Hyakunin Isshu, Poem 4
Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
(version September 2022)
Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
(version September 2022)
as I enter Tago Bay,
I see in front of me
the mulberry-white
I see in front of me
the mulberry-white
lofty peak of Mount Fuji
on which snow keeps fallingTago no ura ni
uchi-idete mireba
shirotae no
Fuji no takane ni
yuki wa furitsutsu
田子の浦に
打ち出でてみれば
白妙の
富士の高嶺に
雪はふりつつ
Yamabe no Akahito 山部赤人 (fl 724-737)
[Tago Bay near Ejiri on the Tokaido, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, by Hokusai (ca. 1830–32)]
This poem gives a picture postcard view of the snowy peak of Mt Fuji. In the 20th c. this poem was often criticized as not being realistic. After all, it is impossible to see snow falling on Mt Fuji from far away Tago Bay (and anyway, when snow falls on a mountain it is covered by such heavy clouds, that you can't even see the mountain). The intention of the poet is of course just to emphasize the snowy whiteness of Fuji's peak. By the way, the poem was copied by Teika from the Shinkokinshu, but it also occurs in the Manyoshu, where the furitsutsu (of snow that is falling) has been replaced by furikeri (snow that has fallen), so that solves the conundrum.
The poem is an early example of landscape poetry (jokeika) and both Mt Fuji and Tago Bay are famous utamakura.
Notes
- Tago no ura is a coastal area near the mouth of the river Fujikawa, on the west coast of Suruga Bay (Shizuoka Pref.). The coast here offers a beautiful view of Mt Fuji.
- uchi-idete: uchi- has little or no semantic function (it can give stress, or mean "a little"); here "setting out on."
- shirotae is a pillow word meaning pure whiteness (lit. white cloth made out of a kind of paper mulberry) - we already came across it in Poem No 2.
- furitsutsu: -tsutsu indicates that it keeps snowing.
[Tago no ura photographed by Adolfo Farsari (1841 - 1898)]
Mt Fuji
In the Heian period, Mt Fuji was well known to the courtiers in the capital of Heiankyo, if only by reputation. It was an active volcano at that time and it was usually ejecting a plum of smoke. For that smoke, by the way, an interesting explanation is given in Japan's oldest tale, The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter - which is not really about a bamboo cutter, but about miraculous Princess Kaguyahime who refuses all suitors, including the emperor himself, and finally returns to the moon where she originally came from. The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter ends with the emperor ordering his army to take the keepsakes left him by Kaguyahime to the summit of Mount Fuji and burn them. After all, Mt Fuji is closest to heaven and the emperor hopes that the smoke will reach the distant princess. This incident provides a folk etymology for the name "Fuji," which is said to derive from the abundance (fu) of warriors (shi) sent to carry out the emperor's command. In addition, the burning of the keepsakes was given as the reason why smoke continued to rise from the peak of Mt Fuji.In 864 there was a major eruption (Jogan Eruption), which lasted for 10 days; an immense quantity of cinders and ash rained down as far away as Edo bay.
[Yamabe no Akahito by Utagawa Kuniyoshi]
The Poet
The poet is Yamabe no Akahito (early 8th c.), who lived somewhat later than the previous poet, Kakinomoto no Hitomaro. In Ki no Tsurayuki's preface to the Kokinshu, both Kakinomoto no Hitomaro and Yamabe no Akahito were singled out as "Saints of Poetry"). Akahito is considered as one of the most important poets of the Manyoshu ("The Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves," which was compiled ca 759), which contains 37 tanka and 13 choka by him. Akahito excelled at the tanka rather than choka. A court official, he was one of the last "poets laureate" who composed poetry commemorating events in the imperial house and excursions of the sovereign. All his surviving poems were written during the reign of Emperor Shomu (701-756; r. 724-749). He evidently made several long journeys, as he composed poems on various famous sites, as in the present case on Mt Fuji. He is therefore considered as the great nature poet of the Manyoshu. In contrast to Hitomaro who possesses elusive depths, Akahito's poetry is clarity itself (reason why Hitomaro is nowadays higher evaluated).
[The beach with pine trees at Yoshiwara was famous,
as is shown in this ukiyo-e by Hiroshige
(The Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido)]
Visiting
Tago no Ura is the beach which runs from the mouth of the Kano River in Numazu to the mouth of the Fuji River in Fuji City. It is typical for the smooth coastline in the back part of the Bay of Suruga. It used to be beautiful scenery thanks to its sand dunes, beaches with pines trees and the view of Mt Fuji. But these have been destroyed by the joint onslaught of several tsunami in past centuries as well as modern industrial development. Where the port of Yoshiwara which was famous for its "view to the left" of Mt Fuji (normally, traveling from Edo, one would have Mt Fuji on the right side) used to be at the mouth of the Urui River, in 1966 the modern industrial port of Tagonoura (Fuji City) was built. Anyway, the Tagonoura mentioned in Akahito's poem seems to have been closer to Kanbara.These are now all stations on the Tokaido as the JR Tokaido Main Line more or less follows the old Tokaido road. Coming from the direction of Tokyo, two stations from Numazu we have Higashi Tagonoura (no connection to our poem, this is just a commuter station serving workers for nearby heavy industry), Yoshiwara (named after Yoshiwara-juku, and doubling as a terminal station for the Gakunan Railway, originally set up to serve Nissan factories in the area; Mt Fuji can be seen from each station on this 9 km short line), Fuji (opened to serve the Oji Paper Mills in the area, and doubling as the southern terminus of the Minobu Line), Fujikawa, Shinkanbara (set up as Kanbara Station was too far from the town of Kanbara), Kanbara (near the old Kanbara-juku) and Yui (also a Tokaido post station).
Tagonoura Port is not the ancient Tagonoura, as stated above, but one has an excellent view of the snow-covered peak and gently sloping sides of Mt Fuji from here. The port serves fishers, leisure boats and the paper industry. In fact, a visit here is a good compromise for the old Tagonoura. There also seems to be one spot from where one can take pictures of Mt Fuji together with passing trains on the Shinkansen line, a scene often advertised in the past by JR. The port is only a 10 min walk from Yoshiwara Station.
The Wakamiya Shrine is dedicated to waka and not surprisingly, its deity is Yamabe no Akahito. It is not clear when this shrine was founded, but it is mentioned in a historical work from the 16th c. The shrine is a 10-min walk from Shinkanbara Station, but there is not really much to see.
Better is the Shizuoka City Tokaido Hiroshige Museum of Art in Yui, which owns a large collection of ukiyo-e and also organizes other exhibitions about Edo-period art. The small but fine museum is a 20 min walk from Yui Station, in an eastern direction (towards Tokyo), which will also lead you right through the old post town of Yui. The museum is part of Yui Honjin Park. Warmly recommended!
[Wakamiya Shrine]
References: Pictures of the Heart, The Hyakunin Isshu in Word and Image by Joshua S. Mostow (University of Hawai'i Press, 1996); One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each, by Peter MacMIllan (Penguin Classics); Traditional Japanese Poetry, An Anthology, by Steven D. Carter (Stanford University Press, 1991); Hyakunin Isshu by Inoue Muneo, etc. (Shinchosha, 1990); Genshoku Hyakunin Isshu by Suzuki Hideo, etc. (Buneido, 1997); Chishiki Zero kara no Hyakunin Isshu, by Ariyoshi Tamotsu (Gentosha); Hyakunin Isshu Kaibo Zukan, by Tani Tomoko (X-Knowledge); Ogura Hyakunin Isshu at Japanese Text Initiative (University of Virginia Library Etext Center); Hyakunin Isshu wo aruku by Shimaoka Shin (Kofusha Shuppan); Hyakunin Isshu, Ocho waka kara chusei waka e by Inoue Muneo (Chikuma Shoin, 2004); Basho's Haiku (2 vols) by Toshiharu Oseko (Maruzen, 1990); The Ise Stories by Joshua S. Mostow and Royall Tyler (University of Hawai'i Press, 2010); Kokin Wakashu, The First Imperial Anthology of Japanese Poetry by Helen Craig McCullough (Stanford University Press, 1985); Kokinshu, A Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern by Laurel Rasplica Rodd and Mary Catherine Henkenius (University of Tokyo Press, 1984); Kokin Wakashu (Shogakkan, 1994); Shinkokin Wakashu (Shogakkan, 1995); Taketori Monogatari-Ise Monogatari-Yamato Monogatari-Heichu Monogatari (Shogakkan, 1994).
Photos and other illustrations via Wikimedia Commons