One Day Saijiki

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One Day Saijiki

ichinichi saijiki 一日歳時記

イチニチサイジキ /　ワンデイサイジキ



一日（ワンデイ）歳時記

金田一　秀穂 Kindaichi Hideho
ISBN： 9784093878036



Kigo and haiku collection from morning to evening and then the night ...
with beautifull photos ...


Have you ever considered
how many kigo there are
in the course of one day ?



. uroobi, junjitsu 閏日 Leap Day .


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Things found on the way

. . . Morning (asa) Japan. a KIGO list


bird catching in the morning 朝鳥狩（あさとがり）asatogari

Dawn moon in autumn (ariakezuki)Japan.
mist in the morning, ariake gasumi.

Dawn in spring, Spring morning light (shungyoo, haru no akebono)
Spring morning (haru no asa) and others

Morning-Glory (asagao) Japan
..... Bindweed (hirugao). Evening Face (yorugao)

Morning east wind (asagochi)
northwind in the morning, asagita 朝北風（あさぎた）

Morning Market (asa ichi, asa-ichi, asaichi) Morgenmarkt Japan

Morning star (myoojoo), evening star, venus Japan, worldwide

New Year's Morning 元朝 (がんちょう) ganchoo
and related kigo

sleeping in the morning 朝寝 (あさね) asane

Spring morning (haru no asa, haru no akebono)
and more SPRING MORNING KIGO

..... Today (kyoo), tomorrow (asu)Japan. This morning (kesa)

Trumpet Flower (datura) Korean Morning Glory, Mandala Flower

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. . . Daytime, noon (hiru) Japan. a KIGO list

Long days (hinaga), long nights (nagaki yo)


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. . . Evening (yuube, yoi) Japan. a KIGO list


Autumn dusk (aki no kure)
and related kigo

Evening at home, nightwork (yonabe) Japan, worldwide

evening East wind (yuugochi　夕東風)

Evening Shower (yuudachi) Japan
evening shower in spring, haru yuudachi 春夕立（はるゆうだち）
and more RAIN kigo
Clouds for an evening shower, yuudachi gumo 夕立雲（ゆうだちぐも）
and more CLOUD kigo


Evening star, venus Japan, worldwide

Evening, night in spring, haru no yo 春の夜
and related kigo

Moon in the evening, Evening moon, yuuzuki 夕月
Night moon, yoizuki 宵月... and more kigo

Twilight (kure) and related seasons


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. . . Night (yoru) Japan. a KIGO list


..... Candle Night Japan

Dussera, Dasara, Dussehra: Day Of Victory　India
..... Navarati : Nine Nights Of Festivities

Night of Power, Lailatul Qadr / Lailat-Ul-Qadr Yemen

Night work (yonabe) Japan

picking mulberries at night 夜桑摘む（よぐわつむ）
yokuwa tsumu
for the silk worms

Polar Night Polar Circle

Shiva Ratri Night, Festival India, Nepal, Hindu Communities

Sleet, night sleet 　

Walpurgis Night (walpurgisnight) Walpurgisnacht (Germany).

... White Night Polar Circle


TBA

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TOPICS for haiku


Breakfast (asagohan, asameshi)


Sunset (yuuhi) Japan


Noh-Performance at night (Takagi Noo)
Japan. yugen (yuugen).


Yugiri Memorial Day (Yuugiri Ki) and the Tale of Genji Japan
"Evening mist"


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According to Chinese customs,
the days of January were dedicated to animals and the last day of the week to man.

1日を鶏の日 chicken day
2日を狗（犬）の日 dog day
3日を猪（豚）の日 wild boar day
4日を羊の日 sheep day
5日を牛の日 cow/bull day
6日を馬の日 horse day
7日を人の日 day of man (jinjitsu)




In Japan, Jinjitsu (人日, jinjitsu), literally "Human Day",
is one of the five seasonal festivals (五節句, gosekku).
It is celebrated on January 7.

. Names of months and solar seasons .


Five Sacred Festivals
five seasonal festivals 五節句 gosekku
corresponding to the double-prime numbers of the lunar months

人日（じんじつ＝正月七日）Jinjitsu (January 7)
上巳（じょうし＝三月三日）third day of the third month (Hina Doll Festival)
端午（たんご＝五月五日） fifth day of the fifth month (Boy's Day)
七夕（しちせき＝七月七日）seventh day of the seventh month (Tanabata)
重陽（ちょうよう＝九月九日）ninth day of the ninth month (Chrysanthemum Festival)

Each of these days is a kigo in its own right.



Jinjitsu 人日 - by Matsuo Basho　松尾芭蕉
四方に打つ薺もしどろもどろ哉
. yomo ni utsu nazuna mo shidoro modoro kana .

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. Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 .

人の日や改めがたし庵のかゆ
hito no hi ya aratamegatashi io no kayu

Mankind's Day--
but nothing special
in my rice gruel

"Mankind's Day" (hito no hi) is the seventh day of First Month, at which time the seven herbs of health are boiled with rice gruel.
But Issa's own gruel is hard to change (aratame-gatashi).

David Lanoue

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Chinese Medicine (kanpo)

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. Medicine in Edo .
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Chinese Medicine (kanpo), medicine (kusuri)

***** Location: China, Japan
***** Season: Non-seasonal Topic
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

In the times before the advent of modern western medicine, Asia relied heavily on the use of traditional remedies, medical plants and minerals and then prayers to the various deities !

medicine from China, kanpoo, kanpooyaku 漢方薬
as used in Japan


Below are some kigo related to the word "medicine 薬".

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Traditional Chinese medicine
(also known as TCM, Simplified Chinese: 中医学; Traditional Chinese: 中醫學; pinyin: Zhōngyī xué) is a range of traditional medical practices originating in China that developed over several thousand years. These practices include theories, diagnosis and treatments such as herbal medicine, acupuncture and massage; often Qigong is also strongly affiliated with TCM.

TCM is a form of Oriental medicine, which includes other traditional East Asian medical systems such as traditional Japanese, and Korean medicine.

© Wikipedia has more !

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Kampō (or kanpō, kampoo, kanpoo 漢方)
medicine is the Japanese study and adaptation of Traditional Chinese medicine. The basic works of Chinese medicine came to Japan between the 7th and 9th centuries. Since then, the Japanese have created their own unique herbal medical system and diagnosis. Kampo utilizes most of the Chinese medical system including acupuncture and moxibustion, but is primarily concerned with the study of herbs.

© Wikipedia has more !

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Koojusan 香需散


©　PHOTO 長刀香需

This special medicine is used in summer to prevent overheating of the body and also against summer diarrhea and skin rashes. It is carminative and astringent.
It is a pulver made of the dried leaves and stems of a plant from the Shiso family, naginata kooju ナギナタコウジュ, 長刀香需, Elsholtzia ciliata.

In the United States it is commonly called "crested latesummer mint."
Elsholtzia ciliata / Wikipedia



Perilla, beefsteak plant, shiso 紫蘇
kigo for summer
Perilla frutescens
green beefsteak plant, aoshiso 青紫蘇

! more KIGO with shiso !


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"eating medicine" kusuri gui, kusurigui 薬喰
kigo for all winter

"seller of deer horn", roku uri 鹿売（ろくうり）
"food for the cold season" kangui 寒喰（かんぐい）
Special food that was known for its medical properties was eaten in winter. Friends would gather for example around a hodgepot of bear liver (and lots of rice wine), to try and keep healthy.

. momonjiya ももんじ屋 ・百獣屋　in Edo .
selling meat "from one-hundred wild animals"

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medicine (cream) for split skin on hands and feet
hibi gusuri 胼薬（ひびぐすり）
kigo for late winter

akagire gusuri 皸薬（あかぎれぐすり）
Especially for women, who had to wash the dishes and cloths in the cold water, their fingers would split around the nails (hibi 胼 /akagire 皹/皸) and hurt very much.

frostbite medicine, shimoyake gusuri 霜焼薬（しもやけぐすり）

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"medicine day" kusuri no hi 薬の日
kigo for mid-summer

collecting medicine, "hunting for medicine)
..... kusuri gari 薬狩 (くすりがり)
picking medical herbs, yakusoo tsumi 薬草摘（やくそうつみ）
"picking a hundred herbs" hyakusoo tsumi
..... 百草摘み（ひゃくそうつみ）

The actual day nowadays has been placed as May 5. This has been decided by the Associaton of Selling Medicine in 1987. So the mention of the exact day is a kigo for early summer.
The medicine of old, which has been freshly picked since early summer, had started selling a bit later. A special day, KUSURIBI 薬日, had already been fixed by Suiko Tenno as early as 611.

In summer, it is the time to pick the leaves and blossoms for medicine, in autumn, as seen below, is the time to dig for the roots.


kusudama 薬玉 (くすだま) "medicine ball"
choomeiru, choomei ru 長命縷（ちょうめいる）/ 続命縷（しょくめいる）
"threads of long life"
fragrance balls with different smells and threads of five different colors at the bottom. They are hung on the wall and protect from evil influences, especially on May 5, the Boy's Festival.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !



kusudama 薬玉（クスダマ）is another word for kusamochi
mugwort rice cakes, eaten on the Girls Festival


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"water of God", shinzui, shinsui
神水 (しんずい, しんすい)
kigo for mid-summer

"it is raining medicine", kusuri furu 薬降る (くすり ふる)
take no tamarimizu 竹の神水（たけのたまりみず） "water collected in bamboo"

According to the Asian Lunar Calender, when it rained on May 5, the water would collect in the bamboo joints. This was thought to be of special properties to ward off illness during the coming summer.
May 5, the Boy's Festival


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"digging for medicine", kusuri horu 薬掘る
kigo for late autumn

collecting medicine, kusuri toru 薬採る（くすりとる）
digging for medical plants, yakusoo horu 薬草掘る（やくそうほる）
digging for the madder plant, akane horu 茜掘る（あかねほる）


kurara hiku 苦参引く (くららひく) pulling out kurara (Sophora flavescens)
kusa enju horu 草槐掘る（くさえんじゅほる）
digging for Sophora flavescens


senburi 千振 (せんぶり) Japanese green gentian
Swertia japonica
tooyaku 当薬（とうやく）
senburi toru 千振採る（せんぶりとる） pulling Japanese green gentian
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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kigo for summer


biwayootoo 枇杷葉湯 (びわようとう) biwa yootoo, biwa yoto
drink from dried loquat leaves

tooyootoo 桃葉湯 (とうようとう)
bath with (dried) leaves of the peach tree


koojusan 香薷散 (こうじゅさん)
pulver medicine against summer weariness

tenkafun 天瓜粉 (てんかふん)
yellow snake gourd powderagainst sweat


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biwa yootoo uri 枇杷葉湯売り
vendor of loquat leaves medicine



They walked in Edo and other towns from the beginning of summer till the 8th lunar month.
The drink contained a brew of loquat leaves, dried salted plums (bainiku), licorice (kanzoo) and mokkoo 木香 Saussurea family plant.
This brew was used for all kinds of ailments on the great heat, including diarrhea and cholera.
The origin of this medicine was in Kyoto. In Edo it was sold by the store of Yamaguchiya　山口家. In Edo they often stood on bridges to sell their ware. They carried two boxes on a shoulder pole, one with tools to make hot water and prepare the brew. In the first few days they even gave away the drink for free.
The name "biwa yootoo" was also used for women who were willing to give in to the wishes of men . . . since it was sold free on bridges.


. kanzoo 甘草 licorice, liquoric .

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joosai uri, joosai-uri 定斎売 (じょうさいうり) vendor of Josai medicine
joosaiya, joosai-ya 定斎屋（じょうさいや）
During the Momoyama period, the owner of a medicine shop in Osaka, Murata Joosai, prepared this medicine according to Chinese tradition. It is supposed to help with all sorts of summer ailments. The vendors did not wear a straw hat in summer, since they were supposed to take this medicine and thus never become ill, even in the strongest heat wave.


source :　wind.ap.teacup.com/6rats-winterflog

The vendors kept the medicine in two wooden boxes, carried on a shoulder pole (tenbin) and call out loud for the medicine, which was already popular in the times of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
The boxes had some metal fittings at the bottom drawers which produced a noisy sound too, kattan kattan カッタンカッタン to promote their trade.
When the folks of Edo heared that rattling noise, they knew it was a hot day ahead.

むしあつき梅雨ぐもの下相はらむ
憎悪を告ぐる何を待つ夜ぞ　

Kondoo Yoshimi 近藤芳美 Kondo Yoshimi, waka poet

大坂の薬種商村田定斎



Details about the
. Medicine used in SUMMER kigo 　　



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Daranisuke 陀羅尼助
topic for haiku

This purely Japanese household medicine is especially used in Western Japan.

It is made by boiling the bark of the Chinese cork tree (kihada キハダ, Phellodendron amurense) for a while. It has an antibacterial effect in the digestive tract, especially the colon and was used for dysentery, cholera infections and against staphylococcus. It is a well-known cure for stomach complaints. Nowadays you can buy it in the Ominesan holy mountain area, where it has been handed down since the time of En no Gyoja. The medicine had been handed down amongst the mountain ascetics who helped spread it in all of Japan.

The ninja used this medicine in a slightly unusual way; a quick lick after days on a mission would make the ninja feel fully refreshed.

DARANI 陀羅尼 is a Buddhist kind of spell against evil influences.



春の夜や女に飲ます陀羅尼助
haru no yo ya onna ni nomasu Daranisuke

Kawabata Bosha (Kawabata Boosha 川端茅舎, 1897 - 1941)
He suffered from tuberculosis.

spring evening -
I give her some
traditional medicine

Tr. Gabi Greve



. Daishi Darani joo　大師陀羅尼錠　
Kobo Daishi Darani Stomach Medicine .
from Daisho-in 大聖院, Miyajima


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Worldwide use

Haiku is the best medicine.
A haiku a day keeps the doctor away.

Join Gabi Greve !


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Things found on the way



Medicine sellers from Toyama 富山の薬売り

Toyama in the old Echigo province was famous for the medicine production before the modern area.
A lot of their medicine packs had a face of Daruma on it for good luck too.
Their sellers used to walk from home to home with their large backpacks and exchange the old unused medicine from last year to the new one. Most households kept a box with medicine for daily ailments. Toyama no kusuri uri, the medicine sellers, would keep their customers through many generations.

Lately, the medicine with Daruma has been revived and I have quite a few in my Daruma Museum.




- Toyama Medicine Sellers -


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humanity kigo for all summer




dokukeshi uri 毒消売 (どくけしうり) vendors of antidote
dokukeshi 毒消（どくけし） antidote
For the many illnesses that occured in former times during summer, like food poisoning and upset stomach.
The medicine was made in Toyama and two girls in ikat kimono would walk together to sell it. Their loud voices calling out the merchandise were wellcomed by the villagers. Now these vendors have become obsolete.
越後毒消し売り

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Daruma himself was considered a healer and when children in the Edo period got ill, especially with the smallpox, a doll was placed beside the bed to ensure healing.

Daruma, Smallpox and the color Red, the Double Life of a Patriarch

Daruma Museum Japan


Yakushi Nyorai 薬師如来、Buddha of Medicine

Medicine Buddha of Tibet 　

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sansei 三聖 three most famous doctors of their time:
. Manase Dōsan 曲直瀬道三 Manase Dosan (1507 - 1594) .
田代三喜 Tashiro Sanki (1465 - 1537)
永田徳本 Nagata Tokuhon (1513 - 1630)

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Yakuzen 薬膳 ( やくぜん) "Eating Medicine"
dishes prepared according to the teachings of Chinese traditional medicine.
Including the ingredients given above.
Medizin-Essen

Fresh food of the season is the best medicine.

Spring:
The liver starts to be active. You want to boost the physical power.
Shellfish, salmon, celery, apples, potatoes.

Summer:
Heat will affect the heart.
Cucumbers, tomatoes, watermelon, banana, pinapple, oranges to cool the body.

Autum :
Dry air might affect the lungs.
Radish to warm your lungs.

Winter:
Cold affects the blood circulation.
Oysters, carottes, radishs and other rood vegetables.
Keep the body warm, strengthen the kidneys.


yurine 百合根 Lilium auratum
Lilienknolle

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. go oo en 牛黄円・牛王円 round tablets of ox gall stones
and the sacred seals of the Kumano shrines
Go-Oo Hooin 牛王宝印 sacred seal of the ox treasure


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HAIKU

香じゅ散犬がねぶって雲の峰
koojusan inu ga nebutte kumo no mine

Kikaku　其角

The dog is licking
The koojusan medicine;
Billowing clouds.

Tr. Blyth

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飲きりし旅の日数や香需散
nomikiri shi tabi no hi kazu ya koojusan

many days on the road
with nothing left any more -
my summer medicine

Tan Taigi 炭太祇　たんたいぎ(1738-1791)
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

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. Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 in Edo .


大江戸や只四五文も薬喰
ôedo ya tada shi go mon mo kusuri-gui

Great Edo--
four or five pennies
for winter medicine
Tr. David Lanoue


ひとり身や両国へ出て薬喰
hitori mi ya ryôgoku e dete kusuri kuu

my life alone--
all the way to Ryogoku Bridge
for medicine
Tr. David Lanoue

. Ryoogoku, Ryōgoku　両国 Ryogoku and bridge 両国橋　 .
Edo


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medicine day -
the old cat nibbles
some weeds

Gabi Greve, May 2007



enrich your energies
to dispel medicines
trees extend helping hand

© Aju Mukhopadhyay, India, May 2007

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医者殺し探して歩く薬の日
isha goroshi sagashite aruku kusuri no hi

walking around
looking for cranesbill -
day of medicine

Yamada Michiko 山田満子
ishagoroshi is a medical plant. Literally it means "killing the doctor", because people get so healthy they will not need him any more.

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kigo for early summer

gen no shooko 現の証拠 (げんのしょうこ) cranesbill
..... isha irazu 医者いらず（いしゃいらず）
"no need for a doctor"
tachimachisoo たちまち草（たちまちそう）
mikoshigusa 神輿草（みこしぐさ） mikoshi plant

Geranium nepalense


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栄養剤飲んで薄暑の薬売り
eiyoozai nonde hakusho no kusuri uri

drinking a health drink
at the beginning of summer -
the medicine seller

Yamada Ichiryoo 山田一良

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十薬やこの世に途中下車をして
juuyaku ya kono yo ni tochuu gesha o shite

strong heartleaf medicine -
getting off the train
halfway in this life

Fujita Kumiko 篠田くみ子
Juuyaku, dokudami (Houttuynia cordata), a strong medical plant, literally "worth ten medicines".


Heartleaf, lizardtail, dokudami　ドクダミ, juuyaku 鱼腥草
kigo for summer
Houttuynia cordata

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Related words

***** Moxibustion (moxabustion) Japan

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Mythical 16th-century disease critters


Kameshaku

Long ago in Japan, human illness was commonly believed to be the work of tiny malevolent creatures inside the body. Harikikigaki 針聞書（はりききがき）, a book of medical knowledge written in 1568 by a now-unknown resident of Osaka, introduces 63 of these creepy-crawlies and describes how to fight them with acupuncture and herbal remedies. The Kyushu National Museum, which owns the original copy of Harikikgaki, claims the book played an important role in spreading traditional Chinese medicine in Japan.

Here are a few of the beasties found in the book.
Kanshaku, Hizo-no-kesshaku, Kanmushi; Gyochu, Haimushi; Kagemushi; Hizo-no-kasamushi, Akuchu; Haishaku, Kakuran-no-mushi; Umakan; Koseu (Kosho); Kameshaku; Koshi-no-mushi; Chishaku, Hizo-no-mushi; Kiukan and Kishaku; Jinshaku...
CHECK them all here
©　www.pinktentacle.com

Japanese is here: Kyushu National Museum

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Other KIGO with medicine

Cooked rice with wolfberry leaves (kuko meshi) Japan

Tonburi berries from Akita

Deafness-curing sake (jirooshu)

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Yugen (yuugen) Noh Theater

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yuugen 幽玄 Yugen

"We dance round in a ring and suppose,
But the Secret sits in the middle and knows."
--Robert Frost

How very true, Robert san!

Reading about Yugen will give the reader an idea, but not the full reality of it.
Just like reading about food will give you an idea, but your stomach will still be empty.
Reading a translation will not give you the real ... depth, truth, beauty, words fail me here ... of a Japansee haiku.

Being exposed to Japanes culture on a daily level for 30 years, still, the concept of yuugen is far from grasped.

And I studied quite a bit about Noh Drama, Kamakura had a Noh stage (noobutai 能舞台) with excellent performances.


© PHOTO blogs.dion.ne.jp/tiou/

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Yugen is a difficult concept.

In Higginson's "The Haiku Handbook," he says:
Several whole volumes in Japanese are devoted to this word, particularly in relation to the 'noo' drama.


The entry in Wikipedia:
Yūgen is an important concept in traditional Japanese aesthetics.

The exact translation of the word depends on the context. In the Chinese philosophical texts the term was taken from, yuugen meant "dim", "deep" or "mysterious".

In the criticism of Japanese waka poetry, it was used to describe the subtle profundity of things that are only vaguely suggested by the poems, and was also the name of a style of poetry (one of the ten orthodox styles delineated by Fujiwara no Teika in his treatises).

In the treatises on the Noh theatre by Zeami Motokiyo it refers to the grace and elegance of the dress and behaviour of court ladies.

... ... ...

Joan Giroux, in "The Haiku Form" :
It is expressed in art, especially in the Noh drama, by an effortless artistry which is achieved when the essence, the core of the action or thing to be expressed, is reached, and the consequent expression, as a result, reflects the deepest, most profound meaning.

The more the art of haiku or Noh is mastered, the greater the likelihood of expressing 'yugen'; likewise, the more an experiencer understands the art, the greater the possibility of experiencing 'yugen' in a work of art.

Compiled by Larry Bole



CLICK HERE !
Photos of YUUGEN scenes of Japan !

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The Origin of Noh
The sarugaku Noh troupe Yuzaki, led by Kan’ami, performed in 1374 before the young shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (足利 義満). The success of this one performance and the resultant shogunal patronage lifted the art form permanently out of the mists of its plebeian past. From then, the term sarugaku gave way to the current nomenclature, Noh.

. Imakumano Jinja 新熊野神社 Imakumano Shrine .
Kyoto

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- quote
- SNOW IN A SILVER BOWL:
A Quest for the World of Yugen
by Hiroaki Sato.

Searching to define difficult, elusive concept
by David Burleigh

The title of this book is exquisite, while the cover illustration is of something else, different yet just as exquisite. This is appropriate because the aesthetic concept that the book considers is not just beautiful, but elusive and difficult to define.

With his long experience of translating Japanese poetry, and writing about it, Hiroaki Sato makes this essay on the subject into a ruminative journey, rather than a prescriptive list. He begins by asking friends who are knowledgeable for examples of yugen, which include images from funerals, music, lines of poetry and even “nothing at all.”

Returning then to the origins of the concept, in China and Chinese characters, he confirms the elusiveness of the idea: something ineffable, remote and because of its remoteness, subtle, hazy, hard to put in words, even if it is recognizable to those who understand. Its most immediate association is with noh drama, which is not dramatic.

The costumes of noh, as Sato rightly says, are richly patterned brocade, colorful and costly, which seems to belie the faint effects hankered after here. But the drama is also poetic, and therein can be found clues to the aesthetic quality that the term “yugen” encapsulates. There is little or no action in a noh play, and whatever slight happening occurs is a late reverberation of something else that took place a long time before.

Is yugen, then, a longing, a memory, a dream?
It began to be defined around the 10th century, in poems that Sato includes, and yet, while natural imagery may suggest it, it remains “an overtone that doesn’t manifest itself in words.” For some, the bright shade of cherry blossom is its antithesis, though the great dramatist of noh, Zeami Motokiyo, used this very term, “hana” (flower), to describe it.

The qualities ascribed to yugen blur later into others like wabi and sabi (loneliness and desolation), or omokage (suggestiveness), all of which Sato evokes in his discussion. It can be found in fading, emptiness, even the color white, while it may also sometimes be filled with a lost, or even nascent, expectation. In the practice of noh all these converge.

The qualities that poetry develops there combine with stories about the poets, or else tales of the characters, particularly unhappy women, in “The Tale of Genji,” to provide subjects for the masked drama of noh. Sato details much of this later in the book, and adds some illustrations, the last of them the ¥2,000 bill issued to commemorate the Group of Eight conference in Okinawa, and now elusive, too.

Occasional references in the book to South American poets reminded me of the Spanish concept of duende, which is darker, tragic, and essentially conceived as black. But it shares with yugen a sense of touching some essential spirit, conveyed in the performance of an art (dance, music, poetry) that cannot be explained in black and white.

This is an engaging little volume, the fruit of long consideration.
source : Japan Times, September 2013


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Ambiguity and yugen (depth and mystery) are wonderful tools.
Most good haiku have more than one level of meaning.
robert wilson

Yugen
should not be mixed up with riddles and overly mystical, metaphysical, philosophical or other mental statements. Creating depth should not lead to creating confusion on purpose.

Read more on this problem HERE !
Riddles and Haiku


Yugen and shasei, sketching from nature, are not contradictions, but can go very well together. A moment of really experienced yuugen can still be rendered by giving a simple description of the scene.

The frog just jumped in the old pond, he did not jump "through me".

Shasei .. 写生 sketching from nature


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Mumyosho 無名抄（むみょうしょう）
(1211-1212)
Kamo no Choomei 鴨長明（かものちょうめい）
Kamo no Chomei （1155？―1216）

yuugen
The qualities deemed essential to the style [of yugen] are overtones that do not appear in the words alone and an atmosphere that is not visible in the configuration of the poem It is like the situation of a beautiful woman who, although she has cause for resentment, does not give vent to her feelings in words, but is only faintly discerneded at night, perhaps to be in a profoundly distressed condition. The effect of such a discovery is far more painful and pathetic than if she had exhausted her vocabulary with jealous accusations or made a point of wringing out her tear-drenched sleeves to one's face

It is only when many meanings are compressed into a single word, when the depths of feeling are exhausted yet not expressed, when an unseen world hovers in the atmosphere of the poem, when the mean and common are used to express the elegant, when a poetic conception of rare beauty is developed to the fullest extent in a style
of surface simplicity, only then, when the conception is exalted to the highest degree and "the words are too few," will the poem, by expressing one's feelings in this way, have the power of moving Heaven and Earth within the brief confines of a mere thirty-one syllables, and be capable of softening the hearts of gods and demons.

Japanese author, poet (waka), and essayist.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !


. Kamo no Choomei 鴨長明 Kamo no Chomei .
( 1153 or 1155–1216) Kamo no Chōmei


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Embroidery by Chieko Araki: Yugen



© Arwtork by Chieko Araki
荒木千恵子刺繍絵ギャラリー


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Shojo Midare
(Shoojoo Midare) 猩々乱（しょうじょうみだれ）



The Tipster Sprite (Shojo) is a play built upon very auspicious words. It takes place in a village on the Yangtze in China. An sprite (shite) who lives in the sea comes before a man named Gao-feng (waki), a wine seller with much filial piety. The sprite gets drunk and enjoys himself by dancing, after which, the man learns that he has received a blessing: no matter how much wine he dips out of the vat, it never runs dry.
When the play is performed with a special dance called Midare ("Disorder"), the play is called Shojo Midare (The Disorderly Tipster Sprite), or just Midare.
Copyright 2004, by the Japan Arts Council.
http://www2.ntj.jac.go.jp/unesco/noh/en/noh_plays/5ban.html


. Shoojoo 猩猩 /猩々 Shojo, a legendary drunkard

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Noh Stage in Fukuyama



Photo Gabi Greve, 2007

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The Noh-play called
"Basho" Banana Plant 能「芭蕉」



Legends about plants communicating with humans were quite common. Other plants were the Willow Tree, Plum Blossoms, Fuji Wisteria and Yanagi.

The story takes place in China,
A monk teaches the spirit of the Banana plant, that women may also attain Buddhahood.

Written by Konparu Zenchiku 金春禅竹 (1405 - 1470).

- Reference -


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.......... H A I K U

kigo for late summer

Takigi Noo 薪能 Noh-Performance at night
yonoo 夜能 (よのう) "night Noh"
hakama noo 袴能 (はかまのう) Noh performed in a hakama

takagi noo -
brocade robes reflected
in shimmering water

Gabi Greve, 1994

Click HERE for some PHOTOS !


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kigo for mid-winter

gonichi no noo 後日の能 (ごにちののう)
last performance of Noh
..... goen no noo 後宴の能（ごえんののう） "Noh after the Feast"
Noh Performance for the Wakamiya Festival. Goen'noh

at the shrine Wakamiya Jinja in Nara

The main festival of the Kasuga Wakamiya shrine lasts from December 15 to 17.
On the night after the festival, a ritual Noh is performed by the Konbaru family of Noh　金春流 (Konparu).
Before the performance, a ritual feast is held, and after that, a time of abstinence comes.




The Ethos of Noh: Actors and Their Art
Reference : books.google.co.jp


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kigo for late winter

Kurokawa Noo 黒川能 (くろかわのう) Kurokawa Noh
. ..... Oogi sai, Ōgisai 王祗祭（おうぎさい）
Ogisai Festival .

February 1st and 2nd
Yamagata, Tsuruoka City, Kushibiki District
Pray for a bountiful new year while watching this Noh performance at the Kasuga Shrine.

. Kurokawa Noh at Yamagata .
Tsuruoka City, Kushibiki District

Kasuga Shrine Kinensai - Kurokawa Noh Performance
March 23rd
This is a performance by the Kurokawa Noh group, which has been designated as a National Intangible Cultural Asset.



黒川能 水焔（すいえん）の能
Kurokawa Noh Outdoor Performance: Suien no Noh
July 29th
The tradition of Kurokawa Noh theatre has been passed down for over 500 years by Yamagata farmers and is designated as a National Intangible Cultural Asset. Don’t miss this chance to see an outdoor performance of this traditional theatre group.

Kurokawa Noh Performance at the Kasuga Shrine Niinamesai
November 23rd
This harvest festival features a performance by the Kurokawa Noh, a traditional theatre group that has been designated a National Intangible Cultural Asset.




This Noh drama has been performed for 500 years as a dedication to Kasuga Shrine, the tutelary shrine of Kurokawa. The main difference between this Noh drama and other forms of Noh is that it was not a sophisticated drama performed for people of the samurai class.
In fact, Kurokawa Noh was traditionally a drama form beloved and enacted by farmers. There are further differences to other Noh, such as the separation of seats. At present, Kurokawa Noh is performed by about 160 actors, and has 230 masks, 400 typical Noh costumes, as well as 540 repertoires and Kyogen numbers.
... nippon-kichi.jp

- Reference -


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observance kigo for the New Year

Noo hajime 能初 (のうはじめ) First Noh Theater performance
. hatsunoo 初能（はつのう） First Noh
butai hajime 舞台始（ぶたいはじめ）first stage
onoo hajima 御能始（おのうはじめ）first honorable noh performance
hatsu oogi 初扇 (はつおうぎ) first use of the folding fan

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Nishiura dengaku 西浦田楽 (にしうれでんがく)
Dengaku dance at Nishiura village



At Misakubo-cho, Tenryu-ku 天竜区水窪
On the 18th and 19th of the first lunar month.

With a prayer for a good harvest, peaceful life and happy family.
Also to ward off disaster from floods and fire.

There are 47 different dances, most use masks (kamen no mai　仮面の舞).

An important folk cultural asset
国指定無形民俗文化財

. Dengaku (田楽） . Dance and Food


this performance, like the Kurokawa Noh, has a lot of the yuugen quality of a Noh performance.


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. . . . . Some plant and animal kigo with shoojoo


kigo for mid-spring

shoojoobakama, shoojoo bakama 猩々袴
(しょうじょうばかま) lit. "Tipster Sprite hakama"
a beautiful violet blossom.
Heloniopsis orientalis
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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kigo for all summer

shoojoobae, shoojoo bae 猩々蠅 (しょうじょうばえ)
Shojo-Fly
shoojoo 猩々（しょうじょう）
..... sashi さし
sakabae 酒蠅（さかばえ）ricewine fly
fam. DROSOPHILA
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


shoojoosoo 猩々草 (しょうじょうそう)
"shojo plant"
Euphorbia heterophylla
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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kigo for all autumn

shoojoo tonbo 猩々蜻蛉（しょうじょうとんぼ）
Shojo Dragonfly
Crocothemis servilia mariannae
dragonfly, tonbo (tomboo, tonboo) 蜻蛉


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kigo for mid-winter

shoojooboku 猩々木（しょうじょうぼく）
"Tipster Sprite tree"
. poinsechia ポインセチア Poinsettia 　


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Japanese haiku sensei do not use yuugen so much, but rather of

yoin, yo-in, yo in　余韻 "reverberation"
lingering sound, lingering meaning

The cut takes it away, but the YOIN remains in a haiku.

quote
A haiku which is stuffed too much has little left in there to impress you.
Omission is the soul of haiku. It contains the whole universe in 17 syllables.
An implied message born from omission is vitally indispensable to haiku. An implied message or, yo-in 余韻, is what you infer from what is expressed in words.

Inahata Teiko 稲畑汀子
President of the Japan Traditional Haiku Association

. Defining Haiku .


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Haiku and Noh:
Journeys to the Spirit World
Mayuzumi, Madoka

. Noh and Matsuo Basho .
For his hokku about a Noh mask, see comment below.


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ZEAMI, Zeami Motokiyo (世阿弥 元清)
c. 1363 – c. 1443. Aesthetician, actor and playwright.
正平18年/貞治2年（1363年） - 嘉吉3年8月8日（1443年9月1日））
The 8th day of the 8th lunar month.

Zeami Ki 世阿弥忌  Zeami Memorial Day
kigo for mid- autumn


As the pine-wind tears
at the plantain leaves,
broken, too, the dream he dreams
and he awakens
for the dream is broken
and the day has dawned.

From Izutsu 井筒 (能)
Noh play by Zeami Motokiyo


Read more about Zeami in the wikipedia link, see comments.


世阿弥忌の腸鳴りの一度ならず
zeami ki no harawata nari no ichido narazu

Zeami memorial day -
my bowls move loudly
more than once
Tr. Gabi Greve

. Fujita Sooshi 藤田湘子 Fujita Soshi .

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能楽大事典

- quote -
Noh (能 Nō), or Nogaku (能楽 Nōgaku)
—derived from the Sino-Japanese word for "skill" or "talent"—is a major form of classical Japanese musical drama that has been performed since the 14th century.
Developed by Kan'ami and his son Zeami, it is the oldest major theatre art still regularly performed today.
Traditionally, a Noh program includes five Noh plays with comedic kyōgen plays in between, even though an abbreviated program of two Noh plays and one kyōgen piece has become common in Noh presentations today. An okina (翁) play may be presented in the very beginning especially during New Years, holidays, and other special occasions.
. . .
The Tokugawa era - Edo Jidai
During the Tokugawa era Noh continued to be aristocratic art form supported by the shogun, the feudal lords (daimyo), as well as wealthy and sophisticated commoners. While kabuki and joruri popular to the middle class focused on new and experimental entertainment, Noh strived to preserve its established high standards and historic authenticity and remained mostly unchanged throughout the era. To capture the essence of performances given by great masters, every detail in movements and positions was reproduced by others, generally resulting in an increasingly slow, ceremonial tempo over time.
Modern Noh after Meiji era
Jo-Ha-Kyū
Performers and roles
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

Noh costumes : atsuita-karaori


Edo Bakufu and the Noh Theater
江戸幕府の保護政策
江戸時代は能が現在の姿へと形作られた時代です。
シテ方に「喜多(きた)流」が誕生するなどの組織面だけでなく、芸の内容も徐々に今の形に近づいていきました。能と狂言が他の中世芸能と異なり、近世も生 き続けたのは、儀式に用いる「式楽」として江戸幕府の保護を受けたことによります。上方には独自の活動をする役者もいましたが、多くの能役者は幕府の正式 な儀式や将軍・諸大名たちの私的催しに出演し、幕府・藩から給与を受けるとともに生活や芸事に対する厳格な監視を受けていました。
また、観るだけでなく上流階級がみずから演じる娯楽であったのも能の大きな特色で、能役者は貴人たちの師範も務めていました。能は、このように権力者と密 接な関係があったため、常に将軍の好みや政治状況の影響を強く受けていましたが、江戸時代を通じ幕府の儀式を彩る華であったといえるでしょう。
- source : 文化デジタルライブラリー - Japan Arts Council


. bakufu 幕府 The Edo Government and Administration .

Dancing the Dharma: Religious and Political Allegory in Japanese Noh Theater
Susan Blakeley Klein
Harvard University Press, 2021

. hup.harvard.edu/catalog. ... .

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. Observances, festivals, rituals - SAIJIKI .

[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
[ . BACK to DARUMA　MUSEUM　TOP . ]
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