Adjei Agyei-Baah, the winner of Akita Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Award of the 3rd Japan-Russia Haiku Contest 2014, published the book titled “Scaring Crow Haiku Adjei Agyei-Baah” with a Foreword by Hiroaki Sato as Buttonhook Press 2022 Chapbook Series Poetry: All forms & styles Haiku.
His book was dedicated to Paul MacNeil.
Dedication
To the memory of a dear friend
and an Associate Editor of the Heron’s Nest Journal (from 2000–2019)
Paul MacNeil
1948-2019
Hiroaki Sato wrote a foreword as follows.
Foreword
Mr. Adjei Agyei-Baah’s book of haiku, Scaring Crow, is a collection of his own haiku, all about scarecrows. Scarecrows came into being as agriculture became the main source of human food, we are told, with early records in Egypt dating from 3,000 years ago. In recent decades, in America and other European countries, scarecrows have merged with Halloween figures patched up mainly to scare people for fun, but there remain many countries, among them Ghana where Mr. Agyei-Baah lives, where they are still used for their original purpose: to scare or repel birds and animals—although when it comes to the English name of this contraption, the “crows,” being wise, quickly learn it is just a harmless decoy, it has been observed. In Japan, where haiku originated, the scarecrow is called kakashi. Some say it was originally kagashi, “something that makes animals smell,” as it referred to the custom of putting out a burnt piece of meat or fish to warn creatures that can’t stand such smells. The set of three Chinese words applied to kakashi, 案山子, is obscure in its etymology, some finding its origins in a Zen statement in China. There are a number of names for kakashi if you include its local names. Each haiku is expected to come with a kigo, “seasonal word,” and each kigo specifies a specific season. Kakashi was adopted as a kigo in 1641, and the season it specifies is autumn. This “rule” may not apply to some countries and regions, of course. Kawai Sora (1649–1710), who famously accompanied Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694) in the latter’s grand trek into “The Interior,” wrote: 国々に案山子もかはる姿かな Kuniguni ni kakashi mo kawaru sugata kana The figures of kakashi change from province to province Many of Mr. Agyei-Baah’s haiku collected in this volume can be readily translated into Japanese 5-7-5 syllables, suggesting his deep affinity to this poetic form. Here are several of the 102 haiku in Scaring Crow. there he stands with a crown of bird poo— field scarecrow tsuttate fun ni mamireta kakashi kana 突っ立って糞に塗れた案山子かな country walk... passing on an old hat to a scarecrow inaka aruki furui bōshi o kakashi yari 田舎歩き古い帽子を案山子やり This haiku reminds me of one by Kawahigashi Hekigodō (1873–1937), who trekked through Japan for five years, beginning in 1906. 我笠と我蓑を着せて案山子かな waga kasa to waga mino o kisete kakashi kana I’ve made a kakashi wear both my hat my straw-coat Back to Mr. Agyei-Baah’s haiku. black night: a scarecrow scattering fireflies kuroki yoru kakashi chirakasu hotaru kana 黒き夜案山子散らかす蛍かな morning light a bird flutters from the scarecrow’s bosom asa no hi ni kakashi mune tatsu kotori kana 朝の日に案山子胸立つ小鳥かな And here is the concluding haiku. alone in the field a scarecrow in the blaze of morning sun kyokujitu no hi ni hitori tatsu kakashi kana 旭日の陽に一人立つ案山子かな
Hiroaki Sato
Author of On Haiku
New York City
Fall 2021
Book Review
I have enjoyed reading 102 haiku in the book. Two haiku below remind me of the song of kakashi, 案山子, which we sang in music classes at our primary school.
Here are these two haiku.
behind the scarecrows
the farm owner’s children
play hide and seek
gentle breeze…
the farmer’s child ties his kite
to the scarecrow
Here are the words of the song of kakashi, 案山子, which I learned in my childhood.
山田の中の 一本足の案山子
yamada no naka no ippon ashi no kakashi
天気のよいのに 蓑傘着けて
tenki no yoi no ni minokasa tsukete
朝から晩まで ただ立ちどおし
asa kara ban made tada tachidooshi
歩けないのか 山田の案山子
arukenai no ka yamada no kakashi
One-legged scarecrow in paddy fields in the mountains
even though the weather is nice, wears a straw-hat and a straw-coat
from morning till night, just stands up.
Can’t he walk, scarecrow in paddy fields in the mountains?
山田の中の 一本足の案山子
yamada no naka no ippon ashi no kakashi
弓矢で威して 力んで居れど
yumiya de odoshite rikinde oredo
山では烏が かあかと笑う
yama dewa karasu ga kaaka to warau
耳が無いのか 山田の案山子
mimi ga naino ka yamada no kakashi
One-legged scarecrow in paddy fields in the mountains
is powerful with a bow and arrow, but
crows laugh in the mountains.
Doesn’t he have ears, scarecrow in paddy fields in the mountains?
The song of kakashi, 案山子 is a song by the Ministry of Education published for the second grade of the common primary school in 1911. I learned the song in 1949. Even today, I can sing this song by myself.
In the first stanza, children feel thankful to the one-legged scarecrow for protecting rice fields from birds and animals. They wish he could walk as he likes.
In the second stanza, it seems to children that scarecrows are laughed at by cawing crows in the mountains. They wonder if scarecrows have no ears.
This song is a childish world of thanks and humor.
Here, let me tell you about 102 haiku by Adjei.
In his haiku a scarecrow appears in African nature, such as drought, harmattan, hurricane, flood, forest fire, storm, and winter wind. The scarecrow has to survive these severe phenomena. His scarecrow has also his time in cultural events, such as All Saints Day, Halloween, Palm Sunday, ghost story, and World Charity Day. The scarecrow lives with birds, insects, and animals, such as crow, owl, bat, swallow, rodent, kingfisher, cricket, locust, fireflies, butterfly, termite, lizard, and bull.
The relation of a scarecrow with humans is the most important. The scarecrow appears in Adjei’s haiku with such people as grandpa, daddy, neighbor, farmer, farmer’s son, farmer’s child, farm owner’s children, peasant, ploughman, reaper, veteran, and bride.
How does a scarecrow spend a day in Adjei’s haiku? Keywords are these words: morning sun, first light, sunshine, light sun, settling sun, moon, moonlit, sickle moon, full moon, and stars. We find how the scarecrow leads his life under the heaven.
A scarecrow in the book spends harvest season, sometimes lives in rain and thunder, sometimes enjoys breeze, becomes a snowman in winter, remains dumb on what he sees, and ascends in the wind.
Lastly, we would like to express “Congratulations” on the publication of the book with the photo of the awarded haiku by Adjei Agyei-Baah.
Hidenori Hiruta
Akita International Haiku Network
Akita International Haiku Network 
An Ode to the SCARECROW. Heart warming poems. The tree holding a cup of nest is also a beautiful sight.