Sunday Afternoon: a ryōgin renga composed on a winter walk in Asuka

Posted by Tito on February 2, 2024

Following on from their Wind & Rain typhoon venture back in August, last Sunday (January 28, 2024), Jeanne (French) and Tito (British) met up for another ramble in the ancient capital of Asuka (Nara prefecture) to continue their renga collaboration. This was to be a linked verse made of actuality poems scribbled on the go (ginko-no-renga) rather than dreamt up in a room. As if to remind them of last summer, rain began to fall as they left for their walk. One heavy shower was followed by intermittent drizzle… with a hint of spring in it. Hopefully, you will find a discernible link between successive verses as the imagery changes along the walk. If you know either of the poets, I wonder if you can guess who wrote which? Hard!

It’s often said that ‘renga is more for the amusement of the protagonists and less for that of readers’, but ginko-no-renga, being anchored in nature, might hopefully sometimes prove an exception to this generalization? Your ideas on this topic can be left beneath in the reply box.

…. Sunday afternoon –
…. raindrops break the silence
…. of the village playground

Through ancient basins ¹
stone begins to speak

…. Availing themselves
…. of a providential bench,
…. two Europeans

Along the drab street
a bright blue Art Deco door

…. It comes complete
…. with an abseiling spider –
…. the scarlet nandin picked ²

Day colder, as the crows
scavenge a bare field

…. Left from harvest
…. wet straw ricks –
…. their dishevelled silhouettes

Lone lapwing beats its way ³
towards the tea-time rooves

…. Down by the river
…. a small shrine where few will pray –
…. cars roaring by

Grand stone guardian:⁴
a mouth, one eye, no nose

…. The dipper dipped …
…. and now it flies upstream,
…. a sombre dart

A temple bell, to mountains
shaped by clouds

…. Someone must have pruned
…. its plum and wintersweet –
…. a flowering bluff ⁵

Derelict plot becomes a new cafe;
tanuki, chased away ⁶

Notes:
¹those of Oka no Sakafune-ishi, a mysterious carved rock sited on an artificial hill near the Asuka Palace site.
²Nandina domestica, whose red berries brighten up Japanese gardens in midwinter.
³the grey-headed lapwing, Vanellus cinereus.
⁴Miroku-ishi, a menhir, in which there are some indistinct marks purported to be a Buddha’s face.
⁵on the edge of the ruined site of Kawaradera Temple.
⁶raccoon dog that used to live in the bamboo grove at the old house formerly known as ‘Okamoto-tei’.

Wind & Rain: a ryōgin renga composed on a typhoon walk in Asuka

Posted by Tito on August 16, 2023

15 August, 2023, during お盆 Obon, the Festival of the Dead. Typhoon Lan (No. 7) is ploughing straight through Kansai from the south.

Awake to a poetic opportunity, two Hailstone poets living in Nara prefecture, Jeanne (French) and Tito (British), decide to take a walk together in Asuka, the sixth-to-seventh century capital of Japan, but now a village. Out in the elements for three hours, they encounter not a single other soul, seeing just a couple of distant cars. One poet’s umbrella breaks in a frantic gust atop Miyakozuka Tumulus*. Another, reaching for a flower, gets electrocuted by a live wire fence! Elsewhere, a snake is sighted in a tree above the poets’ heads!

Later, suitably soaked and battered, but feeling full of joy, at a table in Tito’s house they compile a 両吟 ryōgin (two poet) renga from some of the verses that they have scribbled down in rain-blotched notebooks. Each stanza holds an implicit link with its predecessor. Six of the verses are Jeanne’s; seven are Tito’s. It doesn’t matter which.

…… Wind and rain –
…… a sparrow hops around
…… in the tomato plant

…………………….. A heavy downpour
…………………….. has brightened the kaki* leaves

…… This L of typhoon water –
…… a board in the channel*
…… diverts it on its way

…………………….. Line attached to tiled gable:
…………………….. the empty veranda

…… Noon, announced with music* –
…… the snail on the boulder
…… starts to move

…………………….. Raindrops on the paddy …
…………………….. leaving quiet rings

…… The nearest ridge line –
…… bamboos wave
…… playing with the wind

…………………….. To and from a sake jar
…………………….. one small crab*!

…… Opening the lattice door …
…… a red Jizo team
…… and their lantern-flower ball*

…………………….. Thoroughly soaked
…………………….. the harebells’ heads are bowed

…… Its lid ajar,
…… a great stone coffin –
…… the gale blows outside

…………………….. The leaping frog now guides us
…………………….. along the water-covered path

…… She stands in rubber boots:
…… both green and golden cherry leaves*
…… at her feet

.
*Notes:
Miyakozuka Kofun – said to be the tomb of Soga Iname (506-570).
kaki – persimmon.
channel – Asuka has an ancient network of suirō, or irrigation channels.
music – through loudspeakers located around the village, a brief snatch of a traditional tune is broadcast daily at midday.
crab – Japanese freshwater crab, sawagani, is reddish and appears on country paths and roads on rainy days.
lantern-flower – hōzuki, a late summer flower resembling a small orange paper lantern; as the stone statues of Jizō (a bodhisattva protecting dead children) were all wearing red bibs, they looked somewhat like a football team inside a little wooden shrine; the flower, placed before them as an offering at Obon time.
green and golden cherry leaves – the cherry tree is the first to show a few yellow autumn tints; regardless, the storm has blown down leaves of both colours.

Matsuzawa Pond Ginko-no-renga

Posted by Gerald on May 20, 2019

click on the picture to read the renga

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Matsuzawaike Ginko-no-renga was organized, and hosted by Teruko Yamamoto in Ibaraki, Osaka. 14 people attended, including two from distant Shikoku. The stroll took place on 3/31, a day of mixed weather, and featured a walk along the bank of the Pond, stops at local shrines, and a visit to Tadao Ando’s famous Church of the Light 光の教会 .

Gerald Staggers (Duro; sabaki), Mizuho Shibuya (shuhitsu)

Beneath Northern Hills

Posted by david mccullough on November 21, 2018

Beneath northern hills
a green, shining lake
dappled with fallen leaves
………………………….. David

Speckles of fungus,
dead tree still standing
………………………….. Branko

Stalked by a grey heron —
the floating isle
of Midorogaike
………………………….. Richard

Sleepy, at this water’s edge,
where wild boars roam
………………………….. Hitomi

By the roadside,
alone with his ghost,
a taxi driver dozing
………………………….. Ursula

Goddess of the pond,
her silent face
………………………….. Tomiko

Feels like
a reed pipe
playing in the distance
………………………….. Teruko

A lunatic scream
pierces the air
………………………….. Branko

Uprooted trees
shelter their young —
echoes of the Ice Age
………………………….. Akira

Feeding the marsh,
a handful of sprinkled acorns
………………………….. Hitomi

Green brooch
on a red sports-car:
the praying mantis
………………………….. Mayumi

The mood of these trees
in all their colours
………………………….. Gerald

Poets wandering
beside the lake —
cold hunter’s moon
………………………….. Ayako

At last, one bubble
makes it to the surface
………………………….. Tito

.
Editor’s footnote: this ginko-no-renga was composed after a memorable composition stroll around Midorogaike (Midoro Pond) in Kitayama, Kyoto on 4 Nov. 2018. It was compiled by David McCullough with assistance from host, Branko Manojlovic. Most but not all of the 13 participants got a verse in. We hope to do another by a pond in Osaka next spring!

Oyamazaki Ginko-no-renga

Posted by Hisashi Miyazaki on July 2, 2017

May 20, 2017 (please see the preceding post, “Spring at the Edge”)

A clear sky …
sprouting green leaves
breathe with us (Akito)

The sound of ice
being dropped into a glass (Tito)

Beside the hot train tracks
the old man mutters
“Don’t hog the shade!’ (Richard)

Three rivers join and flow –
Hideyoshi’s proud pagoda (Eiko)

Only the red roof left,
the museum returning
to nature’s green (Hiroko)

Birdsong carried
by stream ripples (Akira)

At Takara Temple
recalling Soseki –
an early summer breeze (Teruko)

Distilled on Mt. Tenno
“Angel’s Share” (Kyoko)

The girl counts out
twelve visitor cards at reception –
cool interior (Hisashi)

Reflections
in the western window (Kayo)

A black swallowtail
visits the Siberian irises –
afternoon heat (Eiko)

Until the liquid turns amber
long way to go (Noriko)

Enma and his fierce men:
heaped before them
fruits, jellies, just desserts (Eiko)

Slippery on this steep slope
pilgrims’ straw sandals (Noriko)

A mayfly lands
on my handlebars –
the luminous day (Tito)

Ed. by Hisashi Miyazaki and Richard Donovan

Spring at the Edge

Posted by Tito on June 4, 2017

Hailstone Haiku Circle once did a series of events on the theme ‘Four Corners of Kyoto’. That was in 2004. It just so happens that this spring we have been out on the edge of Kyoto again a couple of times: April 16 in Ohara (NE corner), participating in a poetry-reading party (sharing some of our favourite spring poetry) hosted by David McCullough … and then, on May 20 in Oyamazaki (SW corner), with a ginko-no-renga event hosted by Hisashi Miyazaki and Akito Mori. Both were blessed with wonderful weather. I thought someone should leave a short account here so that absentees can get an idea of what happened. Both were full of creativity and fun.

Ohara – the cherries were still in full bloom along the river flowing past David’s rural home. We ate and drank outside. Notable attendees included John & Peggy McAteer (over in Japan from Oregon) and Yuko Yuasa (for the first time in many years). David kicked off the reading session inside with the opening passage “When that Aprille with his shoures soote…” from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, followed by his two young twins, Kenji and Minori, each reading a classical tanka. Here’s one of them in David’s translation:

面影に花の姿をさき立てて幾重越え来ぬ峰の白雲（俊成）
Led on and on
by the image of blossoms,
I have crossed peak beyond peak
to find nothing
but white clouds ……………… (Fujiwara no Shunzei)

This was followed by Tito reading some famous cherry-blossom haiku and then, teaming up with Ursula and Tomo, singing the vernal Veris Leta Facies from Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. Duro Jaiye then read an impressive poem translated from the Korean and John McAteer recited to great effect – yes, you’ve guessed it! – Yeats. And so on, via many other voices, through a myriad shades of spring! At least 14 Hailstones read. We hear that the last guest to leave, well after dark, was Gerald (Duro) in his pink-of-pinks shirt. Many thanks to David and Atsumi for including us in the ranks of other friends and family members. A memorable day.

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Oyamazaki – the new green leaves (shinryoku) were almost blinding against the deep blue sky. A ginko (composition stroll) was enjoyed in the morning, followed by the compilation of some of the 3- and 2-line verses we had just written into a renga (linked verse) in a room in the Oyamazaki Furusato Centre in the afternoon. Twelve poets came. Notable attendees included Noriko Kan from Matsuyama, Kayo Fukuda from Gunma and her Scottish friend, Graham, just off the plane! Perhaps in Graham’s honour, we briefly visited the Suntory Whisky Distillery. Also, the beautiful garden of the Asahi Oyamazaki Sansō, written about by Natsume Sōseki and replete with kakitsubata (rabbit-ear) iris flowering beside a stream.

有難き姿拝がまんかきつばた (芭蕉)
To that honourable figure
I shall make a bow –
the purple iris flower ……………… (Bashō)

Bashō was referring to Yamazaki Sōkan, an early haiku poet who lived in Oyamazaki and whose haiku monument we also visited. Along with Moritake, he was one of the two pioneers of the haikai-no-renga tradition, on which haiku itself is founded. Later, we were permitted to step into the earthen-floored entrance hall of Myōki-an, a haunt of another of Basho’s heroes, the tea-master Rikyū, part of which is said to have been constructed on the site of Sōkan’s hut. We had not made a prior reservation and so, instead of entering the tea-house, strolled around the nearby Rikyū Hachiman Shrine.

手をついて歌申しあぐる蛙かな (宗鑑)
Hands flat on the ground in front,
reverentially he recites his poem –
the frog! ……………… (Sōkan)

At Takaradera (also known as Hōshakuji Temple) earlier, some of us had paid our respects to Enma-Daiō (the King of Hell) and his truly intimidating Court, a marvellous set of wooden sculptures sitting in its own ‘courthouse’ high on Mt. Tennō. Far below, we had glimpsed the confluence of the three rivers, Katsura, Uji and Kizu, which flow on as the Yodo, on whose banks Buson was born. Lunch was taken in a Chinese restaurant nearby. Hisashi Miyazaki and Richard Donovan then took on the respective roles of sabaki (chief compiler) and shūhitsu (associate ed./scribe) as we began our creative work at the Furusato Centre. It is hoped to share the resultant renga later. For now, then, here is the hokku/wakiku:

A clear sky …
sprouting green leaves
breathe with us ……………… (Akito)

The sound of ice
being dropped into a glass ……………… (Tito)

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“Fire & Water” ginko-no-renga

Posted by Tito on August 22, 2015

dedicated to the memory of Ken Jones (1930 – 2.8.2015)

As its last event of the summer, Hailstone Haiku Circle held a ginko-no-rengakai (‘stroll and scroll event’) at Arashiyama on Daimonji Night, 16.8.15. Sixteen attended. On this, the last day of the O-bon season, multiple bonfires are lit on the hills around Kyoto as a way of seeing off the spirits of the dead who are thought to have been invisible guests in the homes of relatives these past few days. The first fire to be lit, and the largest, is shaped like the Chinese character for ‘big’ and dominates the eastern side of town; the last, overlooking Kyoto’s western side, is shaped like the ‘torii’ or sacred gateway leading to the Fire God’s shrine atop Mt. Atago, which is ‘the mountain’ alluded to in the hokku (first verse) here. The ageku (final verse) thus links back to the hokku. We climbed the steps up to Hōrinji Temple to get a better view of the bonfires. Rain is mentioned once, and once only, as it turned out to be but a heavy shower.

Ken Jones gave a reading to Hailstone 12 years ago in Osaka and news of his passing had just reached us. On the night he was in the sabaki’s mind. This linked verse is what we managed to get down. Each verse has become a picture in a kaleidoscopic narrative poem.

….. Thunderhead looms
….. behind the mountain —
….. the same silhouette

(Tito) ….. ….. ….. …..

….. ….. Over the river, dusk
….. ….. with dragonflies

(Peter) ….. ….. ….. …..

….. Where three rocks jut
….. from the green water
….. no ripples to be seen

(Masako) ….. ….. ….. …..

….. ….. People crowd the bridge
….. ….. egrets cooling down

(Eiko) ….. ….. ….. …..

….. Greater China
….. takes over the street —
….. the flash of credit cards

(Peter) ….. ….. ….. …..

….. ….. Only special guests admitted
….. ….. to the viewing platform

(Tito) ….. ….. ….. …..

….. Sound of geta
….. on stone steps –
….. yukata beauty

(Tomoko) ….. ….. ….. …..

….. ….. In spite of sweet repellent
….. ….. one mosquito drinks

(Takeshi) ….. ….. ….. …..

….. Cooler air —
….. cicada chorus
….. at summer’s end

(Mika) ….. ….. ….. …..

….. ….. Treading on occasional
….. ….. yellowed cherry leaves

(Tito) ….. ….. ….. …..

….. The rain begins
….. before the lighting of bonfires —
….. etching lines

(Peter/Micah) ….. ….. ….. …..

….. ….. Light captured on the water’s surface
….. ….. tears

(Hideyuki) ….. ….. ….. …..

….. A misty blaze starts up
….. on the distant hill —
….. Ken, now rest in peace

(Tito) ….. ….. ….. …..

….. ….. Reflection of lanterns —
….. ….. broken by a passing boat

(Kazue) ….. ….. ….. …..

….. Seeing off the souls
….. a soft wind blows —
….. still alive!

(Hiroko) ….. ….. ….. …..

….. ….. Gentle glow of the Torii
….. ….. to dim city lights

(Masako) ….. ….. ….. …..

[Participants: Stephen Gill (Tito, sabaki, rt. below), Peter MacIntosh (shuhitsu, lt. below), Masako Fujie, Eiko Mori, Tomoko Uemura, Takeshi Saito, Mika Nakamura, Micah Gampel, Hideyuki Jitsumasa, Kazue Gill, Hiroko Nakakubo, J.P. Thomas (Hakama), Aya Hotta, Vera Ishiyama, Yushi Yanohara, Manoha. Photos: Micah Gampel.] Arashiyama renga Micah 0a

ECHOES

Posted by Tito on March 18, 2011

We had a renga meet scheduled for the 12th, and went ahead with it in spite of the calamity that had befallen the country 400 miles to the northeast less than 24 hours before. We walked and wrote of what we saw in Kyoto, but this seemed to merge with what we already carried in our heads of the horror and grief. We had planned to begin the renga with a verse by Buson about the lengthening day and a pheasant fluttering down onto a bridge. In view of the awful situation, the sabaki used another one. Someone has just written – in an email asking after our group (who are all, we think, safe) – that ‘poetry is prayer’. You may remember, in Basho’s ‘Road to the Deep North’, that his companion Sora wrote at Matsushima (on the coast near Sendai) 鶴に身を借れ ‘borrow the wings of a crane!’ If only everyone on that coast could have done so.

Such as it is, then, with some trepidation, we here share the linked-verse we created, hoping that we might have captured in it somewhere a glimmer of beauty or truth.

The day grows longer –
echoes are heard
in a corner of Kyoto….. (Buson)

Between two gardens
abandoned tiles

Calm corridor –
one step, one prayer
white plum blooming beyond

Struck dumb
by the presence of stones

Again and again
from far across the still pond
one black wave

The silent hills look on
bathed in watery sun

An old lady working
in the woodland field
gives a glance to passers-by

Cold front
shivering dog

Which is the house
their friends lived in?
the couple disputes

Swinging from a branch
a bagworm’s cloak of sticks

Water drips
from a bamboo pipe –
an unknown tune

Two days of rain
two days of melancholy

A polished floor
inside the shuttered room
reflecting nothing

Painted on paper doors
cranes still frolic

The reddish haze
of thousands of buds
against the dim sky

Wayside Buddha
bidden farewell

Our little world –
from it, we search for meaning
in the spring stars

sabaki: Tito with Keiko
hosts: Itsuyo/Yoko
renjuin: Michael Lambe, Keiko Yurugi, John Dougill, Tito, Kazue Gill, Masako Fujie, Anne Vadgama, Yae Kitajima, Itsuyo Higashinaka, Mari Kawaguchi, Akito Mori

venue: Iwakura, including Jisso-in Temple, Kyoto, 12.3.11, the day after the Great Tohoku Quake

Ohara Ginko-no-renga

Posted by Gerald on October 29, 2010

Hailstones and friends met in Ohara, Kyoto on Sunday June 6, 2010 for a ginko (nature walk), which concluded with a renga (linked-verse composition) session. Ohara is a rural town located in the northern part of Kyoto. It is surrounded by forested mountains. Those who participated in this event contributing verses to the renga were John Dougill, Tito, Mayumi Kawaharada, Akira Kibi, Shigeko Kibi, Ursula Maierl, John McAteer, David McCullough, Hisashi Miyazaki, and Gerald Staggers.

The Ginko-no-renga was organized and hosted by David, who guided us part way up and around one of the forested mountains where we passed a number of small rustic shops, as well as Sanzen-in Temple, before heading out into a stretch of ricefields in the valley. After the walk, lunch was provided by David and his family at his home. The renga session, which featured a 3-2-3 sequence, took place in David’s backyard by the river, and was later edited via e-mail.

Ohara Renga

Warm blue sky
the ricefield flooded
& ready for seedlings

Chattering friends pass by
a frog’s eyes hidden in silence

At the end of a street
three figures of Jizo
in this breeze

Shall we allow
the Takano River to talk?

Farmer’s market
a row of knife sharpeners
swish the whetstones

Billows of afternoon smoke…
fresh-grilled sweetfish

Two mandarin ducks
leave for the sky;
reflections

A well-tanned old lady
selling ice-cream

After exchanging bows
he slows down his tractor
to pull over

Tall poppy rising
above the hill line

Into green shade
the lingering taste
of sugared citron peels

Reaching past the dry stone wall
ーa striped kite’s feather

Summer moon
a broken scoop net
in the paddy water

sabaki: Gerald with Hisashi

The Ginkgo Tree

Posted by Tito on December 7, 2009

Blessed with halcyon autumn weather, eleven of us assembled in Okayama for the weekend of Nov. 7 and 8. Haiku composition (ginko) began in the gardens of Korakuen, continuing in the older Kibiji district at Kibitsu Jinja, a short train ride and a walk away.

The renga was edited by Nobuyuki and Sean, and just the opening sequence is given below. In all, there are 18 stanzas. Publication is currently being sought in a British journal.

Three of us were invited by our hosts, Sean and Junko, to stay overnight in the village of Yuzuri. The renga compilation continued there (as well as later in an email exchange between the two editors). Our thanks to them both for their efforts, and to Junko, too, for convivial hospitality.