Shin Kokinshu - Changing into Summer Clothes, Koromogae
Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
[Fallen blossoms... time for koromogae]
While the Kokinshu dedicates its section with waka on the topic of "summer" almost exclusively to the (yama)-hototogisu, the lesser cuckoo, whose call signals the advent of warm weather, the Shin Kokinshu neatly follows the development of summer, from the time of changing into summer clothes (koromogae) to the summer purification ceremony (rokugatsu-harae) held on the last day of the 6th month. It contains in all 120 poems on summer, the largest number in the imperial anthologies. It follows the course of summer, from koromogae (changing into summer robes), to deutzia flowers (unohana), hollyhock (aoi), summer grasses, iris (ayame), the shigure rains of the fifth month (rainy season), the moon, short nights, fireflies, cicadas, to late summer.
Note that summer in the lunisolar calendar lasted from the fourth month to the sixth month, and fell about 4 to 6 weeks later than our calendar - so the first day of the fourth month (the beginning of summer) fell somewhere between the beginning and the middle of May. It is also important to realize that summer was not a popular season in Japan (and especially in Kyoto, as the city lies in a basin between mountains): summers are hot and humid, and generally unpleasant, making one long for chilled drinks, cold food and cool clothes.
The practice of koromogae (衣替え, 更衣, 衣更え, ころもがえ), or the seasonal changing of clothing started in the eighth century during the Heian period, when it was introduced from China to the Japanese imperial court. Following the Chinese custom, the emperor and his courtiers were required to change their summer and winter clothes on the first day of the fourth month and on the first day of the tenth month of the lunisolar calendar. The custom still exists for modern Japanese: around the first day of June and the first day of October schools, companies and various institutions that have a uniform switch from summer clothes to winter clothes in October and the reverse in June.
Topic unknown (SKKS 175)
spring has passed
and now summer seems to be here:
robes of white mulberry cloth,
reportedly, are laid out to air
on heavenly Mount Kagu
Empress Jito (645-703)
持統天皇
春過ぎて夏来にけらし白妙の衣干すてふ天の香久山
haru sugite | natsu kinikerashi | shirotae no | koromo hosutefu | Ama no Kaguyama
Comment: A celebration of the onset of summer. The arrival of summer is evidenced by the fact that white garments are laid out to air against the green of Mt Kagu (in winter, the summer clothes were kept in boxes, so they would smell a bit stale or musty - therefore airing them was a good idea). The same poem as Hyakunin Isshi No 2 - see my discussion there. Mt Kagu is one of the Yamato Sanzan, "the three mountains of Yamato", in Kashihara, Nara Prefecture. In 694 Empress Jito moved the court to the new capital of Fujiwarakyo, which was located immediately northwest of Mt Kagu.
There exists a large difference betwween the poem as it has been included in the imperial anthologies aand the origial one in the Manyoshu. In the Manyoshu, it says "衣干したり," while the SKK text reads "干すてふ". In other words, in the Manyoshu text we have a direct observation of the "white barken-cloth" being aired on Mt Kagu, but in the SKK this has become hearsay and so indirect.
Topic unknown (SKKS 176)
though we regret its leaving,
spring won't stop -
without asking for it,
summer has arrived,
when we have to wear summer robes
Sosei (c. 844-910)
素性法師
惜しめどもとまらぬ春もあるものをいはぬにきたる夏衣かな
oshimedomo | tomaranu haru mo | aru mono wo | iwanu ni kitaru | natsu koromo kana
Comment: Sosei is also known as the author of Poem 21 in the Hyakunin Isshu. He was the son of Archbishop Henjo, also a famous poet. Sosei is famous for his light and witty humor, as in the above Shin Kokinshu poem - he would like it to be spring forever, but the seasons won't stop and now the hot and humid summer has arrived, so he has had to change into summer clothes.
Notes:
あるも: あるのに
"来る”, has come, is a pun on 着る, to wear.
Composed on changing into summer clothes (SKKS 177)
[詞書]更衣をよみ侍ける
under the summer trees,
from which all blossoms
have fallen without a trace,
we wear easy to make
thin summer clothes
Jien (1155-1225)
慈円
散りはてゝ花のかけなき木の下にたつことやすき夏衣かな
chirihatete | hana no kage naki | ko no moto ni | tatsu koto yasuki | natsu koromo
Comment: Jien is the author of Poem 95 in the Hyakunin Isshu. The present poem is an allusive variation (honkadori) on poem 134 from the Kokinshu. Its wit lies in the fact that it turns the meaning upside down: the original by Mitsune is: "Even were we not | disconsolate that today | spring should take its leave, | might we simply walk away | from flowers blooming overhead?" (translation Helen Craig McCullough). Jien humorously changes that into the situation that all blossoms have already fallen from the branches, so it is easy to walk away from the tree which provides no shadow, and it is also easy to make and wear light summer clothes.
The poet is a Buddhist priest who expresses joy that summer has come and that he can wear light (an easy to make) clothes.
Notes:
かげ：姿, and at the same time a pun on 陰
たつことやすき: 樹下に佇むこと。たつ is also a pun on 裁つ, to cut clothes to measure. As summer clothes are thin, it is easy to cut them to measure. And finally it includes the meaning 夏立つ。
On "It seems like only yesterday that spring has ended" (SKKS 178)
[詞書]春をゝくりてきのふのことしといふことを
how many days have passed
since I changed
into summer clothes?
today, too, they are scattering,
the remaining blossoms
Minomoto no Michinari (? - 1019)
源道済
夏衣着て幾日にかなりぬらん残れる花は今日も散りつゝ
natsugoromo | kite iku ka ni ka | narinuramu | nokoreru hana wa | kyo mo chiritsutsu
Comment: Minamoto no Michinari was a poet and courtier of the middle Heian period. After various posts he was appointed governor of Chikuzen province in 1015, a position he held until his death in 1019. He was an enthusiast of Chinese and Japanese waka poetry and participated in several poetic circles sponsored by Fujiwara no Michinaga. Fifty-six of his poems are included in various imperial anthologies, including the Shui Wakashu.
A straightforward poem: it has become summer, but it was only like yesterday that it was still spring, and some blossoms are still falling.
Composed on the beginning of summer (SKKS 179)
[詞書]夏のはしめのうたとてよみ侍ける
because the season changes,
so do our clothes -
the hearts of people
in this world are changeable
like blossom-dyed sleeves
Shunzei's Daughter (c. 1171 - c. 1252)
俊成女
折ふしも移れば替えつ世の中の人の心の花染めの袖
orifushi mo | utsureba kaetsu | yo no naka no | hito no kokoro no | hanasome no sode
Comment: "When not only love but also the seasons change, people quickly switch.
As if the flower of a man's heart changes, the spring robe dyed in
cherry blossom color is replaced by a summer robe." An "allusive variation" on poem 795 (anonymous) in the Kokinshu: "In this world of ours | what is it that resembles | the human heart? | Dyestuffs from the dayflower, | all too quick to fade away." (Helen Craig McCullough).
Fujiwara no Shunzei no Musume ("Fujiwara no Shunzei's daughter" was probably the greatest female poet of her day, ranked with Princess Shikishi. Although she was called "Shunzei's Daughter," the noted poet Shunzei was in fact her grandfather, and her birth father's name was Fujiwara no Moriyori; her half-uncle was Fujiwara no Teika, who thought enough of her talents to seek her out for advice and criticism after his father Shunzei died.
Notes:
折ふしも：時節も
替えつ：夏衣に替えた
袖：衣
Photo: my own work.
Japanese Poetry Index