WKD (02) ... World Kigo Database

2009-12-30T08:47:00.000-08:00

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Welcome to the
World Kigo Database . NEWSLETTER!

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KIGO – Its use in haiku

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Latest Additions 2009

2009-12-29T18:42:00.000-08:00

Newsletter 2009

2009-12-25T11:50:00.000-08:00

Newsletter 2008

2009-12-25T11:08:00.000-08:00

BACKUP Washoku 2009

2009-12-25T09:14:00.000-08:00

BACKUP Washoku 2008

2009-12-25T09:04:00.000-08:00

Newsletter 2007

2009-12-25T01:05:00.000-08:00

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..................................................................... December 2007

Year coming to an end . activities ... ... with many KIGO
preparations for the New Year, toshi yooi
cleaning at the end of the year, kure no sooji
cleaning off soot, susu harai
party to forget the old year, boonenkai
giving Year End presents, seibo iwai
paying the last tax money, nengu osame
"holidays for the Year End", nenmatsu kyuuka
.......... and many many more

Buildings tall and famous, skyscrapers wordwide

Computer and Haiku

Ships, boats (fune) ... Japan. A KIGO list

Pain (itami) Japan

Haiku in Bangladesh

Verbs used in SPRING KIGO ... A long list

Verbs used in Haiku ... Some theory

Poppy flowers (keshi no hana) Japan

Woman, Women and related KIGO

Numbers used in Kigo Japan

Little New Year .. ko shoogatsu (January 15) Japan. Women's New Year (onna shoogatsu, me shoogatsu)

Ancestors New Year (Hotoke Shoogatsu) Japan

Cheese Europe, worldwide

Laughing, Lucky Laugh (fuku warai) First laugh (hatsu warai). first cry (hatsu naki). Japan

Aso, Mount Aso Kyushu, Japan

Trees as haiku topics ... ... and kigo with trees

Inoue Shiro, Haiku Poet 1742 - 1812. Japan

Pissing (shooben) Japan and worldwide

Beech tree / Fagus sylvatica Ireland, Europe

Ogawa Haritsu (1663～1747) . Haiku Poet and Artist

Tomiyasu Fusei (Fuusei) (1885 - 1979)

Faith and prayer, expressed in haiku .. Join the Discussion !

Illness, disease and haiku

MOUSE, Year of the Mouse / Rat ! Japan in 2008

..................................................................... November 2007

Mitsuhashi Toshio (1920–2001)

Snipe (shigi) birds Japan

Sato KorokuHaiku Poet of Japan. (1874 - 1949)

Yugiri Memorial Day (Yuugiri Ki) and the Tale of Genji Japan

Kitamura Kigin Day

Bojo Toshiki 坊城俊樹 (Haiku Poet)

Railway Haiku Train station, Platform ... related words.

Numbers used in Haiku Japan. From ONE to NINE and then onward.

Gioo, Memorial Day for Gio the Dancer (Gioo Ki) Japan

Naito Meisetsu 内藤鳴雪 Memorial Day (Meisetsu Ki), Japan

Mitsuhashi Takajo 三橋鷹女 (1899-1972)

Memorial Days of Famous People ..... WORLDWIDE SAIJIKI

Museum Haiku about Paintings and Painters

. Autumn dusk, autumn twilight (aki no kure) Japan

Autumn deepens (aki fukashi)

Fate, my life circumstances, my life (mi no ue) Japan

Robin, the Bird American Robin (Turdus migratorius) . European Robin (Erithacus rubecula)

Millet (awa, hie) Japan. Foxtail millet (awa) and barn millet (hie)

Seven Herbs of Autumn (aki no nanakusa)Japan. Seven Flowers of Autumn, Seven Grasses of Autumn

Platanus (sycamore) Europe, other areas. Momijiba-suzukake (London plane tree)

Election Day, Polling Day Trinidad and Tobago, worldwide

Ishida Hakyo (Ishida Hakyoo) (1913-1969)

Autumn deepens (aki fukashi) Japan. Basho's famous haiku translations

Tatami floor mats Japan

Oden hodgepodge stew Japan

Pampas grass (susuki) during the year Japan

..................................................................... October 2007

Church worldwide

Nio, Deva Kings

Cold weather in autumn, winter and spring . . KIGO LIST

Kasamori Inari Fox God, mud dumplings and the smallpox Japan

Winter Ascetic Practises (kangyoo) Japan

Lamplight in various seasons Japan

Fudo Myo-O, the Wisdom King

Summer clothing .. a KIGO list !
light underwear, short pants, aloha shirts, summer dresses, yukata, you name it ...

Sweet Osmanthus (kinmokisei, ginmokusei ) Japan. Sweet Olive, Tea Olive, Fragrant Olive. (Osmanthus fragrans)

Chill, chill wind worldwide

Canadian Thanksgiving

Arusha Tanzania

Hell’s Gate National Park Kenya

Ashigara Mountain and the Kintaro Legend Japan

Wabi and Sabi (wabi sabi) Japanese Aesthetics of Solitude

Kanji Characters and Studying Haiku

DEFINITIONS ... Trying to define HAIKU ...

Canada Day, July 1

Sugita Hisajo (1890-1946)

Footnotes - for translations and regional haiku

Tachibana Hokushi (1665-1718)

..................................................................... September 2007

Raw fish, sashimi, sushi and .. rice balls (onigiri) Japan

Canadian SAIJIKI Canadiens

Canadian Thanksgiving

Straw sandals (zoori) Japan

Joy, pleasure (ureshisa, tanoshisa)kigo and topic

KIGO HOTLINE
Discussion Forum !!!!!

HAIKU INFORMATION BOARD
Current Events !!!!!

Seasons coming to an end .. relevant kigo for all seasons

Kenyan seasons .. .. .. A discussion !

Basho / Oku no Hosomichi ... 2007

Sky (sora, ten)Japan. Many related kigo.

Star (hoshi), shooting star (nagareboshi), Big Dipper Japan. Many related KIGO !

Sumo Wrestling and related kigo

Eggplant, aubergine (nasu) (Japan. Eggplant Horse decorations (nasu uma) for o-Bon.

Juzudama 数珠玉 "Beads of the Rosary" Job's tears, a plant. and more about the rosary in Japan!

Nikko Rice Eating Ceremony Gohanshiki. Ceremony of eating large bowls of rice.
also: large food portions (yamamori)
also: mountain warden (yamamori)

Bush clover (hagi) Japan

Martyrs’ Day Uganda

Rift Valley Kenya

bamboo blind (take sudare) .. summer sitting room (natsu zashiki), rattan chair (too isu) ... Japanese living in summer heat

Sulfur Butterfly Hawaii

Fuji, Mount Fuji Japan

Kawabata Bosha (Kawabata Boosha, Bousha) (1897-1941)

..................................................................... August 2007

Palanquin, sedan chair (kago) Japan

Pottery Lamp, ceramic lamp (katoo, gatoo) Japan

Suma and Iro-no-Hama Two famous poetry places in Japan

Loneliness (sabishisa) Japan

Hurricane Warning Trinidad and Tobago, Caribbean, other areas

Cease Fire Day (shuusen kinenbi) Japan. End of WW II

Emancipation Day Trinidad and Tobago

Silk (kinu), silkworm (kaiko) Japan. Many related kigo.
..... Including Mulberry, mulbery (kuwa).

Hydrangea (ajisai) Japan. Hortensia.

..................................................................... July 2007

Banana Kenya. "bashoo" in Japanese

Belgian National Day (Fête nationale de la Belgique)

Swift (Apus apus) Ireland, Europe

Withered fields (kareno, Kudarano) Japan. Fields in winter (fuyu no) and more.

Women's slope (onna-zaka). Slope for men (otoko-zaka) Japan

Cotoneaster
Ireland

Cormorant Ireland

Hazel catkins Ireland

Cornflower Ireland, Europe

YuleIreland

Rubber plantIreland

River mist Ireland

Samhain Festival Ireland

Meadowsweet Ireland

Gooseberry Ireland

Tarweed Ireland

Bog grasses Ireland

Redcurants Ireland, Europe

Bagworm (minomushi - "straw raincoat bug") Japan. Case moth, basketworm

Fleas and lice (nomi, shirami) louse. worldwide

Plums, ripe plums Kenya

Matonge Festival Belgium

Gishi-Sai 義士祭 . Memorial Ceremony for the 47 Samurai, graves of the 47 Ronin at Sengakuji

Bosatsu-Matsuri 菩薩祭 Bodhisattva Festival temple Soofuku-Ji in Nagasaki

Cactus (saboten) Dry areas

Passion Flower (tokeisoo) Japan. Other regions.

Edo, the town before it became Tokyo

Edo Castle and Haiku

Calligraphy (shodoo)

..................................................................... June 2007

Hote Matsuri 帆手祭 Sail-cord Festival. At Shiogama Shrine, Miyagi Pref.

Kappa Memorial Day Akutagawa Ryunosuke, Gaki Memorial Day. Japan

Cucumber (kyuuri) Japan
..... also: see cucumber (namako)

Fuchsia and tyrolean lamp Japan. フクシア, チロリアンランプ　‘Swing Bell’

Lily, Lilies (yuri) . Daylily (kanzoo) and many other types.
including : Licorice, liquorice (kanzoo)

Jasmin (matsurika, jasumin) Japan

Rose (bara) Worldwide

Goose, geese (kari, gan) . Japan, other areas

Forget-me-nots (wasurenagusa)Japan, Europa, Alaska

Bear (kuma)Japan. Bear hunters (matagi), Iomante Festival and many more

Water shield (junsai) Brasenia schreberi. Japan

Demon Hag, Baba Oni .. and Issa

Tsukuba Mountain, First view of Mount Tsukuba (hatsu Tsukuba) Japan

Mii-Dera, Mii Temple Japan

Buddha Statues and Haiku ... Daibutsu and Hotoke

Spring Cleaning . North America, Europe

"We Beat" FestivalTrinidad & Tobago

Matsumoto Koyuu-Ni and Baba Songi

Yasuhara Teishitsu

Miwa Suiu-Jo

Kubota Seifu (1783 - 1848) 久保田成布
..... Kubota Shunkoo 久保田春耕, her husband

..................................................................... May 2007

Yoshida Fire Festival (Yoshida himatsuri, Yoshida chinkasai) 吉田の火祭り
..... Fuji Sengen Jinja no Himatsuri 富士浅間神社の火祭り

Paulownia flowers (kiri no hana) Japan. P. tomentosa. "princess tree"

Scissor-tailed flycatcher North America. State bird of Oklahoma

Tsukuma Festival (Tsukuma matsuri ) Japan. Pot festival (nabe matsuri)...

Europe DayEuropa-Tag

Clover, Alfalfa, Milk VetchJapan

"Bamboo Wife" (chiku fujin) Asia. Bamboo sleeping companion.

Blanket (moofu) Japan. Quilt and more.

..................................................................... April 2007

Well, cleaning the well (ido zarashi) Japan

Earthquake (jishin) Japan, India, worldwide

Wax tree (haze) Japan. Japanese dace, a fish called haze

Peach blossoms (momo no hana) Japan. Genpei momo

Spring Orchids (shunran)Japap. Cymbidium goeringii

Easter Bonnet Kenya

Palm Sunday

Stars and the Night Sky in Kenya, 2007 A Challenge !

Asama Mountain in Shinano and Issa Haiku

Mountain temple (yamadera) Japan. Tempel with mountains (tera yama)

Dawn moon in autumn (ariakezuki) Japan.
moon in the morning, asazuki/moon left over, nokoru tsuki/mist in the morning, ariake gasumi

bedtime quilt, night quilt, padded kimono, yogi, kaimaki Japan

Chigo (temple acolytes) Japan

Chinese Medicine (kanpo, kampo) Japan. Koojusan

Perilla, beefsteak plant (shiso) Japan

Castle (shiro) Mountain Castle (yamashiro)Japan

"Dragon Jewel", dragon berry (ryuu no tama, Ophiopogon japonicus) Japan. Snakebeard, Mondo grass

..................................................................... March 2007

Wisteria (fuji) Japan. wisteria trellis, fujidana and more kigo

Willow robes (yanagi goromo, aoyagi) Japan. and more related spring cloths kigo (haru goromo)

Willow tree (yanagi)Japan. Many kigo throughout the seasons

Hassaku Harvest Festival, Hassaku sai, Hassaku no Iwai Japan
with many related kigo

Hassaku orange (hassaku kan) Japan

Moxabustion on the second day (futsuka no kyuu)Japan. February and August.

Jeepney Philippines

Maple Syrup North America

Sugar Moon / Sap Moon Full Worm - March Moon. Maple Moon.
North America and Canada. Making Maple Syrup.

Hosomi Ayako 細見綾子(1907～1997)

Today (kyoo), tomorrow (asu)Japan. This morning (kesa)

Ati-Atihan Festival Philippines

Spring at the beach (haru no umi) Japan. Related kigo:cherryblossom shrimp, sakura ebi.crabs of spring, shiomaneki. firefly squid, hotaru ika. gathering shellfish at low tide, shiohigari. poles for growing seaweed, norisoda.

Dog (inu)Japan. Various related kigo

Ego and Haiku Riddles and Haiku

The Gods of Japan and Haiku (kami to hotoke)

Octopus (tako) Japan. Also squid (ika)

Origami, folding paper Japan, worldwide

Beans and Peas (mame) Soybeans, Adzuki beans, broad beans (daizu, azuki, edamame, soramame)

Yin and Yang, Duality, Judgement a worldwide haiku topic

Genji Monogatari, The Tale of Genji 源氏物語 Japan

Form One entrants and monolisationKenya

Torch Fire Festival (Otomatsuri) Japan

..................................................................... February 2007

Beaver (Castor canadensis) Canada, North America

Whipbird ~ Psophodes olivaceus Australia

Jouvert (Carneval) Trinidad and Tobago

Morning star (myoojoo), evening star, venus Japan, worldwide

Love and Kigo

Gambling (bakuchi) Japan

Warrior (tsuwamono) Japan

Sun (dinesh)　India

First Fire Brigade Parade (dezome shiki) Japan

Fire (kaji) Worldwide. Bushfire, wildfire, lookout for fire (hi no ban) and many other related kigo

My country, my province (waga kuni)Japan

"First spring" (hatsu haru) ... New Year in Japan

First shrine visit (hatsu moode) Japan.

First third of the year (joogen) Japan. Middle (chuugen), last (kagen) third.

January 20 Celebration (hatsuka iwai)

God of the Year (toshi toku jin) Japan. Toshigami and many more

Auspicious direction of the new year (ehoo) Japan. and many more

Beating the moles (mogura uchi) Japan

Tree fertility ritual (narikizeme) Japan

Okera Festival (okera mairi) Japan. Kyoto.

Fire Festivals

NEW Saijiki for Japanese Festivals and Ceremonies

World Kigo Database Archives WKD 04

..................................................................... January 2007

First Haiku in 2007 ... Please add yours !

Kumbh Mela, Kumbmela, Kumbha Mela FestivalIndia

Mandarin Ducks (oshidori) Japan. Duck (kamo)

Pelican Australia, Kenya

Flamboyant Tree (Delonix regia) Kenya

Tipu tree (Tipuana tipu) Kenya

Parade of the bands Trinidad and Tobago

Three Kings Day , Epiphany Europe, Christian communities

IRELAND, IRISH SAIJIKI

... Water in various kigo

Water clears, clear water (mizu sumu) Japan

Storm, Gale in Europa

Suzuki Masajo

Shrine day (shanichi) Japan. For the God of the Earth (tsuchi no kami)

Laughter, laughing, first laughter (hatsu warai) Japan. Ebisu.
..... First smile

Chidambaram Dance Festival India, Tamil Nadu. Shiva dance Festival

St. Stephen’s Day Europe, christian communities

Short Rains, a Haiku Season in Kenya

Winter Solstice in Ireland

Frangipani, PlumeriaAustralia, India

Year's End Fair (toshi no ichi) Japan

Bird droppings (tori no fun)

My country, my province (waga kuni)

Global warming, climate changes

Flower heart (hana gokoro)

Plum Blossoms Fragrance (ume ga ka)

New Year's Soup (zooni)

BeachWorldwide. Surfing.

Hermit, Mountain hermits, sennin 仙人

Sensei, a Japanese Haiku Teacher . and how about the situation outside Japan.

NEXT
CONTINUE HERE for all the additions of 2006

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........................................... Kigo Archives

World Kigo Database <> Archives

Use the search function provided at these archives to look for a kigo or synonym of it. These archives contain all kigo collected so far in the various saijiki of the World Kigo Database.

If you find a mistake, please contact me for corrections.

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The Discussion Group for the World Kigo Database started on May 19, 2004.

Thank you for visiting the World Kigo Database !
And come back soon !

Gabi Greve

*****************************

Please send your contributions to Gabi Greve
worldkigo .....

Back to the alphabetical Worldkigo Index
http://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.com/

World Kigo Database Part 03/04

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Newsletter 2006

2009-12-24T23:58:00.000-08:00

..................................................................... December 2006

..... Southern Cross Haiku Information about the Southern Hemisphere

Australian Saijiki A New Edition !

Ibis in Australia

Komodo Dragon Indonesia

Papaya India

Cormorant fishing (ukai) Japan

Demolitions in Patanisho, Nairobi Kenya

..... Food from Japan (washoku)

..... Sweets from Japan (wagashi)

Shiitake Mushrooms Japan

Samurai, bushi, buke, tsuwamono Japan

Gods are absent (kami no rusu)Japan. Old lunar 10. month (now November)

Mosquitoes in Kenya

Flies, Fly, Housefly, Fruitfly Kenya

BUTTERFLY Haiku Club, Kenya

World Handicap Day, Black Day for the Blind Worldwide

Safflower, saffron flower (benibana, beni no hana) Japan

Hot Drinks to keep you warm in Winter worldwide A KIGO list.

Warm Things to keep you warm in Winter in Japan A KIGO list.
.....Including furniture, clothing and food.

Shichi-Go-San (Celebrating Seven-Five-Three Years for Children) Japan

Trouser-skirt (hakama) Formal wear in Japan

Pulling Pine Seedlings (komatsu hiki)　 Japan
..... First Day of the Rat (hatsune)

Koel, Koil, Kuil, a Bird (Eudynamys scolopacea)India. "Demon cuckoo" oni kakkoo (Japan)

..................................................................... November 2006

Haiku Clubs of Kayole, Kenya Meeting November 2006

Court Rituals for the New Year Japan

Teeth strengthening Ceremony (hagatame) Japan
..... rice cakes for strengthening the teeth, hagatame no mochi

First Water, "young water" (wakamizu) Japan. Including more kigo of this ceremony.

Binzuru, Ceremony for the Arhat Binzuru (Binzuru mawashi) Japan

Haiku Teahouse, Haiku Chaya for Pilgrims in Shikoku Japan

Tea, Black Tea from Kenya Coffee from Kenya

Fart, farting (he) Furz Japan, worldwide

Fields, rice paddies (ta, hatake) Japan
..... Including kigo for all seasons in the fields.

Flute (fue, yokobue) 　 Japan

Saffron Crocus (Crocus sativus) safuron, safuran, Safran Japan

Trumpet Flower (datura) Korean Morning Glory, Mandala Flower (mandarage). Angel's Trumpet Flower. Japan, North America.

Hashidate Festival, Ama no Hashidate Matsuri Japan

Ebisu, the God of Wealth and Prosperity Japan

Ramadan in Kenya

Cold wave (kanpa, kampa) Japan, worldwide

Ganjin Memorial Day (Ganjin Ki) Japan

December Singers, Twelfth Month Singers (sekizoro) Japan

First rainfall, imminent rain Kenya, Tropics

..... Calendar Systems, Asian Lunar Calendar, 12 Zodiac Animals, 24 Seasons
Helpful reference to understand Japanese Haiku Seasons.

Bellows Festival (fuigo matsuri) Japan

Bread (pan) Worldwide

Yew Tree (ichi i, ichii, ichi-i)Japan

Rakugo, comic storytelling Japan

..................................................................... October 2006

Marathon Kenya, worldwide.
..... Including Olympics, Olympic Games. Special Olympics, Paralympics.

Umewaka Memorial Day (Umewaka Ki) and Temple Mokubo-JiJapan

Nobel Prize Europe, worldwide

Mother Goddess in all cultures

Day of the African Child (16 June)　Kenya, Africa, worldwide

Cotton rose, Rose-Mallow (fuyoo, fuyo, fuyoh) Hibiscus mutabilis. Japan

Hazel, hazelnut (hashibami) Japan

Chestnut (kuri) Japan

Walnut (kurumi) Japan

Hickory nuts Carya Fruits

Dussera, Dasara, Dussehra: Day Of Victory　India
..... Navarati : Nine Nights Of Festivities

Ginger (shooga) Hawaii, India, Japan. Hajikami pickles.

Moss (koke) Japan

Fox God Shrine Festival (Inari Matsuri) Japan. First day of the horse, hatsu uma

Fox (kitsune) Japan

Sierra Nevada North America

..................................................................... September 2006

..... World Days and Weeks a growing collection
.. .. World Deaf Day, World Mother-in-Law's Day and many more

..... Harvest and its various kigo 　

Sage, Salbei, Salvia splendens et al. (sarubeea, seeji) Japan

Weeds (zassoo) worldwide !

Wild Chrysanthemum (nogiku) Japan

Zinnia (hyakunichisoo) Japan

Toad Lily (hototogisu) Japan

Peace (Swahili : Amani) Kenya

Begonia (shuukaidoo, shukaido) Japan

Candle (roosoku) Japan. With a discussion about translating Japanese haiku.

Heart Pond (kokoro no ike) 　 Japan

Maize : Green Maize, Corn on the Cob 　 Kenya

Rain Gutters Cleaning 　North America

Ladakh : Haiku and Kigo 　

Kamehameha Day 　Hawaii

Hula Dance and the Goddess Laka 　Hawaii

Long day, short day, long night, short night 　Japan. nagaki hi, tanjitsu, nagaki yo, mijika yo

Pipal tree (Ficus religiosa) India Peepul or Bo tree
..... figs (ichijiku) Japan

Oranges, mandarin oranges, tangerines 　Kenya. mikan (Japan)

Santoka and Sake Haiku 　

Matsuyama and Masaoka Shiki 　

Introducing Japanese Haiku Poets

Winter drizzle, sleet (shigure) 　 Japan. With many more related kigo.

World Peace Day International Day of Peace. Ahimsa. India, worldwide

World Music Day India, worldwide

Teacher's Day, Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan Memorial Day India

Summer Purification Ceremony (nagoshi, natsu no harae) Japan
..... including many related Japanese kigo

Coolness (suzushi) Japan. cool breeze (ryoofuu) and more about the Tea Ceremony
..... including "coolness in autumn"

Bukusu Culture, Babukusu People Kenya

Mud (Swahili : matope) Kenya
..... including: Brickmaking, Dry mud, Bukusu Initiation (Circumcision) in Kenya
..... Spring Mud, haru no doro, shundei in Japan

Figs (Ficus carica) 　 Turkey. Ichijiku, toogaki, hororoishi in Japan.

Ramadan, Berat Kandil (Leylatul Berat, Laylatul Barat) 　 Turkey　　　

Mahatma Gandhi's Birthday, Gandhi Jayanthi Day India

Bird Haze in Spring (torigumori) Japan. Also "flower haze", cherry blossom haze (hanagumori) and "herring haze" (nishingumori).
..... Birds and Clouds .. kumo ni tori .. 雲に鳥

Voices of Animals From Russia

Spring Equinox, vernal equinox (haru higan) Japan

..................................................................... August 2006

Holy Innocents Celebration Christian Catholic Communities

Deer (shika) 　 Japan

Tagore Memorial Day 　　Rabindranath Tagore, India, August 17

Senior Citizen's Day. Respect for the Aged Day (keiroo no hi) Japan
..... Including: Old people, elders, elderly and so on as haiku topics.

Buddha's Birthday, Flower Festival, Flower Hall (kanbutsu-e, shuuni-e, hahamatsuri, hana midoo 　 Japan
　　　
Soap bubbles (shabondama) 　 Japan

Honey Spas, Apple Spas, Linen Spas Russia . Honey Saviour.

Cemetery Sunday Ireland (Roman Catholic parishes)

Wasabi, Japanese horseradish Japan

Monkey, Hanuman India. saru (Japan)

Peace and War (heiwa to sensoo) Worldwide

..................................................................... July 2006

Grave marker (sotoba) Japan

Voice of an Animal (xx no koe) Japan. Various examples and translation possibilities.

Freezing, frozen (itsuru, kooru) Japan. Iced, under ice and more

Avocado pear (Kikuyu : Mûkorobîa) Kenya

"Kigo" and "haiku" as Haiku Topics Japan

..... Child, Children (kodomo) Read Haiku about Children and from Chilren. A new Forum of the World Kigo Database!

"Goats and Goat Meat Kenya

Green Caterpillar "green insect" (aomushi, namushi) Japan Kenya

Maize (toomorokoshi, tookibi), Corn (koon), Millet (kibi) Japan Kenya

Wading Pool, Spray Park Canada

First Kick-Ball Game (kemari hajime) Japan

Morning-Glory (asagao) Japan ..... Bindweed (hirugao). Evening Face (yorugao)

Buddha, Shakyamuni, Shaka India, Japan

TempleIndia

Temple, Buddhist Temple(tera) Japan

Shrine, Shinto Shrine (jinja) Japan

Bell, Temple Bell (kane, tsurigane, waniguchi, dootaku) Japan
..... Bell, Temple Bell in India

Withering Wind, Cold Gale (kogarashi) Japan

Grackle Bird (Quiscalus mexicanus) Oklahoma, USA Great-tailed grackle, boat-tail grackle

Wimbledon Tennis Tournament ... collecting

..................................................................... June 2006

Fly-swatter (haetataki) Japan

Cool dry season 　Kenya, tropical areas
　　　　　　　　　
Desires, worldly desires, illusions, delusions (bonno) Japan

Wisteria Cutting Ceremony (Fuji Kiri Eshiki)Japan Yamanashi Prefecture

Dew, Dewdrop (tsuyu, ro) Japan Worldwide

Mortality (shi ni yuku) Japan Worldwide

Soccer, Football. Europe
..... Including other Winter Sport Kigo, such as Rugby, American Football, Bob Sley, Skiing, Skating, Ice Hockey

Loincloth (fundoshi) Japan

Coins, Money (zeni) Japan Worldwide

Seaweed (kaisoo) Japan
..... including laver (nori), kelp (wakame), duckweed (mo) and agar agar (tengusa)

Summer sash (natsu obi, natsuobi) Japan

Dead body, deceased person (hotoke) Japan

Butterfly in Winter(fuyu no choo) Japan
..... frozen/freezing butterfly (itechoo)

Pigeon, pidgeon, dove (hato) Japan dove whistling (hatobue)

Mountain, peak, hill (yama, gake, oka) Japan

Sunset (yuuhi) Japan

Sound of Water (mizu no oto) Japan Translation problems and more

Oysters (kaki) Japan
..... Including Pearls (shinju) and mother-of-pearl

Sponge gourd, loofah, luffa (hechima, ito-uri) Japan
..... Including the Memorial day for Masaoka Shiki, Hechima-Ki

Stepping on a Christian image (fumi-e, ebumi) Japan

Ginkoo in Kayole, Nairobi (Kenya)

Horse (uma) Japan
..... Including various kigo such as plough horse, foal,cooling horses, fatten a horse, horse market, autumn colt, autumn pony, horses standing in the cold.

Gentle breeze, soft breeze (Linde Lüfte) Germany

..................................................................... May 2006

Sliding paper doors (fusuma), Japan

Secret Buddha Statues (hibutsu) Japan. Including showing them (kaichoo), substitute statues (maedachi, kakebotoke)

Papad Bread (papadam, poppadom, papadum, and appalam). India

Rain on Cherry Blossoms (hana no ame) Japan

Hungry Ghosts (gaki) Japan Buddhist Communities

..... Dance, a haiku topic Japan

Dance in India

The color GREEN in Haiku (midori, ao) Japan

The color GREY (GRAY)in Haiku (hyaku nezumi, hai iro) Japan

The color WHITE in Haiku (shiroi, haku) Japan

..... ..... World Kigo Database : Canada Saijiki

World Youth Day (Weltjugendtag)Italy, Germany, worldwide

Sand (suna)Japan, Worldwide. On the Beach, in the Desert ... Yellow Sand (koosa)

Berlin Wall (Berliner Mauer)Germany. Including the Iron Curtain, Eiserner Vorhang.

Elephant (zoo)Africa, India, in the Zoo

Rainbow (niji)Japan

River (kawa) Japan

Bridge (hashi) Japan

Embankment, dike (dote) Japan, worldwide

Mu, Shunyata : void, nothingness Japan

Mother (o-fukuro) Japan

New Year's Tea, Good Luck Tea, lucky tea (fukucha) Japan

Hat, Straw hat, hood ...(kasa, zukin, booshi) Japan

Hyacinth (Hyacinthus orientalis) Europe, Japan, other areas

Crab (kani) Japan. Chesapeake Bay.
..... Including King Crab (tarabagani), Queen Crab (zuwaigani), swamp crab (zawagani) and many more.

Window (mado) Japan

Stone Lantern (ishidooroo) Japan

Chesapeake Saijiki - SPRING USA

..................................................................... April 2006

Water Strider, water boatman, water spider, water horse (amenbo 水馬) Japan
..... also whirligig beetles, mizusumashi 水澄

Grave (haka) Japan

Cloud (kumo) Japan

LIST of Non-seasonal Haiku Topics

Target (mato) Japan. Bull's Eye
..... Including Bow, Arrow, Archery.
..... First Arrow, First Archery Competition. Archery on horseback (yabusame).

Earth Day Worldwide

Peacock, Kujaku and Haiku Japan
..... Including Marigold (kujakusoo), fruit flies (kujakubae) and the peacock butterfly (kujakuchoo)

Pheasant (kiji) Japan

..... ..... Chesapeake Bay Saijiki, USA

Fortune cookies; "Haikookies", O-Mikuji

God of the Rice Paddies (ta no kami) Japan

Mourning Kenya, worldwide

Patrick Wafula, Kenya

LORNA Haiku Club, Kenya

OAKS Haiku Club, Kenya

PEACOCK Haiku Club, Kenya

SPIDER Haiku Club, Kenya

Long Rains (Kenya)

Lent (Europe)

Mothering Sunday, Laetare (Europe)

... ... SPICES from India

Sesame (til, tila, gingili) India goma, goma no hana (Japan)

Light Charcoal Cherry Blossoms, Usuzumizakura 薄墨桜　Japan

Hail (hyoo) Japan , also arare, snow pellets

..................................................................... March 2006

Weasel (itachi) Japan

Ambedkar Jayanti, Memorial Day India

Tukaram Celebrations India

Dragon, a non-seasonal topic of Eastern Art

Eagle(washi) Japan
..... including other birds of winter, fuyu no tori
Water birds (mizudori　水鳥) ; Hawk (taka　鷹), Winter wild goose (fuyu no kari　冬の雁) , Winter skylark (fuyu hibari　冬雲雀), Midwinter sparrow (kan suzume　寒雀) , Midwinter crow (kan garasu　寒烏) Owl (fukuroo　梟) , Duck (kamo　鴨), Plover (Chidori　千鳥) , Hooded gull (miyakodori, yurikamome　ユリカモメ), Winter gull (fuyu kamome　冬鴎), Wren (misosazai　ミソサザイ), Crane (tsuru　鶴)
Swan (hakuchou　白鳥) , Grebe (Kaitsuburi　カイツブリ)

Butterbur sprouts (fuki no too) and butterbur (fuki) (Japan)

Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara), Europa Butterbur Dandelion, fuki tanpopo (Japan)

Grape Hyacinth, Europa muscari, Lampenputzer

Gutsy Radish (dokonjoo daikon) Japan

Kite flying, India and Pakistan

Haiku in Bhutan INDIA SAIJIKI

Daffodil, Narcissus and Jonquils Europa

Spring light, spring shining (shunkoo) Japan
..... wind shining (kaze hikaru) Japan

Veronica, field speedwell, Europa inufuguri (Japan)

Girl Scout Cookies USA

Bahati Haiku Club Meeting, March 2006 Kenya

Bahati Haiku Club Records since January 2006 Kenya

Jizobon, Jizoo Bon 地蔵盆

Jizobon, Jizoo Bon 地蔵盆
..... including Coming of Age and Fire Rituals, Sagichoo 左義長

O-Mizutori, Omizutori Ceremony, お水取り） Shuni-E Ceremony 修二会 Nara, Japan
..... Including "Sending off Water from Wakasa" Wakasa no O-Mizu Okuri.

Hawaiian Spirit

Vailankanni (Velankanni), Festival in Chennai, India

Doll Festival (hina matsuri) Japan Peach Festival, Girl's Festival

Surfer, Surfing, Surf Hawaii, worldwide

Homeland, Hometown (furusato) Japan Heimat, Fatherland, Motherland

..................................................................... February 2006

Doll Festival (hina matsuri) Japan. Peach Festival, Girl's Festival.

Haiku Situation in Nepal

Tiruppavai of Andal Tamizhnadu, Tamil Nadu, India

Shiva Ratri Night, Festival India, Nepal, Hindu Communities

Goa Carnival India

Shivaji's forts India

Panchatantra, a Fable India

Nehru, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's Memorial Day, Children's Day India

Maasai Cattle (Masai Cattle) Kenya, Nairobi

Summer in India Kigo Collection

Yoga India

Chittorgarh Fort (Rajasthan) India

Pansy, Pansies Europe, sanshoku sumire (Japan)

Haiku from Bulgaria Collection of the Europa Saijiki
Haiku from Hungary Collection of the Europa Saijiki

Alberta Family Day, Canada

Crocus (Europe, worldwide)

Power Stone, Strenght Stone (chikara ishi, Japan) weight lifting competition

Poetry and Literature of Kenya

Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Writer, Kenya

Caterpillar, Hairy Caterpillar of Kenya

Festivals of India They are all kigo.

Ganesh Chaturthi Festival India

Tiger Dance (Huli Vesha, Puli Vesha) India
.... Including TIGER, the animal as non-seasonal topic.

Serpent Festival (Nag Panchami) India

Snake, serpent, viper, cobra (hebi, mamushi, habu) Japan

Wintersweet (roobai) Japan

..... Bahati Haiku Poetry Club, Second Meeting Kenya

..................................................................... January 2006

Caterpillars worldwide
..... Including
hairy caterpillar, woolybear, kemushi　
looper, inchworm, shakutori

Ice, Icicle (koori, tsurara) (Japan)

..... Kaniparambil Ramesh Poet from India

Start of School Year, School Year starts(Kenya)
..... Including
form one (form 1), new term, new textbooks, school fees, new uniform

..... Bahati Haiku Poetry Club, Kenya

..... Hawaii Saijiki

..... EUROPA Saijiki

Buddha's Seat (hotoke no za)(Japan) 05.
.................... Two flowers with the same name !

Seven Herbs of Spring (haru no nanakusa) (Japan) 05
..... Including Seri (Japanese parsley or dropwort), Nazuna (shepherd's purse), Gogyou (cottonweed), Hakobera (chickweed), Hotoke-no-za (Japanese nipplewort), Suzuna (Japanese turnip), Suzushiro (Japanese radish)

Fern (shida)(Japan) 05

Pheasant's Eye (fukujusoo) (Japan) 05

Vog (Volcanic Smog) (Hawaii, Big Island)

New Year's Day (ganjitsu)Japan, Worldwide. First day of the Year, January 1.

..... Korean Haiku

..... African Haiku

Kagura Dance (Japan)

Graduation Ceremony, Kenya

Last Fudo Ceremony of a year(osame-Fudo) (Japan)
Last Daishi Ceremony of a year (osame no Daishi) (Japan)

Whales, kujira (Japan)

Cow (Pashu, Gai) The Holy Cow of India

Bhagavad Gita (India)

Number of Entries December 2005 : 328

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........................................... Kigo Archives

World Kigo Database <> Archives

Use the search function provided at these archives to look for a kigo or synonym of it. These archives contain all kigo collected so far in the various saijiki of the World Kigo Database.

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The Discussion Group for the World Kigo Database started on May 19, 2004.
The BLOG Database started after the first 50 kigo had been collected, about October 2004.

Thank you for visiting the World Kigo Database !
And come back soon !

Gabi Greve

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Back to the alphabetical Worldkigo Index
http://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.com/

... BACK to the TOP of this BLOG ...

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Darumapedia Search

2009-12-19T02:15:00.000-08:00

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Search the World Kigo Database
and the Daruma Museum Galleries

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Click your refresh button, if nothing shows above the banner or
CLICK on the BANNER.

CLICK here for my Darumapedia Search !

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... ... ... Check the Latest Additions
World Kigo Database !

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... more of my resources to look for words and information

Trying to look up a Chinese character?
The YAHOO dictionary pages !

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If you know of a better search function,
please let me know.

Gabi Greve, Japan

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SEARCH more online references about Japan

SEARCH : Expanded Japanese Culture References

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Yew tree (ichi-i)

2006-12-05T18:53:00.000-08:00

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Yew Tree (ichi i, ichii, ichi-i)

***** Location: Japan, other regions
***** Season: Various, see below
***** Category: Plant

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Explanation

kigo for late spring

flower of the yew tree, ichi-i no hana　
一位の花　いちいのはな
..... araragi あららぎ
..... onko おんこ

ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo

kigo for late autumn

red fruit of the yew tree, ichi-i no mi
一位の実　いちいのみ
..... araragi no mi　あららぎの実
..... onko no mi　おんこの実
..... kyaraboku no mi 伽羅木の実
..... ichi-i no mi 水松の実

Ichi-i いちい written in hiragana is also another name for the acorn, donguri.

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Ichii (Yew)

By LINDA INOKI

And thou from earth art gone
Long since and in some quiet churchyard laid;
Some country nook, where o'er thy unknown grave
Tall grasses and white flowering nettles wave --
Under a dark red-fruited yew-tree's shade.

From "The Scholar Gypsy" by Mathew Arnold (1822-88)

In autumn, the feathery branches of yew trees are dripping with lovely, translucent red berries. But beware -- they contain a poisonous seed. As for the shiny leaves, they are even more dangerous than the berries. Nevertheless, yews are handsome, highly regarded trees.

In Japan the name means "tree of the first rank 一位." In ancient Britain, yew trees were planted on holy sites to ward off evil spirits, and in parts of Germany, Scandinavia and Russia, the yew is the origin of the mythical "tree of life." Today, Britain has the largest number of ancient yews; over 400 trees, each more than 1,000 years old.

They are often seen, dark and mysterious, in old churchyards, and have survived the woodman's ax because of their sacred nature. In addition, yews have few natural enemies, and some excellent strategies for survival. If a tree is blown down in a storm, it will stay alive as long as a small piece of root remains to connect it to earth. As a tree matures, it sends out shoots that flank the main trunk. As the old center slowly dies away, the new trunks take over and support the spreading tree.

The Japanese yew (Taxus cuspida) is faster-growing than the English yew (T. baccata), but both are slow-growing evergreens that are popular with gardeners. Yew wood has a beautiful grain, and in Japan it was used to make the ceremonial batons held by the Emperor and members of his court.

© The Japan Times, Nov. 1, 2006

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Worldwide use

Europa

The European yew tree is taxus baccata :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxus_baccata

The Irish yew (taxus baccata fastigiata) differs from the European yew in having several trunks, all growing upwards together, as well as leaves spread all around the branches.

These are ancient and sacred trees, often growing around churches and in their graveyards and outlasting the churches even when these are closed for worship.

If the yew is kigo in Ireland, it would be winter, when the red berries look very attractive and provide food for the birds. They are associated with Christmas, though more loosely than the holly and the ivy.

In my rural Irish home, we have two short yew walks, one Irish yew, one European yew -- the European one provides wonderful shelter in the rain, as its branches grow outwards.

Isabelle Prondzynski

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Things found on the way

Daruma and netsuke are carved from this tree too.
Here is my favorite, the yawning Daruma. Carved in Hida/Takayama.

Read more about it here: Daruma Yawning

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HAIKU

一位の　実含みて吐きて　旅遠し

富安風生 Tomiyasu Fuusei

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Related words

*****

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Please send your contributions to Gabi Greve
worldkigo .....

Back to the Worldkigo Index
http://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.com/

Yellow Rose (yamabuki)

2006-12-05T09:09:00.000-08:00

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Yellow Mountain Rose (yamabuki, Japan)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Late Spring
***** Category: Plant

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Explanation

http://www.paghat.com/kerria.html

Kerria japonica . Yamabuki 　山吹
litterally means "mountain breath". These bright yellow flowering bushes grow wild all over Japan, especially favoring riversides and gorges. Other translations are "Mountain rose, wild rose, Easter rose".

white mountain rose : shiro-yamabuki 白山吹
double-flowering mountain rose : yae-yamabuki 八重山吹
dark yellow mountain rose : ko-yamabuki 濃山吹
mountain rose with leaves : ha yamabuki 葉山吹

The flowers have five petals, while the doublel-flowering looks like a ponpon with many petals.
They paint whole mountain ranges in bright yellow in late spring. Since olden times, these flowers have been a part of Japanese poetry, especially the Manyo'shu and the Tale of Genji. See later.

The bright yellow has been used to describe the yellow color of gold, especially the gold plates of Japanese money during the Edo period. "Yamabuki-iro" is the color of gold and bribes.

http://www.pierre-marteau.com/currency/coins/japanese.html

Below I quote a link about this kind of Japanese Money.

Gabi Greve

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Double-flowering yellow mountain rose

White mountain rose

Look at more pictures here:
http://www.hana300.com/yaeyam.html

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Yamabuki (Kerria japonica)
By LINDA INOKI

Murasaki had prepared the floral offerings.
She chose eight of her prettiest little girls to deliver them,
dressing four as birds and four as butterflies.
The birds brought cherry blossoms in silver vases,
the butterflies yamabuki in gold.

From "The Tale of Genji" by Murasaki Shikibu,
translated by Edward G. Seidensticker (Penguin Books)

The simple, pure-yellow flowers of the yamabuki are borne in arching sprays with tender, bright-green leaves, and can still be found growing wild in the mountains. In literature, its Japanese name is sometimes translated as "mountain rose" or "yellow rose," although the original implies a mountain breeze or spray.
William Kerr, the first plant hunter to live in China, introduced the shrub to the West in the early 1800s, where the double variety was affectionately called "bachelor's buttons," because of its showy spring display.

© The Japan Times: Apr. 12, 2001
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fl20010412li.htm

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More Links about this plant:
http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/k/kerjap/kerjap1.html
http://home.hiwaay.net/~oliver/kerria.html
http://www.manntaylor.com/plantweek51.html

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The shrub is especially associated with the Ide Tamagawa, a river near Kyoto, which was well-famed for Yamabuki that flourish along its banks. Flower-viewing excursions were arranged among courtiers & courtesans specifically to observe Yamabuki in spring along the Ide Tamagawa. These excursions could be very expensive, & men who idled away their time in pleasure district activities were said to be "scattering gold coins as the Yamabuki scatters golden petals."

Hiroshige in 1830 illustrated the Kerria Rose overshadowing two frogs, in one of a famous series of plant portraits accompanied by the opening lines of poems. The jist of the poem that accompanies the famous picture can be paraphrased: "Frogs are calling in the spring rain, when the Yamabuki fails to shelter them.

"Why does the Kerria fail as a rain-shelter for frogs? Perhaps literally because the frogs are active so early in the spring that the Kerria hasn't yet regained all of its sheltering leaves. But the poem alludes to a mino which is a raincoat made of grass, punning this with the same word that means "seed" or "fruit." The Yamabuki is proverbially believed to be sterile, thus cannot provide the frog with a raincoat (mino) because it has no fruits (mino).

The pun is no mere jest, however, for it embodies a Buddhist sense of mono-no-aware, the sadness of things. So the poem's sentment could be rephrased: "The Yamabuki has flowers like the brocade robes of the wealthy, yet it is so poor it cannot afford even a grass raincoat."

In another story about Oota Dookan and a fair maiden, we read this song:

The Yamabuki enriches our house with flowers,
yet there is sadness here,
for these riches are an illusion,
and our flower has no mino (fruit)

Read a lot more about the Mountain Rose here:
http://www.paghat.com/kerria.html

.. .. .. ..

Here is another short quote concerning the above print from Hiroshige,
from a long essay about Haiku by Haruo Shirane

... the poetic essence of the kawazu, or frog, a seasonal word for spring, was song, usually calling for its mate, standing beneath the yamabuki (kerria), the bright yellow mountain rose, found on the banks of a river or stream, with its petals reflected in the clear water.

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ccba/cear/issues/fall99/text-only/shirane.htm

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Worldwide use

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Things found on the way

Read some detailed information about Japanese Money.
http://www.pierre-marteau.com/currency/coins/japanese.html

My story about the Color YELLOW in traditional Japanese kimono and yellow Daruma.
http://darumadollmuseum.blogspot.com/2005/04/yamabuki-yellow-daruma.html

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HAIKU

Horo horo to yamabuki chiru ka taki no oto

Petals of the mountain rose
Fall now and then,
To the sound of the waterfall

Basho
http://www.takase.com/Haiku/Haiku.htm

in another translation

the petals temble
on the yellow mountain rose -
roar of the rapids

http://www.haiku.insouthsea.co.uk/teachbasho_self3.htm

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yamabuki ni te o kazashitaru itachi kana

in yellow roses
shading his eyes to gaze ..
a weasel

Issa
http://cat.xula.edu/issa/searchissa.php?haiku_id=237.16a

yamabuki ya mazu o-saki e to tobu kawazu

yellow rose
please, you go first
frog jumping

Issa
http://cat.xula.edu/issa/searchissa.php?haiku_id=161.12a

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Related words

*****

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Please send your contributions to Gabi Greve
worldkigo@yahoo.com

WHC Worldkigo Discussion Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WHCworldkigo/

Back to the WHC Worldkigo Index
http://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.com/

search help

2006-11-29T19:20:00.000-08:00

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More LINKS for the search feature.

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Please send your contributions to Gabi Greve
worldkigo .....

Back to the Worldkigo Index
http://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.com/

World Heart Day

2006-11-15T14:55:00.000-08:00

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World Heart Day

***** Location: Worldwide
***** Season: Autumn
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

September 28

World Days as KIGO

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Like I always say the heart is big enough to hold love in enormous
quantity - endless in fact.
Warmth, compassion and kindness accompanied with a big smile can do
wonders in touching someone's heart.

28th september
my heart beats
for the downtrodden

Kala Ramesh, India

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Worldwide use

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Things found on the way

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HAIKU

september 28 ....
my heart weaves a nest
for my love bird

Kumarendra Mallick, Hyderabad India

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heartless bomb blasts
mark
world heart day

B.Vadivelrajan, India

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World Heart Day...
lad helps a paraplegic
cross the busy street

28th September...
bayanihan for a
cancer patient

"tequilas_sunrise11" Philippines
Kigo Hotline

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28th september -
see this bouncing heart
on a little twig

Heike Gewi, Yemen

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world heart day --
why not for as long as
hearts keep beating?

"hortensia anderson, USA

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Related words

***** World Days as KIGO

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Back to the Worldkigo Index
http://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.com/

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Wolf (ookami)

2006-11-15T06:18:00.000-08:00

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Wolf, Japanese Wolf (ookami, Japan)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: All Winter
***** Category: Animal

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Explanation

The wolf has been living in Japan for a long time, but now it is extinct, even in Hokkaido. The wolf has smaller ears than a dog, but his teeth are stronger. Since he was feared during all seasons, his name was "the Great God" ookami　大神、later the Chinese character changed to 狼.

Other kigo names for this animal:

mountain dog, yama-inu, yamainu　山犬、豺

Wolf of Ezo, Ezo ookami　蝦夷狼
..... Ezo is the old name of Hokkaido.

Gabi Greve

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Honshu Wolf (Canis lupus hodophilax)which occupied the islands of Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu in Japan.
The last known specimen died in 1905, in Nara Prefecture.

Ezo Wolf (Canis lupus hattai), the Hokkaido Wolf.
The Ezo Wolf became extinct in 1889.

http://www.answers.com/topic/japanese-wolf

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ONCE THERE WERE WOLVES
Shrines are no salve when it comes to extinctions

By ROWAN HOOPER

There were two subspecies, the Hokkaido wolf, and the smaller Honshu wolf (like the two bear species still living in Japan today, the animals living in Hokkaido needed to be bigger because of the harsher climate). Both were distinct from wolves in Europe and North America; the Honshu wolf, only about 30 cm tall at the shoulder, was the smallest known variety of wolf.

In former times, wolves were revered and respected. They were seen by farmers as guardians of their crops. It was believed that wolves kept deer, hares and wild boars from causing damage to farmland. The Heian Period warlord ruler of northeastern Honshu, Fujiwara no Hidehira (1096-1187), was said to have been raised by wolves, like Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome.

In Yamanashi Prefecture, offerings of azuki bean rice were left for wolves when cubs were born. It was sometimes believed that the tradition, known as inu no ubumimai, would be reciprocated by the wolf when a human child was born.

Read the rest here:

Wolves, Ookami, By ROWAN HOOPER

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Woodblock Print by Kayama Matazoo
加山又造　狼

http://www.444009.jp/interiahangatokkaseiru.htm

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JAPANESE WOLF FOLKLORE
by U.A. Casal

In the role of divine messenger, the wolf watches over mountains and forests. He sees to it that there is no undue cutting of trees or careless fire which may start a mountain conflagration, as also that there be no pollution of those little sanctuaries which are found all over a mountain.

Read this very interesting essay here:
JAPANESE WOLF FOLKLORE. by U.A. Casal

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Mitsumine Shrine (Mitsumine Jinja) is famous for its wolf cult.

There is a talisman print of the Wolf Deity from this shrine.
This for a wolf that accompanies the hunter home from the mountain and then gets a morcel to eat. (okuri ookami)

http://www.kitanippon.co.jp/pub/hensyu/chinmoku/maboroshi/050112.html

Okuri ookami, the wolf seeing you home

.... An extension of this semantic affinity of the wolf with the dog is the image (in myth and legend) as a protector of mankind -- a sort of banken (watchdog) in the mountains. This watchdog role appears in the benign okuri-okami (sending wolf) stories. "When someone is walking along mountain roads at night sometimes a wolf follows without doing anything. On nearing the house the wolf disappears."

Sometimes the ubiquitous okuri-okami tales also mention the danger of looking back or falling over while being followed by the wolf, acts that may invite the wolf to attack....Nonetheless, what is usually stressed is that the wolf's purpose is not to prey but to protect, to see the lonely human being safely home through the dangerous night-time mountains.... Even today many villagers claim to have had such experiences in their youth....
© Copyright 2004 Wolf Song of Alaska.

Read a lot more about Japanese wolves:
http://www.wolfsongalaska.org/Wolves_Japan_on_extct.htm

My Essay about Japanese Wolf Worship
....... at Mitsumine Shrine Mitsumine Jinja 三峰神社

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Worldwide use

Alaska

Wolves and Religion

The Role of Fox, Lynx and Wolf in Mythology
Meaning Wolf
Wolves and the Christian Church
Beware of Wolves
Wolves and Christianity
Wolves and Early Saints

© Copyright Wolf Song of Alaska.
http://www.wolfsongalaska.org/wolves_and_religion_menu.html

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Things found on the way

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HAIKU

狼に墓の樒の乱されし　
ookami ni haka no shikimi no midasareshi

the wolves
have thoroughly destroyed
the aniseed flowers around the grave
(Tr. Gabi Greve)　

石井露月 Ishii Rogetsu (1873-1928)
www.diary.ne.jp/logdisp.cgi?user=36640&log=20011113

... Read: Ishii Rogetsu by Susumu Takiguchi

Shikimi Anis Flowers

http://www.hana300.com/sikimi1.html

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A wolf; one firefly clinging to it

Tohta Taneka
(trans. by Jim Kacian, Toshio Kimura, Ban'ya Natsuishi & Eric Selland )
[Haiku Troubadours 2000]
http://www.into.demon.co.uk/dew/number_4_reviews.htm

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Winter mountains,
Pass them not
run into a wolf.

Masaoka Shiki
http://www.risk.ru/auto/calendar2/50/index_en.htm

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Related words

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Please send your contributions to Gabi Greve
worldkigo .....

Back to the WHC Worldkigo Index
http://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.com/

Winter drizzle (shigure)

2006-11-09T21:59:00.000-08:00

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Winter drizzle, sleet (shigure)

***** Location: Japan, other areas
***** Season: Early Winter
***** Category: Heaven

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Explanation

There are many Japanese kigo related to this kind of early cold rain in the overlapping time from autumn to winter. According to the weather patterns of this season, when cold air masses come down from Siberia, the rains come and go fast, as is represented in the Chinese characters, meaning "rain for a (short) time".
It might hit you unexpectedly on a mountain pass and leave a thin white cover on the peaks. Most common in Northern Japan, these showers come fast and leave fast, so it may rain here and shine there (kata shigure　片時雨).

The short cold drizzle evokes many melancholic feelings for the Japanese haiku poet. It is a symbol of the passing of events in the human life, of the passing of life itself.
It is also something that can be enjoyed hearing, it makes a hushing sound and this kind of sound is reflected in other kigo, for examle the famous cicada shrilling (semi shigure　蝉時雨). I often go to our local shrine and listen to the shigure on the roof, quite an eeerie sound!

These drizzle kigo have mostly been used already since the Heian period and are well loved and full of allusions to famous poems. SHIGURE is a good example to show that kigo are much more than just the weather report.

... ... ...

rain mixed with snow, cold rain, snowy drizzle, sleet (shigure　時雨）　

winter drizzle in the morning, asa shigure 朝時雨
winter drizzle in the evening, yuushigure 夕時雨
nightly drizzle, sayo shigure 小夜時雨, さよしぐれ

"village shower", passing winter shower, mura shigure　村時雨

first winter shower of the season, hatsushigure　初時雨はつしぐれ
..... first cold rain after the 8th of November

"shower month" 10th month of the old lunar calendar, shigurezuki 時雨月, しぐれづき

scattered winter showers, kata shigure 片時雨
winter drizzle from the North, kita shigure　北時雨
winter drizzle from the side, yoko shigure 横時雨

winter drizzle in the Kitayama (North Mountain) district of Kyoto
..... Kitayama shigure　北山時雨
"rain in the mountains", yamameguri　山めぐり

soaking cold rain, eki-u 液雨, えきう
..... an old Chinese term for the cold rains, starting from 10 days after the beginning of winter (立冬) as
beginning of the winter drizzle season, nyuueki　入液

autum leaves coloring in a winter drizzle, shigure iro　時雨の色　しぐれのいろ

"sound of the drizzle in a river", kawa oto no shigure 川音の時雨
..... the river sounds like a winter drizzle
"sound of a drizzle in the pines", matsukaze no shigure　松風の時雨
..... the wind in the pines sounds like a winter drizzle
"sound of a drizzle on the autumn leaves", ko no ha no shigure　木の葉の時雨
..... the rustling of leaves sounds like a winter drizzle
.. all expressions known since the Heian period.

clouds of a winter drizzle, shiguregumo 時雨雲

umbrella for a winter drizzle, shiguregasa　時雨傘

"It feels like a drizzle", shigure gokochi 時雨心地　しぐれごこち

drizzling, sleet is falling, shigururu　しぐるる

"tears like a winter drizzle", namida no shigure 涙の時雨
"a sleeve wet from cold tears" tamoto no shigure 袖の時雨
..... expressions used since the Heian period

a famous folk-song called "Sansa Shigure" さんさ時雨

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autumn shower, aki shigure 秋時雨
kigo for autumn

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Read more about "Shigure" in the University of Virginia Saijiki 　

Click HERE to see more items of Japanese Culture with
the name of SHIGURE
Sweets, rice wine, special regional dishes and many more

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Worldwide use

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Things found on the way

Shigure-Den 時雨殿　in Kyoto

The two-story Shigure-den (Autumn Shower Palace) in Arashiyama is a museum where people can experience and learn about the Hyakunin Isshu. This building is two storeys high. In the main room, there are many 45-inch, liquid-crystal monitors that display 70 large karuta cards and images of the city of Kyoto on the floor. You can take part in several activities here.
©　Kyoto University of Foreign Studies.

Card Games (karuta) Japanese Poetry and Haiku

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HAIKU

the sound of iced rain
dripping
in the bamboo grove

© Photo and Haiku
Gabi Greve, 2005 　

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音は時雨か
oto wa shigure ka

the sound, oh,
it's sleet !

Santoka (Santooka　山頭火)　
Read a discussion of the Translating Haiku Forum

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初しぐれ猿も小蓑をほしげ也
hatsushigure saru mo komino o hoshigenari

first snow shower -
even the monkeys would want
a straw raincoat
(Tr. Gabi Greve) 　

... ... ...

霧時雨　富士を見ぬ日ぞおもしろき
kiri-shigure fuji o minu hi zo omoshiroki

misty rain.
the day when I don't see Mt. Fuji:
most fascinating!
(Tr. Susumu Takiguchi)

Matsuo Basho

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hibi hibi ni shigure no fureba hito oinu

day after day after day
only cold drizzle with snow ー
I am getting older　

Ryokan (Ryookan 良寛)　

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More Winter drizzle / shigure / Japanese haiku
時雨：日本語の俳句集

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... when Bashō composes a haiku that is the same as one by Sōgi but for one word

yo ni furu mo/ sara ni Sōgi no/ yadori kana
世にふるもさらに宗祇のやどり哉

yo ni furu mo/ sara ni shigure no/ yadori kana
よにふるもさらにそうぎのやどりかな

his poem is considered an original work, for that one word, that one small change, alters the whole. The new poem thereby establishes roots, and strengthens the roots of its predecessor, in the native tradition.
Translators constantly make such changes; this is unavoidable when one is transferring data from one language into another, for there are no perfect inter-lingual synonyms. Is their work not therefore original?
©　Michael Haldane

Iio Sogi (1421 - 1502)

Passing through the world
Indeed this is just
A shelter from the shower.

Life in this world
is brief as time spent sheltered
from winter showers

The Green Leaf

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Related words

***** cicada shower, cicada chorus, semi shigure 蝉時雨せみしぐれ
kigo for late summer
..... see Cicada (semi)

***** dew shower, tsuyu shigure 露しぐれ,つゆしぐれ
kigo for autumn
..... see Dew, dewdrops (tsuyu)

***** insect shower, insect chorus, mushi shigure 虫時雨むししぐれ
kigo for autumn
..... see Insects (mushi)

***** Winter-Drizzle Anniversary, Bashō's (Death) Anniversary / Basho's Memorial Day, shigure ki 時雨忌しぐれき
kigo for early winter
..... see Basho Memorial Day (Basho-Ki)

***** .. .. .. .. Rain in various KIGO (Japan)

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Please send your contributions to Gabi Greve
worldkigo .....

Back to the Worldkigo Index
http://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.com/

Wisteria Cutting

2006-11-09T19:08:00.000-08:00

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Wisteria Cutting Ceremony (Fuji Kiri Eshiki)

***** Location: Japan, Yamanashi Prefecture
***** Season: Early Summer. May 8
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

藤切り会式、大善寺（山梨県勝沼町）

This ceremony takes place at the temple Daizen-Ji in Yamanashi prefecture on May 8. (It used to be May 14.)

Since this ceremony is not an official kigo, it is sometimes used with other kigo in haiku.

The parishioners of this temple cut some strong wisteria vines, some more than 5 to 6 cm in diameter and about 30 meters long, and bind them into a ring (fujitsuru　藤蔓, symbolizing the fearful snake. At the front they bind a red piece of cloth, symbolizing the horns and bloody tongue. They also paint eyes on it.

Two days before the festival, they erect a special tree trunk (go shinki　御神木) of about 7 meters in the temple grounds and wind this snake around it seven and a half times.

On the day of the festival, mountain ascetics proceede, blowing their conches, and the young and student monks walk along with them. There is also some entertainment, like the young ones dancing and a dance with swords.

Finally a mountain ascetic (yamabushi　山伏) climbs up the tree, cuts the "snake" and throws it among the crowd, who try each to capture a piece of it. The pieces serve as talismans for good harvest and protect from evil.

Since the vines of the wisteria are bound together strongly, the more you tear, the more they hold together. Sometimes it takes the firebrigade and a saw to cut them apart. In former times, each farmer was even allowed to bring his own saw.

The festival is held in memory of En no Gyoja (En no Gyooja 役の行者, who fought with a fierce snake at Mt. Omine San.

In the long course of time, the name of this festival came to be used as a kigo for haiku.
This area of Yamanashi is also famous for its grapes, see the story below.

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大善寺藤切り祭りだいぜんじふじきりまつり

大蛇を形どる藤づるを法印で刀で切り落とし、参拝者が奪い合う勇壮な祭り。ぶどうの歴史と深く関わる大善寺は、行基の創建として伝えられる古刹で、本尊の薬師如来（重要文化財）を安置している薬師堂は国宝に指定されている。

http://www.rurubu.com/event/detail.asp?ID=12438

Main HP of the Temple (in Japanese)

This temple belongs to the Shingon sect of Esoteric Buddhism.

Statue of Yakushi Nyorai, the Buddha of Healing
http://katsunuma.ne.jp/~daizenji/
http://katsunuma.ne.jp/~daizenji/kito.htm

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Worldwide use

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Things found on the way

Quote from the pilgrim G. Blankestijn

The Yakushi Hall

After buying a ticket at the temple office, I walk up a stone staircase, pass through an old gate, and then stand in front of the square Yakushi Hall. Five-bays wide, its dark brown walls supporting a shingled roof with slightly upturned corners, it forms a perfect harmony between strength and elegance. The temple's founding predates the hall by three centuries, but from that period only three statues, the Yakushi triad in the zushi, the closed altar cabinet, remain, and those are usually not on view.

The altar cabinet itself, dating from 1473, is a national treasure, and is beautifully decorated with woodcarvings. On the flanks of the altar other statues from the Kamakura period such as Nikko and Gekko, the Boddhisattvas of the Sun and Moon, have been placed.

I receive a detailed explanation about the temple's history from a friendly and loquacious priest in the hall, while I kneel in the shadows before the altar. He apologizes for the fact that I can not view the main image, the Yakushi. "A hidden Buddha, it is only shown once every five years, and then only for a few days. But there is a picture of the statue on the altar."

The large color picture in front of the zushi is so realistic, that in the dark hall I first took it for the real image. The Yakushi has a strong and individualized face, as is the case with other statues from early Heian. The priest then speaks about something new to me: the strong link between the temple and the grapevines surrounding it, through the person of the Yakushi. The Yakushi is the Buddha of Healing, both mentally and physically, and is often depicted carrying a small medicine jar in his left hand. In the past, temples in Japan fulfilled the same function as Europe's monasteries: that of hospitals, infirmaries and apothecaries. They often possessed gardens where medicinal herbs were grown.

The Healing Grape
And one of those herbs," explains the priest, "was the grape." The grape, of course, is loaded with symbolism also in the West. In Christianity, grape wine symbolizes the blood of Christ. Wine is the elixir of life. Behind this may also have been a belief in the healing properties of the grape itself.

"In Central Asia and China," continues the priest, "there are statues of the Yakushi carrying a grape instead of the medicine jar. The grape was a medicine, and people also believed that it served to ward off evil. Of course, the grape was not indigenous to Japan, but it was brought here with Buddhism from the Asian mainland."

The Healing Buddha has brought the grape to Katsunuma. In Daizenji and other temples, this medicinal plant from Central Asia was grown in the herb garden. Without the temples, there would have been no grapevines. Is it therefore thanks to Daizenji that Yamanashi is famous for its wine?

"That is a bit exaggerated," smiles the modest priest. "Moreover, the old vines were quite a different type from today's Muscat grapes, that have been crossbred with varieties from overseas." Nevertheless, it is a nice thought that this tranquil temple is responsible for one of the pillars of Yamanashi Prefecture's modern economy and tourism. It is an aspect that is apparently forgotten - I have not found it mentioned in any guidebook.

I walk around the hall, and inspect the statues on the altar from close range. Looking at the woodcarvings of the altar cabinet, I discover something that strengthens the priest's theory about the link between the Yakushi Buddha and the grapevines: along the top of the sides of the cabinet elaborate vines have been carved.

Copyright © 2003-2006 Ad G. Blankestijn

Yakushi Nyorai by Mark Schumacher

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HAIKU

一山に　秘めたる祭り　五月来る
hito yama ni himetaru matsuri gogatsu kuru

石原林ヶ Ishihara

the festival brings
mystery to the temple ground -
May has come
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

藤切会　待つ少年の　五月来る
Fujikiri-e matsu shoonen no gogatsu kuru

坂本普　Sakamoto

Cutting the Wisteria Vines -
the boy waited so long,
now May has come
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

Buddhist and Shinto Events, Saijiki

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藤切りや　我が煩悩も　切り去りぬ
fujikiri ya waga bonnoo mo kirisarinu

Fuji Cutting !
all my delusions are
cut and gone

Gabi Greve
More about Bonno, the 108 worldly delusions

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Related words

***** Wisteria blossoms (fuji, fuji no hana　藤)
kigo for late spring

Click HERE to look at some photos. 藤の花.

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Please send your contributions to Gabi Greve
worldkigo .....

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http://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.com/

Wintersweet (roobai)

2006-11-09T18:41:00.000-08:00

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Wintersweet (roobai, Japan)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Late Winter
***** Category: Plant

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Explanation

Roobai, lit. "Wax Plum" 蝋梅
Chinese T'ang Plum, karaume 唐梅
Chinese Nanking Plum, Nankin Ume 南京梅

This is a very good smelling waxlike strong flower on a shrub, blooming even if it is snowing outside, a very tough old girl. She grows right next to a red-flowering camellia in my garden, giving even the bleakest winter day some glow of color. Her smell does not transmit via internet, that is too bad.

The Japanese name "Wax Plum" is taken from the flower, which looks like made from bee's wax.

This flower comes from China and has been introduced to Japan during the Edo period. It is a favorite for Bonsai too. The sweet smell and the wax-like flowers during the winter months make it a favorite. Together with the Camellia, Plum and Narcissus it is one of the Four Flowers of Winter of the old Chinese poetry tradition.

During the flowering seaseon, January to February, there are no leaves yet and the flowers sit on every knot, facing downward. A variety with rather large flowers is called Dan Roobai　壇蝋梅. A variety with a specially sweet smell and bright yellow flowers is called True Heart Wintersweet, soshin roobai 素心蝋梅 Chimonanthus praecox form. concolor. This variety is all yellow, even in the inside, where the other varieties show a little purple or red.

Even if the name has the Chinese character for PLUM, this plant does not belong to the plum family.

Gabi Greve

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Chimonanthus praecox - Wintersweet
The Greek name means Winter Flower (cheimon anthos).

A nice painting
http://washimo.web.infoseek.co.jp/illust/roubai.htm

Japanese Links with photos

http://www.hana300.com/roubai1.html
http://www.hana300.com/roubai2.html
http://www.hana300.com/roubai.html

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Worldwide use

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Things found on the way

The Japanese reading of ROOBAI ろうばい, ロウバイ　should not be confused with the
OLD PLUM TREE roobai 老梅.

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HAIKU

蝋梅や　遠くある父の　庭思う

first wax-forsythia -
reminding me of
father's far-away garden

Gabi Greve
Wintersweet, Roobai

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蝋梅や　雪うち透す　枝のたけ
roobai ya yuki uchi sukasu eda no take

Akutagawa Ryuunosuke 芥川龍之介
http://www.wood.co.jp/haiku/s-aku.htm

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Related words

Forsythia (Forsythia suspensa)
kigo for mid-spring

rengyoo, 連翹　れんぎょう
itachigusa いたちぐさ, itachihaze　いたちはぜ

The land of origin is China, but now it is found in gardens all over the world. Its energetic flowers represent the joys of spring very well.

december sunshine -
an early forsythia
streches its head

Gabi Greve, December 2006 Look at the photo !

Click HERE for more photos !

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***** Spring (haru, Japan)

***** Camellia (tsubaki) Sasanka

***** Plum blossom (ume) Japan

***** Narcissus

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Please send your contributions to Gabi Greve
worldkigo .....

Back to the Worldkigo Index
http://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.com/

Withering wind (kogarashi)

2006-11-09T14:55:00.000-08:00

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Withering Wind, Cold Gale (kogarashi)

***** Location: Japan, other areas
***** Season: Early Winter
***** Category: Heavens

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Explanation

This is one of the first really cold winds, when the last leaves are swept from the trees. Literally it means "tree-witherer".

withering wind, cold wind
kogarashi　木枯らし, 木枯, 凩

Echigo Mountains, Echigo Yama, see below

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World Haiku Review
COLD WIND, by Susumu Takiguch

In the Edo Period, kogarashi was used either for autumn or winter, but it is now a kigo for early winter. It is the cold and strong north or west wind in October and November, which withers leaves and blows them off the trees. However, it seems that the emphasis is more on the strength of the wind than on its coldness.

kogarashi ya umi ni yuhi o fuki-otosu
(Natsume Soseki)

withering wind
blows the setting sun
down to the sea
(ST version)

kogarashi ya hoshi fuki-kobosu umi no ue
(Masaoka Shiki)

withering wind --
stars are blown scattered
over the sea
(ST version)

kogarashi ya ishi fuki-tobasu Ohi-gawa
(Hasegawa Reyoko)

winter gale --
blowing rocks away
at the Ohi-gawa River
(ST version)

kogarashi ni Asama no kemuri fuki-chiru ka
(Takahama Kyoshi)

withering wind --
would the smoke of Asama vocano
be blown everywhere
(ST version)

Some other samples where the strength of kogarashi is not that apparent: -

kogarashi no hikkakari iru toge no ki
(Hara Yutaka)

withering wind --
caught and hanging on
to the hilltop tree
(ST version)

kogarashi ya me yori toridasu ishi no tsubu
(Watanabe Hakusen)

winter gale --
I get out grit
from my eyes
(ST version)

umi ni dete kogarashi kaeru tokoro nashi
(Yamaguchi Seishi)

blowing into the sea
withering wind has now
no place to return
(ST version)

*This haiku was written in October 1944 and the Kamikaze pilots were flying to the sea then.

kogarashi ya mezashi ni nokoru umi no iro
(Akutagawa Ryunosuke)

withering wind --
faint on the dried sardines
the colour of the sea
(ST version)

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Worldwide use

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Things found on the way

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HAIKU

> kogarashi ga
> iki o hisomeru
> ike no fuchi

The wintry wind
Hides its breath
In the pond's depths

Toshiaki from Canda: A Love Story enfolds

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木枯らしの吹き行くうしろ姿かな　

嵐雪

kogarashi no fukiyuku ushirosugata kana

withering winds -
blow and gone, we see
its backside now
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

写真は木枯らし１号に耐える尾花
東松山葛袋, 撮影　11月13日
http://www.geocities.jp/tokihikok/masaji/haiku/oriori/2004/fuyu/kogarashi.html

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kogarashi no hate wa arikeri umi no oto

bitter winter wind
ends there --
sound of the sea

IKENISHI Gonsui (1650-1722)

comment:
The word kogarashi reminds us Japanese of the bitter cold wind in the winter which may be beyond imagination for people in warmer countries. I have spent some winters in a colder country than Japan, but I felt the Japanese winter was much colder than that. It may be because of the moisture and the housing architecture. The kogarashi in the Edo Period must have been much severer than now, which may explain the reason why this haiku became popular then.

Gonsui, later surely influenced modern poets like YAMAGUCHI Seishi who wrote a related haiku about the WW II suicide bomber pilots in his famous haiku:

umi ni dete kogarashi kaeru tokoro nashi

out to the sea --
bitter winter wind
has no place to return

Haiku Selected by SATO Kazuo
http://www.haiku-hia.com/kongetsu_en05.html

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Kogarashi ya
Take ni kakurete
Shizumarinu

Matsuo Basho

Amid the wintry gust
Disappears amid the bamboos
And subsides to a calm
(Tr. Toshinaka)

(note the opposition of motion and stillness in the poem, "there is a delicate harmony between the two senses"(Ueda, 48))
http://mll.kenyon.edu/~japanese02/J28sp99/projects/tohinaka/1/1.html

A wintry gust
disappears amid the bamboos
and subsides to a calm.
(© Makoto Ueda)

Порывистый листобой
спрятался в рощу бамбука
и понемногу утих.
(© Вера Маркова)
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/dmitrismirnov/BASHO_Haiku_K2.html

withering gales !
they hide in the bamboo
and subside
(Tr. Gabi Greve, 2006)

Here is a photo of my bamboo grove. Click on the photo to see more !

More versions of this haiku and a discussion of kogarashi and fuyu no arashi (winter storm):

R. H. Blyth:

The winter tempest
Hid itself in the bamboos,
And grew still.

Robert Hass:

The winter storm
hid in the bamboo grove
and quieted away.

Jane Reichhold:

a withering wind
hiding in the bamboo
has calmed down

Stephen Addiss (with Fumiko and Akira Yamamoto):

The winter storm
hides in the bamboo
and becomes silent

Contributed by Larry Bole
Translating Haiku Forum

... ... ...

poliyunna kaatu
mulangoottathil
olinju illaathaay

this Haiku in Malayalam, by Narayanan Raghunathan

... ... ...

withering wind
hidden in the bamboo
subsides

Tr. Grzegorz Sionkowski. Read the discussion too.

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山寺や木がらしの上に寝るがごと
yamadera ya kogarashi no ue ni neru ga goto

Kobayashi Issa

mountain temple--
like it's lying down
on the winter wind

Hiroshi Kobori comments on the word, kogarashi ("winter wind").
In early Japanese poetry, this refers to the wind that blows through trees, breaking branches and turning the leaves brown. By Issa's time it means "a dry windy day during the late autumn--deep winter season."
It is classified as a winter season word.

More haiku about the "kogarashi" from Issa
Tr. David Lanoue

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Echigo Mountains Echigo yama　
越後山　えちごやま

こがらしや隣と云もえちご山
kogarashi ya kabe no ushiro wa echigo yama

winter wind--
behind the wall
is the deep north

Issa (tr. David Lanoue)

Issa ends this haiku with the phrase, echigo yama ("Echigo mountain[s]"). Echigo is one of the old provinces of Japan, today's Niigata Prefecture. A northern land, it is famous for its coldness. For this reason, French translator L. Mabesoone renders the closing phrase, as ("la frontière du nord": "the northern frontier"; Issa to kuhi (Tokyo: Kankohkai 2003) 49.
This seems a reasonable solution to the following problem: in Issa's time "the mountains of Echigo" would have been synonymous with a cold place in the north, but for most English readers this connotation is nonexistent.

ледяной ветер
застеной начинаетсяполя
рная ночь
(Russian by Eugene Wasserstrom)

夜涼や足でかぞへるえちご山
yo suzumi ya ashi de kazoeru echigo yama

evening cool--
with my feet counting
the mountains of Echigo

"Evening cool" is a kigo for summer.

More haiku by Issa about the cold Echigo Mountains

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Related words

***** WIND in various kigo

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Please send your contributions to Gabi Greve
worldkigo .....

Back to the WHC Worldkigo Index
http://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.com/

Wind in various kigo (kaze)

2006-11-09T12:05:00.000-08:00

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Wind (kaze, Japan)

***** Location: Japan, worldwide
***** Season: many seasons, see below

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Explanation

The God of Wind, Fuujin 風神

http://www.emuseum.jp/cgi/pkihon.cgi?SyoID=2&ID=w307&SubID=s000

WIND just like that (kaze 風 )
is not a kigo in Japan but a nonseasonal topic.
The same holds for the word STORM.

But since the wind is a constant partner throughout the year, there are many detailed phenomenon used as kigo for it.

Let us go through the seasons.

Read about the Japanese Gods of the Elements, including the God of Wind
by Gabi Greve
http://darumapilgrim.blogspot.com/2005/02/suijin-god-of-water.html

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spring wind -
the mind just soars and soars
and soars

© Photo and Haiku by Gabi Greve
http://happyhaiku.blogspot.com/2005/04/wind.html

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Spring

spring breeze (harukaze 春風、haru no kaze 春の風)
The reading of "shunpuu しゅんぷう" is not frequent in haiku.
This is a soft and gentle wind on a sunny day. spring wind sounds too general as a translation, since in could be a strong wind, a soft wind or any other kind.

Spring Breeze, more haiku

first strong south wind in Spring, haru ichiban　春一番
this is followed by second, third and fourth South wind
..... haru niban 春二番, haru sanban　春三番, haru yonban　春四番
This is usually quite a strong storm or gusty wind on the coast of the East side of Japan, toward the end of February. After haru ichiban, we know that spring is coming.

East wind (kochi 東風)
strong East wind (tsuyogochi　強東風)
morning East wind (asagochi　朝東風)
evening East wind (yuugochi　夕東風)
real East wind, magochi　正東風
larks East wind, hibarigochi　雲雀東風
plum blossoms and East wind, umegochi 梅東風
cherry blossom and East wind, sakuragochi 桜東風

shell-drawing wind (kaiyose 貝寄風,貝寄) west wind of late March or early April
On February 22 of the lunar calendar, there was a festival at the temple Tenoo-Ji in Osaka. People used to collect shells which the wind had brought to the shores and use them as an offering to the gods. It is usually a western seasonal wind and rather strong.

Nirvana West wind (nehan nishi 涅槃西風)
Higan West wind (higan nishi　彼岸西風)
West wind during the Nirvana festival (Nehan-e, March 15) or spring equinox.

wind up a mountain, Hira hakkoo　比良八荒
..... hakkoo no are 八講の荒れ
Usually the wind comes down from the mountain peak (oroshi　降ろし）, but sometimes in spring the situations is just the opposite. This is a rather strong western wind, most frequent in March at Lake Biwa.
Hira is a famous mountain range there and the downwind is called "Hira oroshi".

http://koayu.eri.co.jp/Biwadas/wd010324.htm

breeze during snow melt (yukige kaze 雪解風)

breeze on the tree buds (ko no me kaze 木の芽風)
There are some other nice kigo with the tree buds, like "ko no me doki" time of the tree buds.

shining spring wind, kaze hikaru　風光る
On a fine sunny spring day, when nature is gently swaying in the breeze.

strong spring wind, haru hayate 春疾風
spring storm, haru are 春荒
..... haru arashi 春嵐

North wind in Spring, haru kita　春北風
..... kurogeta くろげた
Usually in March, when the winter weather patterns begin to change, but come back once more to a cold breeze. Especially feared at the coastline of the Japanese Sea. In Tamba the fishermen call it kurogeta and are afraid to go out on sea, because the boats frequently fall pray to the wind.

gentle south wind on the cherry blossoms, sakuramaji　桜まじ
maji is a gentle Spring wind, usually in Kyushu.

"oily south wind", aburamaji 油まじ
..... abura kaze　油風, aburamaze 油まぜ
Southern wind in the areas of Tookai, Kinki, Chuugoku and the Seto Inland sea. IT is a gentle wind and makes the sea look like oil had been poored on it.

.. .. .. Wind in other spring words

toy balloon, "wind ship" （fuusen　風船)
traditionally made of paper (kami fuusen 紙風船)
lately of rubber (gomu fuusen ゴム風船).
seller of balloons, fuusen uri 風船売（ふうせんうり）
baloon, Luftballon.

This does not include the
hot air balloon (バルーン baruun, 気球 kikyuu).
They are a TOPIC.

windwheel (kazaguruma 風車)

http://www.chikuen.com/japanese/category2.html

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Summer

summer wind （natsukaze 夏風）
south wind (nanpuu, minami 南風 hae はえ)
..... White southern wind（shirahae) 白南風しらはえ
cool breeze, refreshing breeze （ryoofuu, suzukaze 涼風)
fragrant breeze, balmy breeze, scented breeze (kunpuu　薫風、kaze kaoru　風薫)
this is best not translated as, for example, scented WIND.

breeze on green rice paddies (aota kaze 青田風)
The breeze that wafts across the field is called aota kaze (青田風[あおたかぜ]); the wave of paddy created by the wind is aota nami (青田波 [あおたなみ]); the time is aota doki (青田時[あおたどき]); and the path that cuts across the field is aota michi (青田道[あおたみち]).

breeze of a waterfall (takikaze 滝風)

wind on young leaves (wakabakaze 若葉風)

summer storm, "Green Tempest" (natsu arashi 夏嵐,ao-arashi 青嵐)

thunderstorm, "thunder and rain" (raiu, rai-u　雷雨)
The etymology is traced to the native Japanese word "the roar of the gods" (神鳴 [かみなり] kaminari). The Chinese character "god"（神 [かみ] kami）signified both thunder and thunder god. On the link mentioned above you can also see the "God of Thunder", carrying his drums to make the sound.

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wind is dying, kaze shisu 風死す
when the wind is dying down in the early afternoon on a hot summer day and you feel the heat especially hot

風暴れやがて風死す漁村かな
kaze abare yagate kaze shisu ya gyoson kana

stormy wind
changing to dying wind -
a fishing village

http://www.nhk.or.jp/haiku/html/haiku15-6-14.htm

風死すや能登塩田の筋目引く
kaze shisu ya Noto enden no sujime hiku

wind dying down -
drawing straight lines in
the salt fields of Noto

www.acc-n.com/haikutaikai3.htm

Tr. Gabi Greve
The Salt Fields of Japan

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Monsoon ..(India, South Asia) is also connected with the seasonal changes of the wind.

.. .. .. wind in other summer words

airing out （kaze-ire 風入)

ventilator, electrical fan （senpuuki 扇風機)

Wind Chimes (fuurin 風鈴）

Canterbury bells, lit. Wind Chime Flowers (fuurinsoo　風鈴草)
Campanula medium

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Autumn

autumn breeze, autumn wind, wind of autumn
(akikaze, shuufuu, aki no kaze 秋風)
carries with it the sound of rustling leaves
This wind is associated with the color WHITE. "The wind of autumn has no color (iro naki kaze)" is an old saying, therefore it is white.

Read more about this color by clicking on the following haiku:

ishiyama no ishi yori shiroshi aki no kaze

autumn wind
whiter than the white cliffs
of this mountain

Matsuo Basho
Tr. Gabi Greve

first Autumn storm, hatsu arashi 初嵐
(early autumn)
Usually from end of autust till mid-september, but not as strong a storm as a real typhoon of the autumn season. It is followed by the nowaki, see below.

Typhoon (Japan) Hurricane
oshiana おしあな
typhoon-like wind from south-east.

wild autumn flowers in the wind (hananokaze 花野風)
This refers to fields bright with blossoms of autumn flowers. As the season reaches its peak, a wide variety of wild plants flowers or ripens into seed, to be tossed in the autumn winds. Broad expanses of fields at the feet of mountains may turn bright with color when the autumn flowers are in bloom. Wildflowers have a distinctive beauty unlike that of cultivated flowers -- and a slightly desolate quality that appears when they are briefly at their peak and about to fall. The seasonal word hanano, associated with autumn, was already in use by medieval waka and linked verse poets. It has long been a favorite of haikai poets, as well.

voice of autumn　(aki no koe　秋の声, shuusei 秋声)
"sound of autumn" (aki no oto　秋の音)
particularly at night: wind in trees, plants; patter of leaves, rain; insect cries; and so on
"feeling autumn" (shuuki （秋気).

"voice of the reeds", wind in the reeds, ogi no koe 荻の声
(early autumn)

storm, equinoctial storm "Field Divider" (nowaki 野分, nowake　野分け)
(mid-autumn)
apparently an old name for "typhoon", in haikai understood to emphasize the wind, as opposed to typhoons in which rain is most prominent.
The simple translation "windstorm" for this one seems problematic, after all, any storm is a windstorm.

taro-storm , taro-tempest (imo-arashi 芋嵐)
(mid-autumn)
wind strong enough to batter the leaves of a taro plant

mountain wind in the Seto Inland Sea area
yamaze　やまぜ, yamaji　やまじ
It blows from the mountains down to the flat costal areas.

"wind at the end of O-Bon", okuri maze 送りまぜ、送南風
South wind at the end of the O-Bon festival, according to the Lunar Calendar.
... Southern Wind, maji　南風
In Central Japan, this was the wind along the coast that would send the old sailing ships on their way toward the North, for trade with Hokkaido.

Northern Wind, "great western wind" takanishi　高西風
Wind from Northwest, especially in Kyushu and the Sanin Region of Western Japan.
It blows when it is time for harvesting the rice fields, and was therefore also called
"blowing away the chafs" momi otoshi 籾落とし

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Winter

winter wind, fuyu no kaze 冬の風 (ふゆのかぜ)
..... fuuyukaze 冬風（ふゆかぜ）
cold wind, kanpuu 寒風（かんぷう）
wind makes it cold, kaze sayuru 風冴ゆる（かぜさゆる）
wind makes it freezing, itekaze 凍て風（いてかぜ）

dry wind, sorakaze 空風 (からかぜ)
karakkaze 空っ風（からっかぜ）
anaji 乾風 (あなじ)
..... anaze あなぜ、anashiあなし
dry cold wind from Siberia, blowing into Western Japan

Strong Sibirian winds blowing into Northern Japan along the Sea of Japan coast,
tamakaze たま風 (たまかぜ)
tabakaze たば風（たばかぜ）

strong wind in the bay of Tokyo, bettoo べっとう

Withering Wind kogarashi, Cold Gales. Early Winter.

north wind, kita 北風　（きた）
..... kita kaze 北風（きたかぜ）
hokufuu北風（ほくふう）、sakufuu 朔風（さくふう
saku means north
..... narai ならい , 北風（ならい）
northwind blowing, kita saku 北吹く（きたふく）
strong northern wind, oogita 大北風（おおぎた）
northwind in the morning, asagita 朝北風（あさぎた）

north wind coming down the mountains, kita oroshi
北颪きたおろし
..... kitaoroshi 北下し（きたおろし）
..... kita shibuki 北しぶき (きたしぶき)

Some mountains are especially famous for its cold winds:
cold wind down from Mt. Asama, Asama oroshi
cold wind down from Mt. Akagi, Akagi oroshi
cold wind down from Mt. Ibuki, Ibuki oroshi
cold wind down from Mt. Hieizan, Hiei oroshi
cold wind down from Mt. Rokko, Rokko oroshi

snowstorm "wind and snow" (fuusetsu　風雪)

"wind flowers" snowflakes (kazahana 風花)

© Photo Gabi Greve
http://happyhaiku.blogspot.com/2005/04/sunbeam-for-us-all.html

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wind is crying, kaze ga naku　風が泣く
wind caught in the fences and hedges, like a flute, mogaribue 虎落笛　（もがりぶえ)

wind through the small apertures of a building,
sukimakaze 隙間風　（すきまかぜ）
himamoru kaze ひま洩る風　（ひまもるかぜ）
hima, here means sukima.

cut of the skin by a cold sucking wind,
"sickle weasel", kamaitachi 鎌鼬 (かまいたち)
kamakaze 鎌風（かまかぜ）
itachi is a weasel, people thought of this like the bite of a weasel.
WKD : Weasel : A sword named "Sickle-Weasel".

hoshi no irigochi 星の入東風 (ほしのいりごち)
early winter

"Gods are leaving" kami watashi 神渡し (かみわたし)
kami tatsu kaze 神立風（かみたつかぜ）
According to the old lunar calendar in Novemer, when the deities of Japan, who gathered in Izumo, take leave and go back to their local areas.
There is usually a strong wind in the Izumo area.

sechigochi 節東風 (せちごち)
late winter
yooka buki 八日吹き (ようかぶき)
shiwasu yookabuki 師走八日吹き（しわすようかぶき）

Strong wind on the Kobo Daishi Day, daishi koo buki
大師講吹き
According to the old lunar calendar in November. Day of Kobo Daishi is the 21 of each month.
WKD : Kobo Daishi Kukai

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Worldwide use

Egypt, North Africa
Khamsin wind

Europa
Storm, Gale in Europe Sturm

Kenya
November wind

List of Local Winds
http://mediatheek.thinkquest.nl/~ll118/en/development/types.list.html

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Things found on the way

There is a famous haiku by Matsuo Basho about the white wind of autumn.

ishiyama no ishi yori shiroshi aki no kaze
石山の石より白し秋の風

whiter than the white stones
of Ishiyama mountain <>
autumn wind

(Tr. Gabi Greve)

According to the Erh Ya, one of the earliest Chinese dictionaries,　green is the color of spring, red is the color of summer, white is the color of autumn, and black is the color of winter. The spirit of　autumn is clear and white. Thus, the autumn wind is characterized as　a white wind that is the message of this poem.

Read more about this haiku of Basho here:
Stone Mountain, Ishiyama

... The Color WHITE in Haiku

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HAIKU

春風や　堤長うして　家遠し
harukaze ya dote nagoo-shite ie tooshi

spring breeze -
the river bank so long and
my home so far
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

Yosa Buson

Read more about this famous haiku and its translations here.

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kaze no oto
takeyabu ni kaze
matsu ni kaze

The sound of wind
Wind in the bamboo grove
Wind in the pines

Read a special essay about "The sound of wind" kaze no oto
by Gabi Greve
http://happyhaiku.blogspot.com/2005/04/quietude-and-ant.html

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© 2005, M. Shanna Moore, Hawaii

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wind -- amidst
new oak leaves,
your goodbye

Ella W.

(the new oak leaves place this as a spring haiku).

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Japanese reference
WKD: 風の民俗学
Winds of Japan

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Back to the Worldkigo Index
http://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.com/

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Wild Boar (inoshishi) (05)

2006-11-09T05:50:00.000-08:00

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Wild Boar (inoshishi, Japan)

***** Location: Japan, other regions
***** Season: Late Autumn
***** Category: Animal

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Explanation

The ancestor of the farmer's pig, this wild one roams the forests of all of Japan, excluding Hokkaido, so they say. It sleeps during the daytime and comes out the feed in the evening. It likes small animals like mice, earthworms and river crabs, but also feeds on rice and other grains, fruit and nuts. The farmers of course do not like to share their rice harvest with the wild boars. Smile at the story of old Basho and his fellow farmers below, not much different from my life in the mountains here !

Nowadays, all rice fields in my area are sourrounded by electric fences or metal fences. But since the boars easily jump more than one meter, it does not help much. After the typhoon in September 2005, we have them as twighlight visitors on the fields around the home and spend supper listening to them shoving through the nearby bamboo grove, making eerie sounds as they waddle past.

During the Edo period, poor country people started eating the meat of this "whale of the forest" and called the meat peony (botan). The meat of deer was maple leaf (momiji) and that of the horses was called cherry blossoms (sakura). Thus the pious Buddhists could pretend to eat vegetarian. The raw meat is arranged on the plate to look like a peony flower, see below. It is then put in a broth and boiled together with vegetables.

I remember a "Wild boar party" when our local hunter had shot one animal and invited all the neighbourhood to participate in its decimation. The carcass was placed on his pickup truck in the garden and everyone could cut his favorite piece, eat it raw with garlic (sashimi), boil it to stew in a large pot or eat it in noodle soup, barbeque it or whatever. The taste of raw wild boar bacon was quite delicious ! By the time all had eaten for 6 hours or more, not much than the tail was left of the animal. Even the bones had disappeared in some stomach. And the whole boiled head was a special delicacy, with eyeballs and all eaten...

Gabi Greve, September 2005

Uribo Baby Boar and his Mother
by Mondo Takagaki, my friend

Bizenyaki―Bizen Pottery - 備前焼

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Other Japanese kigo with this animal:

wild boar, inoshishi, Sus scrofa いのしし、猪
..... yacho 野猪, shishi　猪
baby boar, uribo 瓜坊 (means melon boy)
whale of the mountain forest, yamakujira 山鯨

watch keeper against the boars, shishi ban　猪番
path of the boars, shishi michi 猪道
fence agains the boars, shishi gaki 猪垣
trap to catch boars, shishi wana　猪罠

meat of the wild boar, shishi niku 猪肉
wild boar stew, shishinabe 猪鍋、(kigo for winter)
..... peony stew 牡丹鍋
WASHOKU ... Meat from the Mountains 　

hunting for boars, shishkari　猪狩　(kigo for winter)

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Genjuan no ki ( The Hut of the Phantom Dwelling )
By Matsuo Basho

..... my grass hut.
Mountain home, traveler's rest-call it what you will, it's hardly the kind of place where you need any great store of belongings. A cypress bark hat from Kiso, a sedge rain cape from Koshi-that's all that hang on the post above my pillow. In the daytime, I'm once in a while diverted by people who stop to visit. The old man who takes care of the shrine or the men from the village come and tell me about the wild boar who's been eating the rice plants, the rabbits that are getting at the bean patches, tales of farm matters that are all quite new to me.

And when the sun has begun to sink behind the rim of the hills, I sit quietly in the evening waiting for the moon so I may have my shadow for company, or light a lamp and discuss right and wrong with my silhouette.

Read the whole translation here:
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Island/5022/hut.html

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At the shrine Mitsumine Jinja in Japan they sell a talisman against the damage of wild boars and deer to the crops. It is in the form of a wolf.
Read an article by Gabi Greve about

Japanese Wolf Worship
....... at Mitsumine Shrine

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Quote by Texasboars:

Here's the Inoshishi of Japan aka Yamakujira. Inoshishi translates "lion of Ino", and Yamakujira translates "mountain whale". Both names reflect the Japanese view of these creatures as being large and fierce. My son took these pics in downtown Kobe while walking to his college.

Wild Boars in Kobe City

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Worldwide use

Germany

Wildschwein.

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India

Almost wild pigs at the RiverCauvery, partaking of the offerings to the Gods !

© Photo Johannes Manjrekar

wild pigs -
even the gods have to
share food

Gabi Greve
I saw a similar scene at an offering place in Kathmandu, Nepal.

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Things found on the way

Four Choju-giga scrolls (Choojuu Giga 鳥獣戯画）
There is a famous old scroll depicting animals frolicking, mimicking human behaviour.
The Frog in the Manga

One of these paintings, the frog and wild boar
http://www.kokingumi.com/ChojuGiga/37.html

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The wild boar is one of the 12 Asian zodiac animals.
kanreki <> the circle of 60 years begins again

2007 is the Year of the Wild Boar 亥.

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HAIKU

Even a wild boar
With all other things
Blew in this storm.

Matsuo Basho
http://www.big.or.jp/~loupe/links/ehisto/ebasho.shtml

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twighlight zone -
wild boars harvesting
the fallen rice

Dämmerung -
Wildschweine ernten
den umgefallenen Reis

Read what they did after typhoon Navi in my neighbourhood.
Wild Boars , September 2005,

Gabi Greve

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tracks in the snow--
wild boars must have danced here
last night

Gabi Greve (Japan)
from the Yomiuri Shinbun, August 2005

Go-Shichi-Go / Susumu Takiguchi

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Wild Boar Stew, a kigo for Winter

http://www.eonet.ne.jp/~r1takahashi/touring/repo/2004_11_tanbasasayama.html

牡丹鍋　豊かな森の恵みかな
botan nabe -　yutaka na mori no　megumi kana

wild boar stew -
the fertile woods bestowing
delicious benefits

... ... ...

牡丹鍋　畑嵐の罰のかな
botan nabe -　hatake arashi no　batsu no kana

wild boar stew -
devastating the fields
you end up here!

… Botan is the word for Peonia flowers, since the thinly sliced meat of the wild boar is arranged to look like such a flower on a big plate. I wonder how real peonia stew would taste.

Botan Nabe, wild boar stew

Gabi Greve, 2004

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Wildschweinbraten
und ein Humpen Met -
Germanenfreuden

wild boar roast
and a mug of mead -
pleasures of the old Germans

Gabi Greve

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Related words

***** Wolf (ookami) Japan

***** Farmers work in Autumn

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WASHOKU ... Meat from the Mountains 　

Back to the Worldkigo Index
http://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.com/

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White Night

2006-11-08T10:33:00.000-08:00

nnnnnnnnnnnn TOP nnnnnnnnnnnnn

White night, midnight sun, polar day

***** Location: Polar Circles
***** Season: Mid-Summer
***** Category: Heavens

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Explanation

© Photo by Isabelle Prondzynski, 2005

White night is a night on which it never gets completely dark, because the sun does not descend sufficiently far below the horizon. This phenomenon is observed at sufficiently high latitudes in summer.

At latitudes starting from about the polar circle (also slightly below, due to refraction), instead of twilight the sun may be visible all night, which is referred to as midnight sun.

White nights have become a common symbol of Saint Petersburg, Russia, where the last 10 days of June are celebrated with cultural events. Scandinavia, where this effect can also be observed, is also known as The Land of the Midnight Sun.
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/encyclopedia/W/Wh/White_night.htm

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Read about midnight sun.

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Worldwide use

Japan

hakuya, byakuya 白夜
It is not experienced in Japan itself, but some haiku poets use it now when they are on a trip to areas, where they can see it.

Gabi Greve

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Russia

White Night in St. Petersburg

Technically speaking the so-called "White Nights" are not unique to St. Petersburg, but only here have the northern nights received such a poetic acclaim. What could be more romantic than walking along rivers and canals when night is as bright as early evening? It is the world's only metropolis where such a phenomenon takes place every summer. Every year there are days when the downtown St. Petersburg is full of people, even at night. It is a great time for those in love and ... for High School graduates who usually get their diplomas about June 21-22.

From late May to early July nights are bright in St. Petersburg, but the real White Nights normally last from June 11 to July 2. The nature of the White Nights (Beliye Nochi) can be explained by the geographical location of St. Petersburg. It is the world's most northern city with a population over 1 million. St. Petersburg is located at 59 degrees 57' North (roughly on the same latitude as Oslo, Norway, the southern tip of Greenland and Seward, Alaska).

Due to such a high latitude the sun does not go under the horizon deep enough for the sky to get dark. The dusk meets the dawn and it is so bright that in summer they do not turn street lighting on. If the weather is cloudy you might not see any White Night, though on a clear day you can get a feel for a White Night even in mid-July.
Bonne chance!

http://www.cityvision2000.com/city_tour/whitenights.htm

.. .. ..

The Mariinsky Theatre

Along with the long-awaited coming of summer to our city we are once again hosting the Stars of the White Nights festival, now in its thirteenth year. Since the time of its inception it has exerted a magnetic appeal, drawing lovers of Russian culture from all over the world to St Petersburg, each year presenting a unique programme of ballets, operas and symphony music.

The 2005 festival opens to a premiere of Richard Wagner´s opera Tristan und Isolde, which is making its return to the theatre´s repertoire almost one hundred years after the legendary production by Vsevolod Meierhold. The new production is by the young but already acclaimed Dmitry Chernyakov.

One of the distinguishing features of this year´s festival programme is the series of concerts and performances by musical ensembles and theatre companies from countries on the Baltic Sea. The opera programme includes all the premieres of the current season, performances by stars of the Mariinsky Opera Company Olga Borodina, Anna Netrebko and Vladimir Galuzin as well as world-renowned bass René Pape in Wagner´s Parsifal, the Finnish National Opera (Rasputin with Matti Salminen in the main role) and the Norwegian Opera (Peer Gynt) in addition to chamber programmes with soloists from the Mariinsky Academy of Young Singers.

http://www.mariinsky.ru/en/playbill/festivals

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Things found on the way

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HAIKU

身を燃やす白夜のパブの海賊酒

it burns my body -
this pirates liquor
in a white night
　

冬男, Fuyu Otoko, Ashita no Kai
http://www.ashitano-kai.gr.jp/f-saiziki.html

(Tr. Gabi Greve)

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midsummer night
sun rises
where it sets

That was a simple observation from the deck. The sun went down to the horizon, and then up again from (almost) the same place (we were still south of the Arctic Circle...), and the sky never lost its light where the sun was.

white night --
board games and red wine
till our eyes close

The white nights occurred when the sky remained cloudy, and we could not see the sun setting. Thus, the remaining daylight was more generally present, not pin-pointed in a particular area of the sky.

© Haiku and Photo, Isabelle Prondzynski,
from a trip to Norway in 2005

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white night
on the budding oak
puffs of snow

copyright 3/15/1999 by Wendy C. Bialek
http://haiku.cc.ehime-u.ac.jp/~shiki/shiki.archive/html/9903/0665.html

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white night -
I draw the curtains
on a daylight moon

a white night --
salmon bones curled
against a log

Cindy Zackowitz, Alaska, 1999
http://haiku.cc.ehime-u.ac.jp/~shiki/shiki.archive/html/9906/0779.html

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white night --
moon is swimming out
of the stone lion's jaws

summer midnight --
the polar sun clings
to the pine tips

Salehard summer --
the opaque-white night drips
with mosquitoes

polar midnight --
salmonberry gleaming
on the swamp hillock

Olga Hooper
From the city of Salehard, on the Polar Circle

Here are two more photos of Salehard:

http://www.t-l.ru/cgi-bin/digest.cgi?//PhotoGallery/salehard/salehard_19.jpg
(Salehard, the bank of the river Poluy)

http://www.t-l.ru/cgi-bin/digest.cgi?//PhotoGallery/salehard/salehard_17.jpg
(stella "The Polar Circle", reared right at the 66°33' parallel)

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Related words

***** Polar night : Kigo for Winter

The opposite phenomenon of white night, polar night, is observed in winter when the sun is sufficiently below the horizon, so that there is insufficient sunlight or no light at all. (A lingering dusk may occur, if the sun is only 12 degrees or less below the horizon.)
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/encyclopedia/m/mi/midnight_sun.htm

HAIKU

.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Siberian series
by Olga Hooper

Aurora Borealis
over the poor village
the splendor of lights

Polar night --
thick vapor encircles
children's laughter

New Year's cold --
again my son brings home
a stray kitten

Siberian frost --
vapor from thawed out soil
under the bitch's belly

Polar night --
sparkle of precious stones
in a tundra sky

So called "northen lights", or "Aurora Borealis" is what I try to describe in the 'Polar night' haiku. It's a magnificent show in the dark night sky over Salechard which I had the chance to witness a few times. It was a rare thing in the place where I lived, and is difficult to compare to anything else ... So, I tried to describe it as 'precious stones sparkling in the sky'.

http://thegreenleaf.co.uk/HP/Duets/Olga/00olgahaiku.htm

*****************************
Please send your contributions to Gabi Greve
worldkigo@yahoo.com

WHC Worldkigo Discussion Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WHCworldkigo/

Back to the WHC Worldkigo Index
http://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.com/

Whitebait (shirauo)

2006-11-08T09:58:00.000-08:00

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Whitebait (shirauo)

***** Location: Japan, other areas
***** Season: Early Spring
***** Category: Animal
shira uo, shira-uo
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Explanation

whitebait / icefish, shirauo 白魚シラウオ
Salanx microdon

whitebait soup, shiraojiru 白魚汁
whitebait boat, shiraoubune 白魚舟
whitebait net, shirauo-ami 白魚網

whitebait fire, shiraobi 白魚火

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They are quite a delicasy here in Japan. There are various types, usually from rivers. They are fished from rivers and lakes, usually from February to May.

http://www.akita-gulmet.net/special/

Click HERE to see some
and the way they are eaten in Japan

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Whitebait are young fish; in Europe the term applies to young herring, but in other parts of the world it is used for similar fish of other species. Whitebait are tender and edible. The entire fish is eaten including head, fins and gut but typically each 'bait' is only 25-50 mm in length and about 3 mm in cross-section.

Whitebaiting is the activity of catching whitebait.

1 New Zealand Whitebait
2 Australian Whitebait
3 United Kingdom Whitebait
4 Chinese Whitebait

© Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitebait

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Worldwide use

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Things found on the way

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HAIKU

明ぼのやしら魚しろきこと一寸
akebono ya shirauo shiroki koto issun

Matsuo Basho

at dawn -
how white the whitebait
of just an inch
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

http://www.ese.yamanashi.ac.jp/~itoyo/basho/nozarasi/nozara21.htm

In the twilight of dawn // a whitefish, with an inch // of whiteness.
(© Makoto Ueda)

Early dawn, // young white fish shining in ephemeral white, // hardly an inch long
(© Nobuyuki Yuasa)

Early dawn – // whitefish, an inch // of whiteness
(© Haruo Shirane)

Dawn-scaling – //a whitefish, with an // inch of whiteness.
(© Lucien Stryk)

In the dawn: // a whitebait, whiteness // one inch long.
(© Thomas McAuley)

акэбоно я
ширауо широки
кото иссу-н

На утренней бледной заре // мальки – не длиннее вершка // белеют на берегу. (© Вера Маркова)

На рассвете // белых рыбок белые чёрточки // длинною в вершок. (© Т. Соколова-Делюсина)

Утренняя заря // белизны в воде на два пальца – // косяк рыбы-лапши. (© А. Долин)

Белеет заря, // белорыбица в сети // блестит белизной. (© ДС) Бледная заря – // белорыбица в сетях // белизной блестит. (© ДС)

Бледная заря // стаи белые мальков // не длинней вершка. (© ДС)
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/dmitrismirnov/BASHO_Haiku_A.html

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白魚やきのふも亀の放さるる
shirauo ya kinoo mo kame no hanasaruru

whitebait--
yesterday they parted ways
with the turtle

白魚のしろきが中に青藻哉
shirouo no shiroki ga naka ni aomo kana

amid the white
of the whitebait
duckweed's green

白魚に大泥亀も遊びけり
shirauo ni ôdoro-game mo asobi keri

among the whitebait
a big mud turtle
plays too

白魚のどっと生るるおぼろ哉
shirauo no dotto umaruru oboro kana

darting whitebait
suddenly are born...
night haze

Issa

The season word in this haiku, oboro, refers succinctly to a hazy night of spring. Shinji Ogawa explains: "The word, dotto is an onomatopoetic word that describes sudden movements of things of a large number. It seems that the scene is of fishing. The whitebaits are running in a large numbers from the sea into the rivers to spawn in spring. Fishermen scoop them with large nets. In the hazy night, one cannot see the whitebaits swimming in the river, but when the net is raised, the whitebaits suddenly emerge in the net."

Issa Haiku Tr. David Lanoue

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Related words

***** Haiku Topics: White (shiroi)

***** WKD : FISH as a kigo

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Please send your contributions to Gabi Greve
worldkigo .....

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Whales (kujira)

2006-11-08T05:26:00.000-08:00

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Whales, Walfisch (kujira)

***** Location: Japan, other areas
***** Season: See below
***** Category: Animal

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Explanation

Whale, kujira 鯨
kigo for all winter in Japan

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WDCS is the global voice for the protection of whales, dolphins and their environment

Introduction to Scientific Whaling

In 200O, Japan's research whaling fleet returned home with 88 whales out of the 160 planned to be killed in the north-western Pacific Ocean. In 2001, Japan began its programme to sample up to 100 minkes, 50 Bryde's and 10 sperm whales in the north-western Pacific Ocean, based on the country's spurious argument that whales are competitors with humans for dwindling fish resources. This hunt was on top of the 500 plus minke whales that it is already hunting in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary and the North Pacific.

The use of 'scientific permits' within the IWC is a controversial subject. Whilst Article VIII of the ICRW allows for a member nation to self-allocate quotas for 'scientific purposes', the majority of the IWC members believe that Japan and Norway, have abused this 'loophole' in the Convention.
Whilst many nations have used scientific permits to keep their struggling whaling industries alive, scientific permits really came into their own in the 1970s. The Faroese used scientific permits to maintain their commercial fin whale fishery, despite official IWC protection for the North Atlantic fin whale from 1976. In April 1985, the Japanese Minister for Fisheries, Moriyoshi Sato said, "the government (of Japan) will do its utmost to find ways to maintain the nation's whaling in the form of research or other forms". Japan began its scientific whaling programme in 1987, and continues to kill up to 540 minke whales every year. In 2000, it expanded its hunt in the North Pacific to include sperm and Bryde's whales.

The Japanese whaling programme has been repeatedly condemned by the International Whaling Commission. In 1995 the IWC recommended that members "should...refrain from issuing [scientific] permits in sanctuaries involving the killing of cetaceans in such sanctuaries" (IWC/47/30, Rev.1). The IWC also passed a resolution recommending that "scientific research intended to assist the comprehensive assessment of whale stocks and the implementation of the Revised Management Procedure "shall be undertaken by non-lethal means" (IWC/47/31).

On the 11th December 1995, the US Secretary of Commerce certified Japan under the 1978 Pelly Amendment to the Fisherman's Protective Act of 1967, noting that "Japanese nationals are engaged in scientific whaling activities that diminish the effectiveness of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) conservation program".
http://www.wdcs.org/dan/publishing.nsf/allweb/784FDCC28FBB876080256F3500551521

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Worldwide use

Alaska

humpback whales return home from Hawaii
kigo for spring

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Hawaii

whale watching. especially in Hawaii, is a big attraction.
There is also some whale watching going on in Japan.

Whale Watching
Check the Whale-Watching-Web
http://www.helsinki.fi/~lauhakan/whale/

Whale Watching World Wide

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Things found on the way

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HAIKU

Whale's fluke
tosses water up -
the memory of it...

Zhanna P. Rader

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A whale!
Down it goes, and more and more
up goes its tail!

Buson, Yosa (1716-84)
Followed after Basho, but with his own style.

The whale squirts water
Don't kill the whale he is nice
He likes everyone.

Donny - third grade student

　©　Greenpeace, Haiku Contest 2006
Read the whole collection HERE !

My four year old son
says he wants to change the world
he's heard the whale's song...

Posted by: Jennifer Cherkasov at January 26, 2006
source: weblog.greenpeace.org, MORE : Haiku Contest 2006

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deep blue --
in front of the whale
migration route

tons of tenderness --
a baby whale on the back
of its mother

Davorka Lukas, Croatia
June 2009

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Related words

***** .. .. .. .. .. ..... FISH as a kigo

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Welch Onion Head (negi boozu) (05)

2006-11-05T07:04:00.000-08:00

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Welch Onion Head (negi boozu, Japan)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Late Spring
***** Category: Plant

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Explanation

The Welch Onion, Allium fistulosum and others of this lily family.

The Japanese name comes from the look of it, almost a personification for the "Bald Head of Priest", boozu 葱坊主
welch onion flower, negi no hana 葱の花
welch onion jewel, negi no gibo　葱の擬宝

http://opencage.info/pics/large_2121.asp

The origin of this plant is China, Sibiria and the Altai region, but it was introduced to Japan very early and is already mentioned in the "Nihon Shoki" Chronicles.
In April and May, the heads start sticking out on long stalks and before the flower openes they look like a bald head of a priest (at least to the Japanese eye).

The plant as food is a kigo for winter, see below. It has medical properties and is eaten in soups and stews.

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Let us look at the Japanese word for monk or priest, boozu.
This is originally the word for the head priest of a temple or retreat (ichiboo 一坊、一寺) and only later was used for any monk. Some priests and monks were called Tera Hooshi or Yama Hooshi at Temple Enryaku-Ji (寺法師、山法師), but in contrast to them, the priests and monks from Temple Mii-Dera were called boozu or Honorable Priest, goboo 御坊.
Later during the Edo period, young priests who worked for a local lord (daimyoo) or the Edo government were also called boozu. Nowadays, any young boy with a shaven head is a boozu.
(Quoted from Saijiki for Buddhist Events ).

The flower of the Dogwood looks similar to these Mountain Priests, see the entry for Dogwood .
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The round head of the leek fower is also called "Jewel" gibo. Here is a picture of such a form on the border of a bridge. You also find this pattern of a figure as the head tile of a temple.

http://www.linkclub.or.jp/~mcyy/kyo/uji/01.html

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Talking of BOOZU, here is another natural phenomen which the Japanese call by this name, now a "Bald Priest Head in Hell", jigoku boozu.

http://www.ajkj.jp/ajkj/oita/beppu/kanko/jigoku/jigoku_bouzu.html

The bubbeling mud of many hot springs forms to look like a bald head!

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Worldwide use

USA

View all Allium thumbnails at the PLANTS Gallery

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Things found on the way

Origa (Olga Hooper) has a nice haiga with this flower

http://www.livejournal.com/users/origa/54405.html

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HAIKU

At an NHK program, this plant was the object of a Haiku Meeting.
http://www.nhk.or.jp/haiku/html/haiku15-4-12.htm

葱坊主一本足りない色鉛筆
negi boozu ippon tarinai iro enpitsu

Welch onion heads -
of my color pencils
one is missing

(Tr. Gabi Greve)

葱坊主睡魔のおりてきし真昼
negi boozu suima no orite kishi nirune

Welch onion head -
sleep comes over me,
time for a midday nap

(Tr. Gabi Greve)

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人間に退屈しおり葱坊主
ningen ni taikutsu shiori negi boozu

getting tired of
being a human -
Welch onion heads

(Tr. Gabi Greve)

松崎鉄之介
Quoted from the Saijiki for Buddhist Events

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Related words

***** Stone Leek, Welch Onion, Green Onion, Chinese Onion, Spring Onion
these and the following are kigo for all winter .
The plants have small bulbs and long green stalks.

stone leek, negi 葱、nebuka (root-deep) 根深
leek leaves, leafy leeks, hanegi 葉葱

leek soup, negijiru 葱汁
leek rice gruel, negizoosui 葱雑炊

leek field, negibatake 葱畑
pulling out leeks, negi nuku 葱抜く

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芭蕉：葱白く洗いたてたるさむさ哉
negi shiroku araitate taru samusa kana

leeks washed
all white and clean -
such a coldness!

(Tr. Gabi Greve)

Basho
http://homepage2.nifty.com/zatsugaku/zatugaku/980913.html

*****************************
Please send your contributions to Gabi Greve
worldkigo@yahoo.com

WHC Worldkigo Discussion Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WHCworldkigo/

Back to the WHC Worldkigo Index
http://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.com/

Weasel (itachi)

2006-11-05T01:07:00.000-08:00

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Weasel (itachi, Japan)

***** Location:Japan, other areas
***** Season: All Winter
***** Category: Animal

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Explanation

weasel, itachi　鼬、イタチ

It is easily spotted in winter in the snow, although it might have a white coat. It likes the chicken coops of rural areas, where it sneaks in to drink the blood of chickens.

itachi wana 鼬罠 (いたちわな) trap for a weasel

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Today, a fine day in March, we had a special visitor to our outside kitchen.

Look at more photos of our visitor here !

Gabi Greve

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Half a pound of tuppenny rice,
Half a pound of treacle.
That's the way the money goes,
Pop goes the weasel.

..... ..... Pop goes the weasel

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Worldwide use

Canada

The Weasel in Canada

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Germany

Wiesel, Frettchen.

Dieses bekannte Gedicht stammt aus den Galgenliedern von Christian Morgenstern.
"Das ästhetische Wiesel ".

Ein Wiesel
saß auf einem Kiesel
inmitten eines Bachgeriesel.

Wißt ihr,
weshalb?
Das Mondkalb
verriet es mir
im stillen:

Das raffinier-
te Tier
tats um des Reimes willen.

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Things found on the way

A sword named "Sickle-Weasel" (kamaitachi 鎌鼬（かまいたち）) as a haiga.

"sickle-weasel" is in fact the name of a strong cutting wind in Northern Japan during the winter. In other areas, this has turned into a monster, or rather three of them, who move very fast. The first knocks the human down, the second cuts it with this sword and the third puts cream on the wounds to heal again.
Some say the wounds of the cut are very slight in the beginning but begin to fester later. The Kamaitachi Sickle-Weasel might be blood-thirsty demons who molest the humans, just like vampirs.

http://www.migikata.net/kanji_saijiki/200412/a/a_20041213.html

Link with a daily Kanji-Saijiki
http://www.migikata.net/kanji_saijiki/

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HAIKU

3 haiku by Issa

梅がかに鼬もないて通りけり
ume ga ka ni itachi mo naite tôri keri

plum blossom scent--
even the weasel passes
with a song

手をかざす鼬よどこだ花の雲
te wo kazasu itachi yo doko da hana no kumo

shading his eyes
where are you gazing, weasel?
blossom clouds

In Shinji Ogawa's interpretaiton, a Japanese weasel (itachi), "like a prairie dog, stands and watches far away."

山吹に手をかざしたる鼬哉
yamabuki ni te wo kazashitaru itachi kana

in yellow roses
shading his eyes to gaze...
a weasel

A weasel peers out from among the yamabuki (yellow roses).

In Issa zenshû, Vol. 1, the animal is itachi: a Japanese weasel. However, in Vol. 3, it is identified as momonga, the Japanese assapan (flying squirrel); Issa zenshû (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 1.237; 3.155. Since Vol. 1 was published later than Vol. 3, I have followed the former text.

In his journal for 1821, Second Month, Issa follows the above haiku with a similar one:

te wo kazasu itachi yo doko da hana no kumo

shading his eyes
where are you gazing, weasel?
blossom clouds

In Shinji Ogawa's interpretaiton, a Japanese weasel (itachi), "like a prairie dog, stands and watches far away."

All translations © 2000-2006 by David G. Lanoue
http://haikuguy.com/issa/

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Related words

***** Ferret, Mink
kigo for winter

***** flying squirrel むささび musasabi,
kigo for all winter
Riesenflughörnchen: Petaurista leucogenys
... momonga ももんが small flying squirrel
Pteromys momonga
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
Flughörnchen

***** squirrel りす/ リス【栗鼠】 risu
Myosciurus pumilio or Fam. Sciruinae
topic for haiku
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
Eichhörnchen, Baumhörnchen

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