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2008-12-29T22:58:00.000-08:00

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Metaphor

2008-07-17T23:18:00.000-07:00

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Metaphor used in Haiku

inyu 隠喩(いんゆ), metafaa メタファー, hiyu 比喩

Metaphor (from the Greek: μεταφορά - metaphora, meaning "transfer")
is language that directly compares seemingly unrelated subjects. In the simplest case, this takes the form: "The [first subject] is a [second subject]." More generally, a metaphor is a rhetorical trope that describes a first subject as being or equal to a second subject in some way. Thus, the first subject can be economically described because implicit and explicit attributes from the second subject are used to enhance the description of the first.

This device is known for usage in literature, especially in poetry, where with few words, emotions and associations from one context are associated with objects and entities in a different context.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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In Japanese haiku, by using the cut marker carefully,
we can imply a comparison
without mentioning it directly.
That is one of the great tricks that gives Japanese haiku its special flavor and indirect touch. Juxtaposition (toriawase) should be studied carefully.

Therefore the advise for a beginner of haiku NOT to use direct metaphors like "LIKE" , especially in English language, seems to be an argument amongst haiku poets.

But in the Japanese language, we do use the direct comparison
... no gotoku ... のごとく,の如く　/ no gotoshi のごとし、の如し
in haiku, if the situation absolutely calls for it.

Juxtaposition, combination and the CUT

More online
Reference : metaphor haiku

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quoting
Susumu Takiguchi on toriawase ...

It may sound as if toriawase is a golden rule, or a "be all and end all".
However, like many (or all) other haiku tenets, it is not. On the contrary, it is wrong for anyone to be a slave to any rule including toriawase. The haiku poet writes the poem from the heart, first, and looks to see if it has followed any principle, second, if necessary. To put up any haiku principle first, and then force the work to follow it, is an enticing trap which many fall into. This is putting the cart before the horse. (The same thing can be said with many other well-accepted values, such as "surprise", "moment" and "metaphor", to name but a few.)

Basho himself admonished the bad habit of sticking too rigidly to toriawase. He is said to have mentioned to Shudo:

...you should compose haiku as if you are beating out the gold...

It was Kyorai, another important disciple of Basho, who was opposed to Kyoriku's gospel about toriawase. Kyorai cited examples of Basho's haiku which did not follow toriawase principle (Tabineron).

Other opponents to toriawase, such as Yaba, maintained that it was little more than a device to help out the novice, and should not be regarded as a true principle to be applied universally.

My own and only principle in writing haiku is not to have any principles. It is useful to have toriawase in your tool box, but resolve to use it well -- as, and when, necessary. You should not be used by your tool. It is distressing to see many haiku poems, one after another, religiously following the toriawase rule.
source : www.worldhaikureview.org/2-1

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Part 3 - Metaphor, simile and stylistic ornament

It is a rule with a number of notable exceptions:
Haiku do not use metaphors and similes.
One could quote a handful of haiku that have a metaphor or simile, to challenge the rule. Nevertheless it is true that, compared to the poetic tradition that we in the British Isles have inherited, replete with brilliant comparisons, as if the whole value of poetry lay in metaphorical ingenuity, the haiku tradition eschews the way of stunning similarities unusually combined.

Read more here:
source : 　George Marsh

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HAIKU

keichitsu ya yooji no gotoku ashi narashi

awakening spring;
like a toddler, the insect
learns about legs

abe midorijo (1886-1980)
Tr. Michael Haldane

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鉄槌のごとく落つるや不動滝
tessui no gotoku ochiru ya Fudoo taki

like an iron hammer
it falls down -
Fudo Waterfall

　チビタンク chibi tanku
Tr. Gabi Greve

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葡萄食う一語一語の如くにて
budoo kuu hitokoto hitokoto no gotoku nite

munching grapes -
like saying one word
and one more word

中村草田男 Nakamura Kusadao
Tr. Gabi Greve

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露の夜は山が隣家のごとくあり
tsuyu no yo wa yama ga tonari no gotoku ari

on a night with dew
the mountains seem like
next-door neighbours

Iida Ryuta (Iida Ryouta) 飯田龍太
Tr. Gabi Greve

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山越えの阿弥陀のごとく初日の出　　
yamagoe no amida no gotoku hatsu hi no de

like Buddha Amida
coming over the mountains -
First Sunrise !

Gabi Greve, January 1, 2005

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Related words

***** WKD . . . Haiku Theory Archives

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Murasaki the Color

2008-06-19T00:05:00.000-07:00

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Murasaki, the Color

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Non-seasonal Topic
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

Genji Monogatari and Murasaki Shikibu ... 紫式部

"月百姿石山月" Lady Murasaki at Ishiyama
Tsuki Hyakushi
by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 月岡芳年 (1839-1892)

One Hundred Aspects of the Moon ... and more kigo

The Beginning of our MURASAKI discussion !

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It started with this woodblock print and the question:

Lady Violett or Lady Purple?

A quick google seach found it all ...

Lady Murasaki was nicknamed "Murasaki" ("purple wisteria blossom")
The name Lady Murasaki, literally "Violet" ...
.... "Murasaki" (Purple, although "Violet" may fall more comfortably on the English ear)

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quote
Violet is a spectral color (approximately 420 - 380 nm), of a shorter wavelength than blue, while purple is a combination of red and blue or violet light. The purples are colors that are not spectral colors - purples are extra-spectral colors.
In fact, purple was not present on Newton's color wheel (which went directly from violet to red), though it is present on modern ones, between red and violet. There is no such thing as the "wavelength of purple light"; it only exists as a combination.

The actual color of Tyrian purple, the original color purple from which the name purple is derived, is the color of a dye made from a mollusk that, because of its incredible expense (many times more expensive than gold), in classical antiquity became a symbol of royalty because only the very wealthy could afford it. Therefore, Tyrian purple is also called imperial purple.
More in the Wikipedia

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The origin of the word MURASAKI　紫

This was used for the plant of this name, which grew in large groups (mure ... mura) mure ga saku, mura saku, mura saki ...
or
one flower grew in many shades of murasaki (this refers to a type of hydrangea), so the color has shades (mura) (mura ni natte saku ... ... mura saki)

The pigment MURASAKI is taken from the root of the plant.
http://gogen-allguide.com/mu/murasaki.html

paapuru　パープル
What was the Japanese for PURPLE
before the advent of using katakana ?

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Flowers of the murasaki family
ムラサキ科 murasaki ka
Boraginaceae

The Color Code for Japanese Traditional MURASAKI shades
I hope your monitor shows the fine gradations !

main murasaki 本紫ほんむらさき #65318e

murasaki 紫むらさき #884898

Edo murasaki 江戸紫えどむらさき #745399

murasaki dark kon 紫紺しこん #460e44

blue murasaki ao 青紫あおむらさき #674598

deep murasaki 深紫ふかむらさき #493759

wisteria murasaki fuji 藤紫ふじむらさき #a59aca

murasaki shion color 紫苑色しおんいろ #867ba9

Kyoto murasaki 京紫きょうむらさき #9d5b8b

"young murasaki" wakamurasaki
若紫わかむらさき #bc64a4

beni murasaki 紅紫べにむらさき #b44c97

plum murasaki 梅紫うめむらさき #aa4c8f

light murasaki 浅紫あさむらさき #c4a3bf

murasaki chrystal 紫水晶むらさきすいしょう #e7e7eb

Japanese Color Codes Click here for color boxes.

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Compiled by Larry Bole :

Murasaki (紫) is the Japanese word for the colour purple.

Other translations include Lavender, as used by Edward Seidensticker in his English version of the Genji Monogatari; Violet; and Violet Root, which in Japanese poetry denotes Constancy. Genji, in [a poem], names the murasaki or purple gromwell, because its color resembles
the wisteria (in Japanese, fuji) thereby referring to Fujitsubo, "the Lady of the Wisteria Court", a woman he is violently in love with for the first part of the novel. It happens that Fujitsubo is Murasaki's aunt.
Thus, in a word association game very characteristic of Japanese poetry, the similarity between the two colors led to the name Murasaki, perhaps the most illustrious name in Japanese literature.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murasaki

Lithospermum purpurocaeruleum
or Purple Gromwell is a plant species of the genus Lithospermum. It has been cultivated in Japan since the Nara period for its root, which can be used for herbal medicine and to make dyes.

One Japanese word for the plant, murasaki (紫), inspired the pen name "Lady Murasaki" for the author of The Tale of Genji and is also the source of the general Japanese term for the color purple, murasaki iro (紫色).

The dyes made from its root also had other names, such as shikon (紫根), but all of them were difficult to work with because of their requirement for an alum-rich mordant and the resulting colors' extreme vulnerability to photobleaching. During the Heian Period, sumptuary laws restricted murasaki-dyed clothing to the Empress and her ladies in waiting.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithospermum_purpurocaeruleum

In Jane Reichhold's book of translation of poetry from The Tale of Genji, "A String of Flowers Untied...: Love Poems from The Tale of Genji," she tends to use the same color translation as Seidensticker does: lavender, although she also uses purple as well.

Reichhold's Chapter 5 is titled,
"Waka Murasaki: Young Lavender."

Here are two translations of poems from the book:

te ni tsumi te
itsushikamo mi n
murasaki no
ne ni kayoi keru
nobe no wakakusa

taking it in hand
may I soon take care of
Murasaki
the root of royal purple
still in the field of young grasses

...Genji begins lessons for Murasaki in poetry and calligraphy. He writes out for her the old poems from the anthologies for her to copy. One day, choosing lavender paper, he wrote the following 'waka' from an unknown author in the 'Kokin Rokujoo'.

shira ne domo
musashino to ieba
kakota re nu
yoshiya sakoso wa
murasaki no yue

though I cannot see it
when one speaks of Musashino
I sigh so deeply
the reason fo this are thoughts
of those grasses of lavender

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In a German dictionary, we find

Purpurfarbe; Violett; Lila.
violett; purpur.

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Worldwide use

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Things found on the way

Purple / Violett Daruma Dolls
murasaki daruma

紫　（だるま　。　ダルマ　。達磨）

This is a color of the Feng-Shui system.
Its symbolic meaning is : your wish will be fulfilled, of high rank, supremacy and more.

紫色の福だるまの意味⇒祈願成就・上階級・至高など
© gp-pro

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Purple Papermachee Doll

Little Netsuke

Click on the photos for more.

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HAIKU

Two haiku by ISSA

紫の袖にちりけり春の雪
murasaki no sode ni chiri keri haru no yuki

scattering onto
my purple sleeves...
spring snow

紫の雲にいつ乗るにしの海
murasaki no kumo ni itsu noru nishi no umi

on purple clouds
when will I set sail?
western sea

This haiku without season alludes to rebirth in the Pure Land, located somewhere in the mythic west.
。。。Tr. David Lanoue

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Related words

***** Colors in Haiku, Traditional Japanese Colors

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Official (yakunin)

2008-06-01T17:27:00.000-07:00

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Official (yakunin)

***** Location: Japan, Edo period
***** Season: Non-seasonal Topic
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

Here we are concerned with the officials (yakunin) of the Edo period only.

official, yakunin 役人
minor official, petty official, koyakunin ko yakunin　小役人
a humble official position

living quarters of an official, yakutaku　役宅

Not to mix with

kooyakunin 公役人, people who were compelled to do official duties for the government, like foot soldiers or manual labour for official buildings during the Edo period.
公約人 seems a mis spelling .

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Organization of Officials in the Edo period

In our times, they would be the state officials, Beamte in German.

© PHOTO Mizutani Mitsuhiro

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Worldwide use

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Things found on the way

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HAIKU

夕立や樹下石上の小役人
yuudachi ya juka sekijoo no ko yakunin

in a cloudburst
under a tree, looking miserable
a minor official

Kobayashi Issa

Translator's note:
Shinji Ogawa explains that the phrase, juka sekijoo, which literally means to sleep or dwell under a tree and on a rock, figuratively denotes "being a monk practicing austerities." Here, he says, Issa uses the phrase to mean "poor," or "petty." It seems to me, however, that the minor official is literally standing under a tree to avoid the rain, a visual image that provides Issa with this opportunity for word-play.
My dilemma as a translator, then, is to decide whether I should:
(1) mention the literal level of being under a tree and on a rock but lose the figurative meaning of practicing austerities; or
(2) translate the figurative meaning (Shinji suggests the middle phrase, "how miserable") but lose the literal image of the official crouching under a tree.
My compromise: I keep the tree but lose the rock, adding Shinji's "miserable."
Tr. David Lanoue

濡れずに済みて　仏の顔に
nurezu ni sumite hotoke no kao ni

without getting wet
becomes Buddha face

©　Haiga and renku by Nakamura Sakuo

cloudburst ...
the harsh life
of a petty official
Tr. Gabi Greve, free translation

sudden cloudburst --
a city clerk stonefaced
under a tree

sudden cloudburst --
a stonefaced town clerk
huddles under a tree
Tr. Chibi

meditating on a stone

The head is the sky.
The eyes are sun and moon.
The breath is the wind.
Mountains, rivers,plants and trees
are your very own body.
You are Buddha.

©　PHOTO : Kanshin-Ji
Ascetic practise at temple Kanshin-Ji

樹下石上 : juge sekijoo
taking one's lodging at the roadside in the wilderness
Buddhist Ascetic practise, sometimes also expressed as

sekijoo juge 石上樹下
(juge, under a tree ... is the reading of Buddhist texts)
on a stone, under a tree

ishi no ue san nen 石の上三年
sitting on a stone for 3 years
is a proverb in Japanese.

Compiled by Larry Bole:

Who is this "minor" or "petty" official?
I found a definition of the word 'juka 儒家' by itself, which gave as its meaning: "Confucianist."
The 'juka' I found may be a homonym for the word Issa used, but maybe　Issa meant the word he used to suggest a Confucianist meaning as well　as a Buddhist meaning. And I found as a meaning for the　word 'koyakunin': "Low ranking samurai with various light duties such　as guarding the gate or patrolling the grounds."

And looking up "Japanese Confucianism," I find this: "Neo-Confucianism (especially Chu Hsi Confucianism) was the most important　philosophy of Tokugawa Japan in government and education."

So, during the 'sengoku jidai' period of Japanese history, "the age　of the country at war," even a samurai of the lowest rank would　ideally be imbued with the martial spirit, would at his best be　influenced by Zen Buddhism, and would be expected to stoically endure　austere conditions, even unto death.

Who had this 'koyakunin' become by Issa's time? Although still　allowed to carry a sword (or maybe not?), he was a minor or petty official, imbued more with neo-Confucian values than with Zen Buddhist values.

I think Issa might be mocking the 'koyakunin's' samurai heritage or　pretensions. Gone is the samurai stoicness. Instead of enduring the　cloudburst as if it were part of a Buddhist austerity ritual, the　minor official, a samurai in name only by Issa's time, looks　miserable under the tree.

cloudburst
sleeping under a tree, on a rock
a petty official
Literal translation by Larry Bole

More is here :
Discussing the translation
Translating Haiku Forum

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Related words

***** Edo, The City That Became Tokyo

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Storehouse (kura)

2008-05-16T21:09:00.000-07:00

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Storehouse (kura)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Non-seasonal Topic
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

Fire was a gread hazard in olden times and the strongly build "kura" were one way to protect one's property.

storehouse, tiled storehous, kura　蔵
dozoo 土蔵

storehouse for ricewine, sakegura 酒蔵

living room in a storehouse, for emergency situations, kura zashiki 蔵座敷

storehouse for rice, komegura 米蔵

Most farm estates in my area in Okayama have a kura, a special storehouse for the family treasures.
It is used to protect things from earthquakes, fires and hurricanes.
The strong walls are fireproof and the windows are very small with fireproof shutters. The strong doors are fireproof too. The timber used for a kura was covered with clay and then with a plaster finish.

Typical walls with tiles of a Tosa storehouse, Shikoku

The roof consists of heavy tiles to withstand storm and fire. Sometimes even the walls have a row or two of tiles to make a way for strong rain blown on the walls during a typhoon. This kind of wall is especially common along the seaside towns of Japan.

The doors had special locks to prevent thieves and burglers from their work.
Locks of the Edo Period / joomae 錠前

The walls were often strengthened with plaster, in various geometrical patterns. These "namako kabe なまこ壁" are especially beautiful in their contrast of white and black.

The black parts of this wall are made from flat black tiles, hira gawara ( 平瓦（ひらがわら）. The roofs of a storehouse were rather small in their overhang, to prevent a fire from being pressed down on the walls, and the tiles on the bottom of a wall were fireproof and also protected from the rain.
The beautiful black finish of these walls is very typical of some regions, where they get many extra layers of a special laquer 黒漆喰.

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Strong Doors of a Storehouse

Samurai Residence, buke yashiki 武家屋敷
Katsuyama, Japan

The door was built in some steps, each covered with mortar made of mud, so the fire sparks would not come in. This is called "kakego painting, kakegonuri 掛子（かけご）塗り.

Look at my collection of window shutters at a storehouse in Katsuyama !

More "plaster paintings" as decorations for storehouses, kote-e 鏝絵（こてえ）. Click on the photo.

These relief works of art are made by the plasterers, usually with a pattern of good luck for the family. One of the famous masters of this kind of artwork was Irie Chohachi 入江長八
(Iri-e Choohachi) of the town of Matsuzaka (Shizuoka prefecture), where you can see a whole museum full of his artwork.

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Kurashiki, a town with many storehouses
倉敷 Okayama Prefecture Japan

Kurashiki and Daruma san

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Kawagoe and its storehouses

Kawagoe's fortunes owe everything to its strategic position on the Shingashi River and Kawagoe-kaido, the ancient highway to the capital. If you wanted to get goods to Tokyo, then called Edo, they more than likely had to go via Kawagoe, thus the town's merchants prospered as a result. They accumulated the cash to build fireproof kurazukuri, the black, two-storey shophouses the town is now famous for.
At one time there were over 200 of these houses, but their earthenware walls didn't prove quite so effective against fire as hoped (nor were they much use in the face of Japan's headlong rush to modernization). Even so, some thirty still remain, with sixteen prime examples clustered together along Chuo-dori, around 1 km north of the JR and Tobu stations, protected as Important Cultural Properties.
©　travel.yahoo.com

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Kuramae 倉前 in Edo
The Government Rice Granaries

The rice storage houses (kura) in Kuramae are a well-known landmark in central Edo. The Kuramae district, on the west bank of the Sumida river, is a very busy part of the city, and a very important one as far as the government is concerned, because this is the site of the government rice granaries, where much of the grain reserves for the city are kept.

Kuramae is located on the west bank of the Sumida river, just a few kilometers upriver from the Nihonbashi area. It is also located close to the trunk road that leads from Nihonbashi to the ferry boat crossing at Senju, the junction point for all of the main roads leading north and east from Edo. The Kuramae rice trading and storage operations are an important concern of the bakufu. Government officials, and even the Shogun himself, have to keep a close eye on the operations of the official granaries, since rice is the basis of Japan's economy, and the size of the grain reserves can have an important effect on the entire country.

The Shoguns have tried to restrict rice speculation many times in the past. However, since the rice merchants play an important role in ensuring that the rice market is efficient, and products are distributed to all parts of the country, it is almost impossible to completely eliminate speculative rice trading. The easiest way for the bakufu to keep rice prices steady is to maintain a large supply in kura (warehouse) districts around the country, buying and selling the rice as necessary in order to keep prices in balance. In this sense, the granaries at Kuramae could be considered as a sort of "Federal Reserve Bank of Edo."

Kuramae is a very impressive-looking place, especially when seen from the river. The long rows of kura along the river bank -- with their whitewashed walls and high, narrow windows -- are an impressive sight indeed. The basic structure of the kura in Kuramae is not that much different from the granaries that farmers maintain in their rural villages. They have thick walls of packed earth, plastered over a wooden frame and whitewashed to fill in any cracks. The doors and windows are small, and kept closed at all times except when rice is being loaded and unloaded. This keeps the inside fairly cool and dry, to prevent the grain from rotting. However, the buildings in Kuramae are many times larger than those found in local villages, and there are hundreds of them arranged in long rows along a series of narrow canals which lead inland from the river.

The rows of granaries are all concentrated in an area between the river and the main road. Facing the road, at the entrance to the district, are several large buildings where the traders and granary managers conduct rice transactions. All of the shipments into and out of the kura are recorded carefully in account books, and the summary figures telling the volume of rice in storage and the going price per koku are sent to bakufu officials once or twice a week. At harvest time the kashi (wharves), where rice is unloaded, are bustling with activity as boats from all over the country dock and unload their cargoes of rice. Usually, the jito (a low-ranking samurai who supervises production in a certain village or region) will travel to Edo with their rice shipments in order to ensure that the delivery is made safely, to get a receipt for their delivery, and to haggle with the officials at the kura in order to get the best price possible.

The dock workers carry the heavy bundles of rice off the barges and up the steps into the granary buildings. After rice is harvested and dried, the farmers who produced it bring their tax rice to the home of the jito (the word "jito" literally means "head of the land"). There, the rice is wrapped in large bundles made of straw. Since each bundle is supposed to contain exactly one-fourth of a koku of rice, it is easy for the warehouse managers to quickly tally the amount of each shipment. Each bundle bears the stamp of the region and farm that produced and bundled it, so if the managers find out later that the bundles don't contain the right amount of rice, they can easily tell who is guilty of trying to cheat the Government.

More is here
©　edomatsu: Welcome to Edo!

More in the Daruma Museum:
Kuramae Baka Monogatari 蔵前馬鹿物語

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External LINK
NHK: 蔵。美の壺

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Things found on the way

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HAIKU

蔵焼けて障るものなき月見哉
kura yakete sawaru mono naki tsukimi kana

My storehouse burnt down,
There is nothing to obstruct
The moon-view.
trans. Blyth

Now that my storehouse
has burned down, nothing
conceals the moon.
trans. Yoel Hoffmann

Mizuta Masahide 水田正秀 (1657-1723)
Read the discussion of the translation here.

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Kobayashi Issa

よその蔵からすじかひに初日哉
yoso no kura kara sujikai ni hatsu hi kana

from a neighbor's storehouse
shining slantwise...
year's first sun

おち葉してけろりと立し土蔵哉
ochiba shite kerori to tateshi dozô kana

among fallen leaves
the storehouse
unconcerned

More KURA haiku by Issa
Tr. David Lanoue

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my neighbour's kura ...
he closed the door
with a loud BANG

Gabi Greve, April 2006

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Related words

***** Fire (kaji) The Town of Edo is burning down ...

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Hi no Oka Pass

2008-05-16T01:20:00.000-07:00

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Hi no Oka Pass (Hi no Oka Tooge)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Non-seasonal Topic
***** Category: Earth

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Explanation

Hi-no-oka, Hinooka 日ノ岡 , 日の岡

Hi no Oka is an old town on the Tokaido Road, leading to a pass road in the outskirts of Kyoto toward Yamashina.
From the pass there is a long waterway toward the city of Kyoto with some sluices near Hi no Oka.

The grave of tenno Tenchi 天智天皇御陵 is close by.

The Jizo Statue at Hi no Oka
山科区日ノ岡一切経谷町

There are many small Buddha statues at the feet of this Jizo.

花崗岩製で２ｍ近く丸彫り地蔵。江戸時代末の作風。宝珠と錫杖（鉄製）を持つポピュラーなお姿。国道１号線沿いの地蔵堂に大切に安置されています。このお地蔵さんの足下にたくさんの小石仏が置かれています。街道筋の石仏を集められたのでしょうか。
©　shigeru.kommy.com

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HAIKU

日の岡やこがれて暑き牛の舌
hinooka ya kogarete atsuki ushi no shita
(summer stanzas, #176)

Breezeless Hinooka
and hot to the point of burning
hangs the cart ox's tongue
trans. EM & HO

EM & HO comment:
"Hi no oka 日ノ岡," "Hill of the Sun" had a steep slope enclosed by hills that made it hot even by the standards of nearby Kyoto, as the poor straining beast shows.

Details are here : Introducing Haiku Poets:
Mizuta Masahide 水田正秀

This pass road is situated on the east side of the mountain, so the morning sun hits the traveller and thus gave the name to this area, "Hill of the Sun".

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Related words

***** WKD Reference

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Haiku Sweets (haika)

2008-05-14T18:01:00.000-07:00

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Haiku Sweets (haika)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Non-seasonal Topic
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

Sweets, cakes and snacks, prepared in allusion to a famous haiku
haika 俳菓

Read the basics of Japanese sweets (wagashi) here
Sweets from Japan (wagashi)

one more speciality
Snack served with tea (cha no ko, o-cha no ko) Japan

Many tea sweets (chagashi 茶菓子) are named after famous short poems (tanka 短歌), but there are also some named after a famous haiku.

I will try and list them here as I find them.

Gabi Greve, May 2008

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芭蕉俳菓　 Basho Haika
Basho's haiku and the Japanese confection

©　桔梗屋伊左衛門 Kikyoo-Ya Iemon

伊賀市上野東町2949番地
TEL0595-21-0123

a partly bi-lingual BLOG by Kikyo San, a sweet maker in the 18th generation in Iga Ueno, the home of Basho.
Take your time to browse here !

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化けそうな傘借す寺の時雨かな
bakesoo na kasa kasu tera no shigure kana

winter drizzle -
at the temple I borrow an old umbrella
looking almost like a ghost

Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村
Tr. Gabi Greve

More about
Ghosts and Haiku

Winter drizzle (shigure) KIGO

Haiga by Buson
"Umbrella looking like a ghost"

Haiku Sweet: Shiguregasa : sleet and umbrella
「俳菓しぐれがさ」銘菓「時雨傘」

In the North of Kyoto there is the temple Ichijoo-Ji Konbuku-Ji 一乗寺金福寺 where Buson wrote this haiku. He was on this way to Central Kyoto, when the rain became stronger and he borrowed this old tattered umbrella. The umbrella looked as if it would grow legs and arms, strecht out the toungue and start dancing in a moment.

The owner of a sweet store in Kyoto made a small cake looking like an umbrella and had his HIT right away. This was in 1903. The present owner of "Kyokado 京華堂" is in the fouth generation. The owner also seems to have created the word "Haiku Sweet", which is written on the explanation sheet of this cake.

京華堂利保
京都市左京区二条通川端東入ル難波町
©　www.digistyle-kyoto.com / 京華堂利保

ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo

Here is Blyth's translation of the Buson haiku:

It may transform itself,
This umbrella lent by a temple,
In the winter rain.

Blyth's comment:

Rain begins to fall, and Buson goes to a temple nearby and asks for the loan of an umbrella. The monk gives him one, so old that it is hardly worth while returning. As he leaves the temple in the gathering darkness, the rain falling steadily and monotonously, Buson feels that this aged umbrella may suddenly transform itself into a fox or a witch or goblin. The old monk, the old temple, the rain, the tattered umbrella, the evening, the thoughts of ghosts and apparitions are all blended together with a power and compactness in the original which even a literal translation cannot emulate.
"Rain of a temple lending a bewitched umbrella" is nearer the Japanese, but omits the "may be" element of "looks as though it may be going to transform itself" expressed by "bakesoo."
Compiled by Larry Bole
Translating Haiku Forum

ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo

an old umbrella
turned into sweet cake ...
more haiku wonders

Gabi Greve

I shall look into it from another angle that perhaps is sweeter than any sweets:

an old umbrella
turned into a protective cover
of Lord Buddha

Kumarendra Mallick, Hyderabad, India

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柿食えば鐘が鳴るなり法隆寺
kaki kueba kane ga naru nari Hooryuu-Ji

eating a persimmon
the bell reveberates
at temple Horyu-ji
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

Masaoka Shiki
Read a discussion of this haiku translation.

The shop Rokujiya 六時屋 in Matsuyama makes sweets in memory of haiku by Masaoka Shiki since 1953.
©　Rokujiya 六時屋
〒790-0878
愛媛県松山市
勝山町２丁目１８-８
TEL： 089-941-6666（代）

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石山の石に　たばしる　あられかな
Ishiyama no ishi ni tabashiru arare kana
霰 arare
scattering on the stones
of Mount Ishiyama -
these hailstones
Tr. Gabi Greve

More about this sweet TABASHIRU
Matsuo Basho at Mount Ishiyamadera

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渋かろか　知らねど柿の初ちぎり
shibukaro ka shiranu do kaki no hatsu chigiri

are they bitter?
I do not know, but - well,
the first bite of a persimmon

Kaga no Chiyo-Jo 加賀千代女

hatsu chigiri ...
can imply taking the first persimmon fruit from a branch of the tree and take a bite.
It can also imply the first encounter of a newly-wed couple.

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a haiku about the garden of Tsubone-ya 局屋, a famous tea shop in Kyoto

庭の栗ふくめば京の旅路かな
niwa no kuri fukumeba Kyoo no tabiji kana

even the chestnuts
in the tea garden -
travelling in Kyoto
Tr. Gabi Greve

Konishi Chizuru 小西千鶴

©　tsuboneya Kyoto
〒605-0846
東山区五条橋東六丁目583
松村敏男

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Thin filled waffers in memory of Shushiki, poetess of the Edo period
"Shushiki monaka 秋色もなか"

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Related words

***** Sweets from Japan (wagashi)

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Ghosts (yookai, bakemono)

2008-05-13T00:27:00.000-07:00

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Ghosts (yookai, yuurei, bakemono)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Non-seasonal Topic
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

ghost. yuurei 幽霊
bakemono 化け物　 o-bake お化け
yookai　妖怪

Ghost Stories　kaidanbanashi 怪談話

In summer in Japan it is custom to tell stories about ghosts and gruesome events, so people will get a chill from it to keep cool. :o).

Here in our mountains it is cool anyway, but walking at night beside the family graves, at full moon, you might get some inspiration !

lonely graves
spooking away the ghosts -
summer in Japan

©　Gabi Greve, May 2005

Here are a few extra pages about my research of
the Japanese ghosts:
Take your time to read them leisurely.

The Hungry Ghosts are part of the Six Realms of Existence, rokudoo　六道　of the Buddhist religion.
Hungry Demons, Hungry Ghosts (gaki)

O-Bake, お化け, Literally means, "transforming thing." Anything that is fearful or super-large or otherwise out of the normal range is called O-Bake.
Japanese Ghosts and Ghost Stories, kaidan 怪談
On Overview of them all !

Oni, Japanese Demons and Art 鬼　と美術

Tanuki, the bewitching badger

Kappa 河童, the water goblin

Shoki (Shooki 　鍾馗　しょうき）The Demon Queller

Fireflies (hotaru) and the souls of the Heike clan

Ueda Akinari 上田秋成 (1734 - 1809)
He is famous for his eerie ghost stories and strange fiction in Japan.

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Things found on the way

Buson's Monster Scroll
蕪村妖怪絵巻
Buson Bakemono Emaki, Buson Yōkai Emaki

Start from here to see more of the monsters:
© ship.nime.ac.jp　/ Buson's Monster Scroll

the wailing old woman / 泣き婆

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HAIKU

化けそうな傘借す寺の時雨かな
bakesoo na kasa kasu tera no shigure kana

winter drizzle -
at the temple I borrow an old umbrella
looking like a ghost

Yosa Buson
Tr. Gabi Greve

"Umbrella looking like a ghost"
Discussion of this haiku and a famous sweet to go with it!

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小坊主の狸に化くる時雨かな
koboozu no tanuki ni bakuru shigure kana

a young priest
is turning into a badger ...
winter sleet

by a student of Buson
Tr. Gabi Greve

(usually the badger turns in a young priest, but here it is the other way round ...)

old Santa turns
into a badger ...
winter sunshine

Gabi Greve
in response to Buson and his disciple. May 2008

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Kobayashi Issa

柳からももんぐわとて出る子哉
yanagi kara momonguwa tote deru ko kana

from the willow
a ghost attacks!
the child

According to Issa zenshû, the child has thrown a coat over his head and is running out from the shadow of the willow, attempting to scare people
(Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79, 6.171).
Momonguwa (momonga 鼯鼠) is another word for the Japanese flying squirrel (musasabi); more generally it refers to a wide-eyed, mouth-open boogieman who frightens children; see Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1642. Shinji Ogawa suggests that "ghost" is a good translation in context, noting that "the association of a willow tree and a ghost was well established by the time of Issa." The haiku captures a moment of energy and imagination, taking its adult readers back to an earlier time when all the world seemed magical.
A constant theme in Issa's poetry about children seems to be: Live that way again!

幽霊と人は見るらんすすき原
yûrei to hito wa miruran susuki-bara

where people
see ghosts...
field of pampas grass

Shinji Ogawa paraphrases, "The people may see the field of pampas grass as ghosts."

Tr. David Lanoue

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”雪明り明るき閨は又寒し”
©　緑陰漫筆 / 江戸俳画紀行 :（磯部勝著）

どこぞでは婆々にやならんたけり猫
dokozo de wa baba ni ya naran takerineko

Somewhere
it may become a hag--
the raging cat
Tr. Fumiko Y. Yamamoto

Takebe Socho (Takebe Soochoo 建部巣兆) (1761-1814)

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Related words

***** Bakeneko, the Monster Cat ... 化け猫

***** Halloween, a KIGO

***** World Kigo Database : Saijiki of Buddhist Events

***** Sleet, rain mixed with snow, cold rain, wy drizzle (shigure) 　

More about the discussion
Imagination in Haiku

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Go Game

2008-05-11T00:42:00.000-07:00

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Go game, Igo 囲碁

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Non-seasonal Topic
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

Go is a strategic board game for two players. It is known as Wéiqí in Chinese (Traditional: 圍棋; Simplified: 围棋), Igo (囲碁, Igo) or Go (碁, Go) in Japanese, and Baduk in Korean (hangul: 바둑). To differentiate it from the common English verb go, it is sometimes written with a capital G or spelled Goe. Go originated in ancient China, centuries before its earliest known references in 5th century BC writing. It is mostly popular in East Asia but has nowadays gained some popularity in the rest of the world as well. Go is noted for being rich in strategic complexity despite its simple rules.

Go is played by two players alternately placing black and white stones on the vacant intersections of a line grid. The standard size of this grid is 19 × 19, although the rules of Go can be freely applied to any size: 13 × 13 and 9 × 9 are also popular choices for simpler and more tactic-oriented games as well as a way to introduce Go to new players. The objective of the game is to control a larger part of the board than the opponent. To achieve this, players strive to place their stones in such a way that they cannot be captured, while mapping out territories the opponent cannot invade without being captured. A stone or a group of stones is captured and removed if it has no empty adjacent intersections, the result of being completely surrounded by stones of the opposing color.

Origin in China
General Guan Yu (160–219) being treated for a poisoned arm by the physician Hua Tuo while playing Go. 1853 Japanese woodblock print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi.Some legends trace the origin of the game to legendary Chinese emperor Yao (2337–2258 BC), who had his counselor Shun design it for his son, Danzhu —supposedly an unruly sort—to teach him discipline, concentration, and balance. Other theories suggest that the game was derived from Chinese tribal warlords and generals who used pieces of stone to map out attacking positions or that Go equipment was originally a fortune telling device.

The earliest written reference of the game is usually taken to be the historical annal Zuo Zhuan(c. 4th century BC), referring to a historical event of 548 BC. It is also mentioned in Book XVII of the Analects of Confucius (c. 3rd century BC) and in two of the books of Mencius (c. 3rd century BC). In all of these works, the game is referred to as yì (弈), a name that is no longer in use today.

In China, Go was perceived as the popular game of the aristocracy, while Xiangqi (Chinese chess) was the game of the masses. Go was considered one of the four cultivated arts of the Chinese scholar gentleman, along with calligraphy, painting and playing the musical instrument guqin.

Spread to Japan and Korea

Although Go may have reached Korea as early as the 5th century AD, more solid evidence stems from the 7th century AD.By this time, Go had also reached Japan, where it gained popularity at the imperial court in the 8th century. By the beginning of the 13th century, Go was played among the general public in Japan.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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Utanosuke Playing Go

Oban print by Kunisada (signing as Toyokuni III),
published by Tsutaya Kichizo in 1861.

From the series Meigi Sanju-rokkasen (A Selection of Thirty-Six Famous Geisha).
The haiku in the panel reads:

With the first move at go
the heat of this evening
is quite forgotten.

All about the Game GO
©　www.kiseido.com

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Worldwide use

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Things found on the way

Japanese Prints and the World of Go
by William Pinckard

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HAIKU

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***** WKD Reference

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