Haiku about New Year (18)

 

Rebirth Story to Celebrate the New Year 2025

 

A Rebirth Story at Kai-no- Sawa

 

The rebirth story dates back to 1968, when Sekiya Haruo (関谷春雄、1929-2020) became the land owner of Kai-no- Sawa. He was a man of fortune and culture. He was successful in his marketing business.

1968

   Sekiya Haruo became the owner of the forest and wild fields of Kai-no-Sawa at Yamaya at the foot of Mount Taihei in Akita City, Akita Prefecture, Japan.

1972

  He built Sekiya lodge for his family, and began to plant cherry trees, azalea, Enkianthus perulatus (dodan-tsutsuji), ginkgo trees to turn Kai-no-Sawa into a major tourist attraction.

He also acquired a mountain with a small waterfall and a mountain with a large waterfall, worshipped the nature gods of the two waterfalls as dragon gods, and built a road connecting the two waterfalls. He planned to eventually turn the area into a tourist destination.

 

1978

He asked an expert to carry out a geological survey, and they discovered a stone god close to the mountain lodge. There was also a stone of the Great Buddha buried there, as well as stones of two of the Seven Lucky Gods, Ebisu and Daikoku. They enshrined the stone god as the company's mountain god in the couple cedar tree in the mountain.

 

早蕨に目を細くする山の神

sawarabi ni  me wo hosokusuru  yama no kami

 

Mountain god and goddess

smiling at

freshly budded bracken

 

1979-1980

    In 1979, 30 ares of rice paddy field was completed. There was a stream leading to the field, and while constructing an underground drainage system, a cold spring was discovered gushing out from the outlet. It was a hot spring. In 1980, Kai-no-Sawa Onsen（貝の沢温泉, Kainosawa Hot Spring）was opened.

 

 

青葉濃し杉雲翁の出で湯かな

aoba koshi  san-un ō-no  ideyu kana   

 

Deep green leaves

hot water springing from

San-un’s dream

                            

Sekiya Haruo, whose pseudonym is “San-un”「杉雲, clouds over cedars」, was blessed with two hot springs in his life. One of the

hot springs was found at his cultivated rice fields in 1979. The other hot spring was successfully dug below the Sekiya lodge in 1996. It looked like a rebirth of the Kai-no-Sawa Hot Spring.

1981-1983

   During a geological survey, stones of a Great Buddha and two of the Seven Lucky Gods, Ebisu and Daikoku, were discovered buried underground. Sekiya Haruo rebuilt the stone statues of the Great Buddha, Ebisu and Daikoku on a high point in the mountains as a sign of his gratitude for the discovery of the hot spring. The construction of these statues was truly a project of rebirth.

 Rebirth of a Great Buddha

 

大仏や青葉の樹陰関谷城

daibutsu ya  aoba no juin  sekiya-jō

 

A great Buddha

in the shade of green leaves

the Sekiya castle

                            

On May 8, 1983, Haruo Sekiya held the Great Buddha eye-opening ceremony（大仏開眼式典）at Kainosawa Onsen.

 

Here are a few haiku and photos about the Great Buddha at Kainosawa Onsen.

 

桜狩大仏様に巡り合ふ

sakuragari  daibutsu-sama ni  meguriau

 

Searching

for cherry blossoms first

for the great Buddha last

 

 

参道の玄関飾る桜かな

sandō no  genkan kazaru  sakura kana

 

The entrance

to Buddhahood

cherry blossoms blooming

 

山桜仏の泉花やかに

yamazakura  hotoke no izumi  hanayaka ni

 

The wild cherry

blooming beside

the spring of Buddha

 

Rebirth of the Seven Lucky Gods

   Here are seven haiku and photos about the Seven Lucky Gods （七福神）at Kainosawa Onsen.

 

花を背に恵比寿大黒笑ひけり

hana wo seni  ebisu daikoku  warai keri

 

Cherry blossoms behind

Ebisu and Daikoku

in laughter

                            

Ebisu（恵比寿）is the deity of fishery in Japan, which brings about a plentiful catch. Daikoku（大黒）is the deity of agriculture in India, which brings about a good harvest. In 1983, the statue was rebuilt beside the big stones with relics like shell fossils included in.   

 

躑躅咲き布袋の笑ひ響きけり

tsutsuji saki  hotei no warai  hibiki keri

 

Azaleas blooming

Budai’s laughter resounding

in the garden

                            

Hotei「布袋, Budai」is the god of fortune and guardian of the children. He lived as a Zen priest in China around the 10^th century. He is almost always shown smiling or laughing, so his nickname is the “Laughing Buddha” 「Chinese: 笑佛; Pinyin: Xiào Fó」. 

 

琵琶を弾く弁財天や秋の風

biwa wo hiku  benzaiten ya  aki no kaze

 

Benzaiten

playing the lute-like biwa

the autumn wind

 

Benzaiten's 「弁財天」 origin is found in Hinduism, as she comes from the Hindu goddess Saraswati. When she was adapted from Buddhism, she was given the attributes of financial fortune, talent, beauty and music among others. She is the patron of artists, writers, dancers, and geisha, among others. In short, Benzaiten is the goddess of wealth and performing arts, and her messenger and incarnation is said to be a snake.

 

毘沙門天秋色の園守りけり

bishamonten  shūshoku no sono  mamori keri

 

Bishamonten

guarding the garden in

the autumn hue

                             

Bishamonten's 「毘沙門天」 origin can be traced back to Hinduism, but he has been adopted by the Japanese culture. He comes from the Hindu god Kubera. He is the god of fortune in war and battles, also associated with authority and dignity. He is the protector of those who follow the rules and behave appropriately.

 

 

秋色に微笑み浮かぶ寿老人

shūshoku ni  hohoemi ukabu  jurōjin

 

Jurōjin

smiling in

the autumn hue

                            

Jurōjin「寿老人」is the God of the elderly and longevity in Japanese Buddhist mythology. Jurōjin originated from the Chinese Taoist god is a popular subject of Japanese ink wash paintings. He was introduced into the Japanese art tradition by Zen Buddhist painters.   

 

 

緑陰や茶室に招く福禄寿

ryokuin ya  chashitsu ni maneku  fukurokuju

 

A tea break

in the shade of green trees

with Fukurokuju

 

Fukurokuju 「福禄寿, happiness, wealth, and longevity」 is one of the Seven Lucky Gods. Chi-shi-an「知止庵」is a tea house, where we stop our steps to more prosperity and we take a tea break as Fukurokuju used to do during the Chinese Song dynasty.

 

Happy New Year 2025 from the Mountain God of Kainosawa

Happy New Year 2025 from the Great Buddha of Kainosawa

Happy New Year 2025 from the Seven Lucky Gods of Kainosawa

 

秋田国際俳句ネットワーク

蛭田 秀法

Hidenori Hiruta

Akita International Haiku network

https://akitahaiku.com/2025/01/02

 

参考文献

『年輪』―関谷一族盛衰伝承記―

発行　平成二十年十二月五日

著者　関 谷　春 雄

印刷　株式会社　三戸印刷所

題字　藤 崎　由 次　書

撮影協力　フォトックス　菅 野 　証

 

 

Haiku about New Year (17)

 

Happy New Year 2025

The Year of the Snake 

　　　

2025 is “the Year of the Snake”, which is called Mi-Doshi（巳年）in Japan. The character for Mi（巳）is a pictograph that represents the shape of a fetus, and is said to have originated from the appearance of a uterus enveloping a fetus.

When “Mi” is applied to animals, it becomes “Snake”, and there are two reasons for this.

Since ancient times, snakes have been the subject of faith and have been worshipped as valley gods (who govern valleys and lowlands) and fertility gods. The reason why Mi（巳）is used in the Matsuri（祀り, “sacred part of rituals and rites”）is because Matsuri（祀り）refers to the worship of nature gods, and because the most representative deity of nature gods is the Snake.

　In addition, snakes are also associated with “rebirth” because they shed their skin, and because they can live a long time without eating, they are worshiped as “messengers of the gods,” and there are shrines throughout Japan that enshrine the snake god.

  For example, Benzaiten（弁財天）, one of the Seven Lucky Gods（七福神, Shichifukujin in Japanese）is the goddess of wealth and performing arts, and her messenger and incarnation is said to be a snake.

Last of all, as a snake awakens from hibernation and crawls out onto the ground, it signifies the budding of plants that took root in the winter and “the birth of new seeds.” This is why the year of the snake is considered to be “the year that marks the beginning of a new era.”

Haiku for the Snake 　　

　

 It was on May 30, 2019 that I had the good fortune and unexpected opportunity to encounter a snake, the valley god of Kai-no-Sawa（貝の沢）, Yamaya at the foot of Mount Taihei in Akita City, Akita Prefecture, Japan.

The snake seemed to have appeared to view the azaleas in full bloom in the early summer sunshine and to celebrate the Kai-no-Sawa Azalea Festival.

 

躑躅祭蛇も開園祝いけり

tsutsuji-sai  hebi mo kaien  iwai keri

 

The snake

celebrating azalea festival

in full bloom

 

 

貝の沢司る蛇目の前に

kai-no-sawa  tsukasadoru kami  me no mae ni

  

The snake

governing Kai-no-sawa

in front of me

 

Kai-no-Sawa（貝の沢）is a valley with a lowland that is governed by a snake, the god of the valley, and I was lucky and surprised to encounter the snake while walking through the valley.

Additionally, Kai-no-Sawa is an interesting geological site, with large rocks dotted high in the valley containing relics resembling shell fossils.

The place name Kai-no-Sawa uses the word "shell" (貝, Kai in Japanese) in reference to these shell fossils.

At the beginning of the year, I wrote two haiku to celebrate the new year. In addition, tomorrow I will briefly introduce a rebirth story related to Kai-no- Sawa to celebrate the new year.

 

秋田国際俳句ネットワーク　

蛭田　秀法

HIRUTA Hidenori 

Akita International Haiku Network

https://akitahaiku.com/2025/01/01/

 

Bashō (1)

 Bashō's Dream

335 years ago, in 1689, 松尾芭蕉 (Matsuo Bashō) (1644-1694) visited 象潟 (Kisakata) in 秋田県 (Akita Prefecture) as part of his journey on『おくのほそ道』(The Narrow Road to the Deep North) and wrote the following haiku.

 象潟や雨に西施がねぶの花

kisakata ya 　ame ni seishi ga 　nebu no hana

 

Donald Keene （鬼怒鳴門） translated this haiku into English.

 

Kisakata―

Seishi sleeping in the rain,

Wet mimosa blossoms.

 

In 2004, Hidenori Hiruta visited Kisakata and composed haiku:

 

Bashō’s wind

circling stone tablet

midsummer

 

清風や蕉風立ちぬ夏の句碑

seifū ya  shōfū tachinu  natsu no kuhi   

 

This haiku appeared in the Asahi newspaper’s Asahi Haikuist Network by David McMurray in 2004, who noted that “Hidenori Hiruta in Akita wrote his haiku in celebration of the 360^th anniversary of Matsuo Bashō’s birth.”

 

In 2021, Hidenori wrote another haiku, inspired by a statue of Bashō and a stone monument bearing his haiku, and a statue of 西施（Xi Shi）standing nearby in Kisakata.

 

象潟や語り部の如ねぶの花

kisakata ya   kataribe no goto   nebu no hana

Kisakataー

like a storyteller

 mimosa blossoms 

Note: Bashō’s Dream

In the grounds of 蚶満寺 (Kanman-ji) Temple in Kisakata, there are statues of Xi Shi, a beautiful woman from the Yue country during China's Spring and Autumn period in the 5th century BC, and Matsuo Bashō, a Japanese haiku master active in the 17th century.

According to the travelogue "Oku no Hosomichi" (The Narrow Road to the Deep North), which describes a journey in 1689, Kisakata was the northernmost destination. At that time, Kisakata was a scenic spot that rivaled Matsushima, and Bashō described its beautiful archipelago as "Matsushima seems to be smiling, but Kisakata wears a look of grief." It is said that Bashō based his haiku on Su Dongpo's (1036-1101) poem "West Lake." In the poem, the beauty of West Lake is likened to the beauty of Xi Shi.

Bashō arrived at Kisakata at around 3pm, when the sun was beginning to sink in the sky. Just then, a misty rain started to fall, creating a hazy landscape.  鳥海山 (Mount Chōkai) was obscured, but ねぶの花 (the mimosa blossoms) stood out in front. Kisakata was exquisite in the rain. He wrote in his haiku that the landscape of Kisakata was just like Xi Shi sleeping in the rain. 

　Now, in the 21st century, the landscape has changed dramatically since the Kisakata earthquake of 1804, but ねぶの花 (the mimosa blossoms)  remain as beautiful as ever. A statue of Bashō and a stone monument bearing his haiku have been erected in Kisakata, and a statue of Xi Shi stands nearby. Bashō's haiku spirit survives beyond time and space. Perhaps it was Bashō's dream for haiku to exist in this way for ever.

February 2, 2025

蛭田　秀法

HIRUTA Hidenori