45 haiku out of 9486
year unknown
.名月や羽織でかくす欲と尿
meigetsu ya haori de kakusu yoku to shito
harvest moon--
hiding with their coats
lust and piss
Or: "hiding with my coat" or "hiding with his coat." I prefer to visualize a group of moon-gazers whose hidden, sinful reality contrasts starkly with the divine moon. This is a funny and raw haiku with Pure Land Buddhist overtones. According to Shinran, the patriarch of the Jôdoshinshû sect to which Issa belonged, we are all, inescapably, sinners.
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.
year unknown
.鼠らよ小便無用古衾
nezumi-ra yo shôben muyô furu fusuma
hey mice
no pissing on my old
winter quilt!
1792
.船頭よ小便無用浪の月
sendô yo shôben muyô nami no tsuki
hey boatman
no pissing on the moon
in the waves!
In my novel, Haiku Guy (Winchester, VA.: Red Moon Press, 2000, 47), I translate this haiku much more liberally:
the boatman pisses
but misses
the real moon
1803
.西向て小便もせぬ月よ哉
nishi muite shôben mo senu tsuki yo kana
no westward facing
pissing tonight...
bright moon
This haiku has a prescript that cites a sign in the Book of Divinations, denoting the unlucky direction northeast; Issa zenshû (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 2.143, note 1. Instead of relieving one's self while facing Amida's Western Paradise and the full moon, Issa suggests that it would be better to take aim in the unlucky direction.
1806
.芝栗や馬のばりしてうつくしき
shibaguri ya uma no bari shite utsukushiki
little chestnuts
pissed on by the horse...
shiny new
1811
.浅ましの尿瓶とやなくむら千鳥
asamashi no shibin to ya mura chidori
"Shameful, that piss-pot!"
the flock of plovers
sing
Is the piss-pot "shameful" (asamashi) because Issa is using it in front of them? Mura in this haiku refers to something that is bunched together with other things of the same class, i.e., in this case, a flock. See Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1602.
1812
.小便の滝を見せうぞ鳴蛙
shôben no taki wo mishô zo naku kawazu
get ready to see
my piss waterfall!
croaking frog
1812
.初蝉といへば小便したりけり
hatsu semi to ieba shôben shitari keri
"first cicada!"
he says
while it pisses
Shinji Ogawa's comment reveals the comedy of this haiku: "It is important to clarify who is pissing. The cicada is the pisser, not the person. It is a well-known fact by those boys who chase cicadas on a hot summer day that cicadas piss quite often. Cicadas live on tree trunks. When they start to fly to the next tree they piss. Those boys mostly looking up to see the cicada receive it right on their faces."
1814
.杉で葺く小便桶や秋の暮
sugi de fuku shôben oke ya aki no kure
with cedars for a roof
the piss bucket...
autumn dusk
1814
.小便の香も通ひけり菊の花
shôben no ka mo kayoi keri kiku no hana
the smell of piss
wafting too...
chrysanthemums
1814
.ちる霰立小便の見事さよ
chiru arare tachi shôben no migotosa yo
to stand pissing
while hailstones fall...
quite a feat!
1814
.雀らよ小便無用古衾
suzume-ra yo shôben muyô furu fusuma
hey sparrows
no pissing on my old
winter quilt!
1815
.土橋や立小便も先かすむ
tsuchi-bashi ya tatsu shôben mo mazu kasumu
earthen bridge--
I stand pissing
in morning mist
I interepret mazu ("first") to mean "first thing in the morning."
1815
.小便の滝を見せうぞ来よ蛍
shôben no taki wo mishô zo ko yo hotaru
get ready to see
my piss waterfall...
come, firefly!
1815
.うら口や曲げ小便もはつ氷
uraguchi ya mage shôben mo hatsu kôri
back door--
pissing scribbles
in the first ice
1815
.はつ雪と呼る小便序哉
hatsu yuki to yobawaru shôben tsuide kana
"First snowfall!"
he shouts in the middle
of pissing
Or: "I shout"; Issa doesn't specify the person. In 1824 he revised this haiku, changing the bottom phrase to nagara kana; the basic meaning in English is the same.
1815
.霜おくと呼る小便序哉
shimo oku to yobawaru shôben tsuide kana
"Frost has formed!"
he yells
then pisses
Or: "I yell/ then piss." The morning frost presents an irresistible tabula rasa.
1816
.尿をやる子にあれあれと桜哉
shito wo yaru ko ni are-are to sakura kana
a child pissing
"Look! Look!"
cherry blossoms
1816
.山里は小便所も花の哉
yama-zato wa shôbenjo mo hanano kana
even the mountain village's
pissing place...
a field of flowers
1816
.きりぎりす尿瓶のおともほそる夜ぞ
kirigirisu shibin no oto mo hosoru yo zo
katydid's song
and my tinkling in the piss-pot
weaken in the night
Issa observes a connection in seemingly unconnected events: the song of a katydid and the sound of his own piddling grow weak at the same time.
A kirigirisu (katydid) 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.
1817
.一方は尿瓶の音ぞきりぎりす
ippô wa shibin no oto zo kirigirisu
on one sinde
the sound of the piss pot...
on the other, a katydid
The phrase, "on the other," does not appear in the Japanese, but it is implied. 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.
1817
.小便の百度参りやさよ千鳥
shôben no hyaku do mairi ya sayo chidori
going out to piss
for the hundredth time...
plovers in the night
1818
.小便のたらたら下や杜若
shôben no tara-tara dare ya kakitsubata
where piss dribbles,
dribbles down...
irises
1818
.酒臭し小便くさし菊の花
sake kusashi shôben kusashi kiku no hana
smelling like sake
smelling like piss
chrysanthemums
Evidently, some visitor to the chrysanthemum garden has relieved himself there. Or perhaps a dog is to blame, as in this earlier haiku (1807):
sato inu no bari wo kake keri kiku no hana
watered by
the village dog...
chrysanthemum
1818
.真丸に小便したる夜寒哉
manmaru ni shôben shitaru yozamu kana
pissing a perfect
circle...
a cold night
1818
.小便に手をつく供や横時雨
shôben ni te wo tsuku tomo ya yoko shigure
after pissing
rinsing the hands...
slanting winter rain
The rain is not only hard, a wind is blowing it sideways.
1818
.はつ雪に打かぶせたる尿瓶哉
hatsu yuki ni uchi-kabusetaru shibin kana
the first snowfall
caps it...
the piss pot
1819
.杉で葺く小便桶やころもがい
sugi de fuku shôben oke ya koromogai
cedar thatch
for the piss bucket...
new summer robes
Issa spells koromogae nonstandardly in this haiku: koromogai. Even the piss bucket gets a new "robe" on summer's first day.
1819
.有明や二番尿から門涼み
ariake ya ni ban bari kara kado suzumi
at dawn
after my second piss...
coolness at the gate
1820
.真直な小便穴や門の雪
massuguna shôben ana ya kado no yuki
what a straight
piss hole!
snow at the gate
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
.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
.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
1822
.山里は小便所さへきくの花
yama-zato wa shôben toko sae ki[ku no] hana
mountain village--
even in the pissing place
a chrysanthemum!
1822
.はつ雪に一の宝尿瓶かな
hatsu yuki ni hitotsu no takara shibin kana
in the year's
first snowstorm a treasure!
the piss-pot
1823
.小便もうかとはならずけさの春
shôben mo uka to wa narazu kesa no haru
even pissing
should be done with care...
spring's first dawn
Since the first day of spring was also New Year's Day in the old calendar, every action was a ritual intended to bring prosperity and luck for the year. With tongue-in-cheek Issa suggests that this holds true even for the year's first piss.
Issa's expression, uka to wa narazu, literally means, "shouldn't be done without care."
1823
.花咲くやそこらは野屎野小便
hana saku ya sokora wa no-guso no shôben
cherry blossoms--
in yonder field
pooping and pissing
"Blossoms" (hana) can denote cherry blossoms in the shorthand of haiku.
People throng in the countryside to view the blossoms. Nature calls in more ways than one.
1823
.小便も玉と成りけり芋畠
shôben mo tama to nari keri imo-batake
piss also
turns to pearls...
field of yams
Taro or Chinese yams (imo) are growing in the field. The drops of piddle join the pearls of dewdrops on the leaves.
1824
.むく起の小便ながら御慶哉
muku oki [no] shôben nagara gyokei kana
while taking
my morning piss...
"Happy New Year!"
Or: "while taking his�" The identity of the person isn't specified, though it is probably the irreverent poet, always happy to poke fun at social conventions. Muku oki is an old expression that conveys the idea of suddenly waking and getting up; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1589.
1824
.大猫が尿かくす也花の雪
ôneko ga shito kakusu nari hana no yuki
the big cat hides
to piss...
snow on the blossoms
1824
.氷る夜はどんすの上の尿瓶哉
kôru yo wa donsu no ue no shibin kana
night of freeze--
on silk damask sits
my piss-pot
Issa doesn't write "my," but this can be inferred.
1824
.かくれ家や尿瓶も添て衣配
kakurega ya shibin mo soete kinu kubari
secluded house--
even for the piss-pot
a gift of new clothes
This haiku alludes to the Twelfth Month custom of providing gifts of new clothes, usually for one's relatives. Here, Issa comically includes the piss-pot in the celebration, giving it a new piece of "clothing" to cover or hide it.
1825
.両方に小便しながら御慶哉
ryôhô ni shôben shi nagara gyokei kana
on both sides
while they and I piss...
"Happy New Year!"
It would be hard to imagine another haiku poet of Japanese tradition depicting this scene of three neighbors relieving themselves on New Year's Day, standing in a row. The earthy humor and, deeper down, feeling of human connection make it recognizably the work of Issa.
This haiku is one of the "essential" 188 picked by the translator. back next
1825
.隣から連小便や夜の雪
tonari kara tsure shôben ya yoru no yuki
pissing
with the neighbor...
evening snow