Haiku for the New Year

[Dawn at Futamigaura, by Kunisada]

(1) Basho

all of you, worship
the sacred rope of Futami
at the end of the year!

mina ogame | Futami no shime wo | toshi no kure

皆拝め二見の七五三を年の暮

Futamigaura (in the poem just called "Futami") in Ise Bay is celebrated for its two rocks called "Meoto Iwa" or Wedded Rocks. The two rocks, on the larger (9 m. high) of which stands a torii, are joined by a large sacred straw rope or shimenawa, which is replaced every year before the New Year with great ceremony (on a Saturday right in the middle of December; it is also replaced on May 5 and September 5). People pray to the rising sun between the two rocks for a happy year on New Year's Day. Under very favorable conditions occasionally a glimpse can be caught of Mt Fuji.

A shimenawa is a rope made of twisted rice straw used to demarcate a sacred space or object. Individual loose stalks of straw hang from the rope in places, and ritual paper streamers called shide may also be draped from the rope. Shimenawa is usually written as 締縄 in the sense of a rope that restricts or marks something, but 七五三[縄] ("7-5-3"), thought to be based on the number of straw sections used to braid the rope, is another way of writing the word - as in the present poem. (So the pronunciation of 七五三 here is "shime", and not "shichigosan"!)

According to Toshiharu Oseko (Basho's Haiku, Vol. 2), this was the hokku of a kasen party with 9 poets in Fukagawa in December 1688. They probably saw a picture of the Wedded Rocks of Futami. As one normally would worship the rising sun on New Year's Day, Basho realizes a comical effect by replacing that with "the sacred rope of Futami at the end of the year."

(2) Basho

do not doubt it:
the blossoms of the tide

also show spring upon the Bay!

utagau na | ushio no hana mo | Ura no haru

うたがふな潮の花も浦の春

Another haiku about Futamigaura in Ise Bay, written on the same occasion as the previous one. The preface to this poem reads "Looking respectfully at the picture of Futami." Basho plays with the fact that the white crests of the waves look like blossoms (a conventional conceit). For shortness sake, Futamigaura is now only called "Ura," the Bay. Haru, spring, also has the association of the New Year (as in Japan the New Year started on the first day of spring). So this is another humerous haiku: it is not yet New Year, but the spray of the waves looks so much like spring blossoms, that one could imagine it was New Year already.

[Kadomatsu in the style of the Edo period]

(3) Basho

the New Year's pine decoration
makes me feel that thirty years went by
like a dream of one night

kadomatsu ya | omoeba ichiya | sanjunen

門松やおもへば一夜三十年

The "New Year's pine decoration" is the kadomatsu, set up at both sides of the entrance. Branches from a pine tree are used (together with bamboo) because the pine is evergreen and a symbol of longevity. Also see Haiku No 7 below.

Basho wrote this haiku in 1677, when he was 34 years old. This was the year that Basho finally became a professional haikai master. Basho takes stock of his life so far and he is not satisfied: he had not yet done any significant work, and his life of over 30 years must have looked as meaningless as a dream of one night - he must work harder from now on!

(4) Buson

 
at New Year
looking smug
the haikai master

saitan wo | shitarigao naru | haikaishi

歳旦をしたり顔なる俳諧師

"Saitan 歳旦," the word with which this haiku by Buson starts, means "New Year's Day." "Saitansai," for example, refers to the Shinto ceremonies held on New Year's Day, and "saitanbiraki" is a celebratory haikai meeting held at the New Year. Such a meeting is what Buson's poem is about: the haikai master has a smug (triumphant) face because he thinks he has just written a great New Year's poem. One imagines a pompous and self-satisfied person (the implication of what the poem calls a "shitarigao," "smug face") surrounded by younger visitors paying courtesy calls.

 

[Zoni from Kyoto made with white miso paste]

(5) Buson

eating three bowls
of zoni at New Year -
like a millionaire!

sanwan no | zoni kayuruya | chojaburi

三椀の雑煮かゆるや長者ぶり

"Zoni" refers to the soup containing rice cakes (mochi) which is traditionally served at New Year. It is eaten in the morning after a toast with toso, the spicy New year's sake. There are many regional variations, but the rice cake is the determining part. The name "zoni" itself also indicates that miscellaneous items of food (such as mochi, vegetables and seafood) have been boiled together. (See my article about zoni at this blog.)

"Kayuru" in the second line is the same as "kaeru," in the sense of "okawari," another helping of a dish. In the Edo-period, zoni was an expensive dish for the common people, and to eat three bowls of zoni one after another was beyond all imagination - truly the behavior of a very rich person!

[Seven Happiness Toso from Daishichi Sake Brewery]

(6) Issa

pouring New Year's sake
with straw sandals on
break of day

toso kumu mo | waraji nagara no | yoake kana

とそ酌もわらじながらの夜明哉

"Toso", with which this haiku opens, is spiced medicinal sake traditionally drunk during Japanese New Year celebrations to pray for a healthy and happy year and a long life without illness. It is a fixed part of New Year's osechi cuisine in Japan. (See my article about toso at this blog.)

I wonder what "with straw sandals on" exactly means. As people don't wear shoes or sandals or any footwear inside the house, it means Issa is standing outside. Is he there to greet the sun on this first day of the year? Or is he preparing to go on Hatsumode, the New Year's shrine visit?

[Kadomatsu]

(7) Shiki

a mountain retreat -
at the house where no one calls
New Year's decorations

okuyama ya | hito konu ie no | kadokazari

奥山や人こぬ家の門かざり

"Kadokazari" is the same as "kadomatsu," the traditional Japanese New Year decorations, which are usually placed in pairs in front of the entrance to homes. Designs for kadomatsu vary depending on the region but are typically made of pine and bamboo, representing longevity and steadfastness,

I think Shiki wants to stress the importance of the New Year festivities here (as important as Christmas in Western culture): even at a dwelling deep in the mountains, kadomatsu have been used to decorate the entrance, although normally speaking no one can be expected to visit such a difficult-to-reach place.

[Girls in kimono playing karuta (c. 1900)]

(8) Kyoshi

playing poem cards
they are all so beautiful
in their resolve to win

karuta toru | mina utsukushiku | makemajiku

歌留多とる皆美しく負けまじく

"Karuta" refers to a game played with cards containing the poems of the Hyakunin Isshu, "One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each" anthology. The game is still widely played today, especially at New Year. The poems themselves (with an image of the poet) are printed on yomifuda (reading cards) and the last two lines (the lower phrases of each 7 syllables) on torifuda ("grabbing cards"). The reading cards are shuffled and then read out one by one by a reader (who doesn't take part in the game). The torifuda are placed on the tatami around the players, and these grab them as quickly as possible as soon as the first part of the poem is read out. Winner is who has taken the most cards. As all players have the poems memorized, it is more a match of agility and speed (the torifuda are swept up with a shooting movement) than of poetic knowledge. See the introduction to my translation of the Hyakunin Isshu at this blog for more information.

At New Year, the players of the Karuta game - usually women - wear gorgeous kimono. Kyoshi observes that in the heat of the game, furiously grabbing poem cards and determined not to be outdone, the players look even more beautiful.

(9) Kyoshi

last year and this year
linked by something
like a stick

kozokotoshi | tsuranuku bo no | gotoki mono

去年今年貫く棒のごときもの

There has been some discussion about what Kyoshi is saying here. I think he means that calendar years are just artificial constructs - the start of a new year may bring some psychological refreshment, but for the rest nothing changes and everything goes on as before, "as if a stick were running through it."

(10) Santoka

the crow at New Year's

caw-caw

oshogatsu no karasu kaa-kaa

お正月の鴉かあかあ

The meaning of this very simple haiku in free form is not immediately clear. Is the crow greeting the new year with his cawing? Are even ugly scavenger birds happy at New Year? Or is it more in line with the previous haiku by Kyoshi and is Santoka saying that, although a new year has started, nothing has really changed and the crows are still cawing as before in the old year? I agree with that last interpretation.

[Karasu, by
Maruyama Okyo]

[Translations are my own]

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