初夢や秘めて語らず一人笑む
hatsuyume ya himete katarazu hitori emu


first dream...
I keep it secret
and smile to myself
—Shōu


(Tr. David LaSpina)

_{("Hawk on a Ceremonial Stand" by Hokusai)}

I mentioned the other day the importance of the first dream of the year in Japan. Shou is wise not to tell anyone his dream, as I think good dreams are often met with disbelief and claims of making it up; better to keep the pleasure (and perhaps the good luck) to ourselves.

So what is a good dream? Well, the most fortunate dream is said to include Mt Fuji, a hawk, and eggplant. Mt Fuji is perhaps obvious. The biggest mountain in Japan and considered divine. A hawk is a smart and strong bird and everyone loves hawks. But... an eggplant? The Japanese word for eggplant is nasu 茄子—another kanji with the same pronunciation is 成す which means achieving something great. Alternatively some have suggested the list is simply because the three things were favorites of Tokugawa Ieyasu^† and everyone wanted to be like him.

What was your first dream of the year? Do you remember?

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Footnotes

†: Ieyasu conquered the country in 1603 and was the first Shogun of the Tokugawa Bakufu which lasted 265 years until 1868.

❦

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

Recent Haiku

• 71 — Born Lucky
• 72 — Late New Year's
• 73 — New Year's Cleaning
• 74 — Dreams of Turtles
• 75 — An Early Spring
• 76 — Fan After Bath
• 77 — High High is the Snow?

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

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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?
	David LaSpina is an American photographer lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time.