My haiku in Basho's stay in Kisakata, Akita (3)

This is a basho tree planted in memory of Basho's visit to Kisakata, Akita.

I wrote my haiku on this tree, which appeared on the Akita International Haiku Network.

芭蕉の木永遠にありしやねぶの花

basho no ki towa ni arishi ya nebu no hana

The basho tree

staying for good ―

the mimosa blossoms

Donald Keene wrote about why Basho's name was born in the preface of ' おくのほそ道(oku no

hosomichi) ', 'The Narrow Road to Oku'.

Please read a quoted part of his preface on our website: http://akitahaiku.wordpress.com/.

―　Hidenori Hiruta

My Haiku on the Asahi Haikuist Network(September 18, 2009)

My haiku appeared on the Asahi Haikuist Network by David McMurray four days ago.

Fishing boats

riding on the fall tide

sauries

漁舟潮に任せて秋刀魚追ふ

Isaribune shio ni makasete sanma ou

Dr. Gabi Greve referred to 秋刀魚(Sanma) as 'autumn sword fish' in its literal translation in her World Kigo Database ARCHIVE 04.

According to her database, this is a typical fish that is eaten in autumn everywhere in Japan.

Every Japanes eye turns towards heaven and they go "oooooh" if you just mention the name.

Grilling this fish outside fills the whole valley with mouthwatering smoke, the cats on standby, the tanuki badgers rustling in the bamboo grove for their share of the leftovers too.

Dr. Gabi Greve wrote her haiku in 2004.

sanma yaki (barbequeing saury)

the valley rejoices in

delicious smells

秋刀魚焼く谷中歓喜甘き香に

Sanma yaku taniju kanki amaki ka ni

translated by Hidenori Hiruta

Please look into the two websites:

http://wkdkigodatabase03.blogspot.com/

and

http://www.asahi.com/english/haiku

My haiku and tanka in Basho's stay in Kisakata (Part 2)

On September 4, Dr. Gabi Greve sent us a comment on 'Basho's stay in Kisakata, Akita (Part 1), saying "lately I enjoy Basho and the Sake no Hosomichi. And I wonder what Basho might have eaten at Kisakata."

I answered her question, writing my haiku and tanka on the Akita International Haiku Network today. Please look at our site: http://akitahaiku.wordpress.com/.

Here I'd like to show you my haiku and tanka.

生牡蠣や伏流水の洗ひかな

(nama gaki ya fukuryusui no arai kana)

Fresh oyster ―

being washed by

undercurrent water

雨水はブナの根に伏し流れ出す海辺に着きて牡蠣を洗えり

（amamizu wa buna no ne ni fushi nagaredasu umibe ni tsukite kaki wo araeri)

Rainwater collects under the roots of beech trees

and then streams

reaching the shore and washing oyster

―　Hidenori Hiruta

My Haiku on the Asahi Haikuist Network(September 4, 2009)

My haiku appeared on the Asahi Haikuist Network by David McMurray on September 4.

　　　　　　　　 Diving in
　　　　　　　　the coral reef—
　　　　　　　　 fish

Professor David McMurray at the International University of Kagoshima in Japan, who is a columnist for this Network, noted as follows:
Akita-based haikuist Hidenori Hiruta enjoys scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef in Cairns, Australia. By taking the plunge he opens up a whole new world for his readers to imagine.

I wonder how my readers have imagined of the world of my haiku.

What images do they have in it?

What I imagined after scuba diving was that I was watching fish paradise or fish kingdom.

That is because myriads of tropical fish are enjoying swimming around the coral reef, inside or outside of it.

　At that time I was reminded of the legend of Urashima Taro（浦島太郎）, which is a Japanese legend about a fisherman who rescues a turtle and is rewarded for this with a visit to the Palace of the Dragon God (or Ryugu-joh) under the sea. He stays there for three days and, upon his return to his village, finds himself three hundred years in the future. The tale has been identified as the earliest example of a story involving time travel.

The name of Urashima Taro first appears in the 15th century (the Muromachi Period), in the book Otogizoshi, but the story is much older, dating back to the 8th century ( the Nara Period).

Now I imagine that one young man in the ancient days happened to dive in a coral reef around the sea near the beach in Japan, and found the beautiful coral reef with various fish swimming around.

Maybe he thought as if he were living in fish palace , and that legend of Urashima Taro got popular among the people, with some changes added to by some storytellers in those days.

In the end, this is my strange imagination. Please laugh!
Would you please read the Network, whose address is http://www.asahi.com/english/haiku/?

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　―　 Hidenori 　Hiruta