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