Haiku about the Great East Japan Earthquake (4)

 

On August 1, 1689, Basho visited Kisakata （象潟）, Akita Prefecture　（秋田県）,  Northern Honshu, on his journey.

Basho wrote about Kisakata in his travel diary The Narrow Road to Oku, 『おくのほそ道 (Oku no Hosomichi 』 .

Here I take up the latter part of this section.

 

此寺の方丈に座して簾を捲ば、風景一眼の中に尽て、南に鳥海、天をさヽえ、其陰うつりて江にあり、西はむやむやの関、路をかぎり、東に堤を築て、秋田にかよふ道遥に、海北にかまえて、浪打入る所を汐こしと云。江の縦横一里ばかり、俤松島にかよひて、又異なり。松島は笑ふが如く、象潟はうらむがごとし。寂しさに悲しみをくはえて、地勢魂をなやますに似たり。

 

Here is a painting of Kisakata exhibited at the Kanmanji Temple.

 

 

 

Photo courtesy; as per original copyright at:

http://staff.aist.go.jp/nakano.shun/Jap/Chokai/news/recently.html

 

Donald Keene translated this part into English as follows:

 

  Seated within the priests’ quarters of the temple, I rolled up the bamboo blinds and took in all at once the whole spectacle of Kisakata. To the south loomed Mount Chokai, supporting the heavens; its image was reflected in the water. To the west, one can see as far as Muyamuya Barrier; to the east, the road over the embankment leads to Akita in the distance. The sea is to the north. The place where the waves of the sea break into the lagoon is called Tide-Crossing. Kisakata is about two miles in either direction.

Kisakata resembles Matsushima, but there is a difference. Matsushima seems to be smiling, but Kisakata wears a look of grief. There is a sadness mingled with the silent calm, a configuration to trouble the soul.

 

Basho’s last lines say that there is something woeful about Kisakata.

I wonder if Basho predicted that such a natural disaster as earthquake might occur in Kisakata in the future.

 

In fact, on July 10, 1804, a big earthquake occurred in Kisakata about 115 years after Basho’s visit there. The earthquake caused upheaval of ground by 2.4 meters. As a result, the lagoons were changed into dry land.

 

Here is a photo of the backyard of the Kanmanji Temple in Kisakata, 321 years after Basho’s visit.

 

 

 

Koji Otomo, curator at Shoji Taro Memorial Museum in Akita-city, contributed his poems on the earth to our network.

 

春愁　無情　　　　　　　　 Spring Woe   No Mercy

東海林太郎音楽館館長　大友康二

 

大地　ゆらぐ日                 On the day when the earth quakes

海　怒りて                          the sea gets furious

慟哭                                   cries bitterly  

三陸の海を                         the Sanriku coast

引き裂く                              tears into pieces

 

花　待つことなく                  Flowers wait for no man

人　逝く                             those there pass away

波に　消える                     vanish into waves 

あわれ                               alas!

 

世界に　ただひとつ            The only nation in the world

被爆の国　ニッポン             the atom-bombed nation, Japan 

その空に                             in the skies

白い光の　恐怖                   the terrors of white rays

 

六十有余年　　　　　　　　　　　A little more than 60 years

問われる　政治                   what has politics done?

問われる　いのち                what is life?

喪われた　こころ                  lost hearts

 

なぜ                                     Why?

どうして                               for what reason?

繰り返すことばは                the repeated words  

がれきに　吸い込まれ          are absorbed into rubbles

沈黙（しじま）　空しく            silence is empty 

 

潰滅の地に                         In the annihilated areas

おののきばかり                   there remain nothing but shivers

人　ただ侘（た）つ                those there have only to mourn

 

ふるさとの　こころに             In the heart of home

槌音　響くは                        hammering sounds will resound

いつの日か                          when is it?

  

Here is a photo of the ruined fortress （払田柵）in Akita Prefecture（秋田県）, constructed in the Heian period（平安時代）(794-1185).

 

 

 

Haikuists in Akita contributed haiku to our network.

They are members of the haiku group: Ten’I (Providence)（天為俳句会）led by Dr. Akito Arima（主宰　有馬朗人）.

 

余震なほ朔太郎忌の星月夜　　　　　　　　　伊藤沐雨 (Mokuu Ito)

aftershocks come

on the starlit night

Sakutaro’s anniversary

燭台に朱のろうそくや余震来る　　　　　　　　　伊藤智子 (Satoko Ito)

                                                               

on the candlestick

vermeil candles burning

the aftershock comes

大津波退きオリオンの煌めける　　　　　　　　　伊藤慶子 (Keiko Ito)

                                                               

huge tsunami gone out

Orion’s Belt

sparkling

大地震の果てなる春の浅きかな　　　　　　五十嵐義知 (Yoshitomo Igarashi)

                                                                         

great earthquake over

this spring

how transient!

なにもかも攫はれし地に黄水仙　　　　　　　　　笹尾巳生子 (Mioko Sasao)

                                                                            

everything lost

in the waste land

jonquils bloom

 

鎮魂の瓦礫の町に春の雪　　　　　　　　　　　　進藤八重子 (Yaeko Shindo)

consoling

the towns of devastation

spring snow

奥入瀬の激しき調べ春の霜　　　　　　　　　　 　鈴木東亜子 (Toako Suzuki)

intense music

of the Oirase River

spring frost

浴槽の揺れの余震や春寒　　　　　　　　　　　　 寺田恵子 (Keiko Terata)

the aftershock

of bathtub shaking

spring cold

被災地につくしたんぽぽなずなかな　　  　山内誠子 (Seiko Yamanouchi)

                                                                         

for the devastated areas ―

field horsetail’s shoots,

dandelions, and shepherd’s purses

 

囀に小さな森の膨らめり　　　　　　　　　　　　 　和田仁 (Jin Wada)

birdsongs resounding

the small woods seem

bigger and bigger

 

 

Here is a photo of daffodils and local springwater (郷清水) in Akita Prefecture.

 

 

 

Hiroko Kawashiri （川尻弘子） in Akita contributed haiku too.

 

地震止みて運河に重き春の雪

the earthquake over

too heavy for the canal

spring snow

誰からか呼ばれたやうな朧月

 

the pale moon ―

i feel like…

someone is calling

 

 

Last of all, let me post my haiku.

 

草青む払田柵やよみがえる

grasses growing

over the ruined fortress

reconstructing

 

The next posting ‘Haiku about the Great East Japan Earthquake (5)’ appears on May 28.

―　Hidenori Hiruta