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Hisajo in the Light of
English Haikai Movement
Chapter 5 Hisajo’s Haiku in The Taisho period
(1917~1926)
“In
order to appreciate life better, and to establish
character of your own or to console your exhausted soul, I
would like to recommend haiku composition especially to
those housewives who are preoccupied with daily chores and
to those gentlemen who have to work everyday to support
his family. Unlike a tanka through which you let your
emotions freely flow out of you, a haiku requires
restraint: you first have to have mother nature in your
mindset. Even a complex issue in human life is supposed
to be taken as another natural phenomenon if it is
included in your haiku. To do that your mind has to be
serene and composed as if like a mirror. As you create a
genuine haiku you will find the fire of your emotion
subsided and your spirit recharged with courage. You can
return to your busy life with positive mental attitude. By
all means secure yourself any little time to be with
Nature.“
“For
Beginners” – written by Hisajo in her Hanagoromo
magazine, 1932
“I am
afraid your haiku seem to have the same weakness: the lack
of enthusiasm in your materials, in your approach and in
your sketch. In other words I find many haiku you brought
to our monthly meeting rather shallow as if you made them
only after one glace at your material without any special
interest in it.
Let me
emphasize the importance of having interest of your own.
Focus on the point of interest and observe well. If you
concentrate on one material, you will eventually be
inspired and your words will ring and reverberate. Even if
they do not make a haiku right away, keep on trying for
one year, two years, or five and ten years. Nature
certainly will reward you with an inspirational haiku.”
One
day I dared to tell the above to one woman member. Half a
month later I received a letter with a series of haiku. In
stead of getting angry with me, she sowed loofa seeds in
her garden: ‘I used to dislike rainy days but became to
love rain and strained my ears not to miss hearing even a
droplet that fell over my seeds.’
What a
joy her writing brought to me! The seed of haiku has been
planted.
“For
Beginners (2) – written by Hisajo in her Hanagoromo
magazine, 1932.
******** *********** ***********
* Early Hisajo
First
I translate several haiku that Hisajo, a beginner, wrote
in 1916 and 1917, 15 years before the Hanagoromo
Articles I quoted above.
1.
kogarashi ya (5) nagashi no shita no (7) ishi kawaku (5)
piercing wind—
the stone under my sink
has dried off
In
only two months after she encountered haiku at the age of
26, Hisajo sent this modern haiku to Hototogisu’s
Kitchen Haiku Column started by Kyoshi.
2.
mayudama kauya (7) roji ni umi koki (7) minatomachi (5)
silk-ornaments bought--
at
each alley’s end
the much bluer sea
Hisajo,
a happy young mother, went New Year shopping to Moji, a
busy port town. Don’t we feel introduced to the first
scene of a movie?
3.
choo oute (5) haruyama fukaku (7) mayoikeri (5)
chasing butterflies
deep into spring mountains
I have gotten lost
In
responding to Kyoshi’s call for spring moutain haiku,
Hisajo, the beginner, wrote such a romantic haiku.
4.
hina ichi ni (5) mitorete haha ni (7) okuregachi (5)
hina doll market
fascinated, girls can not quite
keep pace with me
5.
doowa (3) yo mi (2) tsukushite (4) korani (5) kingyo tsuru
(5)
all
fairy tales read out
I hang a goldfish
for my girls
Hisajo’s love of two daughters remained unchanged all her
life. How warm and gentle her eyes toward them are! Please
read more of these in Installment #1.
6.
hiruhan tabe ni (6) kaeri kuru tsuma (7) hinaga kana (5)
my
husband
coming home to eat lunch--
this long day
*The first peak of creativity from 1918 to 1920 (28 to 30
years old)
The
first peak of Hisajo’s creativity came very soon in
1918. She was 28 years old and had to face the death of
her father, which occurred in December, 1918. The
following two haiku were written on this occasion.
6.
chichi yuku ya (5) myoojoo shimo no (7) matsu ni nao (5)
my
father has gone--
the evening star touches
the pine of frost…still…
7.
mihotoke ni (5) haha ni wakaruru (7) shigure kana (5)
I
take leave from
the
new buddha and Mom--
cold winter drizzle
“Unlike most haiku by women that have neither strength nor
subtlety, Hisajo expressed the most precious of the human
feelings at the time of loss with such a respect. I have
to celebrate the appearance of this woman haijin.”
--Iida
Dakotsu, in Unmo
Quite
a few haiku of Hisajo including the two above decorated
Zoei, the honorable main part of Hototogisu
magazine in 1919 and 1920. Hisajo contributed to
Amanogawa , or the Milky Way, edited
by Zenjidoh and Electricity and Literature,
edited by Hasegawa Reiyoshi as well.
In
August, 1920 during the trip to Nagano for the ritual of
placing the bones into the ancestral tomb in Nagano, a
kidney decease caught Hisajo and she was hospitalized in
Tokyo where the Akaboris lived. Realizing the difficulty
of daughter’s life in remote Kyushu island, divorce was
talked about in the family and was proposed to Unai, who
most strongly rejected the idea.
One
whole year later, in July 1921, Hisajo painfully
determined to return to Kokura with her mother’s advice in
her mind: “ Hisa, can’t you give up haiku if Unai-san
dislike it so badly?”
Some
critics say Hisajo became infatuated with or inclined
solely to Kyoshi after the death of her father, who loved,
understood and always took pride in Hisajo. Hisajo’s
father was a descent government official with a legal mind
enhanced by the sense of sympathy. Even though he was a
privileged few in Taiwan, he was never arrogant towards
the natives of Taiwan and believed in giving his girls
equal opportunity in education. After Taiwan he was
transferred back to Tokyo, where he worked as financial
officer of Gakushuin College, the special college to
educate the royal class. Nogi Koresuke, the most
well-known General who was loyal to Emperor Meiji might
have summoned Mr. Akabori from Taiwan, where they both
worked. Nogi became the President of Gakushuin which was
under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Imperial
Household. Hisajo met Unai in Tokyo.
Now
back to Hisajo’s haiku.
In
June 1919, Hototogisu published the Haiku below:
8.
hanagoromo (5) nuguya matsuwaru (7) himo iroiro (5)
on
disrobing of
blossom kimono, cling, clinging
myriad-color cords
This
haiku was enthusiastically admired by Kyoshi. Many haijin
received such an impact that they discussed it
sensationally. I would like to translate the
interpretation by Hisajo herself:
*“A
woman who got back from cherry-blossom viewing takes off
each layer of her best kimono by untying obi and various
cords. Each cord clinging to each slippery silk
undergarment (wrapping her physique )as it falls to her
feet on the tatami. She feels only a little annoyed for
she is in a sweet fatigue after being in public for
blossom viewing (and being viewed-ey). Boldly and
sensually this haiku describes the sluggish motion of silk
cords with its beauty of colors.
--Hisajo
in her later article titled “Modern characteristics of
women’s haiku during the Taisho period”.
The
contemporary of Hisajo wrote this:
“I
remember Hisajo-san being like this haiku. Unlike today’s
women, she had the presence of Meiji-born literary woman.
She was passionate, unyielding, yet very humble at the
same time. She was capable of conveying her substantial
thoughts and feelings. She may not have gotten along well
with other women haijin who did not match her in their
caliber.”
--Yoshioka Zenjidoh in his article for Haiku Kenkyu in
1950
*In
October, 1985, a haiku stone honoring this haiku was made
and placed in Sakai-machi Park, Kokura city. Ren Masuda
was instrumental in this project.
*Kadokawa
Haruki chose this haiku under the entry of hanagoromo in
his saijiki published in 1998.
All
the following haiku (#9 through #23) were written in
Hisajo's first peak of creativity.
9.
karashi maku ya (5) kaze ni kawakishi (7) araigami (5)
grains of mustard sown—
my washed hair has dried
blown in the wind
*Kadokawa
Haruki chose this haiku under the entry of mustard/autumn
seed, in his saijiki published in 1998. You can feel how
gentle, steady yet bracingly refreshing the blowing wind
was and how ample Hisajo’s black hair was.
(*for
comparison)
Usumono ni (5) sotooru tsuki no (7) hadae kana (5)
gauzy kimono
moonbeams are running through it
to reach my bare skin -1932
Ms.
Sakamoto, professor of English Literature wrote this:
(8 and 9
are) success examples of Hisajo’s attempt to produce a fresh
sensual haiku through appreciating feminine materials with
women’s senses. (ey thinks “usumono ni” is a superb example of
this as well).
--Sakamoto
Miyao, in “Sugita Hisajo” in 2003
10.
shunkan ya (5) kizami surudoki (7) ko-giku no me (5)
spring chill—
how sharp the nicks of
chrysanthemum-buds
11.
nasu mogu ya (5) hi o terikaesu (7) kushi no mine (5)
an
eggplant plucked—
the ridge of my comb
reflecting the sun
“Sensual,
but it has also got some masculine grasp of the scene, which
would often appear in Hisajo’s later haiku of greatness as
well”.
--Seiko
Tanabe, in her story on Hisajo, 1987
12.
hari moteba (5) nemutaki mabuta (7) fuji no ame (5)
holding a needle
I find my eye-lids heavy--
rain of wisteria
13.
yozamusa ya (5) hikishibori nuku (7)kinu no oto (5)
chill of the night—
when gathered and pulled out
a silk thread shrieks
14.
tsubame kuru (5) noki no fukasa ni (7) suminareshi (5)
swallows come back to
the deep eaves of ours
seasons of my life
15.
hana daikon ni (7) choo shikkokuno (7) hane agete (5)
purple raddish-blooms
a butterfly has just raised
her jet-black wings
16.
ha-geitoh no (6) itadaki odoru (7) shuu kana (5)
the
flare-tops of
leaf-cockscombs dancing--
sudden white-shower
17.
yabu no ha ni (5) tsuyu kawaki saku (7) no giku kana (5)
edge of the bush
field-chrysanthemums bloom as
dew evaporates
*This
haiku was published in Amanogawa magazine.
18
gifu chouchin ni (5) unaji o fusete (7) hi tomoseri (5)
crouching down,
I lit a bon-lantern--
the nape of my neck
*Also
published in Amanogawa magazine.
19
hana chirite (5) kame futoriyuku (7) zakuro kana (5)
after the blossom
pots getting fatter
a pomegranate tree
20
mizu nurumi (5) amiuchi miiru (7) yuubinfu (5)
water warming and
a net being cast
a postman looks on
* #20
was written in a kukai welcoming Hasegawa Reiyoshi, the
editor of Amanogawa, to Kyushu. Reiyoshi
edited Hisajo’s haiku to: amiuchi o miyaru yuubinfu mizu
nurumu.
In
1939 when Hisajo decided to stop writing haiku, she
reviewed all her past haiku and wrote important comments.
Here is what she wrote about haiku #20 on 28, August,
1939.
“I
would like to reedit this to my original word order. In
the process of presenting a haiku as art, it is needed to
emphasize the focal point charmingly, sometimes through
exaggeration. But this should not lead us to believe that
the impression we want to express has to be re-arranged by
another man’s brain. While Hasegawa Reiyoshi was alive, we
often disagreed with each other about the wording. I know
I was supposed to follow opinions of a senior haijin, but
for the sake of art I could not. This applies to Kyoshi
sensei too. If I am convinced of my expression being
natural and capable of conveying my impression to my
heart’s full content, I would not obey him“.
--Hisajo
in her personal memo in
1939
21
kaeru-da ni (5) hi nagashi sareru (7) densha kana
over frog paddies
lights are flowing down
a passing train gone
At the
edge of a rice paddy I can stand with Hisajo listening to
singing frogs and seeing off the night train with many lit
windows. Hisajo sketches in the way readers grasp how she
feels in the scene. A peaceful, yet a lonely moment, as
another day filled with housewifely chores subsides…
22
tamamushi ya (5) rurishi midarete (7) tatami tobu (5)
a
jewel bug--
lapis lazuli wings wild
over tatami
This
animated haiku decorated the first issue of
Electricity and Literature. Hasegawa Reiyoshi,
the editor, most sincerely recognized the immense talent
of Hisajo to the degree Hisajo could express herself to
him freely. He was the one who contacted Mainichi
Newspaper Company and obtained Hisajo’s manuscript that
did not win the novel contest. He published her novel in
his magazine with the works by Akutagawa Ryunosuke and
Muroo Saisei--both top-notch literary figures of Taisho.
Hasegawa Kanajo was his wife. Reiyoshi died of typhoid in
1928. I believe more research is needed to understand him
and his works.
23
ajisai ni shuurei itaru shinano kana
*I
once over-translated this as below, based on my own
interpretation:
hydrangeas wear
the autumn elegance
yes, in Shinano
*a
faithful translation:
the
autumn chill
arrives at hydrangeas:
oh, Shinano
Here
is what one of the brilliant 4S of Hototogisu wrote on
this haiku:
“Shinano or Nagano prefecture is mountainous and autumn
seems to reach there earlier: In early mornings and in
evenings one feels the chill as early as in the end of
August. Our poetess looks on hydrangeas as a traveler.
While she looks at the flower, the mountain mist creeps to
the corner of a garden, bringing in the chill. The color
of hydrangeas is so impressive when seen with traveler’s
sentiments. “shinano, kana” the last five is effective
coming after the clear and concise phrase; shurei itaru”
--Mizuhara
Shuohshi
When
asked to name-call the most favorite haiku by an editor of
a haiku magazine, this haiku of Hisajo came to my mind.
Hydrangeas in Tokyo or Kyushu tend to fade too soon when
heat and humidity make the air murky during summer months.
But not so in Shinano, (which is a famous place name
associated with the moon-viewing haiku by Basho) where her
father was originally from. Hydrangeas keep their peculiar
sapphire blue in Shinano through summer months to the
autumn season. Hisajo loved the transparent air, purple
mountains and waves of mulberry leaves she saw in Shinano.
She wrote a beautiful essay on the prefecture. A grand
scale grasp of a place is depicted along with the dynamic
seasonal progression. Another example of her masculine
grasp of a scene. Incidentally I have encountered several
men haijin who confessed their love of this haiku.
Kadokawa Haruki chose this haiku as the best under the
kigo autumn chill.
Hisajo’ haiku around her socio-economic dilemma
24. tabi tsuguya (5) Nora ni mo narazu (7) kyohshi-zuma
(5) -1921(Taisho 10)
tabi tsuguya (5) shiko ni mo narazu (7) kyoushi-zuma
(5) - 1952
mending tabi-socks
a teacher’s wife
has not become a Nora -1921
Here is Hisajo’s interpretaton on a Nora, from
Hanagoromo, 1932:
“She is in her early thirties with eyes losing the
brightness of youth. Mending her husband’s old tabi sox
under a dim light, she looks tired. Wives in the
transition time who experienced feudalism but awaken to
modern values tend to get caught badly in social
contradictions and personal problems. She can not easily
part with old traditions. She is attached to her children.
She keeps on trodding on the path of patience and
resignation.”
--Hisajo
(for comparison)
mending tabi-socks
a teacher’s wife
has not become the shield -1952
(for comparison)
yuda ni mo narazu (prelude to haiku by Hisajo)
haruya mukashi (6) murasaki asenu (7) awase miyo (5)-
1936
*having not become Judas*
long past springtime--
look at my kimono
whose purple hasn’t faded
(for interpretation)
tsuki suzushi (5) shiho no mizu-ta no (7) uta-gaeru(5)
a cool moon—
singing frogs all around
rice paddies
Hisajo wrote Haiku #24 soon after she returned to Kokura
not getting a divorce. I can not help sensing her subdued
envy of Nora from this haiku. In 1922 she became a
Christian and placed herself distant from haiku. Her essay
in 1924 touched the Nora haiku:
“There exists a bitter significance in enduring the fate
and in cutting open the fate through one’s brave fighting.
(than running away from home.) I now feel myself standing
firm and brave on earth prepared against any storm or any
big wave”.
--Hisajo
Hisajo’s subtle hesitation that gives a nuance to a Nora
haiku disappeared and Hisajo sounds like a stiff
girl-student who could in fact be very fragile. Her
church-going did not last long and in 1927 she was
determined to pursue haiku for the rest of her life. In
1934 at the age of 44, she contributes an essay to the
first issue of Haiku Kenkyu (Study of Haiku)
magazine. I quote from that issue:
“A rich womon’s luxurious life-style tends to paralyze her
soul after all. I used to consider myself poor and
unhappy, but not any more. With no jewels to wear, no
knowledge of fashion-trend, I kept on writing haiku.
Reflecting on my past days, I am pleased and even happy
now. Haiku has given me spiritual strength by encouraging
my soul all these years.”
--Hisajo
Ren Masuda remarks: “Hisajo’s humbleness spread the
distortion both ways: people who knew them well and
considered the Sugita’s life being much better than “poor”
thought Hisajo was rather sarcastic whereas people who did
not know them thought Hisajo and family really suffered
from poverty.”
Having been brought up as a member of privileged class in
colonial Taiwan, Hisajo thought making ends meet by Unai’s
salary alone was a challenge too hard to meet and kept
wishing -- if only she could hire a maid as her mother
always did.
She, however, felt pain not so much from the income limit
but from the way people classify her in socio-economic
strata of Kokura. Kokura city was an industrial city with
the new rich. And Kyushu haijin whom Hisajo associated
with were mostly very rich people. Her natural desire to
maintain her natural pride was utterly misunderstood and
some people took her as arrogant.
Unai did not share Hisajo’s pain at all. His class
consciousness was secure as the sole heir to the Sugita
estate and his life in Kokura did not need to give him any
social class identification. In other words he seems to
have taken his life in Kokura as temporary. It was Hisajo
who was trapped into the hardship between the Sugitas, who
did not understand the life in city where cash is needed
all the time and the affluent Akaboris in Tokyo, so
distant from Kyushu… (Everytime Hisajo’s mother managed to
visit Hisajo, she gave her money) When Hisajo decided to
give the best education to two daughters, Unai did not
cooperate; she earned extra income by teaching art and
craft in a high school, and by selling her calligraphy to
haiku lovers. After all, Unai who opposed higher education
for girls was very happy for his daughers when they
graduated.
In her first kushu published by Masako in 1952, Nora was
replaced with the word: “ugliness”, most probably from the
widely known tanka of the war time, meaning an ugly yet
strong shield. When this change was made is a mystery, but
it is said that this shield means a shield to protect
Kyoshi. I feel like telling Hisajo aloud, “Why, Hisajo-san,
it is you that need a shield from the society!”
In this context two haiku I translated above (on a purple
kimono and on singing frogs) are interesting. She even
repeated the expression * has not become * and changed
Nora into Juda who betrayed Christ. By adding not
become Judas, her haiku is announcing that her genuine
respect and fidelity never fades just as her old kimono
with regal purple color maintains the regal color.
In the cool moon haiku, Hisajo analogized Kyoshi to a
lofty moon and the haijin who surrounded him and
constituted the wall against Hisajo to singing frogs in
the mud of rice paddies. I believe that this haiku was
made while she was struggling to get Kyoshi’s introduction
for her kushu.
Let me translate three more haiku that she made on and
around her socio-economic pain.
26. arutoki wa (5) nikumu hin ari (7) hanagumori (5)
there is a time
I hate the poverty...blossom
under the cloudy sky
27. fuka no nasu (5) waga tsukukru nasu ni (8) makenikeri
(5)
eggplants of a rich family
beaten by these eggplants
I
grow with my hands
28. mini matou (5) kuroki shouru mo furini keri (5)
with this black shawl
I
wrap myself
how frayed it looks…
Hisajo pines for haiku-friends (1922~1926)
HIisajo often wrote she was lonely. Several people
described Hisajo as not blending into a group of people.
It seems the tendency of being alone was Hisajo’s
inclination from her early childhood. In her essay on
memories of Taiwan she wrote:
“Soon
they started to provide an elementary school lesson for
Japanese kids in one room of the governor’s office
building. There was only one teacher who taught five-six
pupils of different ages. To have “a friend of school” was
something new and pleased me, but I tended to move away
from them and engaged in nut-collecting or
picture-drawing. What was most exciting for me was going
home to play with Ryougai, a Taiwanese boy my father
hired. He and I loved a theatrical play: we enjoyed
imitating the doll-theater of Taiwan.”
Was
she lonesome in her adult life? As Unai ‘s wife, she met
teachers and students and even more people through her
haiku. Her daughter’s illness led Hisajo to know a doctor
who happened to be a haiku lover. This doctor became a
family adviser too and invited her to a Protestant church
where he was a Sunday school headmaster. The doctor died
an early death ten years later and we have no way of
confirming an old rumour in Kokura that Hisajo had a
relationship with him. Masako remembered her mother
telling her in her low-teens that she would commit suicide
to protest such an irresponsible rumour if it had not been
for two precious daughters.
On the
other hand the vicar of the church was interviewed by a
local writer eight years after Hisajo’s death, when he, 73
years old—was a vicar of Wakamatsu Church, in the same
Fukuoka prefecture. I will quote from the interview
article that was included in Ren Masuda’s book:
Rev.
Kobayashi: “Hisajo san was magnetic and pleasant. She did
a lot so energetically in construction-fund-raising, for
building Kajimachi Church that still stands in Kokura. I
remember how intelligent and rhythmical her talk was. Once
she realizes her mistake, she apologized on the spot and
when she finds something sad she cried. A very pleasing
person, indeed.
Her
husband was conservative and cautious all the time and
behaved as if like checking the stone bridge before
walking over. And she was bright, challenging and liberal,
almost aspiring to be a figure in Japanese literary
history! I would not say they were great as a couple.
One day they both came to me to solve the quarrel
regarding her writing, which led both of them to faith,
both were baptized soon after. Hisajo san was talented not
only in haiku but in calligraphy and art too. One
Christmas time she drew a herd of sheep in sumi so alive,
so free and so animated, which was used as the backdrop of
our children’s Christmas play. The picture is still in my
eyes.
In
1924 I was transferred to Korea and about the same time
Doctor Ohta left Kokura for Europe. I heard Hisajo san
became less and less involved in church after our
departure. Her multi-faceted charm may not have been
understood easily, but she was certainly attractive. I
really liked her.”
Hisajo
must have felt fortunate in meeting Rev. Kobayashi who
understood her warmly. She must have trusted him
open-mindedly. Had Rev. Kobayashi stayed in Kokura,
Hisajo’s life might have been different…but the reality
was Hisajo stopped going to church and soon she would
cherish a determination: “I will return to my haiku
“career” regardless of Unai’s wishes.”
It is
no use concluding that Hisajo was not religious enough to
find spiritual consolation through faith and religious
practices. I remark that Hisajo was most eager to live in
communion with human-beings whom her soul could respect.
She looked lonely when she did not have such friends….
As is
known broadly now, haiku was born from the tradition of
live collaborative poetry sessions. Even though a haiku is
composed by an individual independently, this genre is
still called the literature of Za (one sitting), or
communion. Haiku being the tiniest minimalist poem, a
haijin needs eyes of others to make sure his poetry is
expressed in the limited number of words. Thus, almost all
serious haijin belong to a kessha, or a closed-group with
hierarchical seniority order. A leader often boasts of
his power of extracting what is hidden underneath surface
expression through his influence and by editing an
original verse.
Hisajo
belonged to Hototogisu. Hisajo was most grateful to Kyoshi,
the leader, for he repeatedly chose Hisajo’s haiku from
the great number of haiku sent to him. Hisajo never
thought that Hototogisu was Kyoshi’s family business.
Interesting encounters with two young women, Nakamura
Teijo and Hashimoto Takako, must have pushed her back to
haiku towards the end of the Taisho period:
29.
kisaragi ya(5) kayoi naretaru (7) ko matsu michi (5)
-1924?
February—
like a commuter, I tread
this path between pine trees
Hisajo
was a pioneer woman haijin. When she was staying with her
parents’ in Tokyo, she was able to attend a kukai, or
haiku meeting, where she met women haijin such as Kanajo.
Awoi and Misako. (Incidentally Kyoshi came over to such
women’s kukai once in a while and Hisajo met him in person
there.) In Tokyo no rumors arose. But in Kokura the kukai
members were mostly men (excepting Yorie, whose
doctor-husband was also a haijin) and Hisajo was an easy
prey to curious people who do not know haiku at all.
Kyoshi’s visit to Kyushu in March 1922 gave Hisajo a
chance to attend a welcome kukai held in a grand mansion
of a young couple. Hisajo didn’t even know the existence
of a three-storied Western style mansion on the tip of the
promontory, hidden by the pine forest. The owner was a son
of the president of Osaka-based construction company who
moved to Kokura to open its branch office. He received a
college education in the U.S. and started his marriage
life in the new mansion with a tennis court and an
interesting garden. (What a difference! Hisajo lived in a
rented house all her life.) He did not know haiku, but
loved theater and literature and provided his mansion for
the welcome kukai. Kyoshi was certainly given a wonderful
welcome.
Some
days later Mr. Hashimoto asked Hisajo to teach haiku to
his beautiful young wife, Hashimoto Takako. Hisajo had
such a joy teaching talented Takako about ten years
younger than her. She commuted to their mansion up above
the town until the time Mr. Hashimoto declined her haiku
lesson… What he wanted for his wife was a charming skill
of haiku writing but
Hisajo
wanted to train Takako towards haiku as serious art.
30.
wasuremeya (5) mikuzu no oka no (7) toh futatsu (5) 1929
or Showa4
don’t you forget
those two stools
on the hill of kudzu
I
assume they were engaged in landscape painting on those
stools. Takako told Masako that Hisajo’s lesson extended
to calligraphy and picture drawing. *
(for
comparison)
aiyorite (5) kuzu no ame kiku (7) kasa fureshi (5)
each draws closer
listening to rain on kudzu—
our umbrellas touch
(included in 30 haiku in the prelude)
(included in Saijiki by Kadokawa Haruki)
The
Hashimotos moved to Osaka in 1929. Haiku #30 is the haiku
Hisajo wrote as she parted with Takako. When Kyoshi held a
Hototogisu Convention in Osaka in November,
1929, Hisajo urged Takako in Osaka to attend. There Hisajo
introduced her to Yamaguchi Seishi, one of 4S, who was
living in Osaka. Takako became a widow in 1937,
concentrated on haiku ever since and lived a life of a
very successful haijin in post war Japan. I believe Takako
had not forgotten those lessons Hisajo gave with pure
joy. She too was not totally exempt from the responsibity
for the Hisajo Legend, but I do feel that Takako’s respect
for Hisajo was genuine.
31.
akisame ya (5) shiomi ni izuru (7) yuuge made (5)
Hisajo
autumn rain—
we stroll out to see the tide
dinner being prepared Hisajo
(for
interpretation)
tsukuhito ni (5) hoguruki doma yo (7) aki no ame (5)
Teijo
guests’ arrived
our earth floor’s gently dark
and autumn rain Teijo
Teijo
adored Hisajo and called her ‘My Big Sister’ in her naïve
maiden days. In her later life she obtained Kyoshi’s
full-recognition during the time Hisajo was tormented by
Kyoshi’s rejection and refusal. Teijo became a top woman
haijin in post war Japan and often supplied her manuscript
responding to the demand from haiku magazines. She once
wrote a rather “casual” essay on Hisajo. Alas Masako was
not able to correct the episode in there. Teijo’s husband,
a high ranking government official was the very person who
had helped young Masako to find the position in the
Customs Office in Yokohama on her graduation from Doshisha
women’s junior college in Kyoto. Thus, Teijo was partly
responsible for the Hisajo Legend.
The
two haiku were written in September, 1921 when Hisajo took
a trip to Teijo’s house in Kumamoto prefecture. Some time
before that, Teijo, a maiden who happen to start writing a
haiku, wrote ‘a fan letter’ to Hisajo and they began
corresponding. Hisajo must have felt buried in the life
with Unai those days and must have decided to take a trip
for breathing fresh air. She accompanied Mitsuko, her five
years old daughter. I have read a most beautiful travel
diary Hisajo wrote out of this trip. Hisajo received such
heartfelt hospitality from the family consisting of Teijo,
22 years old, and her parents who raised their only child
with tender care and love. Teijo was their golden girl,
healthy, beautiful, diligent, so kind and gentle. Her
happiness (she had a fiancé) could make everyone happy.
Hisajo and Mitsuko extended the schedule and stayed there
four nights. The rumor spread in Kumamoto city that a
famous Hisajo is staying. Two young men visited Teijo’s
house to meet Hisajo. They had a little kukai and there
Hisajo wrote Haiku #31.
This
travel not just soothed Hisajo but led her to self-examine
her attitude towards haiku. She wrote a manifest like
open letter to Kyoshi, which was published in
Hototogisu in January, 1922 as she wanted.
“I
have realized for the first time that I did not need to go
through agony wondering whether this or that haiku I am
sending would be chosen by Sensei or not. --Well, nothing
need be said if chosen. I feel always great if chosen--But
from now on I will be free from the agony I experienced
before. I would like to make a haiku out of : What touches
my life, what my eyes see, ears hear, what my heart speaks
to myself in a strong voice. I still believe In shasei,
but I wouldn’t sketch things that happen to be around me
at random. I want to sketch things that left an
impression in the depth of my soul.“
--A
Letter Written In Daybreak, Hisajo. 1922
Hisajo
had a fond memory of the visit for many years to come. It
is a pain to report that Teijo altered her memory in the
storm of the legend making. Teijo wrote in the essay I
described ‘casual’:
“I got
acquainted with Hisajo through contributing to
Kareno magazine (which started after Hisajo’s
visit!--ey). Hisajo and her daughter stayed two nights and
I did not write any haiku then. Hisajo was the cause of my
first mistake in my marriage life. On my way to Kansai she
invited me to dinner and did not let me go when I wanted
to. As a result I missed a train to Kansai where I was
supposed to meet my husband” .
--Teijo
in post war days
Years ago I
translated 30 haiku to go with the Hisajo article in World
Haiku Review, I intentionally avoided those haiku that
have been discussed in the main article or that had been
translated elsewhere in the past.
You
can read those 30 haiku if you go to the first
installment: Prologue to Hisajo in the light of English
Haikai Movement. The yardstick for choosing those 30 was
strictly my own. To be honest, I had not yet read any book
on Hisajo. Randomly I chose jewels from the text compiled
from Hisajo’s first ku-shu published in 1952.
Then
I neither understood the hidden intention of nor paid so
much attention to the Kyoshi introduction, whose words
praise her haiku and at the same time produced a wrong
picture of Hisajo as they wrapped her in its calculated
ambiguity and built-in lies. Masako being the publisher of
her mother’s kushu, Kyoshi was most cruel in making her
spread the distorted Hisajo…. I must add though that it
was Masako who complicated the situation over the years.
After publishing Hisajo kushu posthumously, Masako became
“a disciple “of Kyoshi’s daugher, hoping to acquire the
voice of influence in the world of Japanese Haiku, most
certainly for the purpose of bringing honor back to the
name: Hisajo. I am not accusing Masako. She knew too well
how high the walls segregating Hisajo were. To change
accepted public perception always takes long and
meandering efforts…
Strong- willed, Masako survived Kyoshi, Hoshino Tatsuko,
his daughter and Nakamura Teijo.
Masako
lived to be 94 years old and saw the Hisajo Renaissance
while she managed to self-publish several important books
on Hisajo, which moved me to this series.
The
end of Chapter 5.
Editor's note:
In this essay all references to Nora are concerned with a
character in Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen's play,
A Doll's House (1879). Nora Helmer is one of
the most complex characters of 19th century drama. This
play was considered controversial when it was first
published because it is sharply critical of 19th century
marriage norms; it is often referred to as the first
feminist play. A Doll's House is an
important work in the naturalist movement; the play
depicts events and situations on stage which are a
departure from previous forms such as romanticism. The
play delineates the changing character of Nora: in act one
she prances about the stage displaying many childish
characteristics; in the second act she behaves
desperately, and in the third act she gains a stark sense
of reality.
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