Hyakunin Isshu, Poem 98
Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
(version September 2022)
at dusk
when a breeze stirs the oaks
along the stream of Nara
the ablutions are
the only sign of summer
kaze soyogu
Nara no ogawa no
yugure wa
misogi zo natsu no
shirushi nari keru
風そよぐ
ならの小川の
夕ぐれは
みそぎぞ夏の
しるしなりける
Fujiwara no Ietaka 藤原家隆 (1158-1237)
[Nara Brook in the grounds of the Kamigamo Shrine]
In his Hyakunin Isshu translation, Peter MacMillan mentions a head note in the Shinchokusenshu, according to which this poem was written for a painting on an ornamental screen. A popular theme for screen paintings were annual observances (nenju gyoji), divided over the twelve months; a different observance would be painted on each panel of the screen. The subject of the annual observance here is the misogi ablution rite held in the sixth month. The screen was made for the entrance to court of Shunshi, consort of Emperor Go-Shirakawa.
The poet walks through the sacred grounds of the Kamigamo Shrine and is surprised at the sudden change of the seasons. The wind that rustles through the leaves of the oak trees is chilly, reminding him of autumn, and the only sign that it is still summer are the people performing ablutions with sacred wands at the river bank. Sacred bathing was a summer custom at both Kamo Shrines and is still ritually enacted at the Shimogamo Shrine in the form of the Mitarashi Festival in late summer.
Ietaka's poem is an allusive variation on a poem by Minamoto no Yoritsuna:
at dusk
when the leaves of the oaks rustle
in the summer hills
this year too
autumn makes itself felt
natsuyama no | nara no ha soyogu | yugure wa | kotoshi mo aki no | kokochi koso sure
As Joshua Mostow remarks in Pictures of the Heart, by placing the poem near the end of the anthology, Fujiwara no Teika must have meant it as an echo of Poem 2 by Empress Jito, for both poems express surprise at the signs of seasonal change. Empress Jito realizes that spring is over and that summer has come when she sees the robes on Mt Kagu, and Ietaka, when he sees the misogi ablutions, knows it is still summer despite the chill in the air.
Notes
- kaze soyogu: "the wind rustles". "soyosoyo" is an onomatopoeia for the sound the wind makes (for example, in the leaves of the oaks).
- Nara no ogawa: the Nara Brook flows through the grounds of the Kamigamo Shrine and was used for mitarashi, for washing the hands and rinsing the mouth in order to purify mind and body before worshiping at the shrine. The name "Nara" is on purpose written in hiragana so that it can make a pun on the oaks, which are also "nara" in Japanese (the name is not related to the city of Nara!).
- misogi: ritual ablution. Such ablutions were specifically undertaken as an annual custom on the last day of the sixth month, symbolizing purification from sins.
- natsu no shirushi narikeri: the 6th month in the lunasolar calendar is our August, when the first signs of autumn - such as a fresh breeze - may appear.
[Ietaka]
The Poet
Fujiwara no Ietaka (also pronounced as Karyu) "of the Junior Second Rank" (Juni-i) was the son of Fujiwara no Mitsutaka, and a descendant of the poet Fujiwara no Kanesuke (poem 27) as well as a distant relative of the writer Murasaki Shikibu (poem 57). He had a successful career at court and served as Director of the Ministry of Palace Affairs. He became son-in-law of Jakuren (poem 87) and studied poetry with Shunzei (poem 83), both famous poets in their own right. He was a member of the poetic circle around the Retired Emperor Go-Toba (poem 99) and served as one of the editors of the Shinkokinshu anthology. Ietaka also has a personal collection called the Collection of Jeweled Songs (Gyokuginshu) - he was quite popular and we find hundreds of his poems in imperial anthologies.
[Sand cones in fromt of the Gonden of the Kamigamo Shrine]
Visiting
The Kamigamo Shrine is dedicated to Kamo-wake-ikazuchi, the son of Tamayori-hime, a princess who together with her father Kamo-taketsunemi-no-mikoto is enshrined in the Shimogamo Shrine. The deity was miraculously conceived after a red arrow touched the princess between her legs. Both shrines were tutelary shrines of the Kamo clan who ruled this area before Kyoto (Heiankyo) was established here as the new capital in 794.
Before being adopted by the Kamo clan, and “humanized,” these deities were sheer natural forces. The Shimogamo shrine stands downstream, where the Kamo and Takano rivers flow together and was a sort of river god to whom prayers were said to guard against floods. The Kamigamo Shrine stands farther north, at the foot of Koyama Hill (written with the kanji for “god hill”), where the deity first was called down to an iwakura, a rock formation at the top. He was most probably a thunder god to whom prayers were said for rain and good harvests.
The Kamigamo Shrine stands in a sylvan setting with emerald lawns on the eastern bank of the Kamo River. Mysterious cones of white sand (tatesuna) sit before the Honden and Gonden, which are national treasures dating from the rebuilding in 1863 - these sandy cones probably originated very practically in a gardener's device to have fresh sand at hand, but now are believed to be imizuna, "purifying sand" or "exorcising sand" that is scattered at impure spots and in unlucky directions as the northeastern "Demon's Gate." It is even sold in small bags to take home.
Like the Usa Shine in Kyushu, Kamigamo keeps a sacred horse as mount for the deity. The shrine is also famous for the annual horse races (kurabe-uma) on May 5, held continuously since 1093. The purpose of the ceremony is to pray for a good harvest and for peace. Next to the Aoi Matsuri held jointly with the Shimogamo Shrine on May 15, this is the most popular ceremony of the shrine and many people come to watch. See the shrine's website for more information, also about access. Kamigamo is one of my favorite spots in Kyoto and I often visit here for hatsumode.
[The shrine's white horse]
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).
Photo: own work, plus illustration from Wikimedia Commons.
Hyakunin Isshu Index