Kitamura Kigin Day

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Kitamura Kigin Day

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Late Summer
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation



Kitamura Kigin 北村季吟
1625-1705. June 15, ６月１５日　
1625年1月19日（寛永元年12月11日） - 1705年8月4日（宝永2年6月15日）
Dates vary according to the Asian Lunar Calendar.


Day of Kigin, Kigin Ki 季吟忌 (きぎんき)
Day of Shuusui Ken,
Shuusui Ken Ki 拾穂軒忌（しゅうすいけんき）


He was the haiku teacher of Matsuo Basho, Yamaoka Genrin 山岡元隣 and Yamaguchi Sodoo 山口素堂.

He was a famous writer and compiler of the early Edo period. He also used these pen names:
静厚、通称は久助、別号は慮庵・呂庵・七松子・拾穂軒, Kogestu Tei 湖月亭
He belonged to the Teimon Group of haiku, Teimon Ha 貞門派 of Matsunaga Teitoku.

He was born in present-day Shiga prefecture, former Omi province.

He was the haiku student of Yasuhara Teishitsu 安原貞室 and Matsunaga Teitoku 松永貞徳.
He edited some old pieces of literature, for example the Tale of Genji, the Tosa Nikki (Tosa Diary) and the Tales of Ise.



He compiled an important collection of seasonal words and topics:

北村季吟『山之井』 Yama no I
by Kitamura Kigin ［1624 -1705］comp. 1647-8
It contained 1300 kigo.
............... later republished as
Zoo yama no i "Expanded Mountain Well "Yama no I" 1667

. WKD : History of Japanese Saijiki .


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He rewrote more than 180 classic novels into easier language, some of which are the The Tales of the Genji, Makurano Soushi, The Tales of Yamato, The Diary of Tosa, and The Tales of Ise. The Yedo government presented him with a title Houin and invited him to Yedo.
In his later life he devoted himself to educating his students, many of whom became influential, among them the famous Matsuo Basho.
Kitamura Kigin died at 82.
　©　Photo and Text : kinki/yasu



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The Invention of a Literary Tradition of Male Love

Kitamura Kigin's "Iwatsutsuji 岩つつじ"
Paul Gordon Schalow

Ominaeshi monogatari, (1661; Tales of Lady Flowers)
a collection of anecdotes and legends about female poets.



湖月抄　Kogetsushoo

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Things found on the way

Reference : 北村季吟





地主神社 Jishu Shrine Visit, Kyoto



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HAIKU



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Related words

***** Memorial Days of Famous People / SAIJIKI


History of Japanese Saijiki

Matsunaga Teitoku 松永貞徳 (1571-1653)


Introducing Japanese Haiku Poets


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Adashino Temple Kyoto

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Explanation

Adashino, Temple Nenbutsu-ji

Adashino Nenbutsuji Temple あだしの念仏寺, 仏野念仏寺　/ 化野念仏寺
Adashino-cho, Toriimoto, Saga, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto City

The Chinese characters of the name mean "Buddha Field 仏野 ". The temple is located overlooking Kyoto from the North-West, in a place of an old burrial ground, where in olden times it was a custom to leave the bodies here to decay 風葬. Kobo Daishi erected a temple here, and Saint Honen re-named it as "Amida Prayer Temple" Nenbutsu-Ji. See LINKS below.

People build many stone markers for the dead and soon started some funral and memorial services to pacify the souls, especially for graves with no families to look after them any more. Now there are more than 8000 stone markers.

There is also a region for the graves of small children, Sai no Kawara.




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- Homepage of the temple
source : www.nenbutsuji.jp

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quote
© Idler, cheap to travel

Late one afternoon I make my away to Adashino Nembutsu-ji, the famous temple and cemetery on the outskirts of Kyoto. Along the way I ponder just what draws me to these places beyond mere historical and architectural interest. Is it the sheer novelty of Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, or is there some underlying principle that I find appealing?

The key, I think, is rooted in mono no aware, a sensibility that is uniquely Japanese. Without going into a prolonged discourse, the simplest definition would be a keen appreciation of the vulnerability of life and the transitory nature of all things, yet at the same time a pleasurable sadness that arises from cherishing brief moments of beauty. The cherry blossom is perhaps the most common symbol of mono no aware—budding, blooming, and falling softly to the ground in only a few days—evanescent beauty in a world in which all things continuously change and disappear.

The concept of the transience of the world is central to Buddhism, particularly Zen Buddhism, with its appreciation of beauty as a fleeting state and its longing for the infinite and eternal. The very brevity and fragility of life makes it all the more touching. Those who possess a sense of mono no aware are sensitive not only to ephemeral beauty but to the suffering of all living things.

“If we lived forever,
if the dews of Adashino never vanished,
if the crematory smoke on Toribeyama never faded,
men would hardly feel the pity of things."

Yoshida Kenko (author and Buddhist monk, 1283-1350)
Yoshida Kenko 吉田兼好 Yoshida Kenkoo

This is the essence of mono no aware.

The “Adashino” that Kenko referred to was the same Adashino Nembutsu-ji which was the object of my pilgrimage. Accounts of the creation of this temple and its cemetery vary, though most credit the founder of the Shingon sect of Buddhism, Kooboo Daishi Kuukai Dashi (774-835), with establishing it to create a proper burial ground for the unclaimed deceased of Kyoto.

All the grave markers in the area were gathered, some 8,000 crude stone Buddhas and gorinto (stone pagodas), and assembled in a large courtyard outside the temple, arranged in rows around a central stupa.

The effect of the thousands of amassed weathered stones, arrayed as if listening to a sermon, is striking, even more so each August when a ceremony called Sentō Kuyō or “The Service of A Thousand Lights” is held. During this ceremony, thousands of people gather at nightfall and light votive candles before the stone Buddhas, lighting a path home for the anonymous dead spirits.

In the 12th century, Honen Shonin, the founder of Pure Land Buddhism, established a training center at the temple, “Nembutsu” referring to the Pure Land Buddhist devotional recitation. Much of the appeal of the Pure Land sect was its accessibility to commoners, as Buddhism was initially the religion of the ruling classes. At first it was not widely spread among common folk due to both its complexity and strictures on exactly who could worship and how. Pure Land Buddhism played a key role in the democratization of Buddhism, allowing those on the periphery of society to participate. Honen expressed the essence of Pure Land teaching, quite radical at the time, when he wrote:

“There shall be no distinction, no regard to male or female, good or bad, exalted or lowly; none shall fail to be in his Land of Purity after having called, with complete faith, on Amida [Buddha].”

This world of dew
Is only a world of dew
And yet ... oh yet ...

Issa

Read the rest of the story HERE !
by Kay Douglas (Idler)

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There is another Nenbutsu-Ji in Kyoto,
Nishimura Kocho and the Otagi Nenbutsu-Ji
Gabi Greve


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU



あだしのに蝶は罪なく見ゆる也
Adashino ni choo wa tsumi naku miyuru nari

in Adashi Field
the butterflies seem
sinless

Issa

Or: "a butterfly seems..."
Shinji Ogawa notes that Issa is punning in this haiku. Adashino means "Adashi Field" and "guilty field." The butterflies seem sinless, despite being in "Sinful Field."

Tr. David Lanoue

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Two tsuke-ku, capped verse


in Adashi Field
the butterflies seem
sinless


so many little
piles of stones

Linda Papanicolaou, November 2007

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in Adashi Field
the butterflies seem
sinless


the lightness of these
tiny piles of stones

Norman Darlington, November 2007

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Related words

Adashiono was later relocated to this area
Toribeno Cemetery in Kyoto 鳥辺野


***** Light offerings afloat (tooroo nagashi, sentoo kuyoo) and more

***** Kobo Daishi, Kukai 弘法大師　空海

***** Saint Hoonen, Hoonen Shoonin, Honen 法然上人

***** Nenbutsu, Namu Amida Butsu, the Amida Prayer

***** Gorinto, stone grave markers


***** Saijiki of Japanese Ceremonies and Festivals

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Kasamori Inari

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Kasamori Inari Fox Shrines

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

Kasamori Inari Fox Shrine, 笠森稲荷

Kasamori Inari Fox Shrine カサモリ稲荷

Kasamori Inari Dai Myojin 瘡守いなり 大明神

Kasagami, God of the Smallpox Scabs 瘡神（かさがみ）

瘡守薬王菩薩 Kasamori Yaku-O Bosatsu. PHOTO .


Kasa mori, most probably meaning

to protect (mori 守り) the scab (kasa 瘡（かさ) on a wound or smallpox.



This Inari fox deity was popular during the Edo period when smallpox where dangerous. If not treated properly, they would leave deep skars in faces of people.
This Deity is also worshipped to protect and cure from other skin diseases, ulcers and also to help cure syphillis.

The scab of a wound was represented as an earthen dumpling (tsuchi dango), offered to the Fox Deity Inari. When the wound healed properly, the dumpling was covered with white rice powder (looking like the white powder used for doll making, gofun) as an act of thanking the Deity.

Fox gods like to eat dumplings of white rice, but this was not affordable as a common offering, so people out-tricked the tricky fox god and made mud and earth dumplings for him. Since the Fox god was waiting for the real ones after he performed his miraculous treatment, he would usually carry out the wish of the worshipper. Now when the patient was healed, the Fox god was offered mud dumplings with a thin coat of rice powder.

Since smallpox were very much feared during the Edo period, there were many shrines to this deity to pray for protection and healing.
The daily offering to this deity is also a set of two mud dumplings (土の団子).

The famous beauty of the Edo period, Kasamori O-Sen (1751～1827） 笠森お仙, also worshipped at a famous Kasamori Shrine in Edo for the protection of the beauty of her skin; there are many woodblock printings about her, especially by Harunobu Suzuki.
Osen, the "teahouse girl at Kasamori Inari Shrine".

Kasamori no O-Sen：English Reference

. Kanban musume 看板娘 Kamban "advertising servant" .



CLICK to look at many prints!


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手鞠歌 Children's song about the dumplings

向う横丁のお稲荷さんへ、
一文あげてざっと拝んでお仙の茶屋へ、
腰を掛けたら渋茶を出して、
渋茶よくよく横目で見たら、
米の団子か土の団子かお団子団子

Let's to go the Fox Shrine over there.
Let's visit the teahouse of O-Sen.
Let's sit down and have some bitter tea!
Sip the tee and peek at her and then
dumplings from rice, dumplings from mud,
dumplings, dumplings, dumplings !


O-Sen bringing dumplings


by Suzuki Harunobu

© Kubota: Kasamori Osen
Japanese LINK with many photos !


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CLICK for photos of the Shrine !

カサモリ稲荷

その笠森お仙の「笠森」とは、もちろん笠森稲荷から来ているのであるが、いろいろな字があてられているので、とりあえずここでは「カサモリ稲荷」としておこう。カサモリのカサとは本来「瘡（かさ）」の意で、モリは「守り」である。疱瘡や腫れ物・性病治しの神としてそれは信心されており、カサを表した土団子を神前に奉納し、平癒の後は白い米粉の団子をそこに供えて礼参りをするという祈願が、そこでおこなわれていた。この団子の奉納習俗のことは、先に掲げた童謡の歌詞の中にも歌われている。
©　www.kashiwashobo.co.jp


There were many shrines of this name in many places of Japan, since the smallpox were a difficult disease to cure.
When the great shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu fell ill with a swelling on his head, he prayed to the Kasamori Inari Shrine in Edo to get well.


Yamanashi Kasamori Inari Jinja
月見里笠森稲荷神社（やまなしかさもりいなりじんじゃ）

The reading of YAMANASHI is special here.





Kasamori Inari Shrine in Morioka, Hachimangu Shrine compound

Kasa no Mori Inari Shrine in Osaka, Takatsuki （かさのもりいなり）
Especially helpful for syphillis patients (baidoku 瘡（かさ＝梅毒のこと）. 瘡毒平癒の神.

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Kasamori Kannon, 笠森観音
Chiba Prefecture



Kasamori Temple was founded in 784, and is known as the 31st holy temple among the 33 holy grounds of Bando. This important cultural asset, supported by 61 pillars of various lengths and dedicated to Kannon (Goddess of Mercy), is a rare sight even in Japan.
The temple is also known for housing a haiku monument composed by the famous haiku poet Matsuo Basho.
©　www.ccb.or.jp Chiba

External LINK
Pilgrimage to Bando Fudasho : Kasamori, Chonan




五月雨にこの笠森をさしもぐさ
samidare ni kono Kasamori o sashi mogusa

during the rainy season
here at Temple Kasamori
I get some moxabustion

Matsuo Basho at Temple Kasamori-ji 笠森寺


Moxibustion (moxabustion) and Haiku

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Worldwide use

A Tale from Taiwan

" Hot and delicious dumplings! Red beans and sesame.
One for ten cents, two for twenty cents and three for free!"

Mountain Ban Pin Shan



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Things found on the way

DARUMA

Daruma, Smallpox and the color Red, the Double Life of a Patriarch
by Bernard Faure

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. Ichiron san no kubi ningyoo いちろんさんの首人形
head dolls from Ichiron san .

in memory of Minamoto no Tametomo 源為朝 (1139 - 1177), sold at Kasamori Inari


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Shining Mud Balls, hikaru doro dango 光る泥だんご

English Reference, Bruce Gardner
Japanese Reference

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HAIKU

Disease-preventing fox god ... by Issa

霜がれや胡粉の剥し土団子
shimogare ya gofun no hagashi tsuchi dango

frost-killed grass--
whitewash peeling off
the mud dumpling



nakamura sakuo comment :

1819 the most sad year of Issa.
His daughter was affected by smallpox.
As the general custom, he prayed to the fox god, offering the mud dumpling.
If the sickness would be recovered, the mud would be painted whitewash.
But she died.

sakuo renku

剥がれて吾が子　あの世へ旅立つ
hagarete wagako anoyo he tabidatu

peeling off
she has gone to the other world

　©　Look at more haiga by Nakamura Sakuo HERE !

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tsuchi dango kyô mo kogarashi kogarashi zo

mud-dumplings--
today too,
winter wind!


u no hana ya kodomo no tsukuru tsuchi dango

deutzia in bloom
children make
mud-dumplings

Issa
Tr. David Lanoue


Seen in light of the smallpox background, the children are not just playing around, it seems! Maybe they are making offerings to pray for their siblings.


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Related words

***** Fox (kitsune) Japan

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Winter Ascetic Practises

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Winter Ascetic Practises (kangyoo)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Late Winter
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Purification rituals of all kinds are common in Japan, from a simple shrine visit to a severe austere standing naked in prayer unter a cold waterfall or throwing buckets of water over your naked body in the temple ground.

Some of these acitivities occur as the last part of a winter ascetic retreat. Some are counted as "Spring asceticism" according to the Asian lunar calendar, some are part of a "Naked Festival" (hadaka matsuri).




Ascetic practises in the cold
winter ascetic pracitse, kangyoo 寒行（かんぎょう）
kan gori, kangoori 寒垢離 (かんごり) pooring cold water over yourself


kan segyoo 寒施行 (かんせぎょう) giving alms in the cold season
no segyoo 野施行（のせぎょう）placing food for the animals in the fields
ana segyoo 穴施行（あなせぎょう）placing alms food at the holes for animals
kitsune segyoo 狐施行（きつねせぎょう）placing alms food at the fox hole
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
Usually some red beans and fried tofu (abura age) were placed out for the animals.

kayu segyoo 粥施行（かゆせぎょう） offering gruel to the poor



Shrine or Temple visit in the cold,
kan mairi 寒参 (かんまいり)
kan moode 寒詣（かんもうで）



"naked visit", hadaka mairi 裸参（はだかまいり）
Click thumbnail for more !



praising Amida in the cold,
kan nenbutsu 寒念仏 (かんねぶつ)
Amida Prayer (Namu Amida Butsu)



The Demon saying his prayers in the cold
Oni no Kan Nenbutsu, a famous painting from Otsu.


Even on a tokkuri sake bottle 一升徳利




and on a hyotan 瓢箪 gourd



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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way



Waterfall Ascetism (taki shugyoo)


Naked Festivals (hadaka matsuri)


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HAIKU

寒垢離や首のあたりの水の月
kangori ya kubi no atari no mizu no tsuki

midwinter bathing--
his head, the moon
in the water

Issa
Tr. David Lanoue




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寒垢離や赤褌の男振り
kangori ya akafundoshi no otokoburi

ascetics in the cold !
the figure of a strong man
in his red loincloth
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

伊藤雄　Ito Takeshi
http://www.nhk.or.jp/haiku/html/haiku18-2-18.htm

. . . . . The Loincloth and Haiku


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闇を行く寒行僧の白づくめ
yami o yuku kangyoo zoo no shirozukume

only the white
of winter ascetic monks
walking in the dark

Tsukakoshi Shuukin 塚越秋琴
Tr. Gabi Greve




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Related words

***** The Loincloth (fundoshi) and Haiku

***** Naked Festivals (hadaka matsuri)

***** ***** Eihei-Ji Temple 永平寺 and Cold Zen


***** Saijiki of Japanese Ceremonies and Festivals
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Rooka, Saint Roka

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Memorial Day for Saint Roka

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Early Winter
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

Memorial Day for Saint Roka,
Rooka Ki 浪化忌 (ろうかき)

November 17. (1672 - 1703)

寛文11年12月17日（1672年1月16日） － 元禄16年10月9日（1703年11月17日）

He was born in Kyoto. His boyhood name was "Shoo Maru" 正丸.
His haiku names are 自遣堂・応々山人・休々山人.

He was a monk of the Pure Land Sect and also a famous haiku poet. His father Takunyo 琢如（たくにょ) had been priest at the famous temple Higashi Honganji in Kyoto.



Zuisen-Ji village

He lived at the temple Zuisenji 越中国井波瑞泉寺, where he became abbot in 1677 at the tender age of 7. He often travelled to Kyoto to meet his father and his brother, both haiku students of Kitamura Kigin.
Later he became a haiku student of Mukai Kyorai, one of the 10 important disciples of Basho.

In 1694 he met Matsuo Basho for the first time at the Haiku Group in Saga/Kyoto, Rakushi sha 落柿舎（らくししゃ）and became his disciple.

He was very fond of Basho and built a memorial for him after the death of Basho. He received a bit of the hair of Basho as mememto and later build his recluse, "Black Hair Hermitage" Kurokami An 黒髪庵.


"Black Hair Hermitage"


His Haiku Publications
『Ariso umi 有磯海』『Tonami yama となみ山』




Japanese Reference


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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

Haiku by Roka himself

下積の　蜜柑ちひさし　年の暮
shitazumi no mikan chihisashi toshi no kure

the lower layer
of mandarins is rather small ...
end of the year

Haiku about Trees



いなづまの濡れて走るや砂の上
inazuma no nurete hashiru suna no ue

getting wet
and running from the thunderstorm
on the sand

Haiku about Sand
Tr. Gabi Greve


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More Haiku by Roka

「のら猫の声もつきなや寒の内」
「初春のおちつくかたや梅柳」
「待春や机に揃ふ書の小口」
「朝立つや鳥見かへれば雲にいる」
「一本をくるりくるりと花見かな」
「霊前に新茶そゆるや一つまみ」
「首立て鵜のむれのぼる早瀬哉」
「釣りそめて蚊屋のにほひや二三日」
「秋深し昼も馴れたる小夜着哉」
「賑やかに菊は咲きけり初しぐれ」
「柊の花のこぼれや四十雀」
「久々で野に出る馬や大根引」


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Related words

***** Kitamura Kigin 北村季吟


***** Memorial Days of Famous People
....... A WORLDWIDE SAIJIKI

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Pilgrimage to Kyoto

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Pilgrimage to Kyoto (Kyoo mairi 京参り )

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Non-seasonal Topic
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

The Pilgrimage to Kyoto with its many shrines, temples and the Emperor's palace was among the three famous pilgrimages during the Edo period, 庶民の三大行事.

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The other two were


Ise Shrine Pilgrimage, O-Ise-Mairi, Ise Mairi 伊勢参り
kigo for spring

Ise sanguu 伊勢参宮（いせさんぐう）

O-kage mairi お陰参り　（おかげまいり）
"Thanks pilgrimages" or "blessing pilgrimages," a term referring to periodic mass pilgrimages to the Grand Shrines of Ise (Ise Jingū) in the Edo period, undertaken against the backdrop of the spread of the Ise cult (Ise shinkō) from the middle ages and the general acceptance of pilgrimages by commoners to the shrines at Ise.

This kind of mass pilgrimage phenomenon is believed to have been observed some fifteen times through the early modern period, including the years 1638, 1650, 1661, 1701, 1705, 1718, 1723, 1730, 1748, 1755, 1771, 1803, 1830, 1855, and 1867. Of these, the four in 1650, 1705, 1771, and 1830 have traditionally been considered of the largest scale, with over two-million pilgrims participating in 1771.
Another characteristic of these pilgrimages is the consciousness that they were to occur every fifty to sixty years, in rough conjunction with the sexegenary cycle.

The term okagemairi is said to have become commonly used from around the time of the 1771 event, and while the expression nukemairi ("slipping away pilgrimage," one taken without permission) is also used, the two terms were normally discriminated based on their different motifs. In 1867, the pilgrimage tended to be more local in nature, and it tended on the whole to have the characteristics of a mass movement during a period of social revolution, in which "world-renewal dances" gained popularity in conjunction with the concurrent fad of the so-called eejanaika movement (an antinomian folk movement with millenarian overtones).

In sum, each occasion of the okagemairi tended to feature its own unique motifs. The significance of the term okage is not clear, but it appears to have referred either to the "blessings of the Grand Shrines," or to the fact that the pilgrimage was possible due to the "blessings of others," (namely, money and other alms given to pilgrims along the way).
©　Sakurai Haruo / Kokugakuin


nuke mairi 抜参（ぬけまいり）
leaving secretly and beg your way to Ise, often done by eloping couples to pray for their wedding

saka mukae 坂迎え（さかむかえ）
Ise Shrine Group, isekoo 伊勢講（いせこう）
daidai koo 太々講（だいだいこう）pilgrims group for Ise shrine
..... Isekoo いせこう【伊勢講】
Daidai kagura was performed at Ise shrine.


. Ise Shrine and its KIGO
Ise Grand Shrine (伊勢神宮, Ise Jingu)



. O-Kage Mairi Dolls .

　Woodblock Prints about Ise Mairi
External LINK

. Isemairi, Ise Mairi 伊勢参り Pilgrimage to Ise - Legends .


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Konpira Shrine Pilgrimage, Konpira Mairi 琴平参り
Konpira Shrine and Daruma

Palanquins of Konpira Shrine and Haiku



MAIRI 参り　 is usually a pilgrimage to a famous Shinto shrine.
Since free travel of commoners was not allowed during the Edo period, a pilgrimage was usually a good excuse to get away.



Kyoto 京都 and Haiku


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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


RESOURCE GUIDE TO
JAPANESE PILGRIMS & PILGRIMAGES
Mark Schumacher


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HAIKU

短夜を橋で揃ふや京参り
mijika yo wo hashi de sorou ya kyoo mairi

in the short night
crossing bridges en masse...
Kyoto pilgrimage



おとし厄馬につけたりいせ参り
otoshi yaku uma ni tsuketari ise mairi

the devil driven
from a horse...
Ise Shrine pilgrimage

Issa is referring to the great Shinto shrine at Ise. As part of a winter exorcism ritual, a priest is driving away evil spirits--from a horse.

Issa
Tr. David Lanoue


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Related words

***** Pilgrimage (henro, junrei) Pilgrims in Shikoku,
Japan and worldwide

. Pilgrimages in Japan - Introduction .

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[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]

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Nakayama Gishu

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Nakayama Gishu

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Early Autumn
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Gishu Memorial Day, Gishuu Ki 義秀忌 (ぎしゅうき)
August 19.


Nakayama Gishuu, 中山義秀（なかやまぎしゅう)

Takama Yoshihide 議秀（よしひで）was his real name.

1900年10月5日-1969年8月19日.



Born in Fukushima prefecture. He graduated from Waseda University Department of English Literature.
He worked as an English teacher at junior high school.

Novelist and Poet.
Akutagawa Literary Award winning writer.
After the war, he began to write historical novels about samurai life.

He became ill with cancer, but still found energy to write about Basho and haiku:
Bsshoo-An Toosei 芭蕉庵桃青.

On the day before his death he was baptised a Christian.

After his death, a literature prize was established in his name.

Nakayama Gishuu Bunka Gakushoo
中山義秀文学賞（なかやまぎしゅうぶんがくしょう）

© More in the WIKIPEDIA !


His grave is at the temple EngakujiTemple (円覚寺), Shoreiin (松嶺院) in Kita-Kamakura.


More English LINKS

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Nakayama Memorial Hall in Shirakawa, Fukushima






Postcard from a walk to the Memorial Stone at Narita San Park
成田山公園

人老ゆれば　自然に風物寛寛恕たり


©　真間山弘法寺


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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU



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Related words

***** Introducing Japanese Haiku Poets　


***** Memorial Days of Famous People
....... A WORLDWIDE SAIJIKI


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Temple Ishiyamadera

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Temple Ishiyamadera - "Stone Mountain Temple"

***** Location: Shiga, Japan
***** Season: See below.
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation


Autumn at Ishiyama -
by Hasegawa Sadanobu 長谷川貞信 (1809-1879)


The fireflies of Ishiyamadera , Ishiyama botaru
石山蛍（いしやまぼたる）are a
kigo for mid-summer


Ao-oni hotaru matsuri 青鬼蛍祭
Green Demon and Fireflies Festival
Ao-oni matsuri 青鬼祭り festival of the green demon
observance kigo for mid-summer

Second weekend in July.
This festival originated after WWII, in the "Hotarudani" 蛍谷 of the temple compound, in memory of the famous priest of the Heian period, Roochoo ritsushi 朗澄律師.

A demon figure, five meter tall and made of green cedar branches, is displayed at the main gate of temple Ishiyamadera.
This represents the figure of Roochoo, who had promised to protect the Buddhist law from the disturbances of the Green Demon.



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Ishiyama-dera 石山寺
Ishiyamatera, Ishiyama-Tera

Literally "Temple at Rocky Mountain"


©　Quoted from : /vallance22.tripod.com


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quote
"Stony Mountain Temple" is a Shingon temple in Ōtsu in Japan's Shiga Prefecture. This temple is the thirteenth of the Kansai Kannon Pilgrimage.
It was constructed around 762 CE, and is said to have been founded by Rōben.
The temple contains a number of cultural assets. According to literature available at the temple complex, the guardian carvings at Sanmon/Todaimon are by Tankei and Unkei. Allegedly, Murasaki Shikibu began writing The Tale of Genji at Ishiyama-dera during a full moon night in August 1004. In commemoration, the temple maintains a Genji room featuring a life-size figure of Lady Murasaki and displays a statue in her honor.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !


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Quote
Set on the side of a mountain overlooking Lake Biwa, Ishiyama-dera temple was a popular pilgrimage in Murasaki's day. It was founded in 749 and is headquarters of one of the Shingon Buddhist sects.

The temple is mentioned in the Ukifune chapter of The Tale of Genji and is the 13th temple of the Saigoku Kannon pilgrimage.

Murasaki is said to have begun writing The Tale of Genji at Ishiyamadera Temple on the night of the full moon, August 1004. To commemorate this event, the temple maintains a Genji Room with a life-size figure of the author at work.



The temple's tahoto (treasure tower) was built by Minamoto Yoritomo in the Kamakura period, and is the oldest of its type in Japan.

Ishiyama-dera is particularly beautiful during the cherry-blossom season. The temple's buildings and gardens are spread out over the mountain side.

Look at most beautiful photos here :
©　www.taleofgenji.org





"Fire Lamp Window" and Ishiyamadera
火灯窓 Katomado

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The famous rocks, which give the name to this "Stone Mountain Temple", are made from Wollastonite, keikaiseki 硅灰石.

ISHI might be translated as stone, rock.






More LINKS about this temple.


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Fudo Myo-O and Ishiyamadera


不動明王坐像


不動明王二童子像

source : takashikun.blogspot.jp


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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way

haribukku, haribuku, haributsuku 貼仏供（はりぶっく））
Buddhist offerings pasted on a frame


source :　www.ishiyamadera.or.jp

These specially prepared dry sugar sweets (higashi 干菓子) in the form of chrysanthemums, peonies, plum blossoms and other seasonal flowers and auspicious animals like cranes, , which change each spring and autumn.
The special shop which prepares them since the Edo period uses wooden molds more than 200 years old.
The colors are mostly pink, white, yellow, green and blue.


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HAIKU

Matsuo Basho wrote this famous haiku when he visited the temple in the winter of 1690 and got caught in a hailstorm

石山の石に　たばしる　あられかな
Ishiyama no ishi ni tabashiru arare kana
霰 arare

scattering on the stones
of Mount Ishiyama -
these hailstones
Tr. Gabi Greve

Here is a memorial stone of this haiku and the real view of these stones:




©　歌碑・句碑 / kahitokuhi

...

A local sweet was later created with some types of sweet beans, using the name "Tabashiru" :



©　石山寺[和菓子と甘味処] 茶丈藤村 sajo-towson

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Two translation versions by Norman Darlington

hail showers down
on the rocks
of Rocky Mountain


showering down —
hailstones on the stones
of Ishiyama

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Other translations, compiled by Larry Bole:


The hailstones
Glance off the rocks
Of the Stony Mountain
Tr. Blyth



Hailstones
glancing off the rocks
at Stony Pass.
Tr. Robert Hass

Hass comments:
"Hailstones: Hard things hitting hard things in a hard place.
Mountain passes were mysterious places in old Japanese culture, inhabited by boundary gods and placatory shrines, sometimes with the carved figure of a man and a woman coupling."



flying down
on the stones of Stone Mountain:
hail storm
Tr. David Barnhill

Barnhill's literal translation of "tabashiru" is: "shower-down."



Visiting temples with
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .

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Ishiyama, literally, means "Stone Mountain".
MORE ABOUT
Translating Place names

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Here is another poem of Basho using "stone mountain",
this time from another area of Japan.


石山の石より白し秋の風
ishiyama no ishi yori shiroshi aki no kaze

autumn wind
whiter than the white cliffs
of this stony mountain
Tr. Gabi Greve


Matsuo Basho at Temple Natadera 那谷寺, Northern Japan
Read a discussion of this haiku !


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Related words

***** The Tale of Genji, Genji Monogatari ... and haiku

***** Sweets from Japan (wagashi)


***** Saijiki of Japanese Ceremonies and Festivals

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