Iga Manko - Dohoo

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Iga Manko 伊賀万乎（まんこ）

In some translations his name is given as Banko.
The first Chinese character of his name,
万, can be read MAN or BAN.

? - 1724, August 15
生年不詳 - 1724年（享保9年）8月15日）

His name was Osakaya Jiroo Tayu (Jiro-dayu, Jiroodaiu)
大坂屋次郎大夫
He was a rich merchant in Iga Ueno.

In 1691 on the 23 of the third lunar month he had a blossom viewing party in his estate, where Matsuo Basho was present as the guest of honor.
伊賀万乎亭(ﾏﾝｺﾃｲ)で花見 Iga Manko Tei de Hanami


Iga Manko was one of the students of Matsuo Basho.

. Iga Shoomon 伊賀蕉門 Basho students of Iga province.


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Basho and Doho discussing hokku poetry

quote
Basho : poetry derives as a “close communion with nature” and t“leads to a ‘transpersonal’ theory of poetry, since such a communion presupposes the dissolution of the poet’s ego.”
Doho : . . . to submerge himself within a natural object, to perceive its delicate life and feel its feelings, out of which a poem forms itself.
A poem may skillfully delineate an object; but, unless it embodies feelings which have naturally emerged out of the object, the poem will fall short of the true poetic sentiment, since it presents the object and the poet as two separate things.

Basho and the Poetics of “Haiku” - by Makoto Ueda


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Three haiku from the Sarumino 猿蓑 and
Zoku-Sarumino 続猿蓑 collection:


田の畝の豆つたひ行蛍かな　　　　　　　(猿蓑)

更る夜や稲こく家の笑聲　　　　　　　　(続猿蓑)
涼しさよ牛の尾振て川の中　　　　　　(続猿蓑)


田の畝の豆つたひ行蛍かな
たのうねのまめつたいゆくほたるかな
ta no une no mame tsutai yuku hotaru kana

「畝」は「畦」の誤記であろう。農家では、しばしば田の畦道に大豆を植えたものである。蛍は、この枝豆を食べたくて畦伝いに飛んでいるのであろう、という身もふたも無い句。
une is maybe a spelling mistake of the kanji for aze.
Farmers planted edamame beans along the aze paths of the rice paddies. And the fireflies came along to eat the beans.
source :　www2.yamanashi-ken.ac.jp

(Keene reads this as heri, Blyth as aze.)

. . . . .


田の畝の豆つたひ行螢かな
ta no heri no mame tsutai yuku hotaru kana

Along the border of the fields
Following the bean plants
Go the fireflies.

Banko
[Tr. Donald Keene]

Kyorai writes:
This verse was originally one by Boncho that the Master [Basho] had corrected. When we were compiling 'The Monkey's Cloak', Boncho remarked, "This verse has nothing special to recommend it. Let's leave it out." Kyorai answered, "The lights of the fireflies following the bean plants at the edge of a field splendidly evoke a dark night."

But Boncho was not convinced by these words. The Master said, "If Boncho throws it away, I'll pick it up. It fortunately happens that one of the Iga poets has a similar verse that I can modify into this one." Thus, it finally appeared as Banko's poem.
[end of excerpt]

Hass's note:
Iga was Basho's home district, and he took a special interest in its poets.
[end of note]

. Fireflies of Seta and Haiku



ta no une no mame tsutaiyuku hotaru kana

On the ridge between fields
proceeding along the bean plants
the lights of fireflies
Tr. Earl Miner and Hiroko Odagiri

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. Compiled by Larry Bole:

Blyth describes him as:
"Banko, who died in 1724, was a man of Iga, Basho's home town, and a disciple of Basho."

Blyth translates one of Banko's haiku in this entry, the same one mentioned in Kyorai's "Conversations with Basho":

ta no aze no mame tsutaiyuku hotaru kana

The fireflies
Thread the beans of the path
Through the rice-field.
Banko, Tr. Blyth

. . . . .

And Blyth translates one of Banko's haiku, also about a firefly,
in vol. 3 of "Haiku", in the entry on "Fireflies":

te no hira wo hau ashi miyuru hotaru kana

The fire-fly;
As it crawls on my palm,
Its legs are visible.
Banko, Tr. Blyth




More online references about Banko:

In an essay by Cor van den Heuvel, in Modern Haiku (vol. 33.2, Summer 2002), titled
"Lafcadio Hearn and Haiku," van den Heuvel compares translations by Blyth and Hearn of the Banko haiku immediately above. Here is Hearn's translation (it's not clear which book of Hearn's it's from):

Oh, this firefly! as it crawls on the palm of my
hand, its legs are visible [by its own light]!


Robin Gill, in his book,
"Rise, ye sea slugs" (from google books online) has a haiku by 'Banko', but the haiku is dated 1777, so either it's a different Banko,
or else the date is wrong.

kosori au samusa mo oke no namako kana --
Banko (1777)

what a cold
'tete-a-tete': sea slugs
in a bucket


we meet
like sea slugs in a tub
of cold water
Tr. Gill, both versions


Unfortunately, Lenore Mayhew, in her translation of "Monkey's Raincoat," only translates a small selection of the independent 'hokku', which doesn't include any by Banko.

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More haiku by Manko

万乎 まんこ
（～享保9年（1724）8月15日）
伊賀蕉門の一人。伊賀上野の豪商大坂屋次郎大夫。 米と金銀の交換を業とした金融業者。倉庫業も営む。「猿蓑」・「有磯海」・「笈日記」に作品が収められている。元禄4年3月23日、自邸に芭蕉を招待し、その折に入門。

田の畝の豆つたひ行螢かな　　（『猿蓑』 『去来抄』）

煤拂せうじをはくは手代かな　　（『炭俵』）

あたらしき翠簾まだ寒し梅花　　（『續猿蓑』）

小米花奈良のはづれや鍛冶が家　　（『續猿蓑』）

李盛る見世のほこりの暑哉　　（『續猿蓑』）

枯のぼる葉は物うしや鶏頭花　　（『續猿蓑』）

更る夜や稲こく家の笑聲　　（『續猿蓑』）

大年や親子たはらの指荷ひ　　（『續猿蓑』）

source : www2.yamanashi-ken.ac.jp


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Japanese Reference

. 伊賀万乎



BTW
manko まんこ is a Japanese word for the female genitals, often translated as cunt or pussy.
This word was sort of "unspeakable" in the Kanto region, but not so much in Osaka.


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Related words


伊賀土芳 Iga Tohoo
服部土芳 Hattori Dohoo, Hattori Doho
(1657 - 1730)
明暦3年（1657年） - 享保15年1月18日（1730年3月6日）
Hattori Yasuhide

Is best-known work is Sanzooshi 三冊子 with the teachings of Matsuo Basho. It was published in 1702.
A compilation of his own poems from 1688 to 1729 is
Minomushian shuu 養虫魔集 Collection from Minomushi Hut


棹鹿のかさなり臥る枯野かな
saojika no kasanari fuseru kareno kana

the wild deer
are lying side by side
in withered fields . . .


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When Matsuo Basho left Iga,
Doho was only 10 years old and now they met after 19 years in Kyoto.

To show his pleasure, Basho wrote

命二つの中に生きたる桜かな
. inochi futatsu no naka ni ikitaru sakura kana .


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. Iga Shoomon 伊賀蕉門 Basho students of Iga province.


shoomon 蕉門 Shomon, Basho students, Basho's school
shoofuu 蕉風 Shofu, Basho style haiku

. Basho jittetsu 芭蕉十哲
10 great and most important disciples of Basho


***** Introducing Japanese Haiku Poets　


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