Haiku Travels
Matsuyama (Dogo Onsen)
spring - in the past
a castle town
of 150,000 bushels
haru ya mukashi | jugomankoku no | joka kana
Shiki
[Matsuyama Castle]
When you say "haiku," you say "Matsuyama." Matsuyama on Shikoku is the hometown of Matsuoka Shiki (1867-1902), who in his short life transformed the Edo-period hokku into the modern haiku. He is greatly honored in his hometown, with a Shiki Museum and numerous haiku stones. What is more, Shiki was not Matsuyama's only famous haiku poet - his disciples Kawahigashi Hekigoto (1873-1936) and Takahama Kyoshi (1874-1959) were also from Matsuyama and the famous haiku magazine Hotogogisu was born in this city. On top of that, the itinerant haiku poet Santoka (1882-1940) spent his last years in a hermitage in Matsuyama and Meiji-literature giant Natsume Soseki (1867-1916) taught for a year English at Matsuyama Junior Highschool. In Matsuyama, Soseki is not only remembered for the novel Botchan which is set in the city, but Soseki was also a not inconsiderable haiku poet - for a few months in 1895, he shared a house in Matsuyama, Gudabutsuan, with Shiki.
So there is every reason for Matsuyama to consider itself as the capital of haiku. There are more than 480 haiku stones (kuhi) in the city and in many places you will find a kind of postboxes where you can contribute your own haiku.
So there is every reason for Matsuyama to consider itself as the capital of haiku. There are more than 480 haiku stones (kuhi) in the city and in many places you will find a kind of postboxes where you can contribute your own haiku.
[Haiku post]
We start where usually visitors enter the city: at JR Matsuyama station. When you come out of the station, on your left you will find a rather oversized haiku stone, carrying the present poem as a sort of symbol of Matsuyama. Shiki wrote the haiku in 1895 (the stone dates from 1962).
Matsuyama Castle, to which the haiku refers, was built in the early 17th century by Kato Yoshiakira. Later, in 1635, it was given in the custody of a branch of the Matsudaira clan, relatives of the shogun in Edo. It sits on the steep Katsuyama Hill in the center of the Dogo Plain. Together with the castles in Wakayama and Himeji, it is one of three so-called "multiple wing" castles in Japan. Unfortunately, Matsuyama Castle is not as historically precious as the one in Himeji, because the most important part, the donjon or central castle tower, was several times destroyed and lastly rebuilt in 1854 on a much smaller scale. Some other towers went up in flames during WWII, and have been rebuilt now by the city - beautifully in wood.
The haiku speaks about the measure called koku - here translated freely as "bushel." One koku is in fact 180 kilograms of rice and was considered as the amount one person needed to live for one year. As tax was levied mainly as rice from the peasantry, income was indicated in koku of rice. 150,000 koku is a rather modest fief, but Shiki was proud of his hometown.
[Matsuyama Castle]
the castle hill
rises into the sky -
green gale
shiroyama no | ukami-agaru ya | ao-arashi
There is a second train station in Matsuyama called Matsuyama City Station, serviced by the Iyo Railway that connects the city with its suburbs. It is linked to the JR station via a short streetcar ride. Here, too, on the left side in front of the station (on the streetcar platform, in fact) we find a haiku stone by Shiki. The haiku was written in 1892 and again has Matsuyama Castle as its theme. "Ao-arashi", "green gale," is a strong wind blowing through the green leaves and is a kigo for summer.
rises into the sky -
green gale
shiroyama no | ukami-agaru ya | ao-arashi
There is a second train station in Matsuyama called Matsuyama City Station, serviced by the Iyo Railway that connects the city with its suburbs. It is linked to the JR station via a short streetcar ride. Here, too, on the left side in front of the station (on the streetcar platform, in fact) we find a haiku stone by Shiki. The haiku was written in 1892 and again has Matsuyama Castle as its theme. "Ao-arashi", "green gale," is a strong wind blowing through the green leaves and is a kigo for summer.
[Shikido museum]
morning chill -
"anybody home?" echoes
at the back door
asazamu ya | tanomo to hibiku | uchi-genkan
Shiki composed this haiku in 1895. On the way to visit Murakami Seigetsu's house, Shiki dropped by at Shojuji Temple (which also happened to be his family temple) to pick up the priest Bukkai. Bukkai (1863-1945) was Shiki's friend and also a haiku poet - he wrote under the name Isshuku. Shiki stands at the side or back door (uchi-genkan, the private entry used by family and friends) and calls out "Tanomo," "Anybody home?" "Morning chill" is a season word for autumn.
Shojuji stands at the back of Matsuyama-shi Station and is now hemmed in by houses. The grounds seem not very attractive, until you reach the back where a replica stands of the house where Shiki was born and where he lived until age 17. Called Shikido, this is now a small museum displaying Shiki memorabilia. Opposite the museum stands one of the oldest carriages of the Iyo Railways, a box car affectionately called the "Botchan train," as it figures in Natsume Soseki's famous novel. Near the small graveyard are more monuments related to Shiki, such as a grave of his hair and a stele commemorating his connection with baseball - he seems to have been one of the earliest fans of this sport in Japan.
"anybody home?" echoes
at the back door
asazamu ya | tanomo to hibiku | uchi-genkan
Shiki composed this haiku in 1895. On the way to visit Murakami Seigetsu's house, Shiki dropped by at Shojuji Temple (which also happened to be his family temple) to pick up the priest Bukkai. Bukkai (1863-1945) was Shiki's friend and also a haiku poet - he wrote under the name Isshuku. Shiki stands at the side or back door (uchi-genkan, the private entry used by family and friends) and calls out "Tanomo," "Anybody home?" "Morning chill" is a season word for autumn.
Shojuji stands at the back of Matsuyama-shi Station and is now hemmed in by houses. The grounds seem not very attractive, until you reach the back where a replica stands of the house where Shiki was born and where he lived until age 17. Called Shikido, this is now a small museum displaying Shiki memorabilia. Opposite the museum stands one of the oldest carriages of the Iyo Railways, a box car affectionately called the "Botchan train," as it figures in Natsume Soseki's famous novel. Near the small graveyard are more monuments related to Shiki, such as a grave of his hair and a stele commemorating his connection with baseball - he seems to have been one of the earliest fans of this sport in Japan.
[Botchan train]
First Haiku Stone:
The haiku stone stands in front of JR Matsuyama Station (to the left when you exit the station). Matsuyama castle is 10 min by bus (#52) or streetcar (#5) from Matsuyama St, in the direction of Dogo Onsen; get of at Okaido. You can walk up the 132 meter high hill, or take a ropeway.
Second Haiku Stone:
The haiku stone stands on the streetcar platform in front of Matsuyama-shi Station (The Iyo Railway station, 5 min by streetcar from the JR Matsuyama Station).Third Haiku Stone:
The third haiku stands in the grounds of Shojuji Temple, 5 min on foot from Matsuyama-shi Station. The grounds are freely accessible, but to see the Shikido museum you have to pay a small fee at the temple office.Links to Matsuyama and Ehime
Notes:
For Shiki, read Masaoka Shiki, Selected Poems translated by Burton Watson (Columbia Univ. Press) and Masaoka Shiki, by Janine Beichman (Kodansha, reprint 1986). The Matsuyama Municipal Shiki-Kinen Museum has published the attractive If Someone Asks... Matsuoka Shiki's Life and Haiku.
Natsume Soseki's Botchan has been translated by Alan Turney and is available from Kodansha International.
Photos: public domain via Wikimedia Commons
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