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.. .. .. .. Sakura, the Cherry Blossoms
cherry blossoms -
stones of the past
stones of the present
2004, Hiruzen Highlands 蒜山高原
where the Sun Goddess hid in a cave and later returned.
Hiruzen Koogen is about 90 minutes drive from my home.
The dolmen in the area are a splendid setting for the perishable cherry blossoms. Here you can easily feel the presence of the ancient Gods. It is a very quiet and solitude cherry blossom viewing spot !
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Here is another side of rural reality:
falling petals -
the farmers wife
spraying chemicals
This is the reality of rural Japan. Now many bugs come out, so they use poison against them, poison against weeds, poison against anything that disturbs human expectations.
The landsacpe in Hiruzen was very beautiful with snow-covered Mount Daizen (almost as beautiful as Mount Fuji) and a thousand old cherry petals floating in the air.
If it had not been for the Farmers Grandma, it could have been perfect rural Japan.
Maybe this is the equivalent of an Urban Haiku, showing the other side of rural reality.
Have a look at the Cherry Blossom Alley leading to the temple in front of the cave, where the sun goddess of Japanese legend used to hide before the Gods, plunging the world into darknes..
More pictures are here:
http://www.shok.co.jp/kawakami/sakura/imgboard.pl
Hiruzen Highland through the Seasons
蒜山高原 大自然
Nature in Hiruzen
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Cherry Blossom Viewing (Hanami) 津山の花見
in Tsuyama Castle Park 2005
cherry blossom party -
the red umbrella
invites to tea
Beautiful ladies in colorful kimono serve green tea.
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flanked by cherry blossoms -
the universe changes
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shades of pink
in the blue sky -
life enfolding now
Look at my album with more Hanami photos from 2008
http://www.flickr.com/photos/grevegabi4000/sets/72157604448447438/detail/
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Sakurafubuki, Cherry Blossom Snow
http://www.posca.jp/index.php?mode=post_card&asp_id=32389&c_id=59142
cherry blossom snow -
second for second
the clock ticks
Kirschbluetenschnee -
die Uhr tickt
Sekunde um Sekunde
The cherry season is almost over. Sakura-fubuki, the petals fluttering in the wind like snow, are now our kigo. The pond is white with petals, the heron is building his nest, the swans are circling quietely among the petals..
And in my garden, the wooden clock handmade by my husband, keeps ticking...
April 14, 2005
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Cherry Blossoms (sakura, Japan)
... and many related kigo in the database
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8 comments:
Dear Gabi,
I find this very effective...
how quickly life falls through our fingers, sigh...
we must make use of every moment!
L.
Dear Gabi san
This would make a lovely haibun. You should give it some thought.
Best,
B.
ohhhh it is a 'me too ' kind of a day !! I like this one too.
but not only the deeper meaning of life ..the lighter meaning of the time of the cherry blossoms and the ticking of spirng...as we set our clocks and there are changes etc..als ot the forwardness of setting the clock ...even though the petals ane now slipping away ......good one!
k.
Gabi san
thank you for letting me enjoy [ohana mi] This year I have lost chance to see cherry blossom.
Your surrounding is eally wonderfull.
sakuo.
cherry blossoms
on his straw bonnet
the scarecrow
on the garden path
the leaflets of blossoms
and your shadow
GEERT
Kobayashi Issa
chikazuki no sakura mo sumi ni yakarekeri
the cherry tree
my close friend burning
in a charcoal kiln
This winter hokku is from a manuscript from 1826, when Issa had been living back in his hometown for thirteen years. He seems to have grown very close to a certain cherry tree (or group of trees) in his hometown, but now even it has been cut down, sawed up, and put into a kiln, where it is being slowly burned down over several days into charcoal, mainly for use as heating fuel. Issa feels as if he were watching a close friend being cremated.
Chris Drake
My old farming neighbour
battling with his trees
battling weeds -
the old farmer sprays poison
on his fields
http://haikuandhappiness.blogspot.jp/2007/09/old-farmer.html
He had been tending his many orchards for many years. Getting older, things got more difficult and one by one, he had to cut down the many trees in his orchards.
Today I observed the old farmer below in my valley :
winter cold -
he felled his last
apple tree
http://happyhaiku.blogspot.jp/2007/01/last-apple-tree.html
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Kobayashi Issa
人来ればひとりの連や花の山
hito kureba hitori no tsure ya hana no yama
someone's come
so I have a companion --
blossoming mountain
This hokku is from the beginning of the 2nd month (late March), 1825, six months after Issa was divorced almost immediately by his second wife, the daughter of a samurai. He subsequently lost his power of speech (probably from a minor stroke) for several weeks, and he may well have been feeling lonely during the spring of 1825. He married for the third time the next year.
In the area of cold, mountainous Shinano (now Nagano Prefecture) in which Issa lived, the cherry trees usually came into full bloom in mid or late April. In 1825 the 2nd month began rather late, on March 20, so it's possible some early mountain cherries are already in bloom, but Issa says the whole mountain is blossoming, so he may be referring to both plum and cherry blossoms here. In haikai cherry blossoms are usually the default for the word "blossom" (hana), but in early spring plum blossoms could also play this role, so I take Issa to be referring to both plum and cherry blossoms. He goes to the mountain alone to view the many blossoming trees, and when another person appears they quickly become companions, both captivated by the blossoms. The implication seems to be that normally most of the villagers in Issa's hometown aren't anxious to be his friend or even his temporary companion, but today is different. People (including Issa) are transformed into more than themselves by the transcendent power of the blossoms.
Hito can mean either human being or person/someone, and there are no personal pronouns in the hokku, so it's also possible to interpret the hokku as being about the relationship between the mountain and Issa (or his persona in the third person), who visits the mountain and becomes the mountain's guest:
a human appears
so the blossoming mountain
becomes his companion
If this is Issa's thought, then he feels the friendly mountain open itself up to him when he arrives. The blossoms are the constant accompaniment the warm-hearted mountain provides as Issa walks along a mountain path.
Chris Drake
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