For today's Japanese haiku, I thought we would look at an autumn poem from Buson, one of the 4 great haiku masters of Japan.

The field owner
goes to check his scarecrow
then returns
—Buson

畠主の案山子見舞小て戻りけり
(hatakenushi kagashi ni oute modorikeri)

In the Edo period, this word for scarecrow was pronounced kagashi, and meant something that smells horrible; this is because farmers of the time would hang up rotten fish, hides from animals, wild boars, etc, and let them rot. Sometimes they hang up dead crows or even small wild boars to let them rot. Yuck!

(Woodblock print by an unknown Meiji-era artist)

Don't miss the other great haiku in the Haiku of Japan series!

#1 - Traveling to the inn
#2 - Childless Woman
#3 - Old Dancing Butterfly
#4 - Seeing the Moon

David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org.