Recently, the Buddhist temple Yakushi-ji in Nara, Japan posted this update on their Twitter feed: When most people think of Japan, they think of cherry blossoms, specifically sakura (桜) cherry blossoms. However, while cherry blossoms usually appear sometime between March to May depending on climate, variety, etc, another famous flowering tree blooms slightly eariler: uméContinue reading “Plum Blossoms”
Category Archives: Poetry
Spring On Its Way
It is mid-January, deep in “small cold and big cold”, but already signs of life are returning to the yard, and the world around us. Inspired, I found this old Japanese waka poem (originally posted in my other blog) composed by a female poet named kunaikyō (宮内卿), also called wakakusa no kunaikyō (若草の宮内卿). This poem,Continue reading “Spring On Its Way”
Abdication
From the 14th century Japanese text, “Essays in Idleness” (tsurezuregusa 徒然草) composed by Buddhist monk Kenkō: The moment during the ceremony of abdication of the throne when the Sword, Jewels, and Mirror [the Imperial regalia, which still exist, btw] are offered to the new emperor is heartbreaking in the extreme. When the newly retired emperorContinue reading “Abdication”
Time and Romance
From the 14th century Japanese text, “Essays in Idleness” (tsurezuregusa 徒然草), composed by Buddhist monk Kenkō: 26) When I recall the months and years I spent as the intimate of someone whose affections have now faded like cherry blossoms scattering even before a wind blew, I still remember every word of hers that once soContinue reading “Time and Romance”
Juya-E
Speaking of the moon, October in Japanese Buddhism, specifically the Jodo Shu sect of Buddhism is an important time called jūya-e (十夜会), meaning “Ten Nights observance”. It is also sometimes known as: jūya hōyō (十夜法要, “ten night Buddhist sermon”) jūyakō (十夜講 “ten night lecture”) jūya nenbutsu (十夜念仏, “ten night nembutsu“), or more formally jūnichi jūyaContinue reading “Juya-E”
Summer Winding Down
Summer in 2020 came and went probably like no summer in recent memory. Ignoring the painful facts for a moment that there’s a global pandemic, politics are pretty bat-shit crazy, and the economic woes, and my stress level was through the roof, it was a quiet and low-key summer. Hunkering down for the summer hadContinue reading “Summer Winding Down”
Cherry Blossoms
While stuck at home in lockdown, my family and I have been trying to take daily walks around neighborhood, and yesterday I caught sight of these cherry blossoms! 🌸 Around this time of year, I always go back and read poems from a famous 12th century poetry anthology from Japan called the Hyakunin Isshu (百人一首,Continue reading “Cherry Blossoms”
Red Camelias
赤椿咲し真下へ落ちにけり Aka-tsubaki sakishi mashita e ochinikeri “The red camelia falls directly to the ground.” Haiku by Katō Kyōtai (加藤暁台, 1732 – 1792), found in the app “72 Seasons”
Sugawara no Michizane: from scholar to god
Shinto religion in Japan is a loose network of local deities (kami) and traditions of diverse origins, and one of those most unusual and yet popular is a kami named Tenjin, the god of learning. Tenjin is unusual because he is a deified version of an actual historical figure named Sugawara no Michizane who livedContinue reading “Sugawara no Michizane: from scholar to god”
Scattered Blossoms
96) 花さそふ Hana sasou あらしの庭の Arashi no niwa no 雪ならで Yuki nara de ふりゆくものは Furi yuku mono wa わが身なりけり Wa ga mi narikeri It entices the flowers— the storm—but through the garden’s white, it is not snow, and what it is that’s scattering are, in fact, the years of my life! translation by Professor MostowContinue reading “Scattered Blossoms”
