Hyakunin Isshu, Poem 11
Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
(version September 2022)
that I have rowed out
over the broad sea plain,
towards the innumerable isles,
please tell that to my beloved,
you fishing boats of the sea-folk
wata no hara
yaso-shima kakete
kogi-idenu to
hito ni wa tsugeyo
ama no tsuribune
わたの原
八十島かけて
こぎ出ぬと
人には告げよ
あまのつり舟
Ono no Takamura 小野篁 (802-853)
A poem about the sadness, loneliness and worries of an exile. "That I have rowed out with the innumerable islands on the wide sea as my target, please, fishing boats, tell that the one left behind in the capital!"
[Cliffs in the Oki Islands]
Notes
-
Yasoshima (lit. "eighty isles," in the sense of "innumerable islands") stands for the Oki Islands., an archipelago of about 180 islands 50 to 90 kilometers north of the Shimane Peninsula. The two main islands are Dozen and Dogo. From an early time the islands were used as a place of exile for political prisoners, of whom the most famous ones were the emperors Go-Toba (who died there) and Go-Daigo, a few centuries after Ono no Takamura. There are therefore many historical remains. The isles are now part of the Daisen-Oki National Park. The inhabitants live mainly from fishing and cattle raising. Lafcadio Hearn visited the islands in 1892, spending a month there, and wrote about his experiences in Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan.
- The "person" (hito ni wa) to whom the message of the poet about his having left in exile has to be given, has been a matter of speculation. Some believe this to have been the poet's aged mother, taking the poem in the Confucian sense of filial piety, but more popular is the idea that it refers to a woman at court with whom Takamura had an affair (it is then also thought that that affair was in fact the main reason for his exile - just as Prince Genji in The Tale of Genji had to go into exile to Suma because of his affair with Oborozukiyo).
- Note that the "fishing boats of the sea-folk" (ama no tsuribune) have been personified in what can only be an ironic fashion, for these fishermen will - in contrast to the poet - soon return to their safe harbor.
The Poet
The courtier and scholar Ono no Takamura (802-853) was in the first place famous for his poetry in Chinese (of which however very little has been preserved). Because of his knowledge of Chinese, he was asked by the government to join the 837 embassy to Tang China, but as he refused (such trips were dangerous and like Abe no Nakamaro of Poem 7, many never returned) he was exiled to the lonely Oki Islands off the coast of present-day Shimane Pref. - at least, that is the official explanation for his exile. Two years later he was allowed to return to Heiankyo and he eventually reached the court position of imperial adviser (sangi). Twelve of his Japanese poems are extant, among which six have been anthologized in the Kokinshu. Takamura was known for his love of archery and horsemanship and became the subject of a number of odd legends compiled in several later setsuwa works such as the Ujishui Monogatari and the Takamura Monogatari.
[The Oki Islands are known for bull fights, not between man and animal,
but much fairer, between bull and bull]
but much fairer, between bull and bull]
Visiting
(1) The Oki Islands. A cluster of remote islands in the Sea of Japan belonging to Shimane Prefecture designated as a location of exile during the reign of Emperor Shomu in 724. Noble exiles, among them two emperors, aristocrats and government officials were sent there to undergo their sentences. Oki was not only selected for this role due to its remoteness, but also because the islands were wealthy enough that exiled nobles could live there without suffering hardship (this had to do with the belief in vengeful ghosts, that the spirits of powerful individuals could come back to seek revenge for having been treated badly - so royal exiles especially were to have satisfactory living conditions). Famous individuals exiled to the Oki Islands include the Cloistered Emperor Go-Toba in 1221 (Nakanoshima Island - see poem 99) and the Cloistered Emperor Go-Daigo in 1332 (Dogo Island).There are regular ferry services to the Oki Islands from Sakaiminato in Shimane prefecture, and also smaller ferries between the islands. See the Tourism Guide to the islands. The islands are not only rich in historical relics, but also in unspoiled nature - several years ago, my wife and I spent a wonderful time there.
(3) Chinnoji Temple in Kyoto, which was founded in the mid-9th c., is known for the Rokudo Mairi (Six Realms Pilgrimage) ritual held from August 7 to 10. The small temple is famous for the mukaegane, the temple bell to welcome departed souls home at Obon. In the grounds is also a well through which Ono no Takamura is said to have climbed down every night to hell, in order to help King Yama (Enma) in his judgements of the departed. Unfortunately, the area of the well in the temple's backyard is not usually open to the public (except on special days when also the temple treasures are shown), but you can see it from a window on the right hand side of the main hall. That hall also has a statue of Ono no Takamura, fittingly sitting next to King Yama.
[The well connected to hell in Chinnoji]
(3) The tomb of Ono no Takamura. Located in a tiny plot just south of the crossing of Kitaoji and Horikawa Street in Kyoto, set among modern buildings (an office of Shimadzu Seisakusho). Ono no Takamura's tomb stands here together with that of Murasaki Shikibu. Note that these "graves" are in fact memorials - there are no bodies or ashes buried here. The small space is well kept and always open to visitors.
References: Pictures of the Heart, The Hyakunin Isshu in Word and Image by Joshua S. Mostow (University of Hawai'i Press, 1996); Traditional Japanese Poetry, An Anthology, by Steven D. Carter (Stanford University Press, 1991); Hyakunin Isshu by Inoue Muneo, etc. (Shinchosha, 1990); Genshoku Hyakunin Isshu by Suzuki Hideo, etc. (Buneido, 1997); Ogura Hyakunin Isshu at Japanese Text Initiative (University of Virginia Library Etext Center); Hyakunin Isshu wo aruku by Shimaoka Shin (Kofusha Shuppan); Basho's Haiku (2 vols) by Toshiharu Oseko (Maruzen, 1990); The Ise Stories by Joshua S. Mostow and Royall Tyler (University of Hawai'i Press, 2010); Kokin Wakashu, The First Imperial Anthology of Japanese Poetry by Helen Craig McCullough (Stanford University Press, 1985); Kokinshu, A Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern by Laurel Rasplica Rodd and Mary Catherine Henkenius (University of Tokyo Press, 1984); Kokin Wakashu (Shogakkan, 1994); Shinkokin Wakashu (Shogakkan, 1995); Taketori Monogatari-Ise Monogatari-Yamato Monogatari-Heichu Monogatari (Shogakkan, 1994).
Photos of seascape and bull fight my own work. Other photos/illustrations via Wikipedia.