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