Hyakunin Isshu, Poem 99
Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
(version September 2022)
people seem kind
and people also seem hateful
when in vain
I brood over the world
this self that broods over things
hito mo oshi
hito mo urameshi
ajiki naku
yo o omou yue ni
mono omou mi wa
人も恨めし
あぢきなく
世を思ふゆゑに
もの思ふ身は
Cloistered Emperor Go-Toba 後鳥羽院 (1180-1239)
Notes
- hito: this can be interpreted in various ways: (1) "hito," people, refers to all
humans in general; (2) it refers to the same person, meaning that one person can have two sides; (3) there are both good and bad people in the
world.
- ito: =itooshii, dear, adorable
- ajikinaku: vainly, futile
- yo wo omou: the world in general. As emperor, Go-Toba wants the world to be at peace.
- mono omou mi wa: I myself who broods about the world.
- mono omou: often thoughts of love, but here dejected thoughts in a more general sense.
The Poet
Emperor Go-Toba (1180 – 1239, r. 1183-1198) was the 82nd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. He was the fourth son of Emperor Takakura and put on the throne at age four, abdicating at nineteen. Go-Toba was a great patron of the arts and a dedicated poet who sponsored the compilation of the Shinkokinshu and worked closely with its editors. He and Teika eventually fell out over poetic matters. Politically, he rebelled against the Kamakura military government in what is known as the Jokyu Rebellion of 1221. Go-Toba's forces were defeated and he was exiled to the Oki islands, where he lived another eighteen years. During his exile, he continued to compose hundreds of waka. Go-Toba has 254 poems in imperial anthologies and his personal poetry collection is also extant. He was one of the greatest poets of his time.
[The Oki Shrine]
Visiting
(1) The Oki Islands. A cluster of remote islands in the Sea of Japan belonging to Shimane Prefecture designated as a location of exile during the reign of Emperor Shomu in 724. Noble exiles, among them two emperors, aristocrats and government officials were sent there to undergo their sentences. Oki was not only selected for this role due to its remoteness, but also because the islands were wealthy enough that exiled nobles could live there without suffering hardship (this had to do with the belief in vengeful ghosts, that the spirits of powerful individuals could come back to seek revenge for having been treated badly - so royal exiles especially were to have satisfactory living conditions). This was the reason that Nakanoshima Island, which has rich farmland, was selected as the location of exile for Emperor Gotoba in 1221. Other famous individuals exiled to the Oki Islands include Emperor Godaigo (1332, to Dogo Island)) and the poet Ono no Takamura (838 - see poem 11).
Nakanoshima is one of the Dozen Islands in the Oki archipelago and the third largest of the Oki Islands. The island is of volcanic origin, with a deeply indented coastline. This is where the Cloistered Emperor Go-Toba was exiled in 1221. He was never allowed to leave the island and died here in 1239. Oki Jinja was erected on the island in 1939 to commemorate the 700th anniversary of the death of Go-Toba. Festivals are held on 4/14 and 10/14 every year dedicated to the waka written by the Cloistered Emperor Go-Toba that include a special song and dance called “Jyokyugaku” which is exclusive to the Oki Shrine. Near the shrine is the Emperor Go-Toba Museum that displays the treasures of the Oki Shrine, centering around items related to the late emperor. In the surrounding area are the Residence Site and the Burial Site of Emperor Go-Toba, and the residence of the Murakami family that guarded the tomb for generations.
There are regular ferry services to the Oki Islands from Sakaiminato in Shimane prefecture, and also smaller ferries between the islands. See the Tourism Guide to the islands. The islands are not only rich in historical relics, but also in unspoiled nature. One famous visitor was Lafcadio Hearn, who visited the islands in 1892, spending a month there, and writing about his experiences in Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan.
[Ohara Mausoleum]
(2) Go-Toba's mausoleum can be found in Ohara, near Sanzenin temple. Designated by the Imperial Household Agency as the "Ohara no Misasagi," it is marked by a 13-story stone pagoda. After his death in 1239 on Oki, part of his ashes was brought to this official mausoleum, where they were interred together with the remains of another imperial exile, Emperor Juntoku.
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).
Illustration: Wikipedia.
Hyakunin Isshu Index