52 haiku out of 9486
year unknown
.歯固は猫に勝れて笑ひけり
hagatame wa neko ni katarete warai keri
New Year's tooth-hardening
meal...the cat wins
and laughs
This haiku refers to a special tooth-hardening meal eaten in the New Year's season. The cat, with better and harder teeth, seems to be laughing at poor Issa.
year unknown
.舞々や翌なき春を笑ひ顔
mai-mai ya asu naki haru wo warai kao
water spider
on spring's last day...
laughing face
Shinji Ogawa helped with this translation. The mai-mai is also called a "water spinner."
year unknown
.小便の身ぶるひ笑へきりぎりす
shôben no miburui warae kirigirisu
laugh at my piss
and shudder...
katydid
This is an early haiku written in the 1790s. 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.
Makoto Ueda, in his translation of this haiku, renders kirigirisu "grasshoppers"; Dew on the Grass: The Life and Poetry of Kobayashi Issa (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2004) 34.
1803
.としよりの追従わらひや花の陰
toshiyori no tsuisho warai ya hana no kage
an old man's
flattering laughter...
blossom shade
Shinji Ogawa notes that Japanese blossom viewing is a social event. People go in groups--neighbors, relatives, colleagues. "The old man is trying to be sociable in the party."
Why does Issa single him out? Is he trying too hard? Is he a sycophant?
Shinji responds: "It's a good question. In Japan, especially in Issa's day, it is a common view that an old man, keeping his dignity, doesn't laugh so easily. Therefore, it is noteworthy that even an old man laughs a flattering laugh on such an occasion as a blossom-viewing party."
"Blossoms" (hana) can signify cherry blossoms in the shorthand of haiku.
1803
.殺されに南へ行か天つ雁
korosare ni minami e yuku ka amatsu kari
flying south
for the slaughter?
celestial geese
Amatsu kari ("celestial geese") is a season word for geese migrating in autumn. Jean Cholley notes that the daimyo and other high personages held great hunts for the migrating geese, often decimating them; En village de miséreux: Choix de poèmes de Kobayashi Issa (Paris: Gallimard, 1996) 235, note 18.
1804
.うしろからぼろを笑ふよ梅の花
ushiro kara boro wo warau yo ume no hana
behind me
laughter at my rags...
plum blossoms
The "me" in this haiku is implied, not stated, in Issa's original.
1806
.時鳥火宅の人を笑らん
hototogisu kataku no hito wo warauran
cuckoo--
laughing at the man
in the burning house?
This haiku refers to a parable in The Lotus Sutra, Chapter 3. A man coaxes his three children from a burning house by offering each of them a carriage. The burning house represents addiction to temporary, worldly pleasure. The three carriages represent the three main schools of Buddhism.
Shinji Ogawa notes, "In Japan, the phrase, kataku no hito (a man or persons in the burning house), is customally used as a idiom for people in this world, just like the phrase shaba no hito. The word, warauran, means 'may be laughing' (conjecture)." Shinji offers this translation:
cuckoo may be laughing
at the people's
struggling lives
1807
.なく烏門のつぎ穂を笑ふらん
naku karasu kado no tsugiho wo warauran
at my gate
the crow laughs
at the branch I grafted
Issa's original is more speculative: the crow "may be laughing" (warauran).
1807
.高砂の松や笑はんとしの豆
takasago no matsu ya warawan toshi no mame
the pines of Takasago
laughing...
the year's last day
Takasago is a famous town in Japan. Literally, Issa ends this haiku with the expression toshi no mame: "the year's beans"--referring to the good luck beans that are eaten on the year's last day.
1808
.きそ始山の梟笑ふらん
kiso hajime yama no fukurô warauran
putting on my
New Year's clothes...
the mountain owl laughs
Issa's original haiku is speculative: the owl "may be laughing" (warauran). Issa doesn't often dress in fancy clothes.
1809
.朝笑いくらに買か花の春
asa warai ikura ni kau ka hana no haru
morning's laugh--
"How much do they cost,
spring's blossoms?"
The answer, of course, is "Nothing!" A silly, yet profound, question. The opening phrase, "morning's laugh" (asa warai) might be taken to mean, "morning's joke" or "first joke of the morning."
1811
.梟が高みで笑ふ砧かな
fukurô ga takami de warau kinuta kana
the owl high above
laughs to the beat...
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.
1812
.山烏おれがつぎ木を笑ふ哉
yama-garasu ore ga tsugiki wo warau kana
the mountain crow
laughs at the branch
I grafted
1812
.山烏おれがさし木を笑ふ哉
yama-garasu ore ga sashi-gi wo warau kana
mountain crow--
he sees my grafted branch
and laughs
Evidently, Issa hasn't done a very good job grafting the tree branch.
1812
.蚤とぶや笑仏の御口へ
nomi tobu ya warai-botoke no ôkuchi e
a flea jumps
in the laughing Buddha's
mouth
My "haiku novel," Laughing Buddha, derives its title from this haiku. In it, I write:
On the literal level, the mouth of a wooden or bronze Buddha receives an errant, hopping flea. To be sure, the flea didn't consciously aim to land in the maw of the Great Compassionate One. However, the fact that it has "randomly" done so is a happy reminder of a benevolent power at work in the universe. In that power, Shinran [the founder of Jôdoshinshû Buddhism] advised, we should devoutly, utterly trust. (Winchester, Virginia: Red Moon Press, 2004) 88-89.
This haiku is one of the "essential" 188 picked by the translator. back next
1812
.梟のくすくす笑ふ衾哉
fukurô no kusu-kusu warau fusuma kana
the owl laughs
hoo-hoo! hoo-hoo!
winter quilt
Literally, the owl "laughs titteringly" (kusu-kusu warau). Issa seems to be playing onomatopoetically with the "oo" sound in kusu-kusu, so I have translated the middle line, "hoo-hoo! hoo-hoo!" The relationship between the owl and the quilt is seasonal. The owl loves the cold winter weather that has forced someone (Issa?) to break out the warm bedcover.
1812
.夢の世と亀を笑ふかふゆ篭
yume no yo to kame wo warau ka fuyugomori
in dream world
was I laughing at a turtle?
winter seclusion
Perhaps Issa's dream is symbolic. Like a turtle, he is hunkered inside his shell (hut), waiting out the harsh winter weather.
1813
.餅花の木陰にてうちあはは哉
mochibana [no] kokage nite uchi awawa kana
in the shade
of the rice cake flower...
making baby laugh
Mochibana are rice cakes with willow branches stuck in them, presented as offerings to the gods on home altars; Issa zenshû (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 6.171, note 193.
Awawa is a way to amuse babies by using the palm of the hand to cover and uncover one's mouth, making a silly sound; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 52. I picture Issa amusing his daughter Sato in this scene.
In his translation, Nobuyuki Yuasa writes, "A child clasps his hands/ Happily at play"; The Year of My Life: A Translation of Issa's Oraga Haru (Berkeley: U. of California Press, 1960; 2nd ed. 1972) 97.
1813
.闇がりへ鬼追出して笑ひ哉
kuragari e oni oi-dashite warai kana
driving demons
into the darkness...
laughing
During the end-of-year bean-scattering ritual, it is a custom to shout, "Luck indoors, demons begone!" In this haiku, who is laughing? I picture children.
1814
.蝶とんでくわらくわら川のきげん哉
chô tonde kara-kara kawa no kigen kana
butterflies flitting--
the river laughing
ha-ha-ha!
Or: "a butterfly flitting." Shinji Ogawa explains that kuwara-kuwara should be pronounced as kara-kara, to depict the sound of laughter, like English's "ha-ha."
1814
.稲妻にけらけら笑ひ仏哉
inazuma ni kera-kera warai hotoke kana
in the lightning
how he laughs...
Buddha!
The statue of a Laughing Buddha seems to come to life in the lightning flash.
1814
.玉棚に孫の笑ひを馳走哉
tama-dana ni mago no warai wo chisô kana
at the ancestors' altar
a grandchild's laughter
offered up
The ancestors' altar (tama-dana) is an altar for the spirits of the dead used during 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.
Shinji Ogawa explains, "The laughter of the grandchild is the appropriate offering for the ancestors' altar."
1814
.梟が笑ふ目つきや辻角力
fukurô ga warau metsuki ya tsuji sumô
seems like the owl
is laughing!
outdoor sumo match
1815
.朝夷も一ッ笑へおこり炭
asaebisu mo hitotsu warae okori-zumi
another early morning
laugh!
my charcoal fire
The word asaebisu is an old expression for "early in the morning"; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 22. The phrase, okori-zumi, signifies "beginning [a] charcoal [fire]." In Issa's Japanese okoru could mean hajimaru ("begin"); Kogo dai jiten, 260.
1816
.指さして笑ふ仏よ玉丸雪
yubisashite warau-botoke yo tama arare
the laughing Buddha
points...
at a hailstone
1817
.ばさら画の遊女も笑へ薬喰
basara-e no yûjo mo warae kusuri kuu
painted fan's prostitute
laugh at me too!
taking medicine
"Medicine" (kusuri) is a winter season word. Issa doesn't include the phrase, "at me," but he implies it. Why else does he tell the prostitute to laugh? I think he's making fun of himself, and inviting the woman painted on the fan to join in.
1818
.這へ笑へ二ッになるぞけさからは
hae warae futatsu ni naru zo kesa kara wa
crawl and laugh--
from this morning on
a two year old!
Shinji Ogawa comments: "In traditional Japan, a person's age was counted one when he or she was born, and on the next New Year's Day another year was added...This haiku expresses Issa's happy feeling so naturally and so vividly and, therefore, it brings tears to the reader's eyes, knowing that Issa lost the child so soon." The child in question is Sato, who would die on the 21st day of Sixth Month, 1819. Though Issa wrote this haiku in Twelfth Month 1818, he anticipates in it the coming New Year's Day of 1819, at which time Sato would turn two by traditional reckoning. By Western reckoning she was seven months' old that day.
1818
.へたへたと蛙が笑ふさし木哉
heta-heta to kawazu ga warau sashi-gi kana
"A clumsy job!"
a frog laughs
at my grafted branch
Or: "at the grafted branch." Issa doesn't specify that he's the one who did such a poor job, but this can be inferred. Shinji Ogawa notes that heta-heta, in this context, means "clumsy, clumsy!"
1818
.小坊主よも一ッ笑へ梅の花
ko bôzu yo mo hitotsu warae ume no hana
little boy
laugh once more!
plum blossoms
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.
1819
.年頭に孫の笑ふをみやげ哉
nentô ni mago no wara[u] wo miyage kana
for laughing grandchildren
on New Year's Day...
presents!
Or: "for the laughing grandchild/ on New Year's Day�/ a present!"
1819
.虫の屁を指して笑ひ仏哉
mushi no he wo yubisashite warai hotoke kana
pointing
at the fart bug...
laughing Buddha
The "fart bug" (mushi no he) emits a foul odor.
1819
.子宝がきゃらきゃら笑ふほた火哉
ko takara ga kyara-kyara warau hotabi kana
our treasured child
shrieks with laughter...
a cozy wood fire
Or: "treasured children." In his translation, Nobuyuki Yuasa pictures children; The Year of My Life: A Translation of Issa's Oraga Haru (Berkeley: U. of California Press, 1960; 2nd ed. 1972) 97. I prefer to read this as a happy portrait of Issa's little daughter, Sato.
Kyara-kyara is an expression that describes high-pitched laughter; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 469.
1820
.あれ花が花がと笑ひ仏哉
are hana ga hana ga to warai-botoke kana
"There's some blossoms!
and over there!"
laughing Buddha
Literally, Issa refers to a statue or image of Buddha laughing. Is he figuratively talking about a friend? About himself? "Blossoms" (hana) can denote cherry blossoms in the shorthand of haiku.
1820
.こおろぎのころころ一人笑ひ哉
kôrogi no koro-koro hito[ri] warai kana
the cricket
"Cricky! Cricky!" laughing
by himself
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
.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
.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
.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
1822
.盗人のかすんでげけら笑ひかな
nusubito no kasunde gekera warai kana
in thick spring mist
the burglar
laughing
The editors of Issa zenshû provide two readings of the three on ("sound units") that follow kasunde ("misting") in the middle phrase: kekera and gekera (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79, 1.88; 4.336.
1822
.打って打ってと逃て笑ふ蝿の声
utte utte to nogarete warau hae no koe
swat! swat!
the escaping fly buzzes
with laughter
1822
.足で追ふ鼠が笑ふ夜寒哉
ashi de ou nezumi ga warau yozamu kana
the stomped-at mouse
squeaks with laughter...
a cold night
1822
.えんま王笑ひ菌をちと進れ
enma-ô warai kinoko wo chito maire
Emma, king of hell,
have a bite of laughing
mushrooms!
According to the editors of Issa zenshû, the last kanji in this haiku is pronounced maire (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 1.601. Shinji Ogawa explains that maire is a command, "do." The phrase, chito maire, in this context, means "eat a little." "As Emma always has an angry expression," Shinji writes, "Issa has a good reason to suggest that Emma eat the laughing mushrooms a little."
Michael Hebert reports that the "laughing mushroom" (warai kinoko) contains the hallucinogen psilocybin, found in many places of the world, including Europe, the United States and Japan. Issa invites the scowling Emma to eat such a mushroom, get high--and mellow out.
1823
.物陰に笑ふ鼠や店おろし
monokage ni warau nezumi ya tana oroshi
hidden in shadows
a laughing mouse...
New Year's inventory
Or: "laughing mice." Tana oroshi is a beginning-of-the-year inventory, where merchants examine their stock on hand and enter its value into the account book; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1013.
1823
.乞食やもらひながらのはつ笑ひ
kojiki ya morai nagara no hatsu warai
a beggar receives
alms, the year's first
laughter
1823
.おさな子や笑ふにつけて秋の暮
o[sa]nago ya warau ni tsukete aki no kure
the laughter of a child
in the autumn
dusk
In one text, Issa has the following prescript for this haiku: "On a motherless child learning to crawl." This note adds pathos to this scene of laughing baby as autumn's darkness falls. The poem refers to Issa's son Konzaburô, whose mother died in Fifth Month of 1823. The little boy died later that same year, in Twelfth Month. Even without this biographical context, the poem presents a somber contrast: the laughter of a child, symbolizing life; and the autumn sunset, symbolizing death. Issa's eyes, as a poet, are open to both sides of yin and yang.
1823
.摂待のあいそに笑ひ仏かな
settai no aiso ni warai hotoke kana
laughing politely
while tea is served...
Buddha
This haiku refers to a statue or image of a Laughing Buddha. In the Seventh Month of the old calendar, every temple would offer pilgrims hot tea; Kiyose (Tokyo: Kakugawa Shoten, 1984) 276.
1823
.摂待の茶にさへ笑ひむすめ哉
settai no cha ni sae warai musume kana
even the temple tea
makes her laugh...
little girl
In the Seventh Month of the old calendar, every temple would offer pilgrims hot tea; Kiyose (Tokyo: Kakugawa Shoten, 1984) 276.
1823
.飛のいて烏笑ふや雪礫
tobinoite karasu warau ya yukitsubete
jumping aside
the crow just laughs...
snowball
1823
.借り髪を木兎も笑ふや神ぢ山
kari kami wo zuku mo warau ya kamiji yama
a scops owl laughs too
at his wig...
Mount Kamiji
Or: "her wig." Literally, the person is wearing "borrowed hair" (kari kami).
A hill dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu, Mount Kamiji is located in a garden in the inner precincts of Ise shrine. Veneration of Amaterasu at this shrine began in 701, representing "the first time the ancestral deity of the Yamato clan was legally recognized and officially enshrined [...] under the newly centralized government"; Daigan and Alicia Matsunaga, Foundation of Japanese Buddhism, Vol. 1 (Los Angeles/Tokyo: Buddhist Books International, 1974) 115.
1824
.福来る門や野山の笑顔
fuku kitaru kado ya noyama no warai-gao
well-wishing at the gate--
the faces of hills and fields
laughing
This haiku has the prescript, "Salutations at the gate." The spring hills and fields are turning green; Issa perceives them as laughing faces.
Shinji Ogawa adds that "mountain laughs" (yama warau) is one of the special season words in haiku, signifying spring. He thinks that Issa is playing with this season word in the poem.
1824
.追鳥を烏笑ふや堂の屋根
oi-dori wo karasu warau ya dô no yane
the crow laughs
at the bird hunters...
temple roof
Issa and his readers know that life is protected at the Buddhist temple. In this haiku, the crow also seems to be aware of this fact, laughing tauntingly at the hunters from the safety of its perch.
1825
.いとし子や母が来るとて這ひ笑ふ
itoshi-go ya haha ga kuru tote hai-warau
the darling child
summons his mother
crawling, laughing
On the surface, a happy moment, but there might be a deeper, sadder meaning. Issa later revises this haiku:
katamigo ya haha ga kuru tote te wo tataku
the orphan child
summons his mother
clapping
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. If we read the original poem in light of this later version, the child is calling for his or her mother, but she is dead.