Haiku Travels
Dogo Onsen (Matsuyama)
those ten years of sweat:
wash them away
in the hot springs of Dogo
junen no / ase wo Dogo no / yu ni arae
十年の汗を道後の温泉に洗へ
Shiki
[Dogo Onsen]
Dogo Onsen, in the outskirts of Matsuyama City, is one of the oldest spas of Japan. The deity Okuninushi no Mikoto, in the far-away mythological age, is considered as one of the first bathers, as is the renowned but equally legendary Prince Shotoku. In historical times, the baths were visited by emperors and nobles and in the 17th c. the local daimyo, Matsudaira Sadayuki, remodeled Dogo and constructed all sorts of baths for various classes of people, such as samurai, priests, merchants and women. In more recent times, the baths knew literary dippers as Natsume Soseki (the baths figure in his famous novel Botchan) and Masaoka Shiki. The present Momoyama-style onsen building dates from the Meiji period and is rather impressive thanks to its layered, tiled roofs - note the heron sculpture on the pagoda-like turret, who was according to tradition the true discoverer of the spa, even before gods and emperors visited here. The baths consist of alkaline simple thermal water, which is good for stiff joints and obstinate nervous and digestive systems.
Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902) in his short life single-handedly brought the genres of haiku and tanka into modern age. He wrote 20,000 haiku and is regarded is one of the Great Four, together with Basho, Buson and Issa. Shiki was born in Matsuyama, but later moved to Tokyo. Shiki turned haiku into a legitimate literary genre and stressed that it should be judged accordingly.
[Shiki Memorial Museum, Dogo Onsen, Matsuyama]
The above haiku was written in 1896, when Shiki was 29. The season is summer. Shiki wrote it for his kohai (junior) and fellow townsman Ogawa Naoyoshi, who had completed his studies in Tokyo and was now about to return to Matsuyama. It is a farewell poem in which Shiki expresses appreciation for Ogawa's hard study (Ogawa would later become famous as a linguist). At the same time, Shiki reveals his own wish to visit his hometown after his long sojourn in Tokyo. However, his TB had gotten worse and Shiki was even unable to walk. Shiki wrote the haiku on a tanzaku (oblong piece of paper) which he gave to Ogawa. The haiku can today also be found carved on the bath tub in the Annex of Dogo Onsen called Tsubaki no Yu (Camellia Bath).
While in Matsuyama, don't forget to visit the castle (one of the very few original ones left in Japan), Ishiteji Temple (on the Shikoku Circuit of 88 Temples), the Shiki Memorial Museum, the Shikido Hall (where Shiki was born and grew up), Issoan (the hermitage where haiku poet Santoka spent his last days) and - of course - Dogo Onsen. For practical information in English, see the official Matsuyama Tourism website. As a "haiku town," you'll find countless haiku stones and haiku posts in Matsuyama.
Information about Dogo Onsen gleaned from A Guide to Japanese Hot Springs by Anne Hotta and Yoko Ishiguro, Kodansha International, 1986.
See about Shiki: Masaoka Shiki, Selected Poems, by Burton Watson (Columbia U.P.); The Winter Sun Shines in: A Life of Masaoka Shiki, by Donald Keene (Columbia U.P.); Masaoka Shiki: His Life and Works, by Janine Beichman (Kodansha International); If Someone Asks..., Masaoka Shiki's Life and Haiku, Matsuyama Municipal Shiki-Kinen Museum.
[The photos in this post are my own]