じゃんけんで負けて蛍に生まれたの
janken de makete hotaru ni umareta no
having lost
at paper-rock-scissors
born as a firefly
—By Sumiko Ikeda
(Tr. David LaSpina)
(Fireflies at Night, by Tsukioka Kogyo)
In some Buddhist traditions they tell us that we can choose the life we would like to be reborn into—within limits of course—based on our karma. Ikeda is having a bit of fun with this idea, suggesting that picking the next life is instead dependent the results of playing paper-rock-scissors.
In Japan paper-rock-scissors is called janken, and it is played much more often than in the West. Whereas it is mainly a kids game for us that we grow out of and never return to unless a child challenges us, in Japan they continue to play it for pretty much any decision making process all their lives. I have even witnessed high ranking Japanese businessmen playing janken to decide who takes a contract. In this way, it is used somewhat in the same way we might use drawing straws.
Sumiko Ikeda is perhaps the most famous female haiku poet today. She started her career writing traditional haiku, but in her 40s she started studying with Mitsuhashi Toshio, famous for writing haiku with no season words and in other non-traditional ways. As a result of that apprenticeship, her haiku also took on many non-traditional elements, such as using humor and irony to look at ordinary daily things. She also freely uses kogo, colloquial modern Japanese, which is a big no-no in traditional haiku, and writes about love and female sexuality, which are even bigger no-nos.
This is her most famous haiku.
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| Don't miss other great haiku in the Haiku of Japan series! |
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Recent Haiku
- 81 — Winter Game
- 82 — Hated Crow
- 83 — Passing Through
- 84 — Dried Salmon
- 85 — Little Demon Hunters
- 86 — Still Alive
- 87 — After Demon Purification
- 88 — Burning House
- 89 — Cold Night
- 90 — Midnight Noises
- 91 — Still Laughing
Collections
- Collection 1 :: Haiku 1–10
- Collection 2 :: Haiku 11–20
- Collection 3 :: Haiku 21-30
- Collection 4 :: Haiku 31-40
- Collection 5 :: Haiku 41-50
- Collection 6 :: Haiku 51-60
- Collection 7 :: Haiku 61–70
- Collection 8 :: Haiku 71–80
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I post one photo everyday, as well as a haiku and as time allows, videos, more Japanese history, and so on. Let me know if there is anything about Japan you would like to know more about or would like to see.
| Who is David? | |
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 | David LaSpina is an American photographer lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time. |