Classical Poetry of Ishikawa

Oku no Hosomichi · Kanazawa

Autumn

あかあかと 日は難面も 秋の風

The sun blazes red, relentless still— yet autumn's wind has come to whisper change

Matsuo Basho Edo period · 1689

Oku no Hosomichi · Tada Shrine, Komatsu City

Autumn

塚も動け 我泣く声は 秋の風

Move, O ancient tomb— my voice crying out becomes the autumn wind itself

Matsuo Basho Edo period · 1689

Oku no Hosomichi · Tada Shrine, Komatsu City

Autumn

むざんやな 甲の下の きりぎりす

How tragic— beneath the warrior's helmet, a cricket sings alone

Matsuo Basho Edo period · 1689

Oku no Hosomichi · Natadera Temple, Komatsu City

Autumn

石山の 石より白し 秋の風

Whiter than the white stones of Ishiyama— this autumn wind

Matsuo Basho Edo period · 1689

Haiku · Mattō (Hakusan City)

Summer

朝顔に つるべとられて もらひ水

A morning glory has claimed my well-bucket— I'll go ask the neighbor for water

Kaga no Chiyo-jo Edo period · ca. 1710

Haiku · Mattō (Hakusan City)

Spring

手をついて 歌申し上ぐる 蛙かな

With hands pressed to the ground in humble bow, the frog offers up its evening song

Kaga no Chiyo-jo Edo period · ca. 1720

Furusato e no Kanjo · Kanazawa

Any

ふるさとは 遠きにありて 思ふもの そして悲しく うたふもの

My hometown is something to long for from far away— and something to sing of, with sadness.

Muroo Saisei Taisho period · 1918

Tanka · Kenroku-en Garden, Kanazawa

Spring

霞立つ 加賀の兼六 春の池 面影うつす 雪の白山

Spring mist rises over Kenroku— In the still pond of Kaga, snow-capped Hakusan dreams its white reflection

Yosano Akiko Meiji–Taisho period · ca. 1910

Tanka · Noto Peninsula

Autumn

加賀の国 能登の浜辺の 夕されば 白波寄する 松の響きよ

On Noto's shore in Kaga land, as evening falls upon the sand, white waves meet pines in ocean's song.

Wakayama Bokusui Taisho period · ca. 1918

Man'yōshū · Suzu City, Noto Peninsula

Autumn

珠洲の海に 朝開きして 漕ぎ来れば 長浜の浦に 月照りにけり

Setting sail from Suzu's shores at dawn, rowing through the morning mist— now moonlight floods Nagahama Bay.

Anonymous Nara period · ca. 750