Small garden related to lullaby written by Empress Michiko

April 28, 2009

Small garden related to lullaby written by Empress Michiko

The small garden in a calm hillside residential area in uptown Tokyo was waiting for visitors in soft morning sunlight. An old gardener was busy cleaning the garden before visitors start appearing. The garden, “Nemunoki-no-niwa, or Silk Tree Garden, was opened by Shinagawa City in 2004 at part of a land lot formerly occupied by the residence of Empress Michiko’s parents. It is named after a lullaby written by Empress Michiko when she was a high school student.
Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko visit the garden privately once a year. “Their majesties usually visit here in May or June,” the gardener said. Orange-colored roses of the kind named “Princess Michiko” are in full bloom around that time, he said.
Empress Michiko has composed many traditional waka poems. Small plates showing her poems linked to flowers are placed along the path in the garden.
A privately translated version of one of them follows:

I recall the summer day when I saw silk tree flowers after going up the hill of Kiire in the old Satsuma country

About 90 kinds of flowers are planted at the 570-square-meter garden. “I have been taking care of this garden since the opening,” the gardener told an elderly visitor, accompanied by her daughter, proudly. “You can enjoy flowers throughout the year. There are flowers for the four seasons here,” he said.
The Imperial couple celebrated their golden wedding anniversary on April 10. Emperor Akihito, in his 21st year on the throne, was the first emperor to receive his spouse from outside the Imperial family and the nobility. The chrysanthemum curtain between the Imperial family and the people was removed after Japan surrendered in WWII in 1945. The Imperial couple has been striving to forge a new style of relations with the people, just as their parents did. Their efforts will continue to make an Imperial family that fits today’s Japan as the family values are changing.

An author’s note: Satsuma is the old name for a part of the current Kagoshima Prefecture, Kyushu, southern Japan.

Young lovers’ season and May disease

April 23, 2009

Young lovers’ season and May disease

May is one of the most beautiful seasons in Japan. The days of spring fever and pollen have gone, but the depressing “tsuyu” rainy season in early summer is yet to come. Young lovers go out to enjoy themselves in fresh air.
A waka poem composed by Princess Nukada and included in the Manyoshu (ten thousand leaves) poem anthology of the early eighth century goes:

Out on the madder-colored purple meadow,
Out on the marked sacred meadow,
I am afraid the meadow keeper might have seen you, my lover; wave your sleeves toward me.
(A personal translation)

This love poem is one of the most favored verses in Japan’s first wake poem anthology. People in ancient times made it a custom to go picking young greens in the early spring to celebrate the arrival of spring. The poem, earlier believed to be one extended to Prince Ooama, indicates the two took the occasion to meet secretly at an Imperial meadow. But researchers say the verse must be an imaginary poem composed at a court party.
Young lovers today must be careful to developments in the rude real world. Young working people, especially rookies, tend to contract May disease, a slight depression-like syndrome which follows a period of strong stress in a new environment following the start of the new business year. But rookies this year may be relatively lucky.
University graduates had a tough time landing jobs this year amid the global recession. As of Feb. 1, two months before their graduation, 14 of 100 university students had not been able to find jobs, according to a government survey.
Japan’s economic illness has made a dent in young people’s daily life. Most Japanese youngsters have been apathetic to politics, but they are coming to realize they cannot be free from the political situation. Japan’s economic plight may help enhance young people’s awareness about their voting rights. This should be a welcome development amid the current dark atmosphere enveloping Japan.

Kamakura: home to Japan’s first samurai regime

April 19, 2009

Kamakura: home to Japan’s first samurai regime

Kamakura, about an hour of train ride from Tokyo, was home to the first regime established by samurai warriors in the late 12th century. Kamakura is currently one of the busiest tourist spots in Japan. Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, the symbol of Kamakura which stands in the heart of the city, was inaugurated by Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-1199), the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate.

Yoritomo came to power after 20 years of exile and opened his regime in Kamakura, a domain for his father and grandfather.

Kamakura holds city-wide spring and autumn festivals, including rites devoted to the God of Hachiman, a war-related god, to which Tsurugaoka Shrine is dedicated. The “yabusame” arrow-shooting rite is one of the most attractive events in the festivals.

Dating back to the era of the Kamakura shogunate, the original yabusame rite was performed in the presence of Yoritomo.

A waka poem composed by Yoritomo and included in the Shinkokinwakashu poem anthology of the early 13th century says:

On my way to this place via a path near the foot of Mt. Fuji,
I did not observe any smoke up there,
because the sky had been covered by thick clouds all the time.
(A personal translation)

A recently compiled book discusses a collection of Kamakura-related poems, including one made by the Kamakura shogun. “I found Yoritomo had left many nice poems, and this was a surprise to me,” says a noted essayist who wrote the book. Yoritomo is believed to have composed the poem about the then active volcano impromptu when asked by a friend of his upon his arrival at Kyoto.

Warlords at his time were busy reinforcing their clans, but they also tried hard to be good poets in rivalry with court nobles of the old regime in Kyoto.

Yoritomo is less popular among Japanese because he is regarded as a cold-hearted realist, but some critics stress that his statesmanship and insight must be reevaluated properly. A state leader like Yoritomo may be necessary for today’s Japan now that the economy is floating in unchartered waters.

An author’s note: Most “busho” ancient warlords, including the first Kamakura shogun, are referred to by their given names to avoid confusion because they belong mainly to two surname groups—Minamoto and Taira.

"Kawaii": Japan's new export item and love behaviors

April 18, 2009

“Kawaii”: young women in today’s Japan and ancient Japan, and what about men?

“Kawaii,” which means cute or pretty, is a keyword which has contributed to exporting Japan’s pop cultures, such as animation products, in recent years. The government is out to promote Japan’s new breed of cultures more as a new export item by, among other things, naming young “kawaii” actresses and TV personalities as “special envoys.”

Kawaii is usually used for females in their early 20s and teenagers, but the term is sometimes used more widely as some women at higher ages like to be kawaii.

The word can be paraphrased in various ways, but it may be taken to mean the charm of being immature and fresh.

A waka poem composed by an unknown author and included in the Manyoshu (ten thousand leaves) poem anthology says:

My love’s lively smiling face was flickering in the lamplight.

Her face comes up in my mind’s eye.

(A personal translation)

A man was spending the night alone while recalling a close look of his love and longing for a day to see her again. Japan’s first waka poem collection was compiled in the early eighth century. The spread of women trying to be kawaii in today’s Japan, according to critics, suggests young Japanese women are hoping not to be adults. What about males? Media reports say “herbivorous” young men are gradually increasing. These men are less interested in getting married, focusing on their own world.

The changes in young people’s love behaviors may be a reflection of a recent uneasy mood in Japan’s society.

Young women do not like to be adults or they give more emphasis to careers. Young females and males equally look unenthusiastic about finding partners for their life. This should become a source of headache for Japan’s political leaders as Japan’s birthrate has been declining steadily.

“Hana-ikada” or flower raft

April 11, 2009

“Hana-ikada” or flower raft

The month of April is the start of the national fiscal year, the corporate business year and the school year in Japan. Government and other public offices, schools and private companies receive their new faces in a joyful mood.

This coincides with the cherry blossom viewing season in many parts of Japan.

But toward the middle of April, people get back to normal jobs as cherry trees begin to scatter the blossoms to have green leaves.

Cherry trees lining the banks of a river that flows through a small hot spring town in western Japan started leaving their blossoms in the first week of April. The fallen blossoms are received by the river water beneath.

Poets once described cherry blossoms densely scattered on the surface of the river water as “hana-ikada.” Hana means flower, usually cherry blossoms in ancient waka poems, and ikada means a raft.
A waka poem made by Ariwara Narihira, an emperor’s grandson who lived in the ninth century and one of the six most famous poets at his age, goes:

I have not heard things like this happened
even in the age of the gods,
when many mysterious things are said to have occurred.
I see water in Tatsutagawa River beautifully decorated with deep red maple leaves.
(A personal translation)

This poem depicts a scenic autumnal view with maple leaves floating on the river water, which may be “flower rafts.” Ancient poets are also believed to have been attracted by the beauty of fallen cherry blossoms covering the river surface.

Rafts of white and slightly pink cherry blossoms slowly float down the stream. The cherry blossom rafts look unstable this year as the economy is in bad shape amid the global financial crisis.

An author’s note: Classical waka poems, which have fixed numbers of syllables, are categorized into three groups—“tanka” or short poems, “chooka” or long poems and a third, less popular style called “sedooka.” Waka poems started around the seventh century and culminated in the early 13th century.

"Hana-bie" or cold spring days

March 30, 2009

"Hana-bie" or cold spring days

We, Japanese, love cherry blossoms, “sakura” in Japanese.
Sakura is perhaps the most favored flower in Japan.
Why do Japanese love cherry blossoms so much?
People cite various reasons in numerous ways.
The most frequently mentioned reason is that cherry blossoms begin to scatter
almost as soon as they get in full bloom. So short a life.
Japanese tend to be attracted by fragile, weak things.
The Meteorological Agency of Japan “declared” on March 21 that monitor cherry trees in Tokyo have started blooming. This was earlier than the usual season.
But there came cold days with chilly rains and winds
after the start of blooming. Japanese call cold weather
around this time of the year “hana-bie.”
Hana means flower and bie or hie means coldness. In all, the term means
cold weather with sakura in bloom. Sakura is an important item
referred to in “waka” classical Japanese poems with fixed numbers of syllables.
Flower usually denotes cherry blossoms when it comes to waka poems.
A waka poem made by Ki Tomonori, a court official in the early Heian era, and included in the Kokinwakashu poem anthology of the tenth century goes:

In soft, ever-emitting sunlight,
On a spring day,
Why are the cherry blossoms falling so restlessly?
(A personal translation)

A cherry tree in my backyard began to bloom a week ago,
but I found this morning that part of them already started scattering.
“The other blossoms are still in the bud. They look hard in the coldness. I’m afraid there may be a few days with no blossoms in the tree,” my wife told me nervously.
The cherry blossoms remind us of the regular seasonal shifts despite the ongoing global climate changes.