Hyakunin Isshu, Poem 10
Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
(version September 2022)
Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
(version September 2022)
this is the place!
where people come and go,
here they part,
the known and the unknown:
the Barrier of Meeting Slope
where people come and go,
here they part,
the known and the unknown:
the Barrier of Meeting Slope
kore ya kono
yuku mo kaeru mo
wakarete wa
shiru mo shiranu mo
Ausaka no seki
これやこの
行くも帰るも
別れては
知るも知らぬも
逢坂の関
Semimaru 蝉丸 (10th c.?)
["Osaka" or "Meeting Slope" between Kyoto and Otsu; the smaller road to the right is a section left of the old Tokaido]
"Meeting is the beginning of parting," as is clear when observing the flow of people at the Osaka Barrier.
The Osaka Barrier ("Meeting Slope", originally written as "Ausaka" and not connected at all with the city of Osaka!) is a historical spot. It formed the border between the old capital Heiankyo (now Kyoto) and the province of Omi (now Shiga Prefecture, with as capital Otsu, which neighbors Kyoto), where the road to eastern Japan started. It formed the entrance to Kyoto (the Tokaido also passed through it) and was a crucial traffic artery, apparently already busy in the ninth century.
In the Chapter The Barrier Station, Sekiya, of The Tale of Genji, Genji - on his way to the Ishiyamadera temple - has a chance encounter with a party of travelers which includes his old (unrequited) love Utsusemi and her husband, the Governor, who is returning from his post in east Japan. As women always kept hidden deep in their ox carriage, Genji of course doesn't meet face to face with Utsusemi, but he manages to send her a poem via her brother, in which he refers to the “watchman of the barrier,” a stock figure in love poetry, who has kept them apart (referring to Utsusemi's husband). Utsusemi replies in a poem about “the mournful way one has to make through a forest of sorrows” at the Osaka Barrier.
The "Meeting Slope" also plays a role in Poem 25, by Fujiwara no Sadakata.
Notes
The recluse who supposedly lived in a hut near the Osaka Barrier also figures in the Noh play "Semimaru." Although he was the son of an emperor, as he was born blind (which indicated bad karma), he could not ascend to the throne, but instead was taken and abandoned at a hut by the Osaka Barrier. In the Noh play Semimaru has a brief accidental meeting at Meeting Slope with his deranged sister named Sakagami (her name indicates that her hair sticks straight up), who leads a wandering life. She stops upon hearing the sound of a lute coming from a straw hut and talks to her brother, Semimaru, when she finds him there. Brother and sister embrace and share their lonesome stories, but in the end they have to part again.
(2) There are three Seki-no-Semimaru Shrines along the road that leaves Otsu for Kyoto (one of them stands next to the above monument, sitting on top of a tall staircase, but it is not worth climbing up). The Shimo-Sha Shrine (also called simply "Semimaru Jinja") is the largest of the three shrines and stands in Otsu, in a spot behind the Keihan railway line. It is dedicated to Semimaru Okami and Sarutahiko-no-mikoto, revealing that Semimaru is here revered - just like Sarutahiko - as a deity of travel. According to shrine legend, the shrine was founded in 946, and since Semimaru, the main deity, was regarded as the ancestral deity of the art of musical performance, he was revered by people who were engaged in various performing arts, and their business activities were required to be licensed by the shrine. The present shrine was rebuilt in 1660. You'll find a stone here in which the present poem has been carved. It is just a 10 min walk from Otsu St; you'll find the shrine here: https://goo.gl/maps/o5k67BtXcbmnpta87
[Semimaru Shrine, Otsu]
The Osaka Barrier ("Meeting Slope", originally written as "Ausaka" and not connected at all with the city of Osaka!) is a historical spot. It formed the border between the old capital Heiankyo (now Kyoto) and the province of Omi (now Shiga Prefecture, with as capital Otsu, which neighbors Kyoto), where the road to eastern Japan started. It formed the entrance to Kyoto (the Tokaido also passed through it) and was a crucial traffic artery, apparently already busy in the ninth century.
The poem aptly paints the hustle and bustle of the Barrier by use of contrast: people setting out on a journey and others who are coming back, the many farewells but also meetings (as indicated by the name Meeting Slope), the passing by of people who know each other and those who are complete strangers. One meets in order to part and says goodbye in order to meet again... the world is in a constant flux, a truly Buddhist view of life.
The Barrier also formed a rest station for travelers, and Fujiwara no Michitsuna's mother, the author of Kagero Nikki ("The Gossamer Years"), records resting there in 970 while crossing the pass.
The Barrier also formed a rest station for travelers, and Fujiwara no Michitsuna's mother, the author of Kagero Nikki ("The Gossamer Years"), records resting there in 970 while crossing the pass.
In the Chapter The Barrier Station, Sekiya, of The Tale of Genji, Genji - on his way to the Ishiyamadera temple - has a chance encounter with a party of travelers which includes his old (unrequited) love Utsusemi and her husband, the Governor, who is returning from his post in east Japan. As women always kept hidden deep in their ox carriage, Genji of course doesn't meet face to face with Utsusemi, but he manages to send her a poem via her brother, in which he refers to the “watchman of the barrier,” a stock figure in love poetry, who has kept them apart (referring to Utsusemi's husband). Utsusemi replies in a poem about “the mournful way one has to make through a forest of sorrows” at the Osaka Barrier.
The "Meeting Slope" also plays a role in Poem 25, by Fujiwara no Sadakata.
Notes
- kore ya kono: "kore koso ga, ano" - the poems starts with an exclamation.
- yuku mo kaeru mo: this takes Heiankyo (Kyoto) as its standard: "people leaving Heiankyo and people returning to Heiankyo."
- wakarete wa: "wa" is an intensifier, linking "wakarete, parting" to the "au" (meeting) of Meeting Slope. Some versions of the poem have "wakaretsutsu".
[Semimaru playing his lute
by Yoshitoshi]
The Poet
Semimaru, the purported poet, is a legendary figure who may have been based on a blind musician who lived in the second half of the 9th c. He was a skilled biwa player and rumor has it that he even was of royal birth... but such is indeed the stuff of legend.The recluse who supposedly lived in a hut near the Osaka Barrier also figures in the Noh play "Semimaru." Although he was the son of an emperor, as he was born blind (which indicated bad karma), he could not ascend to the throne, but instead was taken and abandoned at a hut by the Osaka Barrier. In the Noh play Semimaru has a brief accidental meeting at Meeting Slope with his deranged sister named Sakagami (her name indicates that her hair sticks straight up), who leads a wandering life. She stops upon hearing the sound of a lute coming from a straw hut and talks to her brother, Semimaru, when she finds him there. Brother and sister embrace and share their lonesome stories, but in the end they have to part again.
[Monument at the site of the ancient Osaka Barrier]
Visiting
(1) Today the Osaka Barrier it still is a busy spot, as both Route No. 1, the Keihan line and the Meishin Expressway struggle for space in the narrow pass, while the JR Tokaido and Shinkansen lines use tunnels bored through the mountain. The only difference is that people on foot are seldom now, you only see cars swishing by…
So it is not exactly a beautiful spot, but the Barrier is remembered by a large stone stele. As it is only a few steps from the nearest station on the Keihan Otsu line, it doesn’t hurt to have a look here. Moreover, the short road from Otani station to the crossroads where the monument stands, is quiet - it used to be part of the Tokaido. You’ll pass a 140-year old restaurant here, Kaneyo, which is famous for its eel cuisine, broiled and placed on rice with a dashimaki egg omelet on top.
Osaka (Ausaka) no seki monument is a 3 min walk from Otani St on the Keihan Otsu line.
So it is not exactly a beautiful spot, but the Barrier is remembered by a large stone stele. As it is only a few steps from the nearest station on the Keihan Otsu line, it doesn’t hurt to have a look here. Moreover, the short road from Otani station to the crossroads where the monument stands, is quiet - it used to be part of the Tokaido. You’ll pass a 140-year old restaurant here, Kaneyo, which is famous for its eel cuisine, broiled and placed on rice with a dashimaki egg omelet on top.
Osaka (Ausaka) no seki monument is a 3 min walk from Otani St on the Keihan Otsu line.
[Heavy traffic in the narrow pass, close to the site of the Osaka Barrier]
(2) There are three Seki-no-Semimaru Shrines along the road that leaves Otsu for Kyoto (one of them stands next to the above monument, sitting on top of a tall staircase, but it is not worth climbing up). The Shimo-Sha Shrine (also called simply "Semimaru Jinja") is the largest of the three shrines and stands in Otsu, in a spot behind the Keihan railway line. It is dedicated to Semimaru Okami and Sarutahiko-no-mikoto, revealing that Semimaru is here revered - just like Sarutahiko - as a deity of travel. According to shrine legend, the shrine was founded in 946, and since Semimaru, the main deity, was regarded as the ancestral deity of the art of musical performance, he was revered by people who were engaged in various performing arts, and their business activities were required to be licensed by the shrine. The present shrine was rebuilt in 1660. You'll find a stone here in which the present poem has been carved. It is just a 10 min walk from Otsu St; you'll find the shrine here: https://goo.gl/maps/o5k67BtXcbmnpta87
References: Pictures of the Heart, The Hyakunin Isshu in Word and Image by Joshua S. Mostow (University of Hawai'i Press, 1996); 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); Ogura Hyakunin Isshu at Japanese Text Initiative (University of Virginia Library Etext Center); Hyakunin Isshu wo aruku by Shimaoka Shin (Kofusha Shuppan); 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 (Staford 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 my own work. Ukiyo-e via Wikipedia.