Basho (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:

 

Basho’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 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

mimosa blossoms tell

like a storyteller

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 Basho 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 Xishi.

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 Basho's dream for haiku to exist in this way for ever.

February 2, 2025

蛭田　秀法

HIRUTA Hidenori