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Centenary of the Death of Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902)

 

Shiki as a Pioneer of Baseball in Japan edited from the postings  at the Shiki Haiku Salon: June 12, 1996 Takashi Nonin   WHCjapan Director & Editor
	(click for larger image)

Profile of Takashi Nonin

Takashi Nonin is an unusual Japanese. First of all, his English is excellent. Secondly, he understands the world outside Japan. Thirdly, he can laugh at himself. Fourthly, despite that he lives in Japan. Fifthly, because of that, he is a true Japanese. Last but not least, he writes good haiku in English.

Nonin was brought up in the Japan devastated by defeat in World War II. Scarce food, few textbooks and notebooks. Forced to find additional food himself, he became close to nature which provided plentiful free food if one knew where to look. Nature became his "teacher". To admire nature, he began to write haiku. This was at a time when he was only a schoolboy in the sixth grade of primary school.

Towards the final stages of the War, American air raids often caused his school close. When the War was over, Japan was in complete turmoil and utter devastation. People were always hungry, Nonin relates, "looking for food in the river, paddies, shrubs, etc. Sweet potatoes and fresh and dried anchovies saved their lives. When potatoes and cucumbers were stolen, they ate their stalks."

Nonin is bilingual. Did he receive a special English lesson at a tender age from an American governess? Not a bit of it. When the occupation forces landed and American jeeps sped across the country, turning her into the land of jazz and chewing gum, Nonin began, for the first time, to learn English at school, like any other boys and girls. However, he made an extra effort – out of school. He started to teach himself English by listening to the radio. Scarcities at that time were in their extreme. No dictionaries, no paper to write on, not enough copies of rationed textbooks to go around. Nonin had to borrow his friend’s textbook and copied all the lessons by hand before returning it the following day.

Now, Nonin teaches English at a local college in Matsuyama, the fatherland of modern haiku.

Nonin could not have had a better teacher, giving him initiation into haiku. It was his father. Being a Buddhist priest in the countryside, his father was also a haiku poet devoted to the "Hototogisu" school of Takahama Kyoshi. This is partly why he is proud of being a yuuki-teikei haijin, as far as his haiku in Japanese are concerned.

Nonin also enjoys writing haiku in English. Here, unlike his Japanese haiku, he is not too rigid about kigo. He enjoyed sharing haiku at the Shiki Internet Haiku Salon run by Matsuyama University. He was very active and enjoyed reading quite a number of daily postings by other members all around the world.

In addition, Nonin has been submitting haiku regularly to the Asahi Haidan, the Mainichi Haidan, and elsewhere. Thus, hundreds of his works, both in Japanese and English, have been accepted and published in newspapers.

Nonin’s favourite authors, Bashô, Buson, Issa, Shiki, Santoka and Kyoshi have a special place in his heart. He loves all the kigo of four seasons and between seasons, emanating from the "Mother Nature" and ranging from abalone to zinnia.

Nonin has a positive, open, friendly and laid-back personality. This must have been augmented in America where he stayed as a student. He won a grant from the US Federal Government, which took him to study at the East-West Center of the University of Hawaii Graduate School. He also studied at the Georgetown University Graduate School, Washington, DC. in the years 1965 and 1966. He seems to have managed to acquire the best of both worlds. 

~ Susumu Takiguchi

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Shiki as a Pioneer of Baseball in Japan
edited from the postings at the Shiki Haiku Salon: June 12, 1996

Takashi Nonin  
WHCjapan Director & Editor

Dear poets and Shiki fans,

If you are interested to know of Japanese baseball players who are currently active in the US Major Leagues, such as Nomo in the Boston Red Sox, Ichiro, Daimajin in the Seattle Mariners, Shinjo in the NY Mets, and some others, you might find this essay of some interest.

The days are changing. Ninja mutants in black from Iga City, the homeland of Basho, are rampant in Stratford-upon-Avon today!

It all began many years ago when I got a message from Kuni H. Iwasa at NIH, Washington, DC, regarding Shiki and baseball, a subject of great interest.

Kuni wrote:

“One of my friends is asking me whether I know of a Japanese poem about baseball….I vaguely recall Shiki played baseball and he may have a haiku or tanka about it. Is it correct? Could you give me some examples? Are there any well known haiku about baseball?”


I replied:

“Out of quite a number of Shiki's poems, we can find about a score of poems related to baseball, tanka inclusive. More precisely, nine pieces of haiku and ten pieces of tanka...”


Meanwhile, Kuni had done a survey and mailed this:

“I replied to the friend of mine that Shiki must have done something and that U of Maryland has a Japanese collection which should include Shiki's collected works. He made an inquiry to U Md. A librarian there apparently got interested and made an inquiry to the Library of Congress and came up with a partial copy of an article. The following is a copy of my crude translation. <Snip> So I am still to see one more tanka and nine haiku....”
 

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(Title & author: Shiki and Baseball by Junji Kanda
Subtitle: Tanka and Baseball and Novels on Baseball: The first writer is Shiki;
Publisher: Baseball Magazine.)

Shiki Masaoka, who enjoyed playing baseball and loved it, was the first writer to bring baseball into the Japanese literary scene. His nine tanka on baseball are exhibited in the Baseball Museum housed in the Tokyo Dome.


At about the same time here in Matsuyama, I went to the Shiki Memorial Museum to ascertain the number of Shiki's baseball haiku and tanka. Mr. Masatsune Mori, a specialist there, gave me relevant information. Armed with this, Kuni and I were able to dovetail the details of our research.

I am pleased to presented Masaoka Shiki's rare 10 tanka and 9 haiku on baseball, together with our collaborated translations.

Coincidentally, a campaign is currently going on in Japan, albeit belatedly, to honor Shiki in the Baseball Hall of Fame. It strikes one odd that the such an early player and great contributor to the sport as Shiki should have been neglected for almost a century. I do hope this campaign will succeed, as no one can deny that the introduction of baseball to Japan and the translation of many of its terms were a great deal due to Shiki. Many of these Japanese baseball terms which he created are still much in use today.

 
In the relatively short life characterised by his superhuman endeavours, Shiki loved baseball. As is well-known, Shiki was mostly bedridden with tuberculosis of the spine in his later years. His love for baseball seemed no less than his love for haiku.

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SHIKI'S BASEBALL TANKA

(Nos. 1-9 composed in 1898 and No. 10 in 1899)

1.  

hisakata no  AMERIKA bito no 
hazime nishi BASEBALL wa miredo akanu mo

started by faraway Americans,
baseball I never get tired of watching.


2.  

kuni bito to totsu kuni bito to uchikisou
BASEBALL wo mireba yuyusimo

our countrymen and foreigners bat and compete;
baseball is a serious thing to watch.


3.  

wakoudo no sunaru asobi wa sawani aredo
BASEBALL ni siku mono wa arazi

there are many games young ones play
but none better than baseball.

4.  

kokonotsu no hito kokonotsu no ba wo Shiite
BASEBALL no hajimaran to su

with nine men in nine positions,
the baseball game is about to start.


5.  

kokonotsu no hito kokonotsu no arasoi ni
BASEBALL no kyou mo kure keri

nine men fought in nine innings
the day is coming to an end
playing baseball.


6.  

uchiaguru BALL wa takaku kumo ni irite
mata ochi kitaru hito no te no naka ni

a fly shot up into the clouds
comes back down into a man's hand.


7.  

nakanaka ni uchiagetaru wa ayaukari
kusa iku tama no todomaranaku ni

a ball shot up high is hard to chase,
while the one bouncing on the grass is hard to stop.


8.  

uchi hazusu tama CATCHER no te ni ari te
BASE wo hito no ikizo wazurau

the ball my bat missed is in the catcher's mitt,
hard to make it to the bases.


9.  

imaya kano mittsu no BASE ni hito michite
sozoro ni mune no uchi sawagu kana

now that the three bases are loaded,
my heart is pounding.


10.  

tama oyobi tama wo utsu ki wo te nigiri te
shatsu (SHIRT) kishi mireba sonotoki omooyu

a ball and a bat in my hands
in my uniform
reminiscing the ball game.


Note: Shiki was bedridden and was no more able to be up and about.


Kuni also added:

Later Mokichi Saito, a well-known tanka poet, praised these tanka by Shiki's and wrote:

Hisakata no AMERIKA bito no hajime taru (sic)
BASABALL wa miredo akanu kamo.

Shiki was at the cutting edge of the new wave of tanka poets in the previous era. The word "hisakata no" is to precede 'ame' (heaven) according to the tradition. He made a pun identifying this 'ame' in the word 'AME'RICA. He did not abandon this kind of old tricks. Within the tanka, he used two western words, 'AMERIKA bito' and 'BASEBALL.' These new elements are balanced by an ancient Man'you wording of 'miredo akanu kamo' placed at the end…"

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SHIKI'S BASEBALL HAIKU

1. (1890)

mari nagete mitaki hiroba ya haru no kusa  

it would be nice
to play catch in this park --
tender spring grass.

2. (1890)

koi shiranu neko no furi nari tama asobi     

Like a cat
knowing no love,
I play with a ball.

3. (1890)

Harukaze (shunpuu) ya mari mo nagetaki kusa no hara 

spring breeze --
feel like throwing a ball
in this grassy field.

4. (1890)

Tama ukeru gokuhi wa kaze no yanagi kana

the secret of catching a ball
lies in the willow in the wind.

or

the knack of catching a ball?
ask a willow
swaying in the wind.

5. (1896)

wakakusa ya kodomo atsumari te mari wo utsu 

fresh grass
kids gather and play hitting the ball.

6.  (1896)

kusa shigemi BASEBALL no michi shiro shi

thickening grass
white lines of the baseball fields.

7.  (1898)

natsukusa ya BASEBALL no hito too shi 

Summer grass --
Baseball players
Are sighted far away.

8.  (1899)

Ikegaki no soto wa kareno ya tama asobi

withered fields --
beyond the hedges
playing the ball game.

9. (1902)

tanpopo ya BALL koroge te toori keri  

dandelions--
the ball rolled and passed by.

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Pen drawing from a photograph by Susumu Takiguchi

Shiki was one of the pioneers to introduce baseball to Japan. This drawing is based on a photograph of Shiki taken in March 1890, which Shiki sent with a letter to Otani Zeku dated 6 April. The letter ends with Shiki's haiku:

koi shiranu neko no furi nari tama asobi

pretending to be a cat
that does not know love,
I play with a ball

Version by ST

Shiki put his signature at the end, "No-bohru", which is his given name, but with a long vowel which he used to indicate a pun with "no", or field, and "bohru", or ball, meaning baseball. Another twist is that he purposely did not use the correct Chinese character for his given name, but instead, used two "ateji"Chinese characters. One is "noh", as in the Noh Play, which has the meaning of "being able", and which could be pronounced "no" (short vowel). The other character is "kyu", which means "a ball", and is now used for many ball games, such as "teikyu" (or garden/court ball, i.e. tennis), or indeed "yakyu" (or field ball, i.e. baseball).

Shiki had a plentiful of sense of humour. Play on words was one of his most favourite pastimes, including his fun with exploiting different Chinese characters.

On a postcard he sent, dated 16 March 1890, he signed "no-bohru" but this time using the Chinese characters used today for baseball ("yakyu" as above).

Shiki coined many baseball terms, and although some doubt is still being cast, it is almost certain that the very term, "yakyu", and its Chinese character, were his inventions. Takashi Nonin is convinced that this is the case. Professor Shigeki Wada explains the background of how this theory came about, essentially the association of "yakyu" and Shiki's real name "Noboru".

Other baseball terms which Shiki coined, and which are now established, include words for "strike", "fly ball", "dead ball", "striker" and "runner". 

Susumu Takiguchi

 

Next: A Stray Note, Shiki's Sister, a haibun by Debra Woolard Bender

 

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