Masaoka Shiki: 4 works in the original Japanese, with translation
Masaoka Shiki (October 14, 1867 – September 19, 1902), pen name of Masaoka Noboru, was a Japanese poet, author, and literary critic of the Meiji period. He is regarded as a major figure in modern haiku, credited with nearly 20,000 stanzas, wrote on tanka reform, and is often counted among the four great haiku masters alongside Matsuo Bashō, Yosa Buson, and Kobayashi Issa.
Works in the library
- くだものMasaoka Shiki · Intermediate
- 飯待つ間Masaoka Shiki · Intermediate
- 九月十四日の朝Masaoka Shiki · Intermediate
- 病Masaoka Shiki · Intermediate
Cultural notes (selection)
This alludes to a passage in the Yanzi Chunqiu: "The orange tree grown south of the Huai River bears oranges; grown north of it, it bears trifoliate oranges." It originally means that the environment changes the nature of things. The trifoliate orange (枳殻) is the fruit of the zhi tree; it is bitter and inedible. Shiki here takes the phrase literally, discussing the effect of climate on fruit trees.
The noonday gun: in the Meiji period, Japan's major cities fired a cannon at noon to signal the time, called "gohō." In Tokyo the noonday gun was stationed at the former site of Edo Castle and elsewhere, and it was a daily means by which citizens checked the hour.
Takahama Kyoshi (1874–1959) was a leading disciple of Shiki and at the time helped edit the magazine Hototogisu. In Shiki's late years, bedridden with illness, his disciples took turns caring for him. As recounted here, Kyoshi stayed overnight to look after him and took dictation, writing down the text as Shiki dictated it.
In May 1895 (Meiji 28), Shiki returned home via the Liaodong Peninsula as a war correspondent. The Shimonoseki peace treaty had just been signed in April, and transport ships carrying troops, civilian labourers and journalists together made the return voyage—which explains the quarantine and cholera matters mentioned later.