tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-820047071744679108.post4028403326604933548..comments2023-05-23T03:54:17.181-07:00Comments on Introducing Haiku Poets and Topics . . . . . WKD: Kobayashi IssaGabi Grevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16362456518166174106noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-820047071744679108.post-25827658729994195892018-03-14T22:25:34.749-07:002018-03-14T22:25:34.749-07:00Edo / Tokyo Honjo-Aioicho 本所相生町 Honjo-Aioi distri...Edo / Tokyo Honjo-Aioicho 本所相生町 Honjo-Aioi district<br />From the 1st to the 5th sub-district.<br />The haiku poet Kobayashi Issa lived in Aioi-Cho for some time.<br />This is called his 相生町時代 Aioi period. <br />.<br />https://edoflourishing.blogspot.jp/2013/08/honjo-and-motomachi.html<br />.Gabi Greve - Darumapediahttps://edoflourishing.blogspot.jp/2013/08/honjo-and-motomachi.htmlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-820047071744679108.post-83874249272100140702017-01-20T20:16:59.033-08:002017-01-20T20:16:59.033-08:00Lafcadio Hearn: RokuJizo:
"Why six Jizo inst...<b>Lafcadio Hearn: RokuJizo: </b><br />"Why six Jizo instead of five or three or any other number, the reader may ask. I myself asked the question many times before receiving any satisfactory reply. Perhaps the following legend affords the most satisfactory explanation: According to the Book Taijo-Hoshi-mingyo-nenbutsu-den, Jizo-Bosatsu was a woman ten thousand ko (kalpas) before this era, and became filled with desire to convert all living beings of the Six Worlds and the Four Births.<br /><br />And by virtue of the Supernatural Powers she multiplied herself and simultaneously appeared in all the Rokussho or Six States of Sentient Existence at once, namely in the Jigoku, Gaki, Chikusho, Shura, Ningen, Tenjo, and converted the dwellers thereof. (A friend insists that in order to have done this Jizo must first have become a man.) <br />Among the many names of Jizo, such as 'The Never Slumbering,' 'The Dragon-Praiser,' 'The Shining King,' 'Diamond-of-Pity,' I find the significant appellation of 'The Countless Bodied.'"<br />.<br />https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10211850265240589&set=gm.1626662267638853&type=3&theater<br />.Gabi Grevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16362456518166174106noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-820047071744679108.post-50705915671277183372017-01-20T20:15:40.939-08:002017-01-20T20:15:40.939-08:00Lafcardio Hearn
(from "Glimpses of Unfamiliar...Lafcardio Hearn<br />(from "Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan, First Series, Ch III, Note 3))<br />"The original Jizo has been identified by Orientalists with the Sanscrit Kshitegarbha; as Professor Chamberlain observes, the resemblance in sound between the names Jizo and Jesus 'is quite fortuitous.' <br />But in Japan Jizo has become totally transformed: he may justly be called the most Japanese of all Japanese divinities. ...<br />Gabi Grevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16362456518166174106noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-820047071744679108.post-37366938348789088602017-01-20T20:14:58.672-08:002017-01-20T20:14:58.672-08:00Lafcadio Hearn wrote
"Farther on, I find othe...Lafcadio Hearn wrote<br />"Farther on, I find other figures of Jizo, single reliefs, sculptured upon tombs. But one of these is a work of art so charming that I feel a pain at being obliged to pass it by. More sweet, assuredly, than any imaged Christ, this dream in white stone of the playfellow of dead children, like a beautiful young boy, with gracious eyelids half closed, and face made heavenly by such a smile as only Buddhist art could have imagined, the smile of infinite lovingness and supremest gentleness. <br />Indeed, so charming the ideal of Jizo is that in the speech of the people a beautiful face is always likened to his-'Jizo-kao,' as the face of Jizo." - <br />https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10211820446655143&set=gm.1625505237754556&type=3&theater<br />.Gabi Grevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16362456518166174106noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-820047071744679108.post-55200473152819961012012-09-27T17:44:54.503-07:002012-09-27T17:44:54.503-07:00David Lanoue
Issa's Best:
A Translator's ...David Lanoue<b><br />Issa's Best: <br />A Translator's Selection of Master Haiku </b><br />.<br /><br />I enjoyed reading Professor David Lanoue's book in Kindle apps on my iPhone 4s. Professor Lanoue presents Issa as simply Issa (the book's poems are English translations of Issa's Japanese poems). I like this clean and simple approach, although, I would have liked to have seen the original Japanese, because, I like to do translations, too. Professor Lanoue divides the contents nicely explaining the book, Issa, and Issa's poems into the five traditional Japanese seasons: New Year's; Spring; Summer; Autumn; and Winter. These seasons demark the poems themes. Professor Lanoue also includes a section of poems without seasonal theme and a section about himself. <br />By chibi <br /><br />.<br />at amazon.comGabi Greve / amazonhttp://www.amazon.com/Issas-Best-Translators-Selection-ebook/dp/B009BHTX5Gnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-820047071744679108.post-2406093748439031352010-04-06T21:29:23.091-07:002010-04-06T21:29:23.091-07:00Seegan Mabesoone
'Blue-eyed' poet puts li...Seegan Mabesoone<br /><br />'Blue-eyed' poet puts life into haiku<br /><br />By Ayako Hirayama<br /><br />NAGANO--It hit like a flash of light 10 years ago when Seegan Mabesoone was taking a break from his doctoral studies on Japanese literature. Traveling in the Cote d'Azur region of southeast France in 1995, the journey became etched on his memory when he thought up a haiku in Japanese for the first time.<br /><br />What inspired him were orange flowers that gave off a scent similar to the wonderful smell of the desserts his mother used to bake. When he looked up, he was enthralled by a splendid view of the Mediterranean. And then he murmured the following haiku:<br /><br />橙の花にひかれて母の海<br /><br />Daidai no<br />Hana ni hikarete<br />Haha no umi<br /><br />Bitter orange flower,<br />This is the sea where my mother<br />Was born<br /><br />(Translation by Mabesoone)<br /><br />Up to this point, the aspiring French poet had only created "haiku-like poems" in his mother tongue.<br /><br />snip<br /><br />The chance to return to Japan came in 1996 with a position on the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program. He was sent to Nagano Prefecture, where he spent three years in the prefectural government's international relations section. During the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, he worked as a translator and event coordinator. His best memory from the Olympics was the success of a project called One Haiku for the Olympics, in which 100 haiku contributed by the public were translated into English and French and printed on flags handed to guests.<br /><br />Nagano Prefecture is perhaps not the place most foreign nationals would choose to live. But Mabesoone was happy to be posted there, as the prefecture is the home of his favorite haiku master, Kobayashi Issa.<br /><br />Issa's work, Mabesoone says, is filled with admiration for nature and vulnerable creatures. His fascination with Issa grew as he learned more about the haiku master by visiting historic sites associated with the poet.<br />more<br />http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/photos/0003/inroads011.htmanonymous yomiurihttp://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/photos/0003/inroads011.htmnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-820047071744679108.post-22354574612140904742010-03-28T22:58:06.672-07:002010-03-28T22:58:06.672-07:00マブソン青眼( - せいがん、1968年 - )
Mabuson Seigan (Mabusoon...マブソン青眼( - せいがん、1968年 - )<br />Mabuson Seigan (Mabusoon)<br />フランス出身の俳人<br /><br />He lives in Shinano with his family and studies about Issa.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-820047071744679108.post-11380496479308524502008-07-26T23:14:00.000-07:002008-07-26T23:14:00.000-07:00Quote Japan TimesOne of poetry's finest reminds us...Quote Japan Times<BR/><BR/>One of poetry's finest reminds us of our place in the natural world<BR/><BR/><BR/>By ROGER PULVERS<BR/>Skinny frog Don't give up! Issa is here <BR/><BR/>He has been dead for 180 years, but Kobayashi Issa's haiku keep reminding us that the essence of Japan's culture lies in its intimate tie to nature. Humans are seen by him entirely as an element in nature, where ideally there is no artificial hierarchy and certainly no holier-than-thou moralizing. <BR/><BR/>Kobayashi is one poet who epitomized this intimate tie. Taking a brief look at his legacy might help us all rededicate ourselves to what is our own century's greatest task: restoring the equilibrium between humankind and nature that we have systematically destroyed over the past two centuries.<BR/><BR/>Japan, in other words, has the answer to our century's dilemma within its own tradition.<BR/><BR/>The people in Kobayashi's haiku wallow in their association with the elements, the animals and the plants, even when lazy or oblivious to what surrounds them. Here he himself is blissfully unaware . . .<BR/><BR/>Asleep on my back <BR/>Midsummer clouds <BR/>Over my knees <BR/><BR/>And if this is good enough for him, it's good enough for the farmer who usually works himself to the bone . . . <BR/><BR/>The mower in the grass Asleep on his horse <BR/>In a storm of green <BR/><BR/>The field is green, but the word "storm" leads us to believe that the mower, lost in it, will soon be awakened.<BR/><BR/>As with the reference to the "skinny frog" above (this is such a famous haiku that Japan Post once issued a stamp commemorating it), Kobayashi often writes about the smaller and weaker animals that he relates to. It is here that his humor, an integral part of the Japanese view of nature, shines through.<BR/><BR/>Here another frog, with a little help from perspective, appears larger than life . . . <BR/><BR/>A frog in the evening croaks <BR/>Lining up its bottom <BR/>With the top of Mount Fuji <BR/><BR/>He loves the birds, too, and feels for them . . .<BR/><BR/>The little orphan sparrow <BR/>Once again opens its mouth <BR/>In vain <BR/><BR/>The "once again" turns this plaintive poem into a little tragedy. Kobayashi sees himself in this light, identifying with the sparrow . . .<BR/><BR/>C'mon, play with me! <BR/>Orphan <BR/>Sparrow <BR/><BR/>In fact, it is harder to imagine a life filled with more personal tragedy than Kobayashi's.<BR/><BR/>Born in 1763 in Kashiwabara, in what is now Nagano Prefecutre, Kobayashi lost his mother at age 3. He was brutally mistreated by his stepmother, who threw him out of the house at age 14, when he went to Edo (present-day Tokyo). He spent his youth and his early years of adulthood traveling the country, particularly to temples, making a name for himself as a haiku poet.<BR/><BR/>He didn't marry until he was 49. His wife, Kiku, gave birth to three children, all of whom perished; and then, giving birth to a fourth, she herself died. (The fourth child, too, died, probably as a result of neglect by its nurse.)<BR/><BR/>A second marriage ended in divorce, but a third, to a woman named Yao, was happier, producing two children. But then he suffered what was probably a series of minor strokes that left him hemiplegic. Not long after that a fire destroyed his home and he came to live in the storehouse beside it, where he passed away, on Jan. 5, 1828.<BR/><BR/>Here are some of the wonderful haiku he left us about animals . . .<BR/><BR/>I open a window <BR/>To set a butterfly off <BR/>Into the meadow <BR/><BR/>In a better world <BR/>I'd welcome more of you in my rice<BR/>Little fly <BR/><BR/>I'll be tossing in my sleep <BR/>So, move over <BR/>Cricket <BR/><BR/>The lark cries <BR/>Around the thicket <BR/>That conceals her chicks <BR/><BR/>Each of these speaks of a love of nature in a particularly protective, melancholic or whimsical way; yet each shows respect for all creatures. Kobayashi was by no means well off, and when he went to the outstandingly scenic Matsushima islets in present-day Miyagi Prefecture, he took along some "fellow travelers" as a matter of course . . .<BR/><BR/>I'll show you Matsushima <BR/>Then you're on your own <BR/>Little fleas <BR/><BR/>But there is a foreboding in his work as well. The primary theme of nature is renewal; and renewal means that all things pass from this living phase of existence into another.<BR/><BR/>Kobayashi's world view cannot be understood outside of the context of his Buddhist beliefs. There are portents of this . . .<BR/><BR/>The cow appeared <BR/>Out of the fog <BR/>Mooing and mooing and mooing <BR/><BR/>A bird is building its nest<BR/>Unaware that the tree <BR/>Is marked for felling <BR/><BR/>Despite the ever-presence of death, his faith is open to spoof and even ridicule. This makes it very different from that of most adherents to the three dominant Middle Eastern religions, who generally seem to take themselves more seriously . . . <BR/><BR/>A swallow shoots out <BR/>Of the nose <BR/>Of the Great Buddha <BR/><BR/>His comments on society are often cutting . . .<BR/><BR/>Even while strolling <BR/>Under the cherry blossoms <BR/>People are lecturing each other <BR/><BR/>I have made two trips to Kashiwabara, in mid-summer and mid-winter, sitting for hours in the little storehouse that is now a museum. I imagined that I heard his voice then, as if telling us to observe and live with nature and not destroy it. It feeds us, as if by miracle . . .<BR/><BR/>What a world! <BR/>Even the grass that you see <BR/>Turns into rice cakes <BR/><BR/>And it astounds us, even if we are so poor as to have holes in our flimsy doors . . .<BR/><BR/>How beautiful! <BR/>The Milky Way from a hole <BR/>In my sliding rice-paper door <BR/><BR/>Kobayashi faces his own death in his haiku time and again. The most famous of these is probably this one, with its reference to his "final home" . . .<BR/><BR/>Oh well, is this to be <BR/>My final home <BR/>These six feet of snow <BR/><BR/>He wrote more than 20,000 haiku, and I have read but a fraction of these. But of those I know, the following one is my favorite, and, perhaps, the most telling of his devotion to life . . .<BR/><BR/>The fields are on fire <BR/>The birds, too, seem to be saying . . . <BR/>"Love when you can'' <BR/><BR/>All translations here are by Roger Pulvers. <BR/><BR/>The Japan Times <BR/>(C) All rights reserved<BR/>http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20080727rp.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-820047071744679108.post-56101997666980368852008-05-05T05:13:00.000-07:002008-05-05T05:13:00.000-07:00Der Geburtstag des Japanischen Dichters Kobayashi ...Der Geburtstag des Japanischen Dichters Kobayashi Issa<BR/>5. Mai 1763<BR/><BR/>Wiederholung: 5. Mai, ab 11.45 Uhr (WDR 3)<BR/><BR/>Es hat nur drei Zeilen, eine festgelegte Silbenzahl, folgt einem<BR/>strengen Rhythmus, muss immer ein Symbol für eine Jahreszeit<BR/>beinhalten und ist für westlich geprägte Gemüter zunächst schwer<BR/>erschließbar: Das Haiku-Gedicht...<BR/><BR/>Kobayashi Issa gehört zu den "Großen Vier" der Haiku-Dichter...<BR/><BR/>verfasst..im Laufe seines Lebens über 20.000 dieser Dreizeiler.<BR/><BR/>Heute ist das Dichten von Haiku ein Volkssport in Japan...<BR/><BR/>Die Faszination geht aber weit über Japan hinaus: Haiku-Vereinigungen gibt es in den USA ebenso wie in Deutschland.<BR/><BR/>Autor: Martin Herzog"<BR/>http://www.lernzeit.de/sendung.phtml?detail=1093496&WDH=TerminVon&thema=Literatur&rub=programmtipps&PHPSESSID=d96ba7e71Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com