Wikipedia

Kigo

For other uses, seeKigo (disambiguation).

Akigo(Quý ngữ,'season word')is a word or phrase associated with a particularseason,used in traditional forms ofJapanese poetry.Kigo are used in the collaborative linked-verse formsrengaandrenku,as well as inhaiku,to indicate the season referred to in thestanza.They are valuable in providing economy of expression.

Cherry blossoms (sakura), often simply called blossoms (hana) are a common spring kigo.

History

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Representation of, and reference to, the seasons has long been important inJapanese cultureand poetry. The earliestanthologyof Japanese poetry, the mid-8th centuryMan'yōshū,contained several sections devoted to the seasons. By the time of the first imperial Japanese anthology, theKokinshūa century and a half later (AD 905), the seasonal sections had become a much larger part of the anthology. Both of these anthologies had sections for other categories such as love poems and miscellaneous (zō) poems.[1]

The writing of the linked-verse formrengadates to the middle of theHeian period(roughly AD 1000) and developed through the medieval era. Over time, set rules developed for the writing of renga, and its formal structure specified that about half of thestanzasshould include a reference to a specific season, depending upon their place in the poem. According to these rules, thehokku(the opening stanza of the renga) must include a reference to the season in which the renga was written. Poets as early asIio Sogi(1421-1502) introduced the concept of seasonal references with anthologies of seasonal topics.[2]

A lighter form of renga calledhaikai no renga( "playful" linked verse) was introduced in the 16th century,[3]and became a salon type recreation by the Tokugawa era.[4]Poets soon began to composehokkuindependent of the longer, collaborativerengaand it began to become an independent style.[5][2]In the early twentieth century poets began experimenting with breaking the traditional elements of haiku, such as omitting the kigo entirely. This eventually led to theNew Haikuandfree verse haikumovements, which advocated more modern styles of haiku. Today most Japanese haiku include a kigo, though many haiku written in languages other than Japanese omit it (see for exampleHaiku in English).[6]

Significance

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Season words are evocative of images that are associated with the same time of year. For readers in New England, a poem about frost on a pumpkin evokes other sensations and traditions, like frosty air and apple cider. For Higginson writing inThe Haiku Seasons,season words are a type oflogopoeia--a word used not just for its meaning, but for its associations with other ideas.[7]

Seasons

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The moon is associated with autumn in Japanese poetry.

The association of kigo with a particular season may be obvious, though sometimes it is more subtle. In Japan,Pumpkins(kabocha) are a wintersquashassociated with the autumnharvest.It may be less obvious why themoon(tsuki) is an autumn kigo, since it is visible year round. In autumn the days become shorter and the nights longer, yet they are still warm enough to stay outside, so one is more likely to notice the moon. Often, the night sky will be free of clouds in autumn, with the moon visible. Thefull mooncan help farmers work after the sun goes down to harvest their crops (aharvest moon).[8][9]

Japanese seasons

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Japan is long from north to south, so the seasonal features vary from place to place. The sense of season in kigo is based on the region betweenKyotoandTokyo,because Japanese classical literature developed mainly in this area.[10]In theJapanese calendar,seasons traditionally followed thelunisolar calendarwith thesolsticesandequinoxesat the middle of a season. The traditional Japanese seasons are:

  • Spring: 4 February–5 May
  • Summer: 6 May–7 August
  • Autumn: 8 August–6 November
  • Winter: 7 November–3 February

Within season categories, kigo can denote early, middle, or late parts of a season, which are defined approximately as the first, second, or third month of the season.[11]In linked haiku forms likerenku,subsequent linked haiku must move forward in season temporally. There are other rules governing season words in renku, including the frequency of certain season words, and how many stanzas remain in a season, once mentioned.[12][13]

Saijikiand lists of kigo

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Main article:Saijiki
Main article:List of kigo
Asunflower,a typical summer kigo.

Japanese haiku poets often use a book called asaijiki,which listskigowith example poems. An entry in asaijikiusually includes a description of the kigo itself, together with a list of similar or related words, and some examples of haiku that include that kigo.[14]Thesaijikiare divided into the four seasons (and modernsaijikiusually include a section for seasonless (muki) words). Those sections are divided into a standard set of categories, and then the kigo are sorted within their proper category.Japan Great Saikijiuses the sub-categories of season words, the heavens, earth, humanity, observances, animals, and plants.[15]

Examples of Japanese summer kigo are:[12]

Summer

Outside Japan

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Haiku started as a form of Japanese poetry and is now written in many different languages around the world.William J. Higginson'sHaiku World(1996), which is the first internationalsaijiki,contains more than 1,000 poems, by over 600 poets writing in 25 languages.[16]The writing of haiku around the world has increased with the advent of the internet, where one can even find examples of haiku written inLatin,Esperanto,andKlingon,as well as numerous examples in more common languages.[17]

A largeJacarandatree in full bloom

Different regions internationally have their own lists of kigo. The Southern California Haiku Study group created their own list, which includes regional weather likeJune gloomandsmog,Forest fires,seasonal events like theTournament of Roses Parade,and local flora like theJacaranda.[18]

Kigo and haiku: an example

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In the famous haiku byMatsuo Bashōbelow, "frog"(Oa,kawazu)is akigofor spring. Haiku had been traditionally written about the singing of mating frogs, but Bashō chose to focus on a very different sound.[19]

Cổ trì や
かわずとびこむ
Thủy の âm 		Furuike ya
Kawazu tobikomu
Mizu no oto 		The old pond;
A frog jumps in,—
The sound of the water.[20]

Haiku without kigo

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Haiku without kigo is possible, and are described asMukiVô quý(no-season).[21]Because of the practice of anthologizing haiku in saijiki, haiku that did not mention seasons were not as well-known, and many haiku writers assumed that haiku had to contain a kigo. Poems on non-seasonal topics appeared in the imperial anthologyKokinshū,such as love, travel, and religion. Usually about half the stanzas in a renku do not reference a season. In contemporary haiku composition, Japanese haiku writers disagree about if a haiku requires a kigo, while writers outside of Japan feel free to write haiku without kigo.[22]The Modern Haiku Association of Japan published a collection of kigo in 2004 which included non-seasonal kigo.[21]

See also

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Further reading

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Print

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  • 『 nhập môn tuế thời ký 』 đại dã lâm hỏa giam tu, bài cú văn học quán biên. Giác xuyên thư điếm,ISBN4-04-063000-9.[Title: "Introductory Saijiki", editor: "Ōno Rinka", Publisher:Kadokawa Shoten]
  • Gill, Robin D.(2007).The Fifth Season—Poems to Re-Create the World: In Praise of Olde Haiku: New Year Ku; Books 1 & 2.Paraverse Press.ISBN978-0-9742618-9-8.
  • —— (2005).Kiyose (Seasonword Guide).From Here Press.ISBN978-0-89120-041-3.
(24 pp. A pocket kiyose listing over 700 Japanese kigo in English, ordered by season and category)

Online

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Online lists of season words

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Notes

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  1. ^Higginson 1996b,pp. 31–34.
  2. ^abBlyth, R.H. (1963)."A History of Haiku Volume One".The Haiku Foundation Digital Library.p. 68 of PDF, page 46 of original text.Retrieved13 January2024.Addiss 2012,p. 47Higginson 1996b,pp. 94–95
  3. ^Ueda (1991),p. 428.
  4. ^Higginson 1996b,p. 19.
  5. ^Wilson, William Scott (2022).A Beginner's Guide to Japanese Haiku.Tuttle Publishing. p. 15.ISBN978-4-8053-1687-0.
  6. ^Higginson 1996b,pp. 109–112.
  7. ^Higginson 1996b,pp. 94–95.
  8. ^Higginson 1996b,pp. 108–109.
  9. ^"Kiyose - collection of season words in Japan - Autumn".Shiki Internet Haiku Salon.Archived fromthe originalon 22 July 2011.Retrieved17 July2024.
  10. ^Higginson 1996b,p. 21.
  11. ^Higginson, William J.Kiyose (Seasonword Guide),From Here Press, 2005, p.24
  12. ^abYamamoto, Kenkichi."The Five Hundred Essential Japanese Season Words"(PDF).Renku Home.Retrieved15 July2024.
  13. ^Higginson 1996b,pp. 60–61.
  14. ^Gill (2007),p. 18.
  15. ^Higginson 1996b,pp. 96–97, 100–101, 113–116.
  16. ^Welch, Michael Dylan (Autumn 1997)."HAIKU WORLD: AN INTERNATIONAL POETRY ALMANAC".Woodnotes(31).
  17. ^"jach qa'rol – A collection of Klingon haiku – Klingon Language Institute".Klingon Language Institute.Retrieved17 July2024. "Hajko en Esperanto".www.vastalto.com. Ricius, Alexander."Crateris Chilias".www.pitaka.ch.
  18. ^Dee, Billie."Southern California Season Words".Southern California Haiku Study Group.Retrieved15 July2024.
  19. ^Welch, Michael Dylan (May 2014)."This Perfect Rose: The Lasting Legacy of William J. Higginson".Juxta.1(1).
  20. ^Translation byR.H. BlythinSato, Hiroaki.One Hundred Frogs: from renga to haiku to English.Weatherhill, 1983ISBN0834801760p154
  21. ^abGilbert, Richard; Kaneko, Tohta (Summer 2006)."A New Haiku Era: Non-season kigo in the Gendai Haiku saijiki".The Haiku Foundation Digital Library.
  22. ^Higginson 1996b,pp. 109–111.

References

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(An international haiku saijiki with over 1,000 haiku from poets in 50 countries covering 680 seasonal topics)
(a companion book toHaiku Worlddiscussing the development of haiku, and the importance of the seasons and kigo to haiku)


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