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Kashima Kikō
''Kashima Kikō'' (), variously translated as ''Kashima Journal'' or ''A Visit to Kashima Shrine'' is a '' haibun'' travel journal by the Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō, covering his short journey to Kashima Shrine in the Kantō region. According to write-translator David Landis Barnhill, the ''Kashima Kikō'' is "most significant for the amusing but complex self-image near the beginning" where Bashō compares his companions to a bird and a mouse before calling himself a mixture of both: a bat. It was written as a tribute to Bashō's Zen master, Buchhō, and so it contains direct references to enlightenment and the Gateless Gate. The work mostly does not integrate poems into the prose and, instead, presents all the prose in the first half before ending with a series of '' hokku'' written by Bashō and his friends. Summary Written in October of 1687 ( Edo era), the work covers a 45-year old Bashō's journey to Kashima Shrine to see the harvest moon. The journal is inspired by a poe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matsuo Bashō
born then was the most famous poet of the Edo period in Japan. During his lifetime, Bashō was recognized for his works in the collaborative '' haikai no renga'' form; today, after centuries of commentary, he is recognized as the greatest master of haiku (then called hokku). He is also well known for his travel essays beginning with '' Records of a Weather-Exposed Skeleton'' (1684), written after his journey west to Kyoto and Nara. Matsuo Bashō's poetry is internationally renowned, and, in Japan, many of his poems are reproduced on monuments and traditional sites. Although Bashō is famous in the West for his hokku, he himself believed his best work lay in leading and participating in renku. He is quoted as saying, "Many of my followers can write hokku as well as I can. Where I show who I really am is in linking haikai verses." Bashō was introduced to poetry at a young age, and after integrating himself into the intellectual scene of Edo (modern Tokyo) he quickly became we ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harvest Moon
The full moon is the lunar phase when the Moon appears fully illuminated from Earth's perspective. This occurs when Earth is located between the Sun and the Moon (when the ecliptic longitudes of the Sun and Moon differ by 180°). This means that the lunar hemisphere facing Earth—the near side—is completely sunlit and appears as an approximately circular disk. The full moon occurs roughly once a month. The time interval between a full moon and the next repetition of the same phase, a synodic month, averages about 29.53 days. Therefore, in those lunar calendars in which each month begins on the day of the new moon, the full moon falls on either the 14th or 15th day of the lunar month. Because a calendar month consists of a whole number of days, a month in a lunar calendar may be either 29 or 30 days long. Characteristics A full moon is often thought of as an event of a full night's duration, although its phase seen from Earth continuously waxes or wanes, and is full onl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Travel Books
The genre of travel literature encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs. One early travel memoirist in Western literature was Pausanias, a Greek geographer of the 2nd century CE. In the early modern period, James Boswell's ''Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides'' (1786) helped shape travel memoir as a genre. History Early examples of travel literature include the ''Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'' (generally considered a 1st century CE work; authorship is debated), Pausanias' ''Description of Greece'' in the 2nd century CE, ''Safarnama'' (Book of Travels) by Nasir Khusraw (1003-1077), the '' Journey Through Wales'' (1191) and '' Description of Wales'' (1194) by Gerald of Wales, and the travel journals of Ibn Jubayr (1145–1214), Marco Polo (1254–1354), and Ibn Battuta (1304–1377), all of whom recorded their travels across the known world in detail. As early as the 2nd century CE, Lucian of Samosata discussed history and tra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japanese Poetry Collections
Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspora, Japanese emigrants and their descendants around the world * Japanese citizens, nationals of Japan under Japanese nationality law ** Foreign-born Japanese, naturalized citizens of Japan * Japanese writing system, consisting of kanji and kana * Japanese cuisine, the food and food culture of Japan See also * List of Japanese people * * Japonica (other) * Japonicum * Japonicus * Japanese studies Japanese studies (Japanese: ) or Japan studies (sometimes Japanology in Europe), is a sub-field of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on Japan. It incorporates fields such as the study of Japanese ... {{disambiguation Language and nationality disambiguation pages ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edo-period Works
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characterized by economic growth, strict social order, isolationist foreign policies, a stable population, perpetual peace, and popular enjoyment of arts and culture. The period derives its name from Edo (now Tokyo), where on March 24, 1603, the shogunate was officially established by Tokugawa Ieyasu. The period came to an end with the Meiji Restoration and the Boshin War, which restored imperial rule to Japan. Consolidation of the shogunate The Edo period or Tokugawa period is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's regional '' daimyo''. A revolution took place from the time of the Kamakura shogunate, which existed with the Tennō's court, to the Tok ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tsukimi
or , meaning, "''moon-viewing"'', are Japanese festivals honoring the autumn moon, a variant of the Mid-Autumn Festival. The celebration of the full moon typically takes place on the 15th day of the eighth month of the traditional Japanese calendar, known as ; the waxing moon is celebrated on the 13th day of the ninth month, known as . These days normally fall in September and October of the modern solar calendar. The tradition dates to the Heian era, and is now so popular in Japan that some people repeat the activities for several evenings following the appearance of the full moon during the eighth lunisolar month. Tsukimi traditions include displaying decorations made from Japanese pampas grass (''susuki'') and eating rice dumplings called ''Tsukimi dango'' in order to celebrate the beauty of the Moon. Seasonal produce are also displayed as offerings to the Moon. Sweet potatoes are offered to the full moon, while beans or chestnuts are offered to the waxing moon the following ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mount Tsukuba
is an mountain located at the northern-end of Tsukuba, Japan. It is one of the most famous mountains in Japan, particularly well known for its double peaks, and . Many people climb the so-called "purple mountain" every year for the panoramic view of the Kantō plain from the summit. On clear days the Tōkyō skyline, Lake Kasumigaura and even Mount Fuji are visible from the summit. Japanese mountains are mostly volcanic, but Mount Tsukuba is non-volcanic granite and gabbro in origin. Renowned beautiful granites are produced in the northern quarries even today. Etymology The , a national geography completed in 721 AD, says Mount Tsukuba was named after a noble called . According to this account, the area around Mount Tsukuba was once called . Under the reign of (Emperor Sujin), Tsukuha no Mikoto from the was appointed as its governor. He had a strong desire to leave his name in history, so he renamed the area "Tsukuha", which is now pronounced Tsukuba. History As leg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oku No Hosomichi
''Oku no Hosomichi'' (, originally ), translated as ''The Narrow Road to the Deep North'' and ''The Narrow Road to the Interior'', is a major work of ''haibun'' by the Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō, considered one of the major texts of Japanese literature of the Edo period. The first edition was published posthumously in 1702. The text is written in the form of a prose and verse travel diary and was penned as Bashō made an epic and dangerous journey on foot through the Edo Japan of the late 17th century. While the poetic work became seminal of its own account, the poet's travels in the text have since inspired many people to follow in his footsteps and trace his journey for themselves. In one of its most memorable passages, Bashō suggests that "every day is a journey, and the journey itself home". The text was also influenced by the works of Du Fu, who was highly revered by Bashō. Of ''Oku no Hosomichi'', Kenji Miyazawa once suggested, "It was as if the very soul of Japan h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sora's Diary
The was the memorandum of Kawai Sora in 1689 and 1691 when he accompanied Matsuo Bashō, on his noted journeys. By the time it was re-discovered in 1943, the presence of this diary had been doubted. This diary has proven indispensable in the study of ''Oku no Hosomichi'' by Matsuo Bashō. The diary The existence of this diary had been known and it was re-discovered and published by Yasusaburo Yamamoto in 1943. It was designated an Important Cultural Properties of Japan, Important Cultural Property of Japan on June 15, 1978. The diary was 11 cm in length, 16.5 cm in width and 2 cm in thickness; the book cover was indigo and the volume contained 100 sheets of paper, including 4 white sheets. There were 11 sheets of paper pasted. For convenience, it has been divided into parts: ''Summary of Divine Names of Engishiki'', ''Memorandum of Utamakura'', ''Diary of Genroku 2nd year'', ''Diary of Genroku 4th year'', ''Memorandum of Haiku'' and ''Others''. Inside the diary, ther ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ariwara No Yukihira
was a Japanese Heian period courtier and bureaucrat, who held a number of positions over the course of his life. At one time or another, he was governor of the provinces of Harima, Bizen, Shinano, and Bitchū. He also served as , , and inspector ('' azechi'') of Mutsu and Dewa provinces. Yukihira was also a poet, many of his works being published alongside those of his brother, Narihira. He also established a school, called Shogaku-in, for the purpose of educating members of the Ariwara family. His most famous poem, no. 16 in the ''Ogura Hyakunin Isshu is a classical Japanese anthology of one hundred Japanese ''waka'' by one hundred poets. ''Hyakunin isshu'' can be translated to "one hundred people, one poem ach; it can also refer to the card game of ''uta-garuta'', which uses a deck compos ...'' is as follows: Reference list Bibliography 818 births 893 deaths Kuge Ariwara clan Japanese male poets 9th-century Japanese poets Hyakunin Isshu poets [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kyoto
Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the city had a population of 1.46 million. The city is the cultural anchor of a substantially larger metropolitan area known as Greater Kyoto, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) home to a census-estimated 3.8 million people. Kyoto is one of the oldest municipalities in Japan, having been chosen in 794 as the new seat of Japan's imperial court by Emperor Kanmu. The original city, named Heian-kyō, was arranged in accordance with traditional Chinese feng shui following the model of the ancient Chinese capital of Chang'an/Luoyang. The emperors of Japan ruled from Kyoto in the following eleven centuries until 1869. It was the scene of several key events of the Muromachi period, Sengoku period, and the Boshin War, such as the Ōnin War, the Ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hokku
is the opening stanza of a Japanese orthodox collaborative linked poem, ''renga'', or of its later derivative, ''renku'' (''haikai no renga''). From the time of Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694), the ''hokku'' began to appear as an independent poem, and was also incorporated in haibun (in combination with prose). In the late 19th century, Masaoka Shiki (1867–1902) renamed the standalone ''hokku'' as "''haiku''", and the latter term is now generally applied retrospectively to all ''hokku'' appearing independently of ''renku'' or ''renga'', irrespective of when they were written. The term ''hokku'' continues to be used in its original sense, as the opening verse of a linked poem. Content Within the traditions of renga and renku, the ''hokku'', as the opening verse of the poem, has always held a special position. It was traditional for the most honoured guest at the poetry-writing session to be invited to compose it and he would be expected to offer praise to his host and/or deprecate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
