BASHO'S HAIKU ON THE THEME OF MT. FUJI .........
FROM THE PERSONAL NOTEBOOK OF
Etsuko Yanagibori, JP
 

Summer: Mt. Fuji as seen from Fujiyoshida city, Shizuoka prefecture

Among many haiku themes, it is especially difficult for us haijin to write new haiku on certain  ones. 'Old pond,' or simply, 'pond' is one such example, if only because any new haiku would be overshadowed by Basho's famous frog verse. Of these themes, let me take up one very familiar subject to make my point: Mt. Fuji—the most sacred of all the sacred mountains in Japan, and for the rest of the world, a great symbol of Japan.

My Japanese haiku teacher, the late Akegarasu Fujita (1938-2004) once told me that it was extremely hard for anyone to compose new haiku on Mt. Fuji. I could not agree more. This is because Mt. Fuji has been written about in thousands and thousands of haiku over the centuries. Every possible image depicting this celebrated mountain seems to have been explored until this subject would seem to be completely exhausted. There seems to be little room left for any haiku poet to create a new image of Mt. Fuji in the mind of the reader who has seen everything about the mountain. For Japanese people, another reason would be that Mt. Fuji is such a commanding image in itself. Because of this, a haiku poet might find it difficult to say anything impressive enough.

That is the situation of today. What was it like in the days of Matsuo Basho (1644-1694)? I imagine that it must have been basically the same. Moreover, Basho himself was no exception. I therefore became curious about how Basho managed to deal with this problem. For me, the following examples of Basho's haiku on the theme of Mr. Fuji seem to answer this question. I have discussed them with some Japanese haiku poets and commentators, including Dr. Tanaka of Sophia University. Also, I have worked together with my haiku friends at the World Haiku Club, including native-speakers of English, especially in terms of the English translation of these poems, so that non-Japanese readers may understand Basho's special ways of doing what seems to ordinary poets impossible to do. Together, from these discussions and efforts at translation, we learned more about Basho, his poetry and times:

 

1)

雲を根に富士は杉なりの茂りかな

kumo o ne ni fuji wa suginari no shigeri kana

 

clouds for roots,
Mt. Fuji's green foliage,
the shape of a cedar

The word, suginari, is idiomatic Japanese. It refers to the shape of Japan's great cedar tree, the sugi, known also as Cryptomeria. The top is narrow, and the bottom is wide. The most important element of this haiku, the summer kigo, shigeri is a noun form of the verb, shigaru, pertaining only to foliage. Shigari means 'to grow thick' or 'a luxuriance.'

This haiku is slightly complicated when it comes to translation, since it is not definite whether or not by sugi-nari-no, Basho was actually comparing Mt. Fuji to one gigantic sugi. But to translate the haiku in such a way might not sit well with shigeri, which, in this case, refers to the lush, green foliage of the thousands of thousands of such cedars on Mt. Fuji's slopes. That kind of reference would not be unnatural in the Japanese language, but it might pose a challenge in English.

Basho must have marveled at the beautiful green of Mt. Fuji, which is usually covered with snow or clouds. The haiku shows the pictorial qualities, which Basho emphasized. It is a brilliant haiku from that aspect, and as in all the selected haiku, there is a lot of Basho's sense of humor involved. It is interesting to note that, although he was not such a good artist, Basho was learning painting (sketches and drawings) from Kyoriku. His ink-drawings are 'sweet,' composed with feeling, humor and pathos. A painting can almost be imagined in this verse!

Basho was 33 years of age, according to the old Japanese reckoning, when he wrote this haiku. It has a maegaki (a headnote, or very brief mention before the haiku about the occasion), which goes: 'shinju (fresh verdure).'

In June of this year of Enpoh 4 (1676), Basho returned to his hometown, Iga-Ueno. There he stayed, from around 20 June to 2 July, when he set off on his return to Edo (Tokyo). The haiku is believed to have written during his outward journey from Edo to Iga-Ueno. It is included in the collection entitled Zoku-Renju.

2)

富士の風や扇にのせて江戸土産

fuji no kaze ya oogi ni nosete Edo miyage
 

the wind of Mt. Fuji
I've brought on my fan!
a gift from Edo

This haiku was written in the same year as the previous haiku, (Enpoh 4: 1676), when the poet was 33 years old. Where he lived in Edo, Basho could see Mt Fuji. The place to which he traveled, where the renku session was to be held in his honor, was in Iga-Ueno (about 350 km west of Edo and 250 km to the west of Mt. Fuji. From Iga-Ueno, one cannot see Mt Fuji.This poem was composed in a renku session held at the shiin-tei belonging to Takahata family. Takahata was a retinue of Lord Todo, whose house was in that city. There is a maegaki to that effect. In those times, Japanese people would give a fan as a gift to a highly regarded person; perhaps Basho's fan was given as a gift for the Takahata family. 

In Basho's days, Mt. Fuji was called by various names and written in different kanji or kana. It seems that it was usually simply mentioned as fuji. However, in modern times it is almost always called fuji-san in daily conversation as a mountain name. In those days, the term, fuji no yama was used. As a side-note, the Japanese don't say fuji-yama, (mountain-fuji) perhaps partly because it is a very common Japanese surname of a different kanji (wisteria). The reference to Mt. Fuji as fuji-yama may be an old-practice name, or a Western invention (Fuji-yama, Geisha). Besides meaning Mt. Fuji, the name, Fuji, could refer to the wisteria vine, or Fuji Film, or Fuji Denki (an electric appliances manufacturer, making, among other things, electric fans.)

3)
....click image to see larger picture
Basho ku-hi (poem inscribed in stone);
with Mt. Fuji as seen from the old
Hakone road from Mishima city

霧時雨富士を見ぬ日ぞおもしろき
 

kiri shigure fuji o minu hi zo omoshiroki

 

falling mist...
the day when Mt. Fuji is unseen,
most fascinating!

Often Mt. Fuji is hidden behind thick fog. The phrase, kiri-shigure, is part of the kigo kiri (fog/mist=autumn). It is the fog which 'falls' now and again like shigure (winter rain). shigure was a favorite kigo of Basho's. In the maegaki, Basho says that the day when he was to pass the Hakone Barrier was a rainy one. It may well be that rain and fog were mixed up that day. For example, at lower levels he may have encountered only rain, but as he made the climb, the Hakone hills may have been covered by descending fog. For translation to English, kiri-shiguri could be 'misty rain,' 'fog/mist falls' or 'falling fog/mist'. The feeling in this haiku is that even though he cannot see Mt. Fuji, yet the day is a pleasant and happy one—and Basho still has the pleasure of the mysterious Mt. Fuji in his imagination.

Basho was 41 years old when he wrote this haiku during a journey in Jokyo 1 (1684), which was to be recorded in his famous travelogue, Nozarashi-Kiko (The Records of A Weather-Exposed Skeleton, the title of Yuasa Nobuyuki's translation). He left Edo in August (also see haiku #6).
 

4)
...click image to see larger picture
Mt. Fuji in winter as een from Oshino Hakkai Village
(Oshino 'Eight Ponds'), Kanagawa prefecture

ひと尾根はしぐるる雲か不二の雪

hito one wa shigururu kumo ka fuji no yuki

over one ridge
do I see winter rain clouds?
snow for Mt. Fuji

The above haiku is a beautiful 'winter landscape painting' on a large scale, in which you are viewing Mt. Fuji in relation to its surrounding mountain families. In the centre, you see Mt. Fuji covered with snow in all its glories. And you also see other mountain-families where probably snow does not reach, as they are not high enough. Your eyes travel from right to left and from left to right, surveying many different things happening. Over one ridge (o-ne) are winter clouds unloading their cargo. However, of all the mountains how tall, superb and magnificent the snow-covered Mt. Fuji is! This haiku is famous for depicting the superiority of Mt. Fuji in relation to other mountain families.

Basho was 44 years old when he wrote this haiku in the year of 4 Jokyo (1687). He had left Edo on 25 October for the trip to his hometown. This haiku is recorded in Hakusen-Shu.

 

5)
...click image to see larger picture
Basho's ku-hi (stone inscribed with hokku)
at Ashigara-pass, Hakone Mountains Kanagawa prefecture
(People of Edo used to go to pray at Mt Fuji )

目にかかるときやことさら五月富士

me ni kakaru toki ya kotosara satsuki fuji

when it can be seen
it's even more special—
Mt. Fuji in May

Basho was 51 years old when he wrote the above haiku, in the year of Genroku 7 (1694). It was to be the last journey of his life as he died before completing the journey in October of the same year. He had traveled the same road before, but could not always see Mt Fuji (see haiku #3). Records show that he encountered this scenery of Mt. Fuji on 30 May. The haiku is recorded in Basho-oh Gyojo-ki.

The key to the haiku is satsuki fuji (May Fuji). May, in the old lunar calendar, is June under the new solar calendar. This is the rainy season in Japan. Everyone is accustomed to seeing Mt. Fuji crowned by snow, but around this time of year, Mt. Fuji's snow would be melted and green foliage would have appeared. It is a beautiful sight, but at the same time, it makes Fuji like other mountains which are also covered with green leaves. Because of this, the view of Mt. Fuji at this time of the year is something very special (kotosara=especially, even more). During the rainy and misty season, Mt. Fuji is rarely completely visible. When the whole mountain can be seen, it fills you with delight. You can sense Basho feels ecstatic, expressing his great feeling in the haiku, his eyes making him stop to look at it again and again. Therefore, 'satsuki Fuji' (May Fuji) is a special thing to behold. To interpret Basho's haiku in prose form it would go like this: 'When, at a rare moment, I can see Mt. Fuji, it gives me such pleasure and excitement, especially because it is such a unusual sight to see. Oh, this May Fuji!'

6)

深川や芭蕉を富士にあずけゆく (Chiri 1684)

Fukagawa ya basho o fuji ni azuke-yuku

leaving Fukagawa—
leaving basho in the care
of Mount Fuji

Chiri was a student of Basho, who accompanied him on the Nozarashi trip in Jokyo 1 (1684). Basho was 41 years old at the time. Chiri wrote this haiku during their visit to Mt. Fujii. In this haiku, the student is parting with Basho to travel on to another place, leaving him at the foot of Mt. Fuji in the care of the mountain. The haiku contains kake-kotoba, a word with a double meaning. The word, 'Basho' means both the basho plant (musa/banana) which grew by Basho's hut at Fukagawa. It also is, of course, the master's haigoh (haiku name).

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Etsuko Yanagibori studies haiku in Kusanohana-Haiku-Kai in Japan. She studied haiku with the late Akegarasu Fujita (1938-2004).

 

Photography Credits:

 

Top photo: Early Summer  Morning: Red Mt. Fuji, by Etsuko Yanagibori, 2005

Basho Haiku #3: Basho Kuhi; photo by Benkei

Basho Haiku #4: Winter Mt. Fuji; photo by Etsuko Yanagibori, New Year 2005
Basho Haiku #5, Basho's ku-hi at Ashigara Pass; photo by Benkei 
 

 

*English-language haiku versions are personal interpretations by the author, and are not intended as definitive translations. Any inaccuracies of the translation which may be found will be mine.

 

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