, humorously parody this ritual.

1821

.里犬のさっととがめるかがし哉
sato inu no satto togameru kagashi kana

the village dog
suddenly disapproves...
the scarecrow

1821

.爺おやや仕舞かがしに礼を云
jiji oya ya shimau kagashi ni rei wo iu

packing away the scarecrow
grandpa says
his respects

1821

.名所の月見てくらすかがし哉
nadokoro no tsuki mite kurasu kagashi kana

in a fine spot
for moon gazing...
scarecrow

1821

.我よりは若しかがしの影法師
ware yori wa wakashi kagashi no kagebôshi

looking younger than me
the scarecrow casts
his shadow

A musical haiku, with the shi sound repeated three times.

1821

.田の水やさらばさらばと井にもどる
ta no mizu ya saraba saraba to i ni modoru

rice paddy drains--
goodbye! goodbye!
back to the well

In autumn when the rice is ready for harvest, farmers break the dikes that have kept the fields flooded. Watching the water rush out of the field, Issa bids it farewell as if it is a person, a good example of the comical anthropomorphism for which he is famous.

1821

.囲炉裏には茶の子並んで小夜砧
irori ni wa cha no ko narande sayo-ginuta

on the hearth
tea cakes in a row...
night cloth-pounding

In Japan and Korea, fulling-blocks were used to pound fabric and bedding. The fabric was laid over a flat stone, covered with paper, and pounded, making a distinctive sound.

1821

.京人やわら叩さへ小夜ぎぬた
keijin ya wara tataku sae sayo-ginuta

Kyoto people
even beat their straw!
night cloth-pounding

In Japan and Korea, fulling-blocks were used to pound fabric and bedding. The fabric was laid over a flat stone, covered with paper, and pounded, making a distinctive sound. In this haiku, Issa marvels that the people in the capital pound not only cloth but straw (mats) as well.

1821

.晴天の真昼中のきぬた哉
seiten [no] mappiru naka no kinuta kana

a clear blue sky
at high noon...
pounding cloth

In Japan and Korea, fulling-blocks were used to pound fabric and bedding. The fabric was laid over a flat stone, covered with paper, and pounded, making a distinctive sound. In my earlier translation, I use the phrase, "fulling-block," an arcane term that means nothing to most English readers. "Pounding cloth" is a translation solution provided by Makoto Ueda, whose example I gratefully follow; Matsuo Bashô (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1982) 53.

1821

.其家やら其隣やら小夜砧
sono ya yara sono tonari yara sayo-ginuta

that house
and the neighbor's house...
pounding cloth at night

In Japan and Korea, fulling-blocks were used to pound fabric and bedding. The fabric was laid over a flat stone, covered with paper, and pounded, making a distinctive sound. In this haiku, Issa doesn't express romantic nostalgia for the sound. I think he's trying to sleep.

1821

.つり棚に茶の子のおどるきぬた哉
tsuri-dana ni cha no ko no odoru kinuta kana

tea cakes jumping
on the hanging shelf...
cloth-pounding

In Japan and Korea, fulling-blocks were used to pound fabric and bedding. The fabric was laid over a flat stone, covered with paper, and pounded, making a distinctive sound.

1821

.ねんぶつを申しながらにきぬた哉
nembutsu wo môshi nagara ni kinuta kana

while chanting
praise to Buddha!
pounding cloth

In Japan and Korea, fulling-blocks were used to pound fabric and bedding. The fabric was laid over a flat stone, covered with paper, and pounded, making a distinctive sound.

The nembutsu prayer, "Namu Amida Butsu," renders praise to Amida Buddha. According to Pure Land Buddhism, sentient beings must rely on Amida's saving grace to be reborn in the Western Paradise--a metaphor for enlightenment.

1821

.我家や前もうしろも下手ぎぬた
waga ie ya mae mo ushiro mo heta-ginuta

my house--
in front and in back
a cloth-pounding cacophony

In Japan and Korea, fulling-blocks were used to pound fabric and bedding. The fabric was laid over a flat stone, covered with paper, and pounded, making a distinctive sound.

1821

.さをしかはおれをうさんと思ふ哉
saoshika wa ore wo usan to omou kana

young buck--
you think I'm a suspicious
character!

1821

.あきらめて子のない鹿は鳴ぬなり
akiramete ko no nai shika wa nakinu nari

giving up
the childless deer
calls no more for love

In other words, the deer doesn't bother with a mating call. This haiku, composed in the Ninth Month of 1821, seems to refer to Issa's own frustration as a would-be parent. His first three children by this point in time had all died. In my first translation I ended with, "sings no more." Gabi Greve suggested the new third line.

1821

.子をもたぬ鹿も寝かねて鳴夜哉
ko wo motanu shika mo ne kanete naku yo kana

the childless deer, too
can't sleep...
cries in the night

Issa writes this haiku in Ninth Month, 1821. At the time, he and his wife Kiku were childless, having lost their first three. Their third child, Ishitarô, died at the beginning of that year, suffocating while bundled on his mother's back.

1821

.恋風や山の太山の鹿に迄
koi kaze ya yama no miyama no shika ni made

a wind of love
even for the great mountain's
deer!

Mating season.

1821

.しほらしやおく山鹿も色好み
shiorashi ya oku yama shika mo irogonomi

what delicateness!
even for deep-mountain deer
lust

In my first translation of this haiku I read shiorashi as "it's a pity." This word can also mean to be delicate, tender, pretty or modest. Now, I'm inclined to think that Issa is describing the mating cries of the deer as politely modest. In a similar haiku written the same year (1821) Issa begins with the phrase, "Land of the Rising Sun! (hi no moto ya).

1821

.ぞっとして逃げば鹿も追にけり
zotto shite nigereba shika mo oi ni keri

a shiver--
the deer in flight
now chases me!

1821

.日の本や深山の鹿も色好む
hi no moto ya miyama no shika mo irogonomu

Land of the Rising Sun!
even for deep-mountain deer
lust

The "Land of the Rising Sun" is Japan. In a similar haiku written the same year (1821) Issa begins with the phrase, "what delicateness!" (shiorashi ya).

1821

.穴に入蛇も三人ぐらし哉
ana ni iru hebi mo sannin-gurashi kana

another snake
into the hole...
three roommates

Snakes entering their holes is an autumn season word.

1821

.親蛇の穴から穴へ這入のは
oya hebi no ana kara ana e hairu no wa

mother snake--
leaving the hole
then back in

In another version of this haiku, written that same year, the opening phrase is a question: "mother snake?" (oya hebi ka). Perhaps, Issa imagines, she is re-entering the hole because her children are within. Snakes entering their holes is an autumn season word.

1821

.親蛇や烏さらばと穴に入
oya hebi ya karasu saraba to ana ni iru

mother snake--
a farewell to the crow
then down the hole

In my first translation, I had the crow bidding the snake farewell, but Anthony V. Liman believes that the opposite is the case. The sibilant saraba ("farewell!") is appropriate for the snake, taunting her enemy as she enters her hole to hibernate. Gabi Greve concurs.

Snakes entering their holes is an autumn season word.

1821

.此世こそ蛇なれ西の穴に入
kono yo koso hebi nare nishi no ana ni iru

in this world you're a snake--
enter the hole
toward Buddha's West!

Or: "you are snakes." In Pure Land Buddhism, Paradise (the Pure Land) exists somewhere in the mythic west. Issa advises the snake to go the right direction for rebirth in the Pure Land. Snakes entering their holes is an autumn season word.

Shinji Ogawa offers this paraphrase: "In this world, you are snakes. Go into the western hole (to become Buddha in the other world)." He adds, "Issa has a low opinion about being a snake but, who knows, the snake may have another opinion."

1821

.それ也になる仏いたせ穴の蛇
sore nari ni narubutsu itase ana no hebi

just as you are
become Buddha!
snake in your hole

Robin D. Gill assisted with this translation. Snakes entering their holes is an autumn season word.

The editors of Issa zenshû speculate that by narubutsu Issa means jôbutsu (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79, 1.535). Shinji Ogawa comments, "It may seem very odd, but inferring from this haiku, Issa might not know about the snake's hibernation. He regards, at least so it seems, the snakes that go back to their holes as if they are going into the graveyard to die."

1821

.徳本の御杖の穴や蛇も入
tokuon no o-tsue no ana ya hebi mo iru

a hole made by Tokuon's
holy staff...
a snake enters too

This is the second of three related haiku written back-to-back in Issa's journal, Hachiban nikki ("Eighth Diary"). In the first poem, a "cruel man" (jaken no hito) made the hole, but in this second haiku it is made by Tokuon, a Pure Land Buddhist high priest. In the third, Issa calls the hole-maker, simply, "Buddha's saint" (shônin); Issa zenshû (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 4.209.

Issa imagines that the snake will have a lucky rebirth in the Pure Land, since it "too" is entering the hole made by Tokuon's walking stick. The "too" (mo) suggests that other creatures have entered the hole before it--and have been saved.

Snakes entering their holes is an autumn season word.

1821

.古蛇やはや西方の穴に入
furu hebi ya haya saihô no ana ni iru

the old snake
toward the Western Paradise
enters his hole

In Pure Land Buddhism, Paradise (the Pure Land) exists somewhere in the mythic west. The snake is going the right direction for rebirth in the Pure Land.

Snakes entering their holes is an autumn season word.

1821

.蛇入なぞこは邪見の人の穴
hebi iru na soko wa jaken no hito no ana

don't go in, snake!
that's a hole
a cruel man made

This is the first of three related haiku written back-to-back in Issa's journal, Hachiban nikki ("Eighth Diary"). In this first poem, a "cruel man" (jaken no hito) made the hole, but in the second it is made by Tokuon, a Pure Land Buddhist high priest. In the third, Issa calls the hole-maker, simply, "Buddha's saint" (shônin); Issa zenshû (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 4.209.

Snakes entering their holes is an autumn season word.

1821

.蛇も入るや上人様の杖の穴
hebi mo iru ya shônin-sama no tsue no ana

the snake enters, too--
the saint's walking stick's
hole

This is the third of three related haiku written back-to-back in Issa's journal, Hachiban nikki ("Eighth Diary"). In the first poem, a "cruel man" (jaken no hito) made the hole, but in the second haiku it is made by Tokuon, a Pure Land Buddhist high priest. In the third, Issa calls the hole-maker, simply, "Buddha's saint" (shônin); Issa zenshû (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 4.209.

Issa imagines that the snake will have a lucky rebirth in the Pure Land, since it "too" is entering the hole made by Tokuon's walking stick. The "too" (mo) suggests that other creatures have entered the hole before it--and have been saved.

1821

.蛇ははや穴から見るや欲の娑婆
hebi wa haya ana kara miru ya yoku no shaba

from his hole the snake
glances back...
corrupt world of desire

The word shaba refers to the Buddhist notion of a fallen age, the "Latter Days of Dharma." Issa imagines that the snake is moving toward rebirth and enlightenment, leaving behind (with disdain) this corrupt world of craving.

Snakes entering their holes is an autumn season word.

1821

.蛇は又人嫌ふてや穴に入
hebi wa mata hito kiraute ya ana ni iru

the snake has had it
with humans too...
entering his hole

Or: "her hole." Issa writes a related haiku earlier in the same month and year (Ninth Month 1821):

hebi wa haya ana kara miru ya yoku no shaba

from his hole the snake
glances back...
corrupt world of desire

Snakes entering their holes is an autumn season word.

1821

.又の世は蛇になるなと法の山
mata no yo wa hebi ni naru na to nori no yama

in the next life
don't be a snake!
temple grounds

Snakes entering their holes is an autumn season word. In this haiku, Issa interprets the event as a movement toward death and rebirth. He advises the snake to come back as something better, next lifetime. The phrase, nori no yama ("Mount Dharma"), refers to the grounds or precincts of a Buddhist temple; Issa zenshû (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 6.168, note 80. The name is significant. The snake must trust in Buddha's law or dharma to one day reach enlightenment.

1821

.みだ頼め蛇もそろそろ穴に入
mida tanome hebi mo soro-soro ana ni iru

trust in Amida Buddha!
snake inching
into its hole

1821

.来年は蝶にでもなれ穴の蛇
rainen wa chô ni demo nare ana no hebi

next year
become a butterfly!
snake in his hole

Or: "her hole."

Snakes entering their holes is an autumn season word. Issa interprets the event as a movement toward death and rebirth. He advises the snake to come back as something better, next lifetime: a butterfly!

1821

.一方は猫の喧嘩やむしの声
ippô wa neko no kenka ya mushi no koe

on one side
the cats' quarrel, on the other
insects sing

A humorous poem: Issa can't sleep.

The phrase, "on the other," does not appear in the Japanese, but it is implied.

1821

.寒いとて虫が鳴事始るぞ
samui tote mushi ga nakigoto hajimaru zo

"It's cold!"
the insects' complaining
has begun

Issa imagaines that the autumn chorus of insects is grumbling about the change of weather.

1821

.じれ虫が身をゆすぶって鳴にけり
jire mushi ga mi wo yusubutte naki ni keri

an upset insect!
his whole body shakes
as he sings

1821

.虫聞や二番小便から直ぐに
mushi kiku ya ni ban shôben kara sugu ni

listening to the insect chorus
right after
night's second piss

After taking care of his business, Issa stops to enjoy the singing of the autumn insects.

1821

.世が直る直るとむしもをどり哉
yo ga naoru naoru to mushi mo odori kana

"The world is better!
better!"
the insect dances too

Who else is dancing? Issa?

1821

.夜鳴虫汝母あり父ありや
yo naku mushi nanji haha ari chichi ari ya

insects chirp in the night--
what of your mothers?
your fathers?

According to Shinji Ogawa, Issa is asking the insects a question in this haiku: "Do you have mothers and fathers?"

Perhaps Issa is thinking of his own motherless and fatherless existence.

1821

.蝶とんぼ吹とばされつ屁ひり虫
chô tombo fuki-tobasaretsu hehirimushi

butterfly and dragonfly
are blown away...
fart bug

1821

.連立って御盆御盆や赤蜻蛉
tsuredatte o-bon o-bon ya aka tombo

coming along
to the Bon Festival...
red dragonfly

Or: "red dragonflies." The Bon Festival of the Dead takes place in Eighth Month in the old lunar calendar. At this time, people light lanterns to guide their ancestors' spirits back home. This recalls a haiku of 1817:
o-matsuri no akai dedachi no tombo kana

departing for the festival
all in red
dragonfly

1821

.蜻蛉が鹿のあたまに昼寝哉
tombô ga shika no atama ni hirune kana

the dragonfly
on the deer's head...
a siesta

1821

.蜻蛉や犬の天窓を打ってとぶ
tombo ya inu no atama wo utte tobu

dragonfly--
flying smack into
the dog's head

1821

.軒下に蜻蛉とるやひとり宿
noki shita [ni] tombô toru ya hitori yado

under the eaves
the dragonfly checks in...
alone

Issa depicts the dragonfly as if it is a lone human traveler checking into an inn. The very next poem in his journal (Ninth Month, 1821) is related:
hitori yado kobayaku torishi tombo kana

quickly checking in
for his lonely stay...
a dragonfly

Shinji Ogawa assisted with this translation.

1821

.一人宿こばやくとりしとんぼ哉
hitori yado kobayaku torishi tombo kana

quickly checking in
for his lonely stay...
a dragonfly

Issa depicts the dragonfly as if it is a lone human traveler checking into an inn. The preceding poem in his journal (Ninth Month, 1821) covers the same topic with a different ordering of images:
noki shita [ni] tombô toru ya hitori yado

under the eaves
the dragonfly checks in...
alone

Shinji Ogawa assisted with this translation.

1821

.虫の屁に吹飛さるるとんぼ哉
mushi no he ni fuki-tobasaruru tombo kana

blown away
by the fart bug...
dragonfly

The "fart bug" (mushi no he) emits a foul odor.

Two years later (1823), Issa writes in a similar vein:
uma no he ni fuki-tobasareshi hotaru kana

blown away
by the horse's fart...
firefly

1821

.したたかに人をけりとぶいなご哉
shitataka ni hito wo keri tobu inago kana

flying into people
kicking them hard...
locusts

1821

.きりぎりす売られ行手で鳴にけり
kirigirisu urare yukute de naki ni keri

katydid--
on his way to being sold
still singing

A katydid (kirigirisu) is a green or light brown insect, a cousin of crickets and grasshoppers. The males possess special organs on the wings with which they produce shrill calls. Although katydid is the closest English equivalent, many translators (such as R. H. Blyth) use the more familiar "grasshopper" and "cricket." See Haiku (Tokyo: Hokuseido, 1949-1952; rpt. 1981-1982/reset paperback edition) 4.1068-69.

1821

.きりぎりす夜昼小言ばかりかな
kirigirisu yoru hiru kogoto bakari kana

katydid--
noon and night, nothing
but nagging!

A katydid (kirigirisu) is a green or light brown insect, a cousin of crickets and grasshoppers. The males possess special organs on the wings with which they produce shrill calls. Although katydid is the closest English equivalent, many translators (such as R. H. Blyth) use the more familiar "grasshopper" and "cricket." See Haiku (Tokyo: Hokuseido, 1949-1952; rpt. 1981-1982/reset paperback edition) 4.1068-69.

1821

.小便をするぞ退け退けきりぎりす
shôben wo suru zo noke noke kirigirisu

I'm taking a leak
so look out!
katydid

A katydid (kirigirisu) is a green or light brown insect, a cousin of crickets and grasshoppers. The males possess special organs on the wings with which they produce shrill calls. Although katydid is the closest English equivalent, many translators (such as R. H. Blyth) use the more familiar "grasshopper" and "cricket." See Haiku (Tokyo: Hokuseido, 1949-1952; rpt. 1981-1982/reset paperback edition) 4.1068-69.

1821

.片陰に日向ぼこりや隠居菊
kata kage ni hinata bokori ya inkyo kiku

in a secret place
basking in the sun...
hermit chrysanthemum

Since the chrysanthemum is basking in sunlight, I don't read kage literally as "shadow" but figuratively as a hidden place. In an undated revision, he beings with the phrase, "in a little nook" (kata sumi ni).

1821

.菊の日は過て揃ふた菊の酒
kiku no hi wa sugite sorouta kiku no sake

only after the Chrysanthemum Festival
festival
wine

The Chrysanthemum Festival takes place on the ninth day of Ninth Month. Shinji Ogawa explains that kiku no hi wa sugite means "after passing the Mum Festival."

Only after the festival does Issa obtain the festival wine.

1821

.汁のみの足に咲けり菊の花
shiru no mi no tashi ni saki keri kiku no hana

they've bloomed
for the soup stock...
chrysanthemums

Or: "it has bloomed...chrysanthemum."

Makoto Ueda notes that chrysanthemum petals are edible. Issa humorously ignores the beauty that traditional poets rave about, instead praising the flower's more practical purpose; Dew on the Grass: The Life and Poetry of Kobayashi Issa (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2004) 136.

1821

.草の庵は菊迄杖を力哉
kusa no io wa kiku made tsue wo chikara kana

in my thatched hut
even the chrysanthemum
needs a cane

At first, I thought the flower was "strong as a cane," but Shinji Ogawa corrected me. Tsue wo chikara actually means "to rely on a cane's power." By this point in his life, Issa was obliged to use a cane to walk. So, he says that not only himself, but also the chrysanthemum, relies on a "cane"--in other words, a support stick.

This haiku has an irregular number of on ("sound units") in its opening phrase (kusa no io wa = 6). In another text, Issa rewrites the opening to have the standard five on: kusa io wa.

1821

.念入て尺とる虫や菊の花
nen irete sashi toru mushi ya kiku no hana

carefully measured
by the inchworm...
chrysanthemum

1821

.赤くてもああ朝顔はあさ顔ぞ
akakute mo aa asagao wa asagao zo

though it's red
it's a morning-glory!
morning-glory!

Shinji Ogawa suggests another (comical) way to read this haiku. Asagao ("morning-glory") literally means "morning face" in Japanese. Literally then, the haiku reads, "Even though my face is red, a morning face is a morning face." Shinji adds, "Issa may have been drunk in the morning."

1821

.朝顔を一ぱい浮す茶碗哉
asagao wo ippai ukasu chawan kana

filled with floating
morning-glories...
the teacup

Sakuo Nakamura believes that the flowers are reflected in the tea. He writes, "A teacup is put on the morning breakfast table. On the surface of the tea, morning-glories are mirrored. Issa has succeeded in catching the large morning atmosphere in a little teacup."

1821

.朝顔の大花小花さはさはし
asagao no ôhana ko hana sawa-sawashi

morning-glories--
big blossoms, little blossoms
rustling

1821

.朝顔の花やさらさらさあらさら
asagao no hana ya sara-sara saara-sara

morning-glories
rustling, rustling
rustling!

In Japanese Issa creates a sound poem that is difficult to translate. The sibilant repetition of sara-sara saara-sara evokes the soft rustling of flowers in a breeze.

1821

.朝顔や瘧のおちし花の顔
asagao ya okori no ochishi hana no kao

faces of morning-glories--
their cold and fever
cured

Shinji Ogawa's hunch is that Issa is expressing, in his typically twisted way, the idea that the beautiful morning-glories look as though they have recovered from a cold and a fever. In Issa's day, Shinji explains, the phrase, okori no ochishi, more likely signified "being cured of disease" than (as it might today) "becoming sick."

1821

.朝顔やそろりそろりと世を送り
asagao ya sorori-sorori to yo wo okuri

morning-glories--
rustling and rustling
their lives away

Sakuo Nakamura suggests a biographical dimension to this haiku. In First Month 1821, he lost his first son, Ishitarô. The next month, at Tenman-gyu Shrine and in Fourth Month at Zenkôji Temple, Issa displayed his haiku boards. "Getting over his sadness, he stepped on his way."

Sakuo may have a point, but this haiku was written at the end of Seventh Month.

Shinji Ogawa believes that sorori-sorori in this haiku is depicting smooth movement: the blossoms' "rustling (in the air)." In other words, he writes, they're "rustling their lives away."

1821

.朝顔や這入口まであはれ咲
asagao ya hairiguchi made aware-zaki

morning-glories--
even in the doorway
damn blooms

1821

.おとなしや白朝顔のつんと咲
otonashi ya shiro asagao no tsunto saku

well-behaved--
the white morning-glory
stuck-up, blooms

Otonashi[i] denotes gentleness and, in a child, good behavior.

1821

.しめやかに浅黄朝顔おとなしや
shimeyaka ni asagi asagao otonashi ya

how quiet
the light blue morning-glory...
such good manners

Otonashi[i] denotes gentleness and, in a child, good behavior.

1821

.猫の子に萩とられてはとられては
neko no ko [ni] hagi tora[re]te wa tora[re]te wa

kitten, the bush clover
grabbing you!
grabbing you!

1821

.国がらや田にも咲するそばの花
kunigara ya ta ni mo saki suru soba no hana

such is my homeland!
blooming in rice fields
buckwheat

The first phrase, kunigara ya, denotes the character, nature, and disposition of the land. Issa is referring proudly to his home province of Shinano, present-day Nagano prefecture: buckwheat country.

As Shinji Ogawa points out, ta in this haiku signifies "rice field(s)." Even here, buckwheat is coming to flower. On another level, Shinji adds, Issa is suggesting that in his province "nothing goes right."

1821

.蘭のかや異国のやうに三ケの月
ran no ka ya ikoku no yô ni mika no tsuki

scent of orchids--
like a foreign country
the sickle moon

The moon is a "three-day moon"...just a sliver.

The scent of orchids transports Issa, in his imagination, to a faraway, exotic place.

1821

.一斉にそよぐ畠の稲穂哉
issei ni soyogu hatake no inaho kana

all at once
the field is rustling...
heads of rice

1821

.御祝儀を犬にも負す刈穂哉
go-shûgi wo inu ni mo owasu kariho kana

the dog carries some
to the celebration too...
harvested rice

1821

.老らくもことしたばこのかぶり哉
oiraku mo kotoshi tabako no keburi kana

old man's leisure--
this year's tobacco too
becomes smoke

1821

.小けぶりも若ひ匂ひのたばこ哉
ko keburi mo wakai nioi no tabako kana

just a little smoke--
the tobacco
smells young

1821

.な畑のあいそに立や唐がらし
na-batake no aiso ni tatsu ya tôgarashi

growing politely
in the vegetable patch...
red peppers

1821

.猫の子のまま事をするすすき哉
neko no ko no mamagoto wo suru susuki kana

the kittens
play house
in the pampas grass

1821

.釣人は這入べからず芦の花
tsurubito wa hairu-bekarazu ashi no hana

don't crawl through
fisherman!
blooming rushes

Perhaps Issa feels that the fisherman will break the blossoms or just, by his presence, spoil the scene.

1821

.綿ちるや小藪小社小溝迄
wata chiru ya ko yabu ko yashiro ko mizo made

cotton fluff scatters--
little thicket, little shrine
little ditch

Literally, the final phrase reads, "even a little ditch" (ko mizo made). The cotton fluff has blown to all of these places.

1821

.大柿のつぶる迄も渋さ哉
ôkaki no tsubureru made mo shibusa kana

big persimmon--
even when it's crushed
it's astringent

Any way that one eats it, the persimmon is astringent.

1821

.大々渋と柿盗人の笑哉
ôshibu to kaki nusutto no warai kana

"Ooo astringent!"
the persimmon thief's
laughter

The thief (Issa?) gets what he deserves.

1821

.柿の木の弓矢けおとす烏哉
kaki no ki no yumiya keotosu karasu kana

knocked from the persimmon tree
by an arrow...
crow

1821

.それがしも其日暮しぞ花木槿
soregashi mo sono higuarashi zo hana mukige

I too eke out
a living...
rose of Sharon

Soregashi is often translated, "a mister" or "a so-and-so," but Shinji Ogawa explains that it means "I" in the idiom of Japanese samurai.

Shinji paraphrases, "I live a hand-to-mouth life too, my dear rose of Sharon." Sono higuarashi, he explains, is an idiom for "hand-to-mouth living."

1821

.馬の沓尻にあてがふふくべ哉
uma no kutsu shiri ni ategau fukube kana

a horseshoe
to steady its butt...
the gourd

Shinji Ogawa explains: "With a horseshoe the gourd can sit well."

1821

.猫又の頭にこっきり木の実哉
neko mata no atama kokkiri kinomi kana

again on the cat's head
clonk!
falling fruit

Kokkiri refers to something solid hitting something else; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 624.

1821

.団栗とはねつくらする小猫哉
donguri to hanetsukurasuru ko neko kana

prancing about
with the acorn...
kitten

1821

.いがぐりやどさりと犬の枕元
iga-guri ya dosari to inu no makura moto

a chestnut falls
plop! at the dog's
pillow

Earlier, I believed that the falling chestnut wakened the dog, but I have revised my translation to be more literal: a chestnut falls in front of the sleeping dog's pillow. Dossari (in this case shortened to dosari) can mean "thump"/"plop" or "a large quantity." The first definition applies here; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1169.

1821

.今が世に爺打栗と呼れけり
ima ga yo ni jii uchi-guri to yobare keri

in today's world
they're "old man beaters"...
chestnuts

"Today's world" (ima ga yo) carries the implication of an age of corruption.

1821

.大栗や我が仲間もいが天窓
ôguri ya ware ga nakama mo iga atama

big chestnuts--
I'm one of you
with my prickly head

1821

.おち栗や仏も笠をめして立
ochi-guri ya hotoke mo kasa wo meshite tatsu

chestnuts dropping--
even the stone Buddha
with umbrella-hat!

1821

.笠のおち栗とられけり後の人
kasa no ochi kuri torare keri ato no hito

chestnuts bounced off
the umbrella-hat gathered...
by the person behind

1821

.爺打った栗と末代言れけり
jii utta kuri to matsudai iware keri

"a chestnut hit
an old man..."
a story told for ages

Shinji Ogawa paraphrases: "For generations it has been told that the chestnut hit an old man." He believes that this haiku alludes to some fairy tale or local folklore.

1821

.ばか猫や逃たいが栗見にもどる
baka neko ya nigeta iga kuri mi ni modoru

fool cat--
eyes returning to where
the chestnut was

1821

.ぱしぱちは栗としらるる雨夜哉
pachi-pachi wa kuri to shiraruru amayo kana

the pitter-patter
of falling chestnuts...
a rainy night

1821

.狼の穴の中より鼠茸
ôkami no ana no naka yori nezumi kinoko

growing from the hole
of the wolf...
mouse mushroom

Perhaps "mouse mushroom" (nezumi kinoko) is a local name for a particular, small mushroom. If so, the humor of the haiku derives from the incongruity of a tiny "mouse mushroom" growing in the hole of the great wolf.

1821

.天狗茸立けり魔所の入口に
tengudake tachi keri masho no iriguchi ni

Tengu's mushrooms sprout--
the entrance
to a haunted place

Tengu are fierce-looking, red-faced, and long-nosed creatures. The haiku refers to a type of mushroom named after Tengu. Issa writes a similar haiku three years later (1824):

kono oku wa masho to ya tateru tengudake

this deep forest
IS haunted!
Tengu's mushrooms sprout

1821

.初茸を握りつぶして笑ふ子よ
hatsu take wo nigiri tsubushite warau ko yo

crushing the year's
first mushroom...
the laughing child

1821

.初茸や一ッは吾子が持遊び
hatsu take ya hitotsu wa goko ga mochi-asobi

year's first mushrooms--
my child
plays with one

1821

.極楽が近くなる身の寒さ哉
gokuraku ga chikaku naru mi no samu[sa] kana

drawing nearer
to the Pure Land...
life's cold winter

1821

.寒さにも馴て歩くやしなの道
samu[sa] ni mo narete aruku ya shinano michi

walking along
he's used to the cold...
Shinano road

Or: "she" or "I." The original poem doesn't specifify the subject. Shinano is Issa's cold, mountainous home province, present-day Nagano Prefecture.

1821

.渡りたる後で気が付氷哉
wataritaru ato de ki ga tsuku kôri kana

after crossing it
now being careful...
ice

A humorous moment: only after crossing the ice does the person (Issa?) start to tread carefully.

1821

.下戸の立たる蔵もなし年の暮
geko no tatetaru kura mo nashi toshi no kure

no storehouse was ever
built by a non-drinker...
the year ends

Shinji Ogawa translates geko no tatetaru kura mo nashi as "there is no storage house built by a nondrinker." In Japan, the expression, "to build a storage house" means "to get rich." The humor, Shinji explains, is that Issa uses this proverb-like expression to justify his own drinking.

In his French translation, L. Mabesoone embellishes the third line, ("Triste fin d'année" ("sad end of the year"); Issa to kuhi (Tokyo: Kankohkai 2003) 44. The lack of sake is, indeed, a sad thing for the poet, though he doesn't directly say this.

1821

.屁もひらず沈香もたかず年の暮
he mo hirazu jinkô mo takazu toshi no kure

no incense
no farts...
the year ends

Literally, Issa is "not burning incense, not farting," an idiomatic expression that Shinji Ogawa translates as, "not doing anything substantial."

1821

.座敷から湯に飛び入るや初時雨
zashiki kara yu [ni] tobi-iru ya hatsu shigure

from sitting rooms
into hot tubs...
first winter rain

Or: "from the sitting room/ into the hot tub..." I think the image is funnier in the plural: all over Japan, with the first winter rain, people are heading for hot baths.

1821

.門の木に時雨損じて帰りけり
kado no ki ni shigure sonjite kaeri keri

the winter rain
beats up the gate's tree
again

1821

.門の木に時雨損じて通りけり
kado no ki ni shigure sonjite tôri keri

the winter rain
beats up the gate's tree
in passing

1821

.しぐるるや芭蕉翁の塚まはり
shigururu ya bashô okina no tsuka mawari

winter rain--
around Basho's grave
falling down

The great haiku poet Bashô was affectionately known as the "Old Man" (okina).

Shinji Ogawa notes that tsuka mawari means "around the grave." Though Issa couldn't visit Bashô's grave that year on Bashô's Death-Day (10th day of Twelfth Month), he wrote this haiku in his honor.

1821

.しぐれ捨てしぐれ捨てけり辻仏
shigure sute shigure sute keri tsuji-botoke

the winter rain
dumps and dumps...
a crossroads Buddha

1821

.度々にばか念入てしぐれ哉
tabi-tabi ni baka nen irete shigure kana

time and again
foolishly persistent...
the winter rain

1821

.一日の祝にさっとしぐれ哉
tsuitachi no iwai ni satto shigure kana

first day of winter
suddenly
a storm

Literally, the winter storm arrives during the "first day of the month celebration" (tsuitachi no iwai). Issa wrote it in Tenth Month, presumably on the first day: the beginning of winter in the lunar calendar.

1821

.古郷は小意地の悪い時雨哉
furusato wa ko iji no warui shigure kana

my home village
in an ugly mood...
the winter rain

1821

.南北東西よりしぐれ哉
minami kita higashi nishi yori shigure kana

from south, north
east, west...
winter storms

1821

.み仏の身に引受て時雨哉
mi-botoke no mi ni hiki-ukete shigure kana

Buddha's body
accepts it...
winter rain

Issa copies this haiku in one text with the head note, "A soaked Buddha." Shinji Ogawa translates mi-botoke no mi ni hiki-ukete as "receiving the charge with his body." In other words, the stone Buddha takes charge of the rain by utterly accepting it.

1821

.川向ふ隣と云もえちご山
kawa mukau tonari to iu mo echigo yama

facing the river--
next door, it seems
Echigo mountains

Or: "Echigo mountain." Echigo is one of the old provinces of Japan, today's Niigata Prefecture. A northern land, it is famous for its coldness. In Issa's time "the mountains of Echigo" would have been synonymous with a cold place in the north.

In an earlier version of this haiku (1819) Issa begins with the phrase, "winter wind" (kogarashi ya).

1821

.木枯しにさて結構な月夜哉
kogarashi ni sate kekkôna tsuki yo kana

winter wind--
well at least it's a nice
moonlit night

Hiroshi Kobori comments on the word, kogarashi ("winter wind"). In early Japanese poetry, this refers to the wind that blows through trees, breaking branches and turning the leaves brown. By Issa's time it means "a dry windy day during the late autumn--deep winter season." It is classified as a winter season word.

1821

.木がらしや桟を這ふ琵琶法師
kogarashi ya kakehashi wo hau biwa hôshi

winter wind--
crawling across the hanging bridge
minstrel priest

The man is a biwa hôshi: an itinerant, lute-playing priest. Hiroshi Kobori comments on the word, kogarashi ("winter wind"). In early Japanese poetry, this refers to the wind that blows through trees, breaking branches and turning the leaves brown. By Issa's time it means "a dry windy day during the late autumn--deep winter season." It is classified as a winter season word.

1821

.初雪と供に降たる布子哉
hatsu yuki to tomo ni furitaru nunoko kana

first snow--
and coming down with it
the padded clothes

This haiku was written in Eleventh Month, 1821. The very next poem in Issa's journal is a sort of rewrite:

hatsu yuki ya ore ga mae ni wa nunoko furu

first snow--
I see the padded clothes
coming down

See Issa zenshû (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 4.223-24.

Shinji Ogawa comments, "This is a scene where his wife, Kiku, seeing the first snow, brought the padded clothes to him. In Issa's perspective, the padded clothes came down with the first snow. This haiku shows the power of haiku. Without any big word, Issa captured a trifling segment of his life so vividly. Because of the triviality, because of the peculiarity in terms of time and space and in terms of his own existence, the haiku grasps profound universality."

1821

.初雪や一二三四五六人
hatsu yuki ya ichi ni san yon go roku hito

first snowfall
one, two, three, four
five, six people

1821

.初雪やおれが前には布子降
hatsu yuki ya ore ga mae ni wa nunoko furu

first snow--
I see the padded clothes
coming down

This haiku is a sort of rewrite of a poem that appears immediately before it in Issa journal (Eleventh Month, 1821):

hatsu yuki to tomo ni furitaru nunoko kana

first snow--
and coming down with it
the padded clothes

See Issa zenshû (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 4.223-24.

1821

.はつ雪や雪駄ならして善光寺
hatsu yuki ya setta narashite zenkôji

in first snowfall
snow clogs crunching...
Zenko Temple

1821

.小便所の油火にちる粉雪哉
shôbenjo no abura-bi ni chiru kona yuki kana

flitting to the oil lamp
of the pissing place...
powdery snow

1821

.雪ちらちら一天に雲なかりけり
yuki chira-chira itten ni kumo nakari keri

snowflakes flitting--
in the whole sky
not a cloud

1821

.東西南北より吹雪哉
higashi nishi minami kita yori fubuki kana

from east, west
south, north...
the blizzard

1821

.あながちに雪にかまわぬ霰哉
anagachi ni yuki ni kamawanu arare kana

messing up the snow
like always...
hailstones

Literally, the hail is "unconcerned" or "careless about" (kamawanu) the snow.

1821

.三絃のばちで掃きやる霰哉
samisen no bachi de haki yaru arare kana

with the samisen's
plectrum sweeping up...
hailstones

A samisen is a long-necked, three-stringed banjo-like instrument, plucked with a plectrum. Here, someone is finding a new use for the latter. By implication, a lovely geisha is also in the scene. The setting may be Yoshiwara, the licensed brothel district near Edo (today's Tokyo).

Emma Pierson writes, "The samisen's plectrum, usually used to pluck the strings in a melody, in this haiku is put to the practical task of clearing hailstones. It reminds the reader that the arts have other uses than to soothe the soul. It further suggests that in life, like the harsh reality of the aftermath of a hailstorm, practical things must be attended to and the joys of life like music must wait. It was after the hailsones had been cleared that this haiku was written."

Sakuo Nakamura envisions the following: "A woman was waiting for her lover. She had an idle moment, playing her samisen. She waited for a long time, but he didn't come; hailstones came instead. Then, she swept them with her plectrum. How lonesome she was!"

1821

.たまれ霰たんまれ霰手にたまれ
tamare arare tanmare arare te ni tamare

collect hailstones!
hailstones!
in your hand

A quite musical poem in Japanese.

1821

.灯蓋に霰のたまる夜店哉
hiohoi ni arare no tamaru yomise kana

on the lamp's cover
hailstones piling up...
night stall

A vendor's night stall in the hail: a dreary sight.

1821

.さぼてんは大合点か今朝の霜
saboten wa ôgatten ka kesa no shimo

does the cactus
grasp the great truth?
morning frost

Saboten is a cochineal cactus. Issa wonders out loud if the cactus realizes the "great truth," but which "great truth"? Is it the notion that all things must pass, must die? The winter frost hints of this. Or is it the Pure Land Buddhist "truth" that all beings, even a lowly cactus, can pass on to rebirth in the Pure Land, can achieve enlightenment one day?

1821

.霜をくや此夜はたして子を捨る
shimo oku ya kono yo hatashite ko wo suteru

frost forming--
such a night
to abandon a child!

This haiku records one of the saddest customs of Issa's Japan: the abandonment of unwanted children, especially daughters. Such a thing is cruel enough, but to perform it in wintertime, with frost forming on the ground, seems especially cold-hearted, pitiless.

1821

.夜の霜しんしん耳は蝉の声
yoru no shimo shin-shin mimi wa semi no koe

night frost--
the ring-ringing in my ears
like cicadas

Though Issa doesn't specify whose ears, they must be his, according to Shinji Ogawa, who comments, "Because of the short form of haiku, haiku must be direct and intense. No one can afford to speculate about another person's ear or general ear problems. Issa's ears are ringing. He might suffer high blood pressure."

Because of the frost, we know that the season is winter; the cicadas of summer are long gone. For this reason, I translate the last phrase, semi no koe ("cicada song" or, more literally, "cicada voices") "like cicadas." Issa doesn't qualify the last image with "like," but I fear that a Western reader, less familiar with the seasonal coding of Japanese haiku, might otherwise picture (as I did when I first read this) that Issa is listening to actual cicadas.

1821

.小猿ども神の御留主を狂ふ哉
ko-zaru domo kami no o-rusu wo kuruu kana

little monkey--
with the gods all gone
he's running amuck

According to Shinto belief, in Tenth Month all of Japan's gods vacate their shrines to congregate at the Izumo-Taisha Shrine.

1821

.住吉や御留主の庭も掃除番
sumiyoshi ya o-rusu no niwa mo sôjiban

the god has left
Sumiyoshi's garden...
still they rake it

According to Shinto belief, in Tenth Month all of Japan's gods vacate their shrines to congregate at the Izumo-Taisha Shrine. Sumiyoshi is a Shinto shrine in Osaka.

1821

.なら山の神の御流主に鹿の恋
nara yama no kami no o-rusu ni shika no koi

Mount Nara's gods
gone for the month...
the deer make love

Issa playfully suggests that the deer are too shy to mate with the mountain's god is watching. According to Shinto belief, in Tenth Month all of Japan's gods vacate their shrines to congregate at the Izumo-Taisha Shrine.

1821

.犬に迄みやげをくばる十夜哉
inu ni made miyage wo kubaru jûya kana

even the dog
gets a souvenir...
winter prayers

I assume that Issa is referring to a souvenir from a temple, though in the dog's case this is probably some tasty handout provided by one of the kind monks. "Winter prayers" refer to the Ten Nights Festival, a Tenth Month event during which people gathered at Pure Land temples to recite the nembutsu, a prayer of thanksgiving for, and praise of, Amida Buddha's saving grace. Eons ago, Amida promised that all who rely on his saving power will be reborn in the Pure Land (the Western Paradise).

1821

.大犬がみやげをねだる十夜哉
ôinu ga miyage wo nedaru jûya kana

the big dog
begs for a souvenir...
winter prayers

When people visit temples, they often buy little souvenirs (miyage). In this case, the "souvenir" would be a scrap of food. "Winter prayers" refer to the Ten Nights Festival, a Tenth Month event during which people gathered at Pure Land temples to recite the nembutsu, a prayer of thanksgiving for, and praise of, Amida Buddha's saving grace. Eons ago, Amida promised that all who rely on his saving power will be reborn in the Pure Land (the Western Paradise).

1821

.霜花もばせう祭のもやう哉
shimo hana mo bashô matsuri no moyô kana

frost-covered blossom
perfect
for Basho's day

This haiku refers to Bashô's Death-Day, which falls on the 12th day of Tenth Month.

1821

.芭蕉忌と申すも歩きながら哉
bashôki to mô[su] mo aruki nagara kana

"It's Basho's Death-Day!"
he says
while walking

The death anniversary of the great poet, Bashô, falls on the 12th day of Tenth Month. This anniversary is also called "Winter Rain Anniversary" (shigure ki) and "The Old Man's Anniversary" (okina ki).

1821

.芭蕉忌や垣に雀も一並び
bashôki ya kaki ni suzume mo hito narabi

Basho's Death-Day--
the fence's sparrows too
form a line

Issa implies that the birds, like the people in the scene, are forming a processional line in honor of the great poet. Bashô's death anniversary falls on the 12th day of Tenth Month. This anniversary is also called "Winter Rain Anniversary" (shigure ki) and "The Old Man's Anniversary" (okina ki).

Kaki can be translated as "fence" or "hedge."

1821

.芭蕉忌や鳩も雀も客めかす
bashôki ya hato to suzume mo kyaku mekasu

Basho's Death-Day--
pigeons and sparrows
dressed for company

Literally, the birds are dressed finely, as if to welcome guests. The death anniversary of the great poet, Bashô, falls on the 12th day of Tenth Month. This anniversary is also called "Winter Rain Anniversary" (shigure ki) and "The Old Man's Anniversary" (okina ki).

1821

.うら町や貧乏徳りの夷講
ura machi ya bimbô tokuri no ebisu kô

back alley--
a poor sake bottle
for the God of Wealth

On the 20th day of Tenth Month (old calendar), a festival was held in honor of Ebisu, god of wealth.

1821

.煤はきやねらひすまして来る行脚
susu haki ya nerai sumashite kuru angya

sweeping soot
with careful aim...
at the pilgrim

In this funny yet humanly honest haiku, the approaching pilgrim or itinerate priest (angya) isn't welcome. Is the pilgrim perhaps Issa?

1821

.隅の蜘案じな煤はとらぬぞよ
sumi no kumo anjina susu wa toranu zoyo

corner spider
rest easy, my soot-broom
is idle

Luckily for the spider, Issa is lazy--and, it would seem, proud of it.

This haiku is one of the "essential" 188 picked by the translator. back next

1821

.三弦でせきぞろするや今浮世
sangen de sekizoro suru ya ima ukiyo

with a samisen
the Twelfth Month singers...
our Floating World!

Issa often uses "floating world" (ukiyo) in the old Buddhist sense: the world is temporary and imperfect. Here, however, he seems to be using it in the more contemporary sense of the "floating world" of pleasure of Edo-period brothels. A geisha playing a samisen joins in with the wandering beggar-singers.

A samisen is a long-necked, three-stringed banjo-like instrument, plucked with a plectrum.

Sekizoro refers to a Twelfth Month custom in which strolling singers wandered from town to town, singing festive celebration songs; Kiyose (Tokyo: Kakugawa Shoten, 1984) 348. Shinji Ogawa adds, "They covered their mouths like ladies in the Arab countries. They usually consisted of three or four persons with some types of musical instruments."

1821

.草の庵年取餅を買にけり
kusa no io toshitori mochi wo kai ni keri

thatched hut--
the year's last rice cakes
are bought

Gabi Greve brought to my attention the fact that toshitori can refer to things that gain in age with the new year; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1166. Thus, it generally describes things related to toshikoshi: the last day of the year.

1821

.春待や子のない家ももちをつく
haru matsu ya ko no nai ie mo mochi wo tsuku

waiting for spring
in a house without children
pounding rice cakes

This haiku was composed in Tenth Month, 1821, after the death of Issa's third child.

This is a previous haiku on the same page of his journal:
mochi tsuki wo segamu ko mo nashi sari nagara

pounding rice cakes
though there's no child
to beg for them

1821

.餅つきをせがむ子もなし然りながら
mochi tsuki wo segamu ko mo nashi sari nagara

pounding rice cakes
though there's no child
to beg for them

This haiku was composed in Tenth Month, 1821, after the death of Issa's third child. A related poem appears later on the same page of his journal:
haru matsu ya ko no nai ie mo mochi wo tsuku

waiting for spring
in a house without children
pounding rice cakes

1821

.我餅や只一升も唄でつく
waga mochi ya tada isshô mo uta de tsuku

my rice cakes--
just four quarts' worth
but pounded with a song

The measurement referred to in the poem is "two shô. One shô equals 1.8 liters, nearly four quarts. Issa isn't making a large amount of rice cakes, but as he pounds it in the rice cake tub, he sings a traditional song like the other rice cake makers. The song is most likely the Japanese national anthem, since he has other haiku about rice cake makers singing this.

1821

.草の家も夜はものものし年忘
kusa no ya mo yo wa monomonoshi toshiwasure

in my thatched hut
a gala night...
drinking away the year

Or: "in the thatched hut." Issa doesn't specify that it is his hut, though this might be inferred.

This haiku refers to an end-of-year drinking party.

1821

.床の間へ安置しにけり歳暮酒
toko-no-ma e anchi shi ni keri seibo sake

enshrined in the alcove--
my year's end gift
of sake

Or: "his year's end gift." A seibo is a present given at the end of the year. In this case the gift is sake displayed in a place of honor in the house's alcove.

1821

.宵過の一村歩く歳暮哉
yoi sugi no hito mura aruku seibo kana

the whole evening
walking through the village...
end-of-year gifts

A seibo is a present given at the end of the year. In this case, it takes an entire evening for Issa to make the rounds, giving and receiving presents.

1821

.誂へてやるや扇の厄おとし
atsuraete yaru ya ôgi no yaku otoshi

by special request
my paper fan
is exorcised

Or: "the paper fan." Issa refers to a winter exorcism ritual. Someone expressly drives evil spirits from the fan.

1821

.御庭や松迄雪の厄おとし
on-niwa ya matsu made yuki no yaku otoshi

shrine garden--
even pines are exorcised
of their snow

Issa is referring to a winter exorcism ritual at a Shinto temple, where a priest drives out evil spirits. At the same time, snow is falling off the branches of pines in the garden. Issa humorously connects the two events.

1821

.狼を一切提げし紙衣哉
ôkami wo hito kire sageshi kamiko kana

the wolf makes off
with a piece of it...
paper robe

Or: "my paper robe." Perhaps Issa had an encounter with a wolf of the type that a friend of mine once had in the mountains of Colorado. He lost a good-sized piece of clothing before making it to his car.

Paper robe (kamiko) is a winter season word: a thin, wind-resistant outer kimono.

1821

.皺足と同じ色なる紙衣哉
shiwa ashi to onaji iro naru kamiko kana

now the same color
as my wrinkled feet...
paper robe

Or: "his" or "her" feet. Issa leaves the identity of the person up to the reader's imagination. I perfer to read this as a comic self-portrait.

Paper robe (kamiko) is a winter season word: a thin, wind-resistant outer kimono.

1821

.小頭巾や其身そのまま貧乏�
ko zukin ya sono mi sono mama bimbô-gami

with a little skullcap
not putting on airs...
god of the poor

The god of the poor is "just as he is" (sono mi sono mama): natural and unpretentious. Someone has tied a commoner's skullcap to the statue's head.

1821

.桟や凡人わざに雪車を引
kakehashi ya bonnin waza ni sori wo hiku

hanging bridge--
mere mortals just drag
their snow sleds

Is Issa implying that some brave souls dare to ride their sleds across? "Ordinary people" (bonnin) "purposefully" (waza ni) walk their sleds.

1821

.そり引や屋根から投るとどけ状
sori hiku ya yane kara nageru todokejô

pulling a snow sled
from the roof he tosses
a letter

When I first saw this haiku I thought I must be misunderstanding: how could a mailman be pulling a snow sled on a roof? Makoto Ueda explains that the snow piles so high in Issa's mountainous province, people literally walk above the houses; Dew on the Grass: The Life and Poetry of Kobayashi Issa (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2004) 137. Ueda pictures the man riding the sleigh; I believe that he is pulling it (because of the verb, hiku). His bag of mail is on the sled.

1821

.寺道や老母を乗てそりを引
tera michi ya rôbo wo nosete sori wo hiku

temple road--
his aged mother rides
the snow sled

A good son or daughter "pulls the snow sled" (sori wo hiku). The "temple road" (tera no michi) suggests that they are visiting a temple, the deep snow not preventing the old woman's pious devotions.

1821

.門先や雪降とはき降とはき
kado-zaki ya yuki furu to haki furu to haki

front gate--
snow falls, is swept
falls, is swept

1821

.門先や童の作る雪の山
kado-zaki ya warabe no tsukuru yuki no yama

front gate--
a child is building
Snow Mountain

1821

.雪掃や地蔵菩薩のつもり迄
yuki haku ya jizô bosatsu no tsumori made

sweeping snow--
even off the head
of holy Jizo

Jizô is the beloved guardian deity of children.

Shinji Ogawa notes that tsumori in this haiku denotes tsumuri, "head."

1821

.母親を霜よけにして寝た子哉
haha oya wo shimoyoke ni shite neta ko kana

Mother
is the frost-guard...
sleeping child

This haiku has the prescript, "Beggar on a bridge."

1821

.とうふ屋と酒屋の間を冬篭
tôfu ya to sakaya no ai wo fuyugomori

between tofu shop
and the tavern...
my winter seclusion

1821

.冬篭あく物ぐいのつのりけり
fuyugomori akumono-gui no tsunori keri

winter seclusion--
on a foul food eating
binge

According to Sam Hamill, this foul food might include such things as cicada pupae and "bee worms"; see The Spring of My Life and Selected Haiku by Kobayashi Issa (Boston & London: Shambhala, 1997) 172, note 12.

Shinji Ogawa, however, insists that "for Issa the foul food is beef or any meat of a four-legged animal"; he cites Issa daijiten (Katsuyuki Yaba, Taishukan Shoten, 1993) 370, note 2. Shinji adds that tsunori keri means "to have advanced" or "to have grown." Issa's habit of eating animals prohibited by Buddhism has grown with each day of his winter seclusion.

1821

.冬篭る蛇の隣や鼠穴
fuyugomoru hebi no tonari ya nezumi ana

next door to the
hybernating snake...
a mouse's hole

The season word for this haiku is fuyugomori ("winter seclusion").

1821

.煩悩の犬もつきそふ冬篭
bonnô no inu mo tsukisô fuyugomori

my sinful dog
at my side...
winter seclusion

Literally, Issa's attendant dog is filled with "carnal desire" (bonnô)--a humorously self-ironic portrait. Like dog, like master.

Sakuo Nakamura speculates that the "sinful dog" might represent Issa's sexual desire.

1821

.居仏や炬燵で叱る立仏
i-botoke ya kotatsu de shikaru tachi-botoke

sitting Buddha nags
at the brazier...
standing Buddha

Shinji Ogawa explicates this enigmatic haiku: "The sitting Buddha is Issa and the standing Buddha is [his wife] Kiku. Issa is sitting at the brazier and nagging his wife, Kiku, who is busy with the housework. We can almost see Kiku's eyes rolling up to say, "There he goes again!' This is a typical love scene in the household in Old Japan."

A kotatsu is a quilt-covered brazier.

1821

.同じ世やこたつ仏に立ぼとけ
onaji yo ya kotatsu hotoke ni tachi-botoke

same world--
a Buddha at the brazier
a Buddha standing

Shinji Ogawa believes that the Buddha at the brazier is Issa and the standing Buddha is his wife, Kiku.

A kotatsu is a quilt-covered brazier.

1821

.炭の火に峰の松風通ひけり
sumi no hi ni mine no matsukaze kayoi keri

the mountain's pine wind
reaches
my charcoal fire

Shinji Ogawa assisted with this translation.

1821

.あつものをものともせぬよ薬喰
atsumono wo monotomosenu yo kusuri kuu

having no faith
in broth...
taking medicine

"Medicine" (kusuri) is a winter season word. Issa takes medicine "in spite of" or "making no account of (monotomosenu) the broth.

1821

.納豆をわらの上から貰ひけり
nattô wo wara no ue kara morai keri

getting my natto
from atop its bed
of straw

Nattô is fermented or "spoiled" soybeans--popular among the Japanese but, for many foreigners, a gastronomic challenge. In Issa's time it was especially eaten in the winter for health reasons, and therefore is a winter season word.

1821

.わらづとにしてもけぶれる納豆哉
warazuto ni shite [mo] kebureru natto kana

in its straw wrapper
my smoldering
natto

Nattô is fermented or "spoiled" soybeans--popular among the Japanese but, for many foreigners, a gastronomic challenge. In Issa's time it was especially eaten in the winter for health reasons, and therefore is a winter season word.

Normally pronounced nattô, this word can be shortened to natto to fit the five-seven-five syllable pattern of haiku (natto kana = 5 on or sound units).

1821

.江戸店や初そばがきに袴客
edo mise ya hatsu sobagaki ni hakama kyoku

Edo shop--
for the soba porridge
customers in trousers

Or: "a customer in trousers." Gabi Greve notes that "Hakama is an outer garment worn over the kimono that is either split between the legs like pants or non-split like a skirt. Hakama pants originated as an outer garment to protect samurai warriors' legs from brush when riding a horse. Today, the hakama is worn as formal attire for ceremonies, traditional Japanese dance, artists and martial arts."

Literally, the customers are eating the "first" soba porridge of the winter season (hatsu sobagaki).

1821

.草のとや初そばがきをねだる客
kusa no to ya hatsu sobagaki wo nedaru kyaku

rustic hut--
"Come and get
your soba porridge!"

Issa often uses the expression kusa no to ("grass door") to signify his own hut, but in the present case he uses it to refer to someone else's hut. Literally, customers are being called to eat the "first" soba porridge of the winter season (hatsu sobagaki).

1821

.人鬼の里にもどるやぬくめ鳥
hito oni no sato ni modoru ya nukume-dori

the hawk returns it
to the goblin village...
nest-warming bird

The editors of Issa zenshû explain: "On cold winter nights, hawks capture small birds and sit on them to keep their bottoms warm, releasing them in the morning" (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 1.714.

Is this mere folklore or real animal behavior?

Shinji Ogawa believes that the nest-warming bird, after enduring a horrific night, has been returned by the hawk to the village where goblins-called-men live. Out of the frying pan, into the fire.

1821

.木兎の寝てくらしても一期哉
mimizuku no nete kurashite mo ichi go kana

though sleeping
for the scops owl
it's a life

Literally, the haiku ends with the expression, ichi go, which in this context (according to Shinji Ogawa) signifies "a life." Shinji writes, "A horned owl, or an owl in general, seems, due to the nocturnal nature, to be asleep always, or to sleep away its life. Therefore, Issa is saying, 'Though sleeping may be its way of living, it is a life, anyway'."

1821

.みそさざい西へ鼠は東へ
misosazai nishi e nezumi wa hingashi e

the wren goes west
the mouse
east

1821

.冬枯のほまちざかりや菊の花
fuyugare no homachi-zakari ya kiku no hana

the withered side-field
in full bloom...
chrysanthemums

The "side-field" (homachi) is a plot of newly cultivated land that, in that period, was farmed in secret, evidently to avoid the daimyo's taxation; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1495.

1821

.霜がれや東海道の這入口
shimogare ya tôkaidô no hairiguchi

frost-killed grass--
the Eastern Sea Road's
front door

The "Eastern Sea Road" (Tôkaidô) ran from Edo (today's Tokyo) to the capital, Kyoto.

1821

.霜がれて猫なで声の烏哉
shimogarete nekonadegoe no karasu kana

frost kills the grass
the coaxing voice
of a crow

1821

.霜がれや鍋の炭かく小傾城
shimogare ya nabe no sumi kaku ko keisei

frost-killed grass--
the little beauty
scrapes soot from a kettle

Ko keisei can mean "little beauty," "little courtesan," or "little prostitute." In his translation, Makoto Ueda assumes the third meaning; Dew on the Grass: The Life and Poetry of Kobayashi Issa (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2004) 137.

1821

.悪い夢のみ当りけり鳴く烏
warui yume nomi atari keri naku karasu

just bad dreams
are my fate...
a crow caws

Issa wrote this gloomy haiku after the death of his baby son, Ishitarô. It is part of a short haibun (a prose piece with haiku); Makoto Ueda translates it in Dew on the Grass: The Life and Poetry of Kobayashi Issa (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2004) 133.

All translations © 1991-2010 by David G. Lanoue, rights reserved.