Haibun (3)

 

Haibun

“佐竹義宣 Satake Yoshinobu” (1) 

by Hidenori Hiruta

佐竹義宣

Satake Yoshinobu

 

Before and after the Battle of Sekigahara

 

　　The Battle of Sekigahara took place on September 15th, 1600. Satake Yoshinobu took a passive stance in the battle and did not participate. Why did he take a bystander stance? What kind of situation developed after the battle as a result?

 

1600 

  This year marked the 11th year since Toyotomi Hideyoshi granted Yoshinobu the right to rule Hitachi Province, which had a fief of 540,000 koku, in 1590. During these 11 years, Yoshinobu unified Hitachi Province and made Mito Castle his residence.

Yoshinobu had returned to Mito in September of the previous year, and by the New Year of 1600, the castle's repairs and the expansion of samurai residences and townscape had progressed greatly, and the samurai and commoners of Mito were living peaceful lives in the newly renovated castle town.

        However, in July of that year, two years after Toyotomi Hideyoshi's death, war clouds began to gather between Tokugawa Ieyasu's Eastern Army, which was plotting to seize power, and Ishida Mitsunari's Western Army, which was plotting to overthrow Ieyasu in order to protect the Toyotomi government.

Yoshinobu immediately gathered his family's veteran generals to discuss his future, but there were conflicting opinions between those who supported Ishida and those who supported Tokugawa, and it was difficult to make a decision. Yoshinobu said that he would decide on his course of action after determining for a while whether Ishida or Tokugawa were the rightful soldiers for the Toyotomi family, and decided to observe the situation.

Yoshinobu kept in contact with Ishida Mitsunari, with whom he had a close relationship, and promised his cooperation, but his senior vassals understood that this cooperation was not for his own ambition, but was entirely for the continuation of the Toyotomi clan, and that he would not stray from moral principles, and that his attitude toward Ieyasu was up to Hideyori. He kept this determination to himself and outwardly adopted an attitude of waiting to see how things would turn out.

　 　On September 15th, the Battle of Sekigahara ended with a victory for the Eastern Army. Yoshinobu immediately dispatched a congratulatory message to Tokugawa Ieyasu and Hidetada, who were stationed in the Kamigata region. 

       The Uesugi army suffered the most casualties in the Aizu battle, which constituted the eastern front of the Battle of Sekigahara. The Mogami and Date armies followed, with the Satake army the only ones to suffer no bloodshed. In other words, the Hitachi samurai avoided even a single casualty in the battle. The peasants who had been conscripted as military laborers were also able to return safely to their hometowns. 

       Around October, the tension of the past few months had eased and people's minds were calm within Mito Castle and its surrounding areas. However, within the Satake clan, a heavy mood hung over the Tokugawa's future course of action.

 

1601

　On April 15th, 1601, Yoshinobu's father, Satake Yoshishige, concerned about the position of the Satake clan, went to Kyoto to meet Ieyasu, who was staying in Fushimi. By the end of the year, the post-war political situation had stabilized, and the Tokugawa clan's hegemony was assured. Most of the daimyo on the Western side were stripped of their titles, while those on the Eastern side who had distinguished themselves in the war received increased stipends.

 

1602 

　　On January 2nd, 1602, Yoshinobu announced to his vassals that he would begin construction on Mito from the 20th. This was not to fortify the castle's fortifications and prepare for a crisis, but because the clouds of war from the Battle of Sekigahara had finally cleared, he began work on expanding and improving his residence and the castle town.

　　On March 7th of that year, Yoshinobu arrived in Fushimi and met with Ieyasu, who was already in Kyoto, and Toyotomi Hideyori at Osaka Castle. Ieyasu was also in a good mood at the time, and the meeting went well. Yoshinobu was very pleased, and in April he received the funds for the construction of his Fushimi residence from his home province, and he was not worried at all about his own situation.

　    However, on May 8th, two emissaries from Tokugawa Ieyasu came to the Satake residence in Fushimi and announced that Yoshinobu's territory had been confiscated and that Yoshinobu would be given land in Dewa Province instead. Yoshinobu replied, "I have no grudges or complaints, and it is all a matter of wisdom."

      On November 26th, Mito Castle was given to Tokugawa Ieyasu's fifth son, Takeda Nobuyoshi, who succeeded Yoshinobu. Since Masayoshi, the grandson of Seiwa Genji's Shinra Saburo Yoshimitsu, settled in Satake, Kuji County, and took the Satake surname, the history of the Hitachi Satake clan, which had lasted for 19 generations up to Yoshinobu, and spanned nearly 500 years, came to an end. Satake Yoshinobu would open a new chapter in history in Akita. 

薬医門

Yakuimon

This is one of the few remains of Mito Castle that has been relocated and restored on the site of the castle's main keep.

The building is believed to have been built by Satake Yoshinobu before the Battle of Sekigahara.      

 

1602

Satake Yoshinobu and his vassals had to start over from scratch in an uncharted territory with a completely different climate and natural features. Dewa Akita was both a place of hope and a place of trials. The first important decision was to select a base. Yoshinobu entered Minato Castle in Akita on September 17th and finally decided to build a new castle on Shinmeiyama in Kubota, near the mouth of the Omono River and the important port of Tsuchizaki Port, and almost in the center of his domain.

With the Battle of Sekigahara marking the end of the era of military conflict, Yoshinobu believed that in the coming age of peace, the domain's power would depend not only on military strength but also on economic power, especially on controlling commerce and distribution. He believed that Kubota, which could become the center of governance and information for the entire domain, was a suitable base for the new era.

 

1603

Two construction magistrates were appointed and construction began. Shinmeiyama, the site chosen for the castle, was a hilly area, and this topography was utilized in the overall design of the castle, known as "nawabari." It is said that Yoshinobu personally designed the nawabari around Matsushitamon Gate, a vital entrance to the castle. This demonstrated his extraordinary passion for the project and his profound knowledge of castle construction.     

 

 

The moat

left in silence

thin ice

 

Up the hill

staggering up and down

the snowy slope

 

Kuboto Castle

formed into

a snowy castle

 

 

The main gate

above the snowy slope

a pleasant break

 

This was a grand design choice that placed the Satake clan on the future of the domain, one in which they would no longer rely on the military might of the past, but would instead place commerce and distribution at the core of their domain's governance as rulers of a new era.

Under Yoshinobu's determination, construction of a new castle and capital in Kubota proceeded with astonishing speed. This was a sign of the Satake clan's strong determination to establish a governing base in their new territory as quickly as possible.

In May, full-scale construction work began on Shinmeiyama, where the local lord's Yadome Castle once stood. In parallel with this construction, the castle town was rezoned and the Ushu Kaido, part of the major trunk road network that the Tokugawa shogunate was developing nationwide, was also underway. This was an extremely modern and planned urban development that integrated not only the castle but also urban infrastructure and a wide-area transportation network.

 

1604 

The main enclosure, the heart of the castle, was completed in the astonishing speed of just over a year and three months from the start of construction on August 28th. This was the result of the advanced civil engineering skills the Satake clan had cultivated since their time in Hitachi and the powerful execution skills of all their vassals. Upon the completion of the main enclosure, Yoshinobu moved his residence to the new castle, named it Kubota Castle, and designated it as the official main castle of the Satake clan.

 

 

Heavenly!

Snowy main enclosure

around pine trees

 

 

Snowy road

leading to a storehouse

along the trees

 

1605

Even after the main castle was completed, construction of the new capital continued. In particular, the formation of the castle town was a long-term project that took several decades to complete, and was carried out in stages. As a result, Kubota Castle and the castle town, which were built by skillfully combining military defense functions with economic development functions, flourished as the base for the Satake clan's rule of Akita for approximately 270 years until the Meiji Restoration.

The construction of Kubota Castle and the surrounding castle town, which began in 1602 and continued over the following decades, is not simply a record of civil engineering work. It is a grandiose record of the creation of the prestigious Satake clan, who, after the Battle of Sekigahara, devised a national strategy to survive in a new era.

The construction of Kubota Castle is a valuable historical testimony that shows how one feudal lord and his vassals overcame a crisis and built a foundation for the future at a major turning point in history. It is the story of the indomitable Satake Yoshinobu, who created new value after the Battle of Sekigahara and built the foundation for 270 years of peaceful rule.

  

千年の計

A Thousand-Year Plan

 

On May 8th, 1602, two emissaries from Tokugawa Ieyasu came to the Satake residence in Fushimi and announced that Yoshinobu's territory had been confiscated and that he would be given land in Dewa Province instead. Yoshinobu replied, "I have no grudges or complaints, and it is all a matter of wisdom."

　　At the time, Yoshinobu was the 19th head of the Hitachi Satake clan, a clan that had been in existence since Masayoshi, the grandson of Seiwa Genji's Shinra Saburo Yoshimitsu, settled in Satake, Kuji County, and took the Satake surname.

       The family served as the guardian of Hitachi Province during the Muromachi period, and Yoshinobu himself assisted Toyotomi Hideyoshi in his efforts to unify the country, and was the lord of Mito Castle in Hitachi, with a fief of 540,000 koku, but left Hitachi Province and was transferred to Dewa.

　   However, Yoshinobu vowed to demonstrate the high aspirations that had been the pride of the Hitachi Satake clan for approximately 500 years in the new land of Dewa, and to make them bloom into magnificent flowers.

　It is said that when Yoshinobu left Hitachi, a large group of hatahata, or Japanese sandfish, swarmed into Dewa Akita, following him. Hatahata could no longer be caught in the Hitachi Sea, and instead they began to be caught in Akita's Hachimori Port, Kitaura Port and so on. Over 420 years have passed since Yoshinob’s coming to Akita, and due to changes in the natural environment and global warming, hatahata are no longer flocking in as often, but we hope to see their return.

神明山

Shinmeiyama

Shinmeiyama is an undulating plateau about 40m above sea level, consisting of three highlands. The Miura clan, subordinate of the Ando clan (Akita clan), was based on Shinmeiyama, and worshipped Shinmei Shrine, the mountain's name derived, as their clan deity.

The Miura clan's castle was called "Yadome no Shiro," which is the origin of Kubota Castle's other name, Yadome Castle. "Yadome" means to stop shooting arrows and to temporarily cease hostilities, so Kubota Castle was truly a castle during a truce.

 

 

Pine trees

spreading roots in snow

Yadome Castle

 

太平山

Mount Taihei

 

Mount Taihei has been an object of worship since ancient times. It is said that En no Gyoja of Mount Yoshino was the first to reach the summit in 673.

From the main enclosure, we can get a panoramic view of Mount Taihei in the eastern sky, and in spring it appears as if it is smiling in the sunlight, and in winter it appears as if it is asleep; it shows different faces throughout the seasons.

 

 

New snow

Mount Taihei seen from Yoshinobu

a new outlook

 

 

Green all over

Yoshinobu’s Dewa shining

in glory

 

 

Senshu Park

with a vibrant view

mountains in laughter

 

 

Cherry blossoms gone

their lingering emotion

left behind

 

Mount Taihei

dreaming of no wars

under the sun

 

  

Hidenori Hiruta

Akita International Haiku Network

 

蛭田　秀法

秋田国際俳句ネットワーク

 

 

 

 

 

Haiku about New Year (20)

 

Haiku beyond Earth「天上俳句会」

Happy New Year 2026

 

The Year of the Horse

 

午年や天馬も祝ふお正月

umadosi ya  tenma mo iwau  o-shōgatsu

 

The Year of the Horse

Heavenly horse celebrates too

New Year's Day

 

It's been seven years since I started writing haiku about the zodiac animals. This year's zodiac animal is the horse. I was born in 1942, the Year of the Horse, so I'm a lucky horse year man this year.

Looking back on my memories of horses, I remember being deeply moved by a snow horse. I opened an album from 12 years ago and looked for photos of the snow horse. I also remember the title "Heavenly Horse."

Here are three photos I found.

 

 From February 15th to 16th, 2014, I participated in a haiku walk at the Yokote Kamakura Festival in Akita Prefecture, organized by the Japanese haiku group "Ten'I (Providence)," led by Dr. Akito Arima (1930-2020).

We composed haiku and held a haiku meeting after viewing kamakura in the 15^th evening and the Kamakura Festival in the 16^th morning.

The zodiac sign for 2014 was the horse, and Dr. Arima was born in 1930, the Year of the Horse, so he was a lucky horse year man that year. Me too.

That heavenly snow horse melted away and gone, but the marvelous snow horse image remains in my mind even today after 12 years.

 

　　　秋田国際俳句ネットワーク　

蛭田　秀法

Hidenori Hiruta

Akita International Haiku Network

Haiku about New Year (19)

 

Haiku beyond Earth「天上俳句会」 

謹賀新年 令和八年　

 

                                          

                                          令和八年 元旦

Reiwa 8 New Year’s Day

 

    "謹賀新年" is pronounced "kinga shinnen" and is a greeting that is written at the beginning of a New Year's card as a greeting to celebrate the New Year. "Kin" expresses respect, and "ga" means to celebrate, so together they form a polite expression meaning "I would like to offer my sincere congratulations."

  

 

初日の出富士の裾野に駆ける馬

hatsuhinode  fuji no susono ni  kakeru uma

 

First sunrise of the year

 a horse galloping

 at the foot of Mount Fuji

 

 

The Year of the Horse

2026年「丙午」

The Chinese zodiac sign for 2026："Bingwu"

 

"Bing（丙：ひのえ : hinoe）" belongs to the "fire" element of the five elements/five elements that make up the world: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water, and represents intense heat like the sun.

"Wo（午：うま : uma）" in the Chinese zodiac is the character "仵" which represents the original state of a plant, and represents the time when plants that grew in the previous year of the Snake (the character that represents the state of a plant is also "Mi（巳：み : mi ）" stop growing.

If we combine these two words, we can interpret this as a year in which we will put all our efforts into striving for maximum growth and achieve it.

 

       As mentioned above, the Fire Horse year, which achieves maximum growth with the strength of fire, has the momentum to burn everything down if one mistake is made.

If we tighten the reins, set our sights firmly on our goals, and move forward, 2026 could be a year in which we can ride the momentum and make a final sprint to reap the next great rewards.

     The guardian deity of the Year of the Horse is Bodhisattva Seishi, who illuminates the world with the light of wisdom.  It is said that this light will free people from  confusion.

This year is likely to be one in which we will energetically escape from chaos, cast aside doubts, and forge ahead toward our dreams.

 

 　　　秋田国際俳句ネットワーク　

蛭田　秀法

Hidenori Hiruta

Akita International Haiku Network

Haiku Travelogue (5)

 

Haiku Travelogue

 “80 years after World War II” (5)

 by Hidenori Hiruta

 

A Narrow Road to Peace

 

Keynote Lecture:

"Registering Haiku as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage"

 

2014

 

Let Haiku be on UNESCO's List!

 

 The 370th Anniversary of Matsuo Basho's Birth:

Campaign to Register "Haiku, Haikai, and the World of Basho"

as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage

 

On February 24th, 2014, Mayor Sakae Okamoto of Iga City, Mie Prefecture, announced his intention to seek inclusion of haiku and haikai, which were elevated to artistic quality by the master haiku poet Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), born in Iga City, as an intangible cultural heritage of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

This year marks the 370th anniversary of Matsuo Basho's birth, and preparations are underway for "Haiku, Haikai and the World of Basho," which will include his literature and spiritual world. He is calling on 36 local governments and academic organizations across the country to cooperate in the "Oku no Hosomichi Summit."

 

E-mail from Croatia

 

      Ms. Djurdja Vukelić Rožić was delighted to learn about the news of haiku's movement on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list on the asahi.com website, and is looking forward to the day when it will be registered together with her fellow  haiku poets in Croatia.

 

The 3rd Japan-Russia Haiku Contest

Guidelines

 

 

The Results of the 3rd Japan-Russia Haiku Contest

The third Japan-Russia Haiku Contest was in celebration of the 29th National Cultural Festival in Akita, Japan, from May 1 to June 30, 2014.  A total of 1,130 haiku from 46 nations were submitted for the contest.

https://akitahaiku.com/2014/10/25/

 

The 1st International Haiku Forum

in celebration of the 29th National Cultural Festival in Akita, Japan

Guidelines

 

 

The 1st International Haiku forum was held on October 25th, 2014, at the Akita International University, celebrating the 29th National Cultural Festival in Akita. This event marked a significant moment in the international haiku community, promoting the exchange and celebration of haiku across different cultures. The conference was part of a broader effort to integrate haiku into the international culture landscape with the aim of making it a shared cultural heritage.

 

Program

 

Keynote Lecture:

"Registering Haiku as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage"

by Dr. Akito Arima, HIA President

 

 

On October 25th, 2014, Dr. Akito Arima, the president of the Haiku International Association, addressed academics in an effort to convince them that haiku should be added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list at the Lecture Hall of Akita International University.

Dr. Arima reassured students in the audience that haiku can be composed by everyone, from the man in the street to the likes of Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer, the Nobel laureate of literature in 2011 who penned at age 23: disappearing deep in his inner greenness/ artful and hopeful.

Later in his career he penned in Swedish:

My happiness swelled

and the frogs sang in the bogs

of Pomerania

By stressing that haiku can deepen mutual understanding and enjoyment of different cultures between those people who read or compose the poem, he garnered support for his idea that “haiku can help make the world peaceful.”

 

Keynote Lecture

 

 

 

Haiku, or 俳句 is a short poem that describes nature. It is composed by people of all ages and genders in Japan, which is a globally valuable culture.

 

一　詩歌と自然　

1  Poetry and Nature

 

古代　ギリシャ　自然と共存   サフォー-

Ancient Greece:

Coexistence with Nature　SAPPHO (7th century BC)

 

  

Selected Poems of SAPPHO

translated by PAUL ROCHE

 

Star of Evening

 

Hesperus

you bring

home everything

which light of day dispersed:

home the sheep herds

home the goat

home the mother’s darling

 

The song's pastoral tone and gentle repetition of words give it a feel that is perfectly suited to a small village on Lesbos surrounded by countryside.

 

古代　ローマ

Ancient Rome:

C. VALERIUS CATULLUS (80 BC)

 

 C. ヴァレリウス・カトゥルス　C. VALERIUS CATULLUS

カトゥルス詩集(羅和対訳)

引用、参照した和訳は呉茂一訳詩集『花冠』(紀伊国屋書店）

 

Influenced by Greek poetry, Catullus pioneered the field of love poetry in early Latin literature with his sophisticated rhetoric, playful writing, and light-hearted poetry that sings of romantic feelings. The fifth canto of his "Cana" is particularly famous, beginning with "My Lesbia, let us live and love together."

 

「私のレスビア、共に生きよう、そして愛し合おう」で始まる『歌集』の第5歌はとりわけ有名である。

 

XLVIII. ad Iuventium

XLVIII. to Juvenal

XLVIII. ユウェナリスへ

四十八、蜜みたような

Mellitos oculos tuos, Juventi,
si quis me sinat usque basiare,
usque ad milia basiem trecenta
nec numquam videar satur futurus,

 

Your sweet eyes, Juventus,

if anyone allows me to kiss them,

up to a thousand three hundred kisses

and I will never seem to be satisfied,

 

ユヴェントス、君の優しい瞳よ、

もし誰かが私にキスを許してくれるなら、

千三百回キスしても

私は決して満たされないだろう、

non si densior aridis aristis
sit nostrae seges osculationis.

 

not if the crop of our kisses is denser than dry ears.

 

私たちのキスの収穫が乾いた麦の穂よりも濃いなら、そうではありません。

 

 

ローマ　以後　人間中心

Rome:  later  human-centered

 

Human emotions, such as joy, anger, sorrow, love, sadness, and hymns to God, became central to poetry.

Dr. Arima thought this was because Christianity became the state religion of Rome, but even before that, Roman poetry had been centered on humans, as shown in the poem by Catullus above.

 

Roman Emperor Theodosius I,

Christianity made the state religion in 392 AD

 

 

中国　自然詩が王維あたりで成立

China: Nature poetry was established around the time of Wang Wei

 

 

王維（７０１－７６１）

鹿柴

空山人を見ず

ただ聞く人語の響き

返景深林に入り

復た照らす青苔の上

 

Wang Wei (701-761)

 

Rokusai: A fenced area for keeping deer

 

Not a soul in sight on this quiet, deserted mountain

The only sound you can hear is the sound of people talking from somewhere

The red light of the setting sun shines into the deep forest,

illuminating beautifully on the dark green moss

 

杜甫が人間の心情の美しさを歌う詩人であり、李白が人間の行為の美しさを歌う詩人であるとすれば、王維は主として自然の美しさを歌う詩人である。中国における自然詩の歴史は、そんなに古くはない。

If Du Fu is a poet who sings of the beauty of human feelings and Li Bai is a poet who sings of the beauty of human actions, then Wang Wei is a poet who primarily sings of the beauty of nature. The history of nature poetry in China is not that long.

 

日本　万葉の時代　自然詩の成立

Japan

The Manyo Period: The Creation of Nature Poetry

 

 

万葉集（５C-８C）

Manyoshu (5th-8th century)

東の野にかぎろひの立つ見えてかへり見すれば月かたぶきぬ

　　　　　　　　　　　　　    柿本人麻呂

In the eastern sky

the rays of the dawning sun shining

turning to look west

the moon setting

in the western sky

Kakinomoto no Hitomar

ぬばたまの夜のふけゆけば久木生ふる清き川原に千鳥しば鳴く

山部赤人

As the night deepens,

the chirps of plovers can be heard

singing loudly

on the clear riverbank

where the longleaf trees grow

Yamabe no Akahito

 

 In the Manyo period, as well as the Kokin and Shin Kokin periods, poems were written about not only nature but also joy, anger, sorrow, pleasure, love, and hate. As the period progresses, the lyricism becomes stronger.

 

 

しかし新古今以後も自然詠が続いた

However, nature poems continued even after the Shin Kokin era.

 

 江戸時代にも自然詠叙景詩が続く

Descriptive poetry of nature continued into the Edo period

 

 

俳句は自然が中心

Haiku: Nature-centered

 

五月雨を集めて早し最上川

 

the summer rains

gathering into swift flows –

Mogami River 

                  Basho

 

閑さや岩にしみ入る蝉の声

 

Such stillness –

The cries of the cicadas

Sink into the rocks

Basho

 

四五人に月落ちかゝるをどりかな

 

the setting moon

down on four or five people –

Bon Odori dance

Buson

 

白梅に明くる夜ばかりとなりにけり

 

the night dawning for

white plum-blossoms

 all around me

Buson

 

六月を綺麗な風の吹くことよ

 

beyond June

a refreshing breeze

blowing

Shiki

 

桐一葉日当たりながら落ちにけり

 

A single paulownia leaf

illuminated by the sunlight

slowly to the ground

Kyoshi

 

 

１２世紀―１８世紀頃まで

ヨーロッパの詩は人間中心であった

From the 12th to the 18th centuries

European poetry: Human-centered

 

フランス（１２世紀半）

France (mid-12th century)

 

聖母はたたずみ居たまひぬ、悲愁に満ちて、

十字架のかたへに、涙にくれつ、

The mother stood still, filled with sorrow,

Toward the cross, overwhelmed with tears,

御子がかかりたまへる間。

while the child was afflicted.

 

吐息を洩らし、悲痛のきはみを

嘆かせたまふ　そのたましひを

剣こそ　突き徹したれ。

May the sword pierce

through the soul

that sighs and laments in deep grief.

以下略（花冠）

The rest is omitted.  (Flower Crown)

 

その後恋愛詩が中心

After that, love poetry became the focus.

 

 

The discovery of natural beauty in Western poetry began around the same time as the emergence of landscapes in Western painting, from the 17th century onwards, particularly around the time of the rise of Romanticism. The leading figure of Romanticism in England was Wordsworth (1770-1850). However, in the West, human beings remained central.

 

    My Heart Leaps Up     -William Wordsworth

 　　My heart leaps up when I behold
　　A rainbow in the sky.
　　So was it when my life began;
　　So is it now I am a man;
　　So be it when I grow old,
　　Or let me die!
　　The Child is father of the Man;
　　And I could wish my days to be
　　Bound each to each by natural piety.

 

 1877年東京大学文学部教授バジル・ホール・センバレンは日本伝統詩を批判、また、明治初期に坪内逍遥が『小説神髄』において日本伝統詩を批判した。

しかしながら、正岡子規は「俳句は短詩であり主として自然を詠う叙景詩であるという」認識により反駁を展開した。

 

In 1877, Basil Hall Chamberlain, a professor at the Japanese language   at Tokyo Imperial University, criticized traditional Japanese poetry, and in the early Meiji period, Tsubouchi Shoyo also criticized traditional Japanese poetry in his book “Shosetsu Shinzui” (The Essence of Novels).

However, Masaoka Shiki countered by recognizing that haiku is a short poem that is primarily a descriptive poem that describes nature.

 

 

正岡子規は日本伝統詩と西欧詩の違いについて次のように認識した。西欧詩は人事中心で長くて複雑であるが、和漢の詩は自然中心で短くて平明である。

Masaoka Shiki recognized the difference between traditional Japanese poetry and Western poetry as follows: Western poetry is human-centered, long, and complex, while Japanese and Chinese poetry is nature-centered, short, and simple.

 

 日本敗戦直後にも同じように日本文化への否定があった。

「人生そのものが近代化しつつある以上、いまの現実的人生は俳句には入り得ない」

「かかる第二芸術は、江戸音曲と同様、教育からは締出して貰いたい」

「芭蕉が今日もなお尊重されていることの中に、封建制、世外的、隠遁的な風雅の道とのつながりがあるとし、それらが民主化を妨げるとした」

（俳文学大辞典）

There was a similar rejection of Japanese culture immediately after Japan's defeat in the war.

"As life itself is becoming modernized, the reality of today's life cannot be included in haiku."

"Such secondary arts should be banned from education, just like Edo music."

"The reason why Basho is still respected today is because of his connection to feudalism, the secluded, reclusive way of elegance. These are obstacles to democratization."

(Hai Literature Encyclopedia)

 

 ３－３

俳句は短いから、自然を中心に詠うから、世界中の人々が短詩に親しめるようになった

例えば三単語＋四単語＋三単語ぐらいで英語ハイクが作れる

これは世界の一般の人々には革命的なことであった

また詠うことも、人生観、哲学、恋愛など専門詩人のテーマでなく、自然や自然と共生する生活を詠えばよいからやさしい。

 

詩を専門詩人から解放した

 

Because haiku are short and nature-centered, they have become accessible to people all over the world. For example, an English haiku can be written in three lines of three words, four words, and three words. This was revolutionary for ordinary people around the world. They are also easy to write, as they do not have to focus on themes such as outlook on life, philosophy, or love, which are the subject of professional poets, but can instead focus on nature and our lives in harmony with nature.

 

In this way, haiku liberated poetry from professional poets.

 

                        ４－３

トーマス・トランストロメル

2011年ノーベル文学賞受賞者の俳句

 

Haiku by Tomas Tranströmer,

2011 Nobel Prize Winner in Literature

 

蘭の花の窓

すべり過行く油槽船

月の満ちる夜

 

orchid flower window

a tanker gliding past

a full moon night

 

掲句のように、トーマス・トランストロメルの俳句には自然を中心に詠っている作品が多い。真に俳句の精神を理解している。

 

Like the haiku above, many of Tomas Tranströmer's haiku are nature-centered. He truly understands the spirit of haiku.

 

 

６

俳句を支える精神は自然との共生の基礎にある思想であるアニミズムである。

俳句はアニミズム（Animism）的である。自然界の万物を大切にすべての生物と親しみ、自然と人間との共生を大切にする精神である。

The spirit that supports haiku is animism, the philosophy that underlies coexistence with nature.

Haiku is animistic. It is a spirit that cherishes all things in nature, cultivates close ties with all living things, and values ​​coexistence between nature and humans.

 

 Conclusion:

Haiku-like short poems began to be written among ordinary people. Then, even top poets began to write haiku.

Finally, a poet who wrote haiku won the Nobel Prize.

The second art form was recognized.

 

       Haiku's short poetry and nature-centered depictions have become a global phenomenon. Anyone can compose haiku, create haiku that are enjoyable to read, and deepen mutual understanding between people of different cultures, leading to world peace.

 

Hidenori Hiruta

Akita International Haiku Network

蛭田　秀法

秋田国際俳句ネットワーク