【Update 2024-11-06: This is an outdated version of this article. For a more up to date version, please see: https://laspina.org/still-alive-and-accepting-fate/ 】

_{(Imai Bridge by Kasamatsu Shiro)}

I often see this haiku mistranslated to make it seem like Shiki is greeting the wind. He is actually writing about his meeting with his old friend Hyotei, a fellow haiku poet whom he had worked with at the newspaper where he wrote his essays calling for haiku reform. Hyotei had recently returned from China where he had fought in the army, and Shiki is commenting that both are still alive to meet again: neither his illness had killed him yet nor had the China war killed Hyotei^†.

In his notes for this haiku Shiki wrote about the mixed feelings he had when meeting with Hyotei. He was very happy to see Hyotei again, but at the same time he was sad that Hyotei had been given a full life of adventure while his illness had confined him to his bed most of the time. He wasn't angry at the universe for this unfairness, but he was confused by his feelings, and that confusion gave birth to this haiku.

Footnotes:

†: Shiki suffered from tuberculosis most of his life and died of it at only 34 years old.

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. Write him on Twitter or Mastodon.