Hisajo in the light of English Haikai Movement
Chapter 7: Hisajo’s Last Challenge
My Visit to SoHoh Museum
On November 5, 2010, I went to SoHoh Museum located in
Ninomiya-machi, Kanagawa Prefecture. Their exhibit this
year: Bond seen from letters. I wanted to see Hisajo’s
letters to SoHoh Tokutomi (1863~1957), a literary man of
great influence, who, over his long professional career,
received 12,000 letters, who published ten volumes of
“Nippon Kinsei Kokumin Shi”, or History of Japanese
People in Modern Times (he wrote a total of 240,000
Japanese hand-written pages), and who lived through
Meiji, Taisho, and Showa to the age of 95. The curators
displayed one letter of Hisajo dated April 1935 with a
letter from Kyoshi,
even though each wrote to SoHoh and not to each other.
SoHoh received letters from the likes of Akiko Yosano,
Raicho Hiratsuka, Doppo Kunikida, Mokichi Saito, just to
name a few, and each of the letters is displayed
respectively with a letter written to SoHoh by the
person who had a bond with him/her.
At first I could not help but see an irony in this bond
display, then felt impressed with Hisajo’s hand-writing
with brush-strokes. Almost all letters displayed were
written by brush strokes, but Hisajo’s hand-writing
stands out with elegance and power. Kyoshi would have
felt embarrassed had he seen the display. I took notice
of the blue rice paper, remembering the essay Hisajo
wrote on her love of beautiful paper. I simply lost
words when I saw Hisajo’s sketch of a sun-flower.
I was able to sit with Ms. Wada, a curator, to ask a
few questions. My guess was right, Seiko Tanabe, Masako
Ishi, Akiko Yumoto all visited this museum before or in
the process of writing on Hisajo. She told me vividly
that Masako had a tremendous impact at the time. Ms.
Wada was with their senior curator as a young assistant
not knowing anything about Hisajo, much less about
Masako. Masako was in a jet-black dress and looked very
solemn, heavy, even oppressive in her sitting position
to cover window lights. In her low voice she muttered on
the hardship naming Kyoshi.
Several years later Masako came again and her impression
changed, probably because their senior curator, whom I
could not meet, won trust and friendship from her, or
because the tables had turned and the stormy Hisajo
legend had been replaced by a Hisajo Renaissance. And a
few years before her death in 2007, Masako sent to the
senior curator a beautiful photograph of herself wearing
a brilliant blue dress. Her impression had been
drastically changed for the better over the years. Ms.
Wada showed me some of Masako’s pictures taken during
her overseas trip with her husband, who taught American
Literature in Meiji University. Masako looked happy and
relaxed in America! Hisajo wanted her daughters to have
a good life with a good husband and this dream of Hisajo
seemed to have come true. (Masako’s sister got married
to a man who became a professor teaching French
Literature in Tohoku University.)
A Brief Chronology of Hisajo’s Life as Summary
At the age of 36, in 1926, Hisajo reoriented herself
firmly on haiku as I explained in Chapter 6. Six years
later, in March, 1932, she labored for the birth of
Hanagoromo, her haiku magazine. Brilliantly
received though each issue was, she mysteriously made an
abrupt decision to terminate the magazine in September
the same year. In the very next October Kyoshi announced
that Hisajo was chosen to be a Dojin, or an honorable
member of Hototogisu. Four years passed
and in October, 1936, when she was 46, Kyoshi suddenly
and publicly discarded her from the Dojin list. I doubt
whether Kyoshi had a vague intention to do so at the
very time he himself elevated Hisajo to the honorable
Dojin status. Viewed from the twenty year chronology of
1936-1956, Hisajo spent the first ten years as a
prominent haijin blooming in the past, but the next ten
years were full of struggle, pain, war, and separation
looming into the future. At 56 she died alone in the
hospital to which she was literally forced to go.
Having suffered from depression, menopause, a kidney
problem and Hashimoto disease, she had caused Unai daily
problems amid the social turmoil of post war days. As a
teacher, Unai still had responsibility over a number of
young students. One day Unai asked a doctor, his former
student, to give her a shot and they took sleeping
Hisajo to a special hospital more than a few hours’ ride
from home. All hospitals were in an utter chaos those
days, most of them without an adequate food supply. She
was not properly diagnosed. After only three months of
hospitalization she died. Dr. Aoi Teraoka in Kyushu
carefully examined Hisajo’s and her immediate family
members’ health records throughout each one’s life-span.
Not only scientific approach but also thoughtful
literary analysis of Hisajo’s haiku led him to publish
Hisajo no Byoseki, or Hisajo’s
Illness Records—a fabricated legend in 2005.
There have been other researches as well and the
consensus has been reached: 1. Hisajo was Not
schizophrenic 2. The direct cause of her death must
have been mal-nutrition
caused by hunger.
The Circumstance Surrounding Hisajo
During those four years (1932~1936) while Hisajo’s haiku
were often chosen for the top page of Hototogisu,
she quite naturally got the idea of publishing her kushu.
Before she asked Kyoshi to write the introduction for
her kushu, their communication seemed normal. Hisajo
sent him a hand-made pillow filled with white mum petals
and Kyoshi responded to her with a haiku appreciating
the gift.
But Kyoshi never wrote the introduction; he did not want
her kushu to be published. She was desperate, but tried
hard to take the awkward situation as a special ordeal
bestowed by Kyoshi. She wrote letters to Kyoshi, and
took a long distance trip to see him in person in
Kamakura. Kyoshi stopped responding. He refrained from
seeing Hisajo.
Outside of Hototogisu there arose the New
Haiku Movement. Already in 1930 Shuoshi Mizuhara dared
to publish his first kushu without Kyoshi’s
introduction. Hisajo is said to have loved Shuoshi’s
pleasant and lyrical haiku and Shuoshi invited Hisajo to
join Ashibi, his haiku kessa. Young Seito Hirahata, the
editor of Kyodai (Kyoto University)
Haiku, wrote a letter to Hisajo asking for her
haiku. Hisajo had won respect even from a rising
student-haijin.
Inside Hototogisu, Tatsuko Hoshino, or
Kyoshi’s married daughter, and Teijo Nakamura, were
coming into the limelight as model woman haijin
replacing Hisajo. Teijo was living in Yokohama, near
Tokyo and Kamakura, as the wife of a high ranking
government official. As Seiko Tanabe lamented in her
book, Kyoshi had the tendency to favor those in
affluence, those with social networks.
Hisajo’s submissions had been chosen and published in
Hototogisu all through 1934, but in 1935
fewer haiku appeared and when one or two were chosen,
those were not as brilliant as before. Hisajo’s energy
must have been taken for the kushu “project”. After
Sepetember 1935 no haiku of Hisajo got printed in
Hototogisu. Having ignored her wish, letters and
visits Kyoshi might well have assumed that things would
solve themselves when Hisajo would join a kessha under
New Haiku Movement. In this historical context Hisajo
did not move and wanted to prove her fidelity to the
master.
Virtue and Vice of a Haiku Kessa,
Generally speaking the way a haiku kessha is organized
would better be understood with the understanding of Za,
or a sit-in gatherings. A haiku group has a central
figure, the equivalent of a sabaki in renku sessions,
and members sit around him. And haijin share the time of
creation in the sit-in session. Yet, haijin do not share
the Muse coming down right into the center of renku
sessions. Most haiku sessions are rather competitive,
even though many haijin still value the spirit of Za.
It is true that others’ eyes have got the crucial
significance for such a tiny poem as a haiku. I cannot
deny that a haijin is more likely to compose a haiku
that emits unworldly light when he/she is placed on a
grand stage watched by a great leader/judge and a big
audience.
Indeed, a haijin’s haiku would often need the master’s
or one of the fellow-member’s
orientation/critique/assurance so that it could stand as
a short verse equipped with haiku literacy, but there
arise cases in which others’ eyes overlook a jewel, or
others’ eyes become tinged with some political concerns.
There are numerous haiku kessha in Japan, each founded
by an ambitious haijin who spinned out of the hierarchy.
The key to the kessha’s success depends on a number of
ordinary members. Kyoshi knew how to win their hearts.
Kyoshi’s Case
From today’s perspectives the appalling fact that so
many young free-verse haijin affiliated with
Kyodai (Kyoto University) Haiku
got arrested as anti-government activists is something
that defies our easy understanding. Reversely speaking,
haiku was that important in the society then. Another
fact is that Kyoshi had the social power to influence
the whole publishing industry; this is something that
deserves to be studied by social scientists. It is hard
to believe now, but almost all publishers did not want
to offend Kyoshi and were eager to publish what he
wrote. He was a VIP whose daily schedule was considered
worthy to be printed in newspapers with nation-wide
circulation. Hototogisu members in Kyushu
were well aware of Kyoshi’s itinerary and of his first
visit to Europe.
Solely out of Hototogisu Kyoshi made
himself a wealthy man and supported his big family
including Yujiro Ikenouchi, the second son who lived in
Paris for as long as ten years. Yujiro Ikenouchi’s
family name was changed from Takahama to Ikenouchi so
that the lineage of Ikenouchi, or Kyoshi’s mother’s
blood line, could continue. In Paris Yujiro Ikenouchi
was a student majoring in music composition. In March
1936 Kyoshi took a grand voyage to Europe; his trip was
well-planned for him by his haiku “disciple” in the
shipping industry. In addition to haiku meetings held in
various European cities he enjoyed seeing his son in
Paris. Kyoshi was said to have exerted his power to
secure him a decent position later in the son’s life.
Kyoshi’s travel diary was readily published and a few of
his close disciples contributed their essays to some
small in-circle journals in which each of them described
how well their master was welcomed by people in Kyushu
when the ship named Hakone-maru, dropped anchor in Moji
on her voyage to Europe.
Hakone-maru Incident
The Hisajo legend that swept post-war Japan got started
from one episode fabricated by Kyoshi, the VIP; the
episode attracted people’s quick curiosity.
He wrote an obituary-like article in the November 1946
issue of Hototogisu titled “I feel like
paying a visit to Hisajo’s tomb”. In the article he
“described” an incident that happened on Hakone-maru
anchored in Moji. Here is a rough excerpt in my
translation.
Hisajo and members of White Mum haiku group rented a
small boat and chased after Hakone-maru making an
embarrassing scene. During our return trip Hisajo came
to Moji and made a scene again. In Hakone-maru she kept
screaming when she was told she could not see me. Hisajo
left some writing addressed to me but her handwriting
was wild and illegible.
Mr. Ren Masuda, Unai’s student at Kokura High School who
published Sugita Hisajo Note in 1978,
investigated the incident by interviewing as many
witnesses as possible. Mrs. Nuino, a surviving member of
Shiragiku-kai, or White Mum group, told him that they
never rented a small boat. Mr. Masuda then found those
small in-circle journals published in 1936: Hisajo never
tried to chase after the ocean-liner and she never
screamed. Those articles written by Kyoshi’s close
disciples in 1936 clearly testify they were able to read
what Hisajo wrote on a shikishi, a board–like square
paper for writing poems; it was a haiku as a von voyage
gift for Kyoshi. What is most striking is that the ship
Hakone-maru simply did not drop anchor in Moji on her
way back from France. This is a fact proven by Kyoshi’s
own travel diary as well as by other public records.
What Hisajo and her lady students actually did on 22
February, 1936 in Moji was to bring Kyoshi a Birthday
present (sweet rice steamed with red beans) and to try
to wish him von voyage to Europe. The ladies were not
able to see Kyoshi, however long they waited. Mrs. Nuino
told Mr. Masuda, “Hisajo sensei looked pale and we felt
so sorry for her.”
Kyoshi has made a Decision Public
Kyoshi came back to Japan and a few months later he made
a decision public. In the October1936 issue of
Hototogisu he used one full precious page of
Hototogisu and announced the elimination of
three haijin from the Dojin List. People, including
Hisajo, Unai, Mrs. Nuino, all the other students,
friends and Hototogisu readers had to
guess why. Hisajo…violently disgraced…stopped teaching
haiku.
Now, What Role did SoHoh Tokutomi play in the life of
Hisajo?
I saw Hisajo’s letter dated 27 November, 1934 thanking
SoHoh for his summer lecture in Kyushu. She may have met
him in that trip of his. But she may have been
introduced to SoHoh by Kosanjin Ikegami, a
Hototogisu haijin who used to be SoHoh’s
student-like secretary. The reason why Masako visited
SoHoh museum soon after observing Hisajo’s 50th
death anniversary in 1995 was to confirm the genuineness
of one letter from SoHoh addressed to Hisajo. Masako
happened to find the letter while preparing for the
death anniversary. The curator confirmed it was genuine.
The letter survived the war, the death of both Hisajo
and Unai, the move and the relentless time. Hisajo must
have stored it carefully as something very special.
In the concerned letter dated 7 February, 1936. SoHoh
wrote that he had finished coordinating the chosen
publisher and the book design artist and had sent
Hisajo’s manuscript to the publisher in Tokyo. If the
manuscript referred to in SoHoh’s letter meant the
manuscript of Hisajo kushu, this reveals that Hisajo
gave up obtaining Kyoshi’s introduction and depended on
Sohoh Tokutomi, a giant literary figure and an opinion
leader in pre-war Japan, for publishing her dream kushu
and SoHoh had helped her accordingly. Obviously, there
were correspondences exchanged between them before that
time. I saw her post card from Itsukushima Shrine dated
15 May, 1935.
Hisajo stayed in SoHoh’s summer villa near Lake Yamanaka
for several days in July 1936, soon after Kyoshi
returned to Japan. We just do not know to what stage the
publishing project had proceeded by then. We know full
well that the kushu never came out in spite of the
endorsement of SoHoh Tokutomi. It may have been hindered
by the February 26, or 2.26 incident* but it is
impossible to tell what happened to the manuscript sent
to the publisher.
The February
26 incident* (二・二六事件 Ni-niroku jiken, or “2.26
incident”) was an attempted coup d'état in Japan,
from February 26 to 29, 1936 carried out by 1,483 troops
of the Imperial Japanese Army. Several leading
politicians were killed and the center of Tokyo was
briefly occupied by the rebelling troops.
Hisajo visited SoHoh Tokutomi at least twice. His villa
was near Lake Yamanaka, which is one of the five lakes
formed by the ancient volcanic activities of Mt. Fuji.
In July 1936 Hisajo was welcomed warmly, which is
evident from her haiku I translate for this Chapter.
Hisajo sent those haiku composed on the trip to
Haiku Kenkyu. They were included in their
September 1936 issue. SoHoh’s grand-son, who is now a
doctor and loves to write, remembers the joy Hisajo
brought to him when no family friends showed up in the
lingering rainy season of that year. Hisajo was the only
guest during her stay. SoHoh was 73 years old then but
was raising the boy after his daughter became a widow
very young.
Hisajo’s second visit turned tragic. In SoHoh Museum, I
saw her card dated 9
August 1937. She reports that she is doing fine by
herself and adds one haiku:
asa fuji o (5) mishi
kano mado ni (7) dare ga yoru? (5)
who‘s there now
at the window
I saw Morning Fuji
I have no way of knowing how the second visit was
arranged, but she visited the villa soon after writing
this haiku. Unlike the previous summer, the villa was
packed with many guests from hot cities. Hisajo was
asked to stay that particular night in a hotel room
nearby prepared by the Tokutomis.
Hisajo refused to do so. Her pride, which she strived to
uphold after being purged, was too sensitive and she
took their kind arrangement as an insult. SoHoh meant to
see Hisajo the next day, but she had already left
Yamanakako town.
Kyoshi must have become Furious
Having found Hisajo’s approach to SoHoh on his return
from Europe, Kyoshi must have become furious. Even
though Hisajo did not take advantage of Kyoshi’s
absence, Kyoshi might have thought so. Dictators have a
tendency to be caught by the fit of anger. What I have
to add is that SoHoh Tokutomi was the CEO of Kokumin
Shimbun, a newspaper company, where Kyoshi was employed
as a haiku columnist until he took over Hototogisu
in 1898 on his getting married.
There must have been other reasons as I have repeatedly
suggested. Tanabe Seiko simply concluded that Kyoshi did
not like Hisajo and wanted to get rid of her. Mr. Masuda
thinks Kyoshi discarded her before she moved to New
Haiku Movement. For Hisajo it was not the matter of
assumption. She was devastated and it is said that a
cheerful smile was lost from her face since that time.
She didn’t give up writing haiku, but she stopped going
to any kukai: how much did she miss kukai-communion,
conversation with fellow haijin or with her sincere
haiku students?
Hisajo’s very last Years
Remember her two daughters had already left Kyushu and
lived far away getting a higher education. (It was
Hisajo that materialized their education in spite of
their father’s opposition). In their house without
children, Unai kept asking Hisajo, “What on earth did
you do? Why did Kyoshi sensei, such a great and generous
man, have to discard you?” Each day must have been a
torture for Hisajo those days.
After she returned from her second visit to Lake
Yamanaka, Hisajo must have felt she had no one to seek
help from. Hisajo was said to have spent time doing
housework, quarreling with Unai, growing various flowers
in the garden, or sketching wild flowers she adored.
What consoled her most, however, was the rereading of
her past haiku, the glorious achievement she seriously
cherished. She added her footnotes and comments on the
definitive text.
As the U.S. air-raids over Kokura (a Pittsburgh of Japan
for its steel industry) got frequent and heavy, Hisajo
started to show some signs of problems. Escaping into
the crowded shelter of their town, often by herself,
Hisajo seemed to shut herself from the outside world to
live in her own imagination. Unai was often in school,
busy protecting his students.
And I have already told what Unai did in the first
winter after Japan accepted unconditional surrender to
the Allied Forces. Later in his life, he regretted
having put Hisajo in the hospital.
What did Masako want to Prove?
For more than fifty years, Masako Ishi, Hisajo’s elder
daughter, struggled to find the answer: why did Hisajo
have to die that death? In 2002 I wrote to her reporting
that I translated 30 haiku of Hisajo and published them
on the web magazine. Mrs. Ishi wrote back, “ My deepest
thanks to you. I am trying hard but the fire of my life
is dwindling…” Impressed with the strength of her
handwriting as well as her words, I wrote again but did
not receive her response. Years passed and I learned
that she passed away in 2007 at the age of 95.
Masako wanted to prove that Hanagoromo had
to be terminated so that Tatsuko could become a leader
for all women haijin of Japan with her editorship of
Tamamo, or Beautiful Seagrass,
the haiku magazine Kyoshi had encouraged Tatsuko
Hoshino, his married daughter, to start, shortly before
the start of Hisajo’s Hanagoromo on Kyushu
Island. Hisajo had no intention to compete with Tatsuko
and in fact she had heartily congratulated Tatsuko, but
Kyoshi might have foreseen a danger. After the
termination of Hanagoromo, Hisajo
concentrated on writing haiku. Needless to say Kyoshi
continued to help and support Tamamo all his life.
Masako wanted to prove that those haijin and writers who
“co-fabricated” the Hisajo legend by feeding their
episodes, or by writing a novel, a play, memoires and
what-nots were less than Hisajo as a literary figure.
Masako wanted to prove why Kyoshi did not give his
permission to Hisajo’s kushu. Long after Kyoshi died in
1959, Masako concluded: He knew better than anyone that
Hisajo’s kushu would outshine his work dangerously.
Masako assumed that Kyoshi fabricated the story, in the
lingering social unrest caused by the defeat of Japan,
to conveniently and nonchalantly solve people’s
puzzlement in regards to his cruel announcement before
the war, and the announcement in Hototogisu
in October 1936.
Masako wanted a legal apology from those medical doctor
haijin who illegally borrowed Hisajo’s hospital records,
some out of curiosity, some only from a professional
habit. A phrase or two written in there spread like a
fire over the dry grass. The medical record had been
missing when Masako asked for it and later it was
secretly returned.
All her efforts were derived from her acute wish to
console her mother’s soul. Masako got married in
November 1937, had a baby and lived in Kamakura. She
never had a chance to go back to her lonely mother
living in Kokura. Kyushu was so distant from Kamakura,
especially in those days with no bullet train, no
airplane and the country in a social confusion specific
to the wartime. Mitsuko married in 1941 and the newly
weds left for Taiwan where the groom started his
teaching career. Hisajo never saw Mitsuko after seeing
them off at Port Moji. Masako’s last time with Hisajo
was in July 1944 when Hisajo visited Masako and her baby
by extending a leg of her trip after attending her old
mother’s funeral in Osaka. Masako’s husband was away to
the war then. Hisajo was a gentle mother to Masako.
Hisajo was so good at playing with the baby.
What puzzled me was why Masako became a student of
Tatsuko, or Kyoshi’s daughter, even though they both
lived in small Kamakura. Masako, a very intelligent
lady, must have thought she had to become an established
haijin for the purpose of gaining influence in the haiku
world. And she must have thought Hototogisu
and Tamamo embodied the orthodox of
Japanese haiku. Masako managed to become a leader of a
small haiku kessha and had more than a few public
occasions to talk about Hisajo with the likes of a
daughter of Hashimoto Takako or Tatsuko herself. Masako
self-published several books on Hisajo and was a part of
the movement towards reassessing Hisajo.
Seiko Tanabe wrote, however, that Masako was too close
and too attached in order to successfully perform the
objective reassessment.
I respect Masako for what she did. There have been many
“little” Hisajo cases in Japan. And in most cases
sufferings were simply buried under the thick sheet of
omote, the surface history. Masako’s courage,
determination, womanly agenda and shortcomings touch my
heart.
Cobwebs of Social Manners
I do not think that the trauma of the Hisajo legend has
vanished for good. I cannot declare that Hisajo was
clearly and cleanly freed from the disgrace. Why did
Masako let Kyoshi die before he made an apology to
Hisajo and Masako herself? I can’t help reminding my
readers of Kyoshi’s introduction given to Masako for
Hisajo’s kushu; the publishing of Hisajo’s kushu
happened six years after Hisajo’s death. Kyoshi’s
introduction, cruel only in a alibi-free way, must have
tortured Masako.
The three haiku Masako wrote at Kyoshi’s death in 1959,
however, were well-composed polite greeting verses for
the occasion. This must mean how hard it was to pursue
the truth in the cobwebs of social manners and social
hierarchy in the Japanese haiku world. Once Masako
gained a certain level of influence, she was then
hindered by all sorts of social expectations to behave
properly…Masako was torn just like her mother between
her initial purpose and her manners for Kyoshi and her
cordial acquaintanceship for Tatsuko.
Needless to say Kyoshi had a great deal of good and kind
aspects as well and there were TPOs (time, place and
occasions) in which Masako thanked Kyoshi heartily in
spite of, or forgetting temporarily, her initial
purpose. Every time she came home after having “a good
time” with Kyoshi and Tatsuko, she must have been
frustrated at herself. No wonder Masako looked so
burdened to young Ms. Wada when she first visited the
SoHoh museum.
Kyoshi’s Achievement
From a different point of view, Kyoshi beautifully
succeeded in newly structuring one enormous and organic
system called Haidan, or haiku society, placing him at
the invincible top. He must have followed the innate
Japanese cultural tradition that tends to be based on
the love of blood and love of authority. Most Japanese
traditional arts, such as Kabuki, Noh, Flower
Arrangement, and Tea Ceremony believe in hereditary
continuation of the school/organization/skill/art
through the blood…
How distant is this achievement from Basho’s! Shiki
could never have imagined this development of his Modern
Haiku movement.
Let us go back to Hisajo’s Haiku, Hisajo’s Challenge
Let us free Hisajo from all those cobwebs. I believe
that Hisajo in translation should be able to fly as high
as she wished. Her soul will be fully consoled when her
haiku are known, loved, and respected by people around
the world.
In contrast with the process through which each haiku is
bundled with others’ submissions and assessed by Kyoshi
one by one without any context, it was natural for some
dedicated Hototogisu haijin to think that
they should have a better chance to acquire the
authoritative “I” by writing gunsaku, or a group of
haiku on the same topic and sending them as one
submission. It is said the gunsaku was felt by Kyoshi
another deviation from the tradition. But who can blame
Hisajo for wanting to challenge this a little bit? Hisajo
was torn between the two situations:
1. Her Genuine Respect for Kyoshi, who discovered,
and once admired
her enthusiastically
VS
2. Her straightforward artist spirit that drove her
to free writing
I find her desire for free expression evident in her
gunsaku haiku series. Thus, Chapter 7 is dedicated to
her gunsaku series.
Please read
Hisajo's
gunsaku haiku composed shortly before the purge in my
humble translation. (I will be improving each
translation in years to come).
Buddha, the Light of Lapis Lazuli
All the haiku were compiled by Hisajo herself. The title
above was by her also. She compiled them in two groups:
“Kagoshima, the birth place” and “Nostalgia for
Okinawa”. All were included in the June1934 issue of
Haiku Kenkyu, an independent (or Kyoshi-free)
haiku magazine which started in March 1934 and was to
grow into a general haiku magazine. (Later editors
include Kenkichi Yamamoto and Jushin Takayanagi).
Kagoshima, My Birth Place
1. zabon saku (5) gogatsu to nareba (7) hi no hikari (5)
in awesome sunlight
May comes with the bloom
of a pomelo-orange
2. zabon saku (5) gogatsu no sora wa (7) ruri no goto
(5)
May sky looks
just like lapis lazuli
when pomelos bloom
3.
ten aoshi (5) rokitsu wa noki wo (7) uzume saku (5
the blue heaven—
kumquat-oranges keep blooming
till our eaves buried
4. hana zabon (5) kobore saku to ni (7) sumu tanoshi (5
pomelo petals spilling
over our front door—
what fun to live in that house
5. kaze kaori (5) zabon sakuto ni (7) tou wa dare (5)
frangrant wind,
who is paying us a visit
when our pomelo blooms
6.
nangoku no (5) gogatsu no tanoshi (7) hana zabon (5)
in
the south country
May is the fun month
pomelo oranges bloom
7. zabon saku (5) waga aretsuki no (5) sora matama (8)
the jewel
blue sky—
zabon blooms in May
my birth month
Nostargia for Okinawa
Hisajo lived in Naha city, on the Main Okinawa Island
for two years from 1895 to 1897 when she became seven.
1. umi hoozuki (5) naraseba tooki (7) otome no hi
(5)
blow a sea lantern,
and the sound takes you back to
the girlhood long past
2. tokonatsu no (5) aoki shioabi (7) waga sodatsu
(5)
I grew up
bathing in the emerald sea
of everlasting summers
3. tsumagureni (5) yubi some kawashi (5) koi wakaku
(7)
with touch–me-nots
we dye each other’s nails,
was that a love…
4. sendan no (5) hana chiru Naha ni (7) nyugaku su
(5)
in Naha
through falling purple blossoms
my first day to school
5.shima no ko to (5) hana basho no mitsu no (9)
amaki suu (5)
an islander and I
both suck the sweet nectar
of a basho-bloom
6.satokibi (5) kajirishi koro no (7) unaigamin (5)
I had a bobbed hair
and loved chewing
sugar canes
7. yojukage (5) habu tori no ko to (7) asobi motsu
(5)
in the shade
of the Banyan tree, I play
with a boy snake hunter
8. hitode fumi (5) kani to tawamure (7) iso asobi
(5)
who stepped on starfish
and sported with crabs?
jolly, jolly seashore
9. murasaki no (5) kumo no ue naru (7) temariuta (5)
above the purple cloud
of Chinaberry blooms,
we sing nursery rhymes
10. umi-hoduki (5) kuchi ni fukumeba (7) ushio no ka
(5)
a sea lantern
gently put into my mouth,
wow, scent of the sea!
11. umi hoozuki nagareyoru ki ni hishi to hae
growing dense and thick
on a driftwood, sea lanterns
laid by shellfish
12. shio no ka no (5) gungunkawaku (7) kai hiroi (5)
the sea-scent
quickly evaporates—
our shell gathering
13. hiki nokoru (5) iwama no shio ni (7) umi hoozuki
(5)
in the tide pool made
between rugged rocks
sea lantern
Haiku on Cranes
(December 1934)
Hisajo wrote most impressive gunsaku haiku on the crane,
a dignified symbol of good fortune.
Preceding these haiku, her moving essay on the crane
meat, which was believed to lengthen life, was published
in the March 1934 issue of Karitago, a
haiku magazine edited by Kaido Kiyohara living in Korea
(cf. Korea was one territory of Imperial Japan). One day
her haiku student shared with Hisajo some meat of a
crane sent to her from her sister living in Korea.
Hisajo examined her saijiki for the citing of Crane
Knife, which must have been included based on classical
courtly cooking. Even though she could not find how to
use the crane knife, she ritualized the process and
served the cooked meat with a variety of freshly boiled
spring vegetables, to Unai, and to her old mother who
happened to be visiting the couple. She even saved a
strip or two and brought them to a hospital bed for an
inpatient, the child-son of another haiku student.
It was in December of the same year that she wrote as
many as 61 haiku on the crane, all from one trip (over
night or two nights) that she took by herself. Her
destination was Yashiro Basin, Kumage County, Yamaguchi
Prefecture, known as an important migratory destination
of large-sized nabetsuru-cranes from Siberia (its
average wingspan: 160~180cm, or 5’ 3” to 6 feet). Crane
is a winter kigo, because they come to Yashiro,
Yamaguchi or to Izumi city, Kyushu to spend the winter
time there. Hisajo wanted to see them at the moment of
their arrival from Siberia. Here I translate 24 haiku
which I found in various sources. Only a few of them
were published in the February 1935 issue of
Hototogisu. I wish I could have found all 61!
Hisajo arranged her haiku in two groups.
I Go See the Cranes
1. tsuru mau ya (5) hi wa kin’iro no (7) kumo o ete
(5)
cranes are up soaring—
the sun has just put on
golden clouds
2. yamabie ni (5) haya kotatsu shite (7) tsuru no
yado (5)
mountain chill,
a crane-watchers’ inn
with a kotatsu* already
*heater used under a table covered by a large
kilt
3. mukau yama (5) maitatsu tsuru no (8) koe sumeri
(5)
heading for the mountain
how clear the crane’s voice
as it flies up
4. mai orite (5) kono mo kano mo no (7) tsuru nakeri
(5)
landing cranes
each calls to each other
in an impressive way
5. tsuru mau ya (5) inagi ga aguru (7) shimo kemuri
(5)
cranes are up soaring—
frost-smoke rises
from rice easels*
*wooden installation with horizontal bars over
which rice ears are hang to dry
6. tsuru naite (5) yuubinkyoku mo (7) kikubiyori (5)
under the cranes’ trill
the post office too enjoys
this chrysanthemum weather
7. furi aogu (5) sora no aosa ya (7) tsuru wataru
(5)
how azure the sky
when I look up at
arriving cranes
8. tsuki takashi (5) too no inagi wa (7) usukirai
(5)
lofty is the moon—
rice ear easels in distance
wearing gauzy fog
9. akatsuki no (5) tazu naki wataru (7) nokiba kana
(5)
cranes flying
across the dawn-sky,
their trill heard under this eave
10. tsuru no sato (5) kiku sakanu to wa (7)
arazarishi (5)
this crane village
no houses not having
blooming chrysanthemums
A Solitary Crane and Cranes in Flock
1. mai
agaru (5) habataki tsuyoshi (7) tazu hyaku wa (5)
skyward flapping
of their wings, the power of
one hundred cranes
2. tazu
mauya (5) nichirin mine o (7) nobori kuru (5)
paddy-cranes soaring—
the daystar is on the rise
along a mountain
3. furi
aogu (5) sora no aosa ya (7) tsuru wataru (5)
how
azure the sky
when I look up at
arriving cranes
4. yori
soite (5) nozuru wa kuroshi (7) kusa momiji (5)
so
close to each other
wild cranes looking dark—
the fall colored grass
5. hina
-zuru ni (5) oya-zuru nani o (7) tsuibameru (5)
parent cranes
keep pecking for their chicks
I wonder at what?
6.
hatago ya no (5) sedo nimo orinu (7) tsuru no mure
(5)
a
flock of cranes
landed by the back door of
a travellers’ inn
7.
sanwa tsuru (3) mai sumu sora o (7) nagame keri (5)
three beautiful cranes
gliding in the clearest sky
what a scene to see—
8.
gakudo no (5) eshaku yasashiku (7) kusa momiji (7)
each
young pupil
greets me by a gentle bow—
the fall colored grass
9.
chikazukeba (5) nozuru mo utsuru (7) karita kana (5)
as I
go near
wild cranes move away—
this paddy of rice stubs
10.
oomine ni (5) kodamasu tsuru no (7) koe sumeri (5)
a
clear echo
across majestic mountains
voice of cranes
11.
gunkaku no kage mai utsuru yamada kana
the
shadows move
from a paddy to another
a flock of cranes
12.
oozorani mai wakaretaru tsuru mo ari
in
the big sky
a crane winged away
from others
13. mai
orite tanomo no tazu wa naki kawashi
coming down
cranes exchange greetings
on the rice paddy
14.
tsuru no kage maiorirutoki ooinaru
the
shadow of a crane
looms large
when it comes down
Mt. Fuji and a Traveler (1936)
1. kogiidete (5)
sakasafuji miezu (7) mizusumashi (5)
rowing out
yet mirrored Fuji’s not there
only the whirligigs
2. kuri no hana (5)
koyori no gotsoshi (7) ameshizuku (5)
the chestnut
blossoms
raindrops coming down twisted
like a paper string
3. okure yuku (5)
kohan wa tanoshi (7) kusagi oru (5)
catching up
slowly
on the nice lakeside path—
a twig with blooms snapped
4. kaki tsurusu (5)
kohan no chamise (7) fuchi ni hae (5)
their hanging
persimmons
clear in the deep
a teahouse on the lake
5. oya hitori (5) ko
hitori kayano (7) kyaku hitori (5)
a single parent
with only one child, one guest
in a mosquito net
6. ame tsuyoshi (5)
benkeisoh mo (7) tsuchi ni fushi (5)
the strong rain—
a stout grass
bending to the ground
7. kurino hana (8)
soyogeba mine wa (7) tenkirai (5)
the chestnut
blossom
when it sways, the mountain peak
somewhat fogged
8. kanakana ni (5)
mezamete ureshi (7) gozen yo ji (5)
awakened
by the monk cidadas’ call—
happy at four
9. kuri no hana (5)
soyogeba harenu (7) mado no fuji (5)
the chesnut
blossom
when it sways, I can see Fuji
at the window
10. tori no su mo (5)
nurete aka fuji (7) minideyo to (5)
a drenched
bird-nest
inviting me to come out:
“don’t miss red Fuji”
the end of Chapter 7
November, 2010
