Kawasaki Tenko

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Kawasaki Tenko

川崎展宏 かわさきてんこう Kawasaki Tenkoo
Born 1927 in Hiroshima
His name was Nobuhiro 展宏（のぶひろ).
Tenko Kawasaki

He studied haiku with Kato Shuson 加藤楸邨 and published many haiku collections.
In 1982, Kannon 観音


＜万屋に秋は来にけり棒束子＞
＜梅雨の雀つゆのすずめと鳴きにけり＞
＜八月の吐息の残る西の空＞
＜八月を送る水葬のやうに＞
＜「大和」よりヨモツヒラサカスミレサク＞

＜天の川水車は水をあげてこぼす＞
＜一葉忌とはこんなにも暖かな＞
＜胸の幅いつぱいに出て春の月＞
＜あらぬ方へ手毬のそれし地球かな＞

source : yanma.in


. . . CLICK here for Photos !

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花はみな菩薩鬼百合小鬼百合　
hana wa mina bosatsu oniyuri ko-oniyuri

the flowers are all
Bodhisattvas -
tiger lilies, small tiger lilies


The Japanese word for "tiger lily" is ONI yuri, lily of a demon/devil, which gives a strong contrast to the Bodhisattva.
Here we can feel that all things are basically the same in the Buddha world, the flowers, the demons, men ... all things.




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Pushing and shoving
voices of the cherry blossoms
cross the ocean

source:
http://www.worldhaiku.net/criticism/natsuishi1.html
Tr. Ban'ya Natsuishi


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Hot sake
Shared by men
Who sat out the vendetta.

The men referred to here are obviously ronin from Ako, but the poem also reminds me of the sort of pathos felt by Japanese company workers today.

source : Shinobu Hashimoto, Asahi Shimbun
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200812220046.html


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枇杷の実の青々として半僧坊
biwa no mi no aoao to shite Hanzooboo

the loquat fruit
are so green
at Hanzobo sanctuary
Tr. Gabi Greve


半僧坊 Hanzobo Hall - Hamamatsu
. Hookooji、Hōkō-ji 方広寺 Temple Hoko-Ji .



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***** Introducing Japanese Haiku Poets

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Hattori Ransetsu

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Hattori Ransetsu 1654-1707

服部嵐雪 はっとりらんせつ

承応3年（1654年） - 宝永4年10月13日（1707年11月6日）

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kigo for early winter

Ransetsu Ki 嵐雪忌 Ransetsu Memorial Day


. Memorial Days of Famous Poeple .

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He was the eldest son of a low-level Samurai family in Awaji Island.

承応3年（1654年） - 宝永4年10月13日（1707年11月6日））は、江戸時代前期の俳諧師。幼名は久馬之助、通称は孫之丞、彦兵衛など。別号は嵐亭治助、雪中庵、不白軒、寒蓼斎、玄峯堂など。江戸湯島生まれ。松尾芭蕉の高弟。雪門の祖。
Wikipedia
Biography and many poems / Japanese


His handwriting : Kosai no Ki
服部嵐雪筆「胡塞記(こさいのき)」
（本紙　縦　30.0cm 横　92.4cm)


©　Copyright:2005　 The Sumitomo Foundation all rights reserved.



Haiku with Explanations / Japanese LINK


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Soft Upon My Shutters
by Jane Baker

Basho is rightly famous but why does the western world know so little of his contemporaries? Deep in Basho’s “old silent pond” dwell all sorts of interesting other frogs – Kikaku’s that “command the dark”; Onitsura’s “froglets” that in summer “sang like birds” but with winter’s onset “bark like old dogs”; Joso’s “good Buddhist frog…/ rising to a clearer light / by non-attachment” as well as Issa’s “fat frog / in the seat of honour / singing bass”.

The fact that a poet is not widely known as often reflects his history and social circumstances as it does his being of lesser literary stature than better-known contemporaries. Little is known of Hattori Ransetsu beyond his inclusion in the circle of Ten Philosophers as an intimate as well as a student of Basho yet any trawl of the Web will turn up his poignant “childless woman” haiku.

Born in 1654 his name first appeared in literary circles with the 1680 publication of two anthologies under Basho’s name which included works by both Ransetsu and Kikaku. Obviously Basho thought highly of his student’s writing if he collaborated in a joint production when Ransetsu was only twenty-six.

In the winter of 1702 Ransetsu was obviously well established as a poet because he circulated a New Year Haikai Ichimazuri – the sort of poem that was not offered for sale but distributed on a single sheet of quality paper among fellow haijins (poets).

When Basho died Ransetsu shaved his head and became a Buddhist monk, perhaps an indication that he closely shared Basho’s later life preoccupation with Buddhism and inclination towards monastic life. Certainly, retirement to a monastery ruled out any possibility of a Ransetsu school and of disciples in whose interests it would be to promote his life and works.

Nothing seems to be known of his death other than the year of its occurrence, 1707, just five years after his New Year Haikai’s circulation, when he was fifty-three. Like his contemporaries, Ransetsu was concerned with time passing, with the transience of beauty, with capturing the unity of man and the natural order in the experience of natural phenomena and universal processes.

A hallmark of Ransetsu’s work is his compassion for all living things and their condition.

Read the full article HERE :
©　Jane Baker / Yellow Moon

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Compiled by Larry Bole

Blyth says that Ransetsu "became [Basho's] most representative disciple. ... Basho said of him, 'I cannot equal Ransetsu in poetical austerity.'"

Blyth also says "Kyoroku wrote of Ransetsu:

'He is a man of small calibre, soft and weak by nature; he seems to have flowers, but has no fruit.'

"There is some truth in this [Blyth goes on to say], though it is perhaps inspired by envy."

Yoel Hoffman, in "Japanese Death Poems," quotes Kyoriku comparing Ransetsu to someone "'who invites guests to a feast and serves no more than a menu.'"

Jane Baker points out that "any trawl of the Web will turn up his [Ransetsu's] poignant 'childless woman' haiku."

umazume no hina kashizuku zo aware naru

The childless woman,
How tender she is
To the dolls!

trans. Blyth

Blyth admires the quality of "Zen" in this haiku. I wonder if his opinion would be the same if it had been written by a woman!

Just because Ransetsu shaved his head and became a Buddhist monk doesn't mean he necessarily entered a monastery.

According to Hoffman:

"Old sources say that Ransetsu's first wife was a bathing house prostitute. She died after giving birth to a son, whereupon Ransetsu took a geisha as his wife. The couple became converts to Zen Buddhism."

I'm curious about the source of Ms. Baker's contention that Ransetsu's monastic life "ruled out any possibility of a Ransetsu school and of disciples in whose interests it would be to promote his life and works..."

In discussing the following haiku:

hebi-ichigo hankyuu sagete meotozure

Snake-strawberries;
Carrying small bows,
Husband and wife together.

Blyth says:
"In 1705 Ransetsu went, with several of his disciples, on a journey from Ise to Southern Kishuu. The above verse is found in his diary of the journey, 'Those [sp?] Hamayuu..."

And in "The Path of Flowering Thorn," Makoto Ueda says:
"Buson's master Sooa, known as Hajin in his earlier years, had studied haikai in Edo under Takarai Kikaku (1661-1707) and Hattori Ransetsu (1654-1707)." [In fact, according to Hoffman's 'old sources,' Ransetsu moved in with Kikaku for a while at one point.]
Ueda briefly mentions a couple of others who studied under Kikaku and Ransetsu.

Buson apparently held Ransetsu in high regard. According to Ueda, a colored drawing on silk by Buson survives from 1738, "entitled 'Gathering of Haiku Immortals' (Haisen gunkai zu), which portrays fourteen famed haikai masters such as Basho, Kikaku, and Ransetsu..."

And Ueda says that Buson, in a conversation with his student, Shooha, "recommended the reading of the works of four haikai poets...

'Seek out Kikaku, visit Ransetsu, recite Sodoo, and accompany Onitsura. Meet those four elders every day.'"



Yosa Buson was the "second-generation" student of Ransetsu and often thought about him.
He even shared his futon bedding with the master:

嵐雪とふとん引合ふ侘寝かな
. ransetsu to futon hiki-au wabine kana .


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HAIKU

一葉散る咄（とつ）ひとはちる風の上
hito ha chiru totsu hito ha chiru kaze no ue

one leaf falls
now, another leaf falls
in the wind



元日や晴れて雀のものがたり
ganjitsu ya harete suzume no monogatari

New Year's Day -
fine weather and
the sparrow'w story
(Tr. Gabi Greve)


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ふとん着てねたる姿や東山
futon kite netaru sugata ya Higashiyama

looking like a person
covered by a quilt -
Higashiyama


. Bedtime, quilts, futons and haiku 　　

Higashiyama Mountain in Kyoto

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うまず女の雛かしづくぞ哀なる
umazume no hina kashizuku zo aware naru

A childless woman ...
how tenderly she touches
little dolls for sale
Tr. Jane Baker


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梅一輪いちりんほどの暖かさ
ume ichirin ichirin hodo no atatakasa

On the plum tree
one blossom, one blossom worth
of warmth.
Tr. Henderson

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名月や煙はひ行く水の上　

Harvest moon,
And mist creeping
Over the water.
Tr. Robert Haas


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mi hitotsu o moteatsukaeru suika kana

Able to look after
Its own self,--
The melon.
Tr. Blyth

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相撲取　ならぶ　や秋の漢錦
sumootori narabu ya aki no kara nishiki

sumo wrestlers
lined up in their Chinese brocade aprons -
autumn tournament
Tr. Gabi Greve


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Wohl fünf- bis sechsmal
Farben mischen
am Bambusvorhang

© Peter Lange, Bambus

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雪は申さず先ず紫の筑波かな
yuki wa mosazu mazu murasaki no Tsukuba kana

do not talk of snow -
for Mount Tsukuba it is
first and foremost purple
Tr. Gabi Greve


Read a discussion of this translation and
. Mt. Tsukuba .


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松虫のりんとも言はず黒茶碗
matsumushi no rin to mo iezu kurochawan

the pine bug
does not make one sound -
this black tea bowl


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Matsuo Basho wrote this in summer of 1687 貞亨4年夏.

His straight criticism of a painting from his disciple Ransetsu 嵐雪.
This poem shows that there was really no need for enryoo 遠慮 polite holding back or polite reserve, between him and his student.


朝顔は下手の書くさへあはれなり
asagao wa heta no kaku sae aware nari

morning glory:
even when painted poorly,
it has pathos
Tr. Terebess

. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .



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Reference

. - Yamaguchi Sodoo 山口素堂 Yamaguchi Sodo - .


***** Introducing Japanese Haiku Poets


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Hosomi Ayako

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Hosomi Ayako 細見綾子(1907～1997)


© PHOTO City of Tamba, Hyogo


Her real name was Sawaki Ayako 沢木綾子.
She was born in Aogaki, Higashi Ashida Town 青垣町東芦田 in Hyogo province in March 明治４０年３月３１日 and died at the full age of 90 years 平成９年９月６日.
Here family had a long tradition and history, her father worked as mayor of the town, but he died when Ayako was just 13 years old.


The home where she was born
© PHOTO Ashida/Tamba

She went to university and married a doctor at age 20, but kept working after her marriage as a university librarian.
Her husband died suddenly and she went back to her mother in Tamba, who died in the same year.

She fell very ill after so much misfortune, but during a stay in hospital she came to know haiku better.
She became a professional haiku poet and married later the leader of the modern haiku group "Kaze", Sawaki Kinichi 沢木欣一. Her husband was also the president of the Haiku Poets Association from 1987 to 1993.

Look at some photos of her haiku stone memorials and others




List of her haiku in Japanese

Her haiku are rather difficult to translate, because they have a lot of local flavor not easily understood in one word. They need good footnotes with explanations.

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HAIKU

桜えびすしに散らして今日ありぬ　
sakura ebi sushi ni chirashite kyoo arinu

cherryblossom shrimps
sprinkled on my sushi -
what a fine day !

Tr. Gabi Greve. Spring at the Beach Haiku

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shiro choocho tobisari nanika ushinai shi

the white butterfly
flew away--something
has been lost
tr. Higginson ("Haiku World")



来てみれば ほほけちらして 猫柳
kite mireba hoho kechirashite nekoyanagi

came looking for them--
the heads all are scattered
pussy willows
tr. Higginson ("Haiku World")



ushikai ni michi yokeraruru haka mairi

the cowherd
steered us off the road
grave visiting
tr. Higginson ("Haiku World")


fudangi de fudan no kokoro momo no hana

in my ordinary clothes
thinking ordinary thoughts -
peach blossoms
tr. Koko Kato and David Burleigh ("A Hidden Pond")


(no Japanese available)

the evening-class teacher--
his big black umbrella
in the rainy season

trans. from the Japanese into French by Alain Kervern, and from French into English by me



つばめつばめ泥が好きなる燕かな　
tsubame tsubame doro ga suki naru tsubame kana

Swallows, oh, swallows,
how much you like the mud!
you swallows!
tr. Kageyama Noriko



oku mino no nakanaka kienu haru no niji

when it's not easy
to put a raincoat on--
rainbow in spring


kumo fururu bakari no hana-no shiga no oku

The depths of Shiga--
A field of wildflowers
Borders the clouds.

tr. Yuzuru Miura
("Classic Haiku: A Master's Selection"), who gives the following note:

"Shiga, a highland in the northeastern part of Nagano prefecture in central Japan, is famous for its dense white-birch forests and alpine flora."


Compiled by Larry Bole


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佐久山やらつきよの花に蝶がつく　　
. Sakuyama rakkyoo no hana ni choo ga tsuku

Sakuyama !
a butterfly lands
on a shalotte flower 　

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男ぶり将門公の更衣
otokoburi Masakado koo no koromogae

what a man !
Masakado changes
his robes


. Taira no Masakado 平将門 (? – 940) .


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Some more Haiku by Ayako

餅のかびけづりをり大切な時間
mochi no kabi kezuriori taisetsu na jikan

scratching the mold
from the rice cakes -
this important time

After the New Year, she has finally time for herself, even if it is only to scratch the mold from the rice cakes for the gruel eaten on January 7.

...


野分あとひとり歩きに日あまねし　
nowaki ato hitori aruki ni hi amaneshi

after the typhoon
I walk around alone -
sunshine everywhere

...

新雪の富士の肩荒きへら使ひ
shinsetsu no Fuji no kata araki heratsukai

first snow -
the side of Mount Fuji looks
so roughly palleted


...



そら豆はまことに青き味したり　
soramame wa makoto ni aoki aji shitari

these broad beans
really, they taste
soooo green
Ayako 23 years

...


春雪の富士遠からず近からず
haruyuki no Fuji tookarazu chikakarazu

Mount Fuji in
spring snow - not too far
not too close

...


Look at the two stone memorials HERE !

でで虫が 桑で吹かるゝ 秋の風
dedemushi ga kuwa de fukaruru aki no kaze

a snail
blown away on mulberry leaves -
autumn wind



雉子鳴けり少年の朝少女の朝
kiji nakeri shoonen no asa shoojo no asa

pheasants calling -
the morning of a young boy
the morning of a young girl
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

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笹の香の強きちまきや地獄谷　
sasa-no-ka no tsuyoki chimaki ya Jigokudani 　

Das Chimaki, das stark vom Bambusgras duftet. -
Das Tal Jigoku (die Hoelle)

(übersetzt: ITOH Nanako)

.....

寺の炉に酒をたまふや菜種梅雨
tera no ro ni sake o tamou ya natanezuyu 　

An der Feuerstätte im Tempel
bekommt den Reiswein geschenkt -
Der Landregen im Frühling

(übersetzt: SATOH Kihakusoh)

© Haiku Romantische Strasse


the chimaki tastes
so strong of bamboo leaves -
Jigokudani Valley


at the hearth of the temple
they serve us ricewine -
rain on the rape flowers



Chimaki 粽/茅巻き/茅巻
sticky rice wrapped in the leaves of bamboo grass (sasa). They are a special food for May 5, the Boy's Festival.
chimakizasa 粽笹, sasamaki 笹巻（ささまき）,chimaki 茅巻（ちまき）
binding the chimaki, chimaki yuu 粽結う（ちまきゆう）
unbind, loosen the chimaki, chimaki toku 粽解く（ちまきとく）
sasa chimaki 笹粽（ささちまき) komochimaki 菰粽（こもちまき）, suge chimaki 菅粽（すげちまき）

Chimaki are a kigo for early summer.
Look at some HERE !


Jigokudani 地獄谷, "valley of hell" , a name for valleys near volcanoes with hot springs and sulfur steam, some even frequented by wild monkeys to keep warm in winter ...
Look at some HERE !


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Reference

***** Introducing Japanese Haiku Poets

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