1675-76 (Enpo 3 & 4), 32-33 years old
Basho chose Edo as the stage for a new chapter in his life, that of a haikai master, because there was not much competition - unlike Kyoto, for example, where Kigin and other famous masters ruled. Basho had already befriended several Edo residents, most notably the wealthy fish merchant Sugiyama Sanpu (1647-1722), who probably helped him settle in this new city. He also did some odd jobs, such as working as a scribe for Takano Yuzan, a haikai master originally from Kyoto.In the late spring of 1675, Yuzan introduced Basho to Nishiyama Soin (1605-82), the founder of the Danrin school, who was visiting Edo at the time. The school was founded in reaction to the "bookishness" and concern for traditional culture of the Teimon school, to which Basho had previously belonged. In fact, it was around 1675 that the Danrin school began to dominate the haikai world by broadening the scope of haikai in both subject matter and diction, making it more plebeian. Instead of formalism and didacticism, the new school looked to humor and low comedy for fresh inspiration. Elegant subjects were parodied or ridiculed, and puns and allusions were used to provide a humorous contrast to a mundane subject, not to display urbane wit. Basho attended a haikai meeting held in Soin's honor and changed his pen name from Sobo to Tosei (green peach) to mark the event.
Basho also made the acquaintance of Naito Yoshimune, a daimyo known for his patronage of literature. His Edo mansion was a sort of salon for literati, and Basho met several poets there. He also began to accept students, such as the aforementioned Sanpu and Takarai Kikaku.
In the spring of 1676, Basho collaborated with Yamaguchi Sodo to write two haikai sequences of one hundred verses each, later published as Edo ryogin shu (Two Poets in Edo). The opening verses honor Soin by alluding to his pseudonym, showing that Basho now firmly considered himself part of the Danrin school.
In the summer of 1676 Basho was - after four years - sufficiently established in Edo to make his first journey home to visit his family in Ueno. In contrast to later visits, Basho did not write a travelogue, but we have a handful of hokku that can be ascribed to this trip. Basho arrived in Ueno around July 30 and stayed until August 11 - so it was a rather short stay. Although Basho's Danrin-style now was different from the Teimon-style still in vogue in Ueno, he took part in several haikai gatherings. On his return to Edo he took his nephew Toin with him, the 16-year old son of his elder sister.
(54)
town doctor: fetched by a horse from the mansion
machi isha ya yashiki-gata yori komamukae
町医師や屋敷がたより駒迎
Basho pokes fun at the low status of city physicians: they were physicians for the common people, considered lower in status than a physician employed by a feudal lord or high-ranking official. "Komamukae" is a historical term referring to the annual acceptance of new horses (komashiki) by the imperial court. The season is autumn (kigo: komamukae).
(55)
acupuncturist: pounding my bare shoulder
haritate ya kata no tsuchi utsu karakoromo
針立や肩に槌うつから衣
The word haritate here refers to an acupuncturist's tools (needles and a small hammer), so it can be taken as pars pro toto for the acupuncturist himself. The acupuncturist uses a small hammer to drive the needle into the skin, an activity that is likened to beating on cloth (cloth fulling, to make the cloth soft and shiny, an important process often done in autumn, and often mentioned in classical poetry). Karakoromo is a play on "Chinese robe" and an "empty" or discarded robe, meaning that the patient's shoulder is bare. The season is autumn (kigo: koromo utsu).
(56)
Musashino Plain: stag call, a mere inch long
Musashino ya issun hodo na shika no koe
武蔵野や一寸ほどな鹿の声
The once wild Musashino Plain is a large plateau between the Arakawa and Tama Rivers west of Edo, now called the Kanto Plain (the largest plain in Japan). The Musashino Plain was a popular subject in the visual arts at the beginning of the early modern period, and it was also famous in Japanese poetry as a place name associated with the moon and autumn grasses. In the vastness of the Musashino Plain, even the voice of a deer is very small and does not carry far. "Issun", one inch, refers both to the size of the deer when seen from afar and to the weakness of its call when heard from a distance. It is a deliberate exaggeration to show the immensity of the Musashino Plain.
The season is autumn (kigo: shika no koe).
(57)
chrysanthemum afloat beneath my sake cup: Kitsuki tray
sakazuki no shita yuku kiku ya Kitsukibon
盃の下ゆく菊や朽木盆
[A Kutsukibon tray]
"Sakazuki" is a shallow, footed sake cup, often used for ceremonial purposes, that holds no more than two sips of sake. It should be raised to the mouth with two hands, one on the side and one on the bottom.[A Kutsukibon tray]
Kutsukibon is a black lacquered tray from the village of Kutsuki in Shiga Prefecture (on the west side of Lake Biwa). It usually has a simple but bold design of a red chrysanthemum.
Sake spilled from the sake cup onto the tray with the chrysanthemum design reminds Basho of chrysanthemums floating in the water coming from the Yoro Waterfall. The No play Yoro is dedicated to this waterfall, which is considered to be life-enhancing. This is partly because of its association with chrysanthemums - according to a Chinese legend, drops of chrysanthemum water allowed a hermit to live for 800 years - and partly because of its association with sake, which is presented in the No-play as medicinal water. In fact, the water of the Yoro Falls is nothing but beautifully clear sake!
Probably written on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, the day of the Chrysanthemum Festival.
The season is autumn (kigo: kiku).
(58) From here: 1676
weighing spring in Kyoto against Edo on the scale
tenbin ya Kyo Edo kakete chiyo no haru
天びんや京江戸かけて千代の春
If it were possible to weigh Edo and Kyoto on a pair of scales, they would be well balanced, for both are enjoying a beautiful spring - and spring here refers to New Year's Day, which was considered the first day of spring. "Kakete" is a play on words, as it means both "to weigh", "to be in balance", and "covered with". A balance was usually used in a merchant's shop - often to weigh silver, which was used as money. One critic has remarked: "A surprising comparison typical of the Danrin school." (Basho and His Interpreters, p. 36)The season is spring, the New Year (kigo: chiyo no haru).
(59)
to these plum blossoms the ox's first moo of the year.
kono ume ni ushi mo hatsune to nakitsubeshi
此梅に牛も初音と鳴きつべし
There are many thousands of shrines dedicated to Tenjin, the historical statesman and poet Sugawara no Michizane, all over Japan. You can recognize them by two symbols: the plum blossom, which is used in a stylized form as the emblem of the shrine, and the ox. Plum trees were also often planted. Plum blossoms were popular with Chinese poets, and Michizane wrote famous poems about this tree, which was considered the symbol of the Confucian gentleman (it emits a delicious but not too strong fragrance when the weather is still cold - like the "virtue" of the gentleman in adverse circumstances).According to legend, when Michizane went into exile to Dazaifu in Kyushu, he addressed the plum tree in his Kyoto garden as follows
when the east wind blows,
spread your fragrance,
plum blossoms -
even though your master is gone,
don't forget spring.
Legend has it that the plum tree followed its master to Dazaifu, where it still stands today at the Tenmangu Shrine in Dazaifu. Because of this background, it is known as "tobi-ume" (flying plum).
In Shinto, each kami (god) has its own messenger animal: the fox for Inari, the crow for Hachiman, and the monkey for the Hie (Hiyoshi) shrines. In the case of Michizane and the Tenmangu shrines, the animal is the ox, which is not so strange since oxen pulled the carts in which court aristocrats like Michizane rode. Even when Michizane died in exile in Dazaifu in 903, he was entitled to a grand funeral with an ox cart to carry his body. However, when the funeral procession was on its way to the burial ground, the ox pulling the cart sat down halfway and refused to move. This was interpreted to mean that Michizane wished to be buried at that exact spot (where the Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine now stands). Since then, the sitting ox has been one of the symbols of Tenjin, the deified Michizane, and you'll find many ox statues in Tenmangu shrines [quoted from my blog article "Buson and Kitano Tenmangu"]
"Hatsune" is the first song of a bush warbler in the new year, but since it refers to a cow here, it is the first low (moo) of the new year (an expression coined by Basho).
The season is spring (kigo: ume ).
(60)
I, too, gaze upon the god's treasures: plum blossoms above
ware mo kami no hiso ya aogu ume no hana
我も神のひさうやあふぐ梅の花
"Hiso" (hizo) has a double meaning: "treasured" in the sense that the plum blossoms are the treasures of the Tenmangu shrine, and "sky or firmament" based on a poem by Sugawara no Michizane, who, in exile, looked up at the sky, still unable to understand his fate. The season is spring (kigo: ume no hana).
(61)
rooted in clouds, Fuji resembles a verdant cedar
kumo wo ne ni Fuji wa suginari no shigeri kana
雲を根に富士は杉なりの茂りかな
Mt. Fuji is a high mountain, and the clouds do not rest on its summit, but on its roots. The conical shape of Mt. Fuji rises above the clouds, making it look like a giant cedar tree. In summer, Mt. Fuji is not white with snow, but covered with fresh greenery.In June 1676, Basho returned to his hometown of Iga-Ueno. This haiku is believed to have been written during his journey from Edo to Iga-Ueno.
The season is summer (kigo: shigeri).
(62)
Mount Fuji: a flea carrying a tea mortar
Fuji no yama nomi ga chausu no ohori kana
富士の山蚤が茶臼の覆かな
A tea mortar is a stone mill for grinding tea leaves, to make powdered green tea (matcha). Compared to a regular stone mill, the upper part (rotating part) is higher than the lower part (fixed part). It has been said since ancient times that Mt. Fuji is shaped like such a tea mortar.Toshiharu Oseko writes: "When the lid, which is made of tanned paper, is placed on the tea mortar, it looks like Mount Fuji."
There is also a parody here of a children's song about "a flea shouldering a tea mortar jumped over Mt Fuji".
I find this hokku rather far-fetched.
The season is summer (kigo: nomi).
(63)
lifesaver: beneath my bamboo hat a spot of coolness
inochinari wazuka no kasa no shitasuzumi
命なりわづかの笠の下涼み
The preface to this poem says: "At Sayo no Nakayama". Sayo no Nakayama was a dangerous pass on the Tokaido road in Shizuoka and a famous utamakura because of a poem Saigyo wrote about it. Having grown old, Saigyo finds himself once again climbing the pass of Sayo no Nakayama, leading to the exclamation: "How wonderful life is!" Basho's hokku is thus a parody of Saigyo's poem. The season is summer (kigo: suzumi).
(64)
the summer moon: departing Goyu, already in Akasaka
natsu no tsuki Goyu yori idete Akasaka ya
夏の月ごゆより出て赤阪や
Goyu and Akasaka were two of the 53 post towns on the Tokaido Highway near Toyokawa in Aichi Prefecture. Goyu-shuku (the 35th station) was less than 2 km from Akasaka-juku (the 36th station), making them the closest stations on the entire Tokaido. Goyu is known for its pine colonnade, and Akasaka was popular for its meshimori onna, maidservants who also provided other services.
Like Basho, who walked from Edo to Iga Ueno, the moon walks the short distance from Goyu to Akasaka. "The hokku suggests the brevity of the summer night by a Danrin-type comparison". (Basho and His Interpreters, p. 37)
The season is summer (kigo: natsu no tsuki).
(65)
Fuji's breeze: a keepsake from Edo borne on my fan
Fuji no kaze ya ogi ni nosete Edo miyage
富士の風や扇にのせて江戸土産
It was a traditional and elegant custom to present a gift by placing it on a hand fan. Basho has no real gift, so he jokingly offers the cool breeze of Mt. Fuji. (Since fans are often painted, one could even imagine that the fan in question carried a picture of Mt. Fuji).
According to Toshiharu Oseko, this was the hokku of a kasen, a linked sequence of 36 verses, written during a party at the residence of Takahata Shiin in Basho's hometown of Ueno.
The season is summer (kigo: ogi).
(66)
traveled hundreds of miles for the coolness under distant clouds
hyakuri kitari hodo wa kumoi no shitasuzumi
百里来たりほどは雲井の下涼
What I have loosely translated as "miles" are actually "ri", a traditional Japanese unit of distance (about 4 kilometers). "One hundred ri" is not far off the mark, as the distance between Edo and Iga Ueno was 107 ri and 28 cho, or 428 kilometers, according to Toshiharu Oseko.This was the hokku of a kasen held at the house of Yamagishi Hanzan, also in Basho's hometown. Basho praises his hometown (which is far from Edo), where he can enjoy the cool air under its clouds despite the hot summer weather.
The season is summer (kigo: suzumi).
(67)
gazing long at the moon over mountains unknown in Edo
nagamuru ya Edo ni wa marena yama no tsuki
詠むるや江戸にはまれな山の月
"Edo" is used in a double sense: of course as Edo, the city of the Tokugawa shogun, but also, written with different kanji, in the Buddhist sense as an unclean land where people are entangled in worldly desires. The moon often served as a symbol of enlightenment in classical poetry such as that of Saigyo.
This was a hokku written at another kasen party in Ueno. It is a greeting (aisatsu-ku) to admire the local beauty, by an invited guest.
The season is autumn (kigo: tsuki).
(68)
at last it's here, at long last: year's end
nari ni keri nari ni keri made toshi no kure
成りにけりなりにけり迄年の暮
"Nari ni keri" is an idiomatic phrase used in No plays. The repetition is humorous and also shows Basho's impatience for the end of the year.The season is winter (kigo: toshi no kure).