Today’s Haiku (November 20, 2019)

ベランダのなきアパートや冬林檎　　後閑達雄

beranda no naki apaato ya fuyuringo

            the apartment

            without a terrace—

            winter apples

                                                Tatsuo Gokan

from ‘Haiku,’ a monthly haiku magazine, March 2017 Issue, Kabushiki Kaisha Kadokawa, Tokyo

Today’s Haiku (November 19, 2019)

昏（く）れて無し冬木の影も吾が影も　　　三橋鷹女

kurete nashi fuyuki no kage mo aga kage mo

            dusk…

            winter trees without their shadows

            and me without mine

                                                Takajo Mitsuhashi

from “Nihon Dai-Saijiki” (“Japanese Comprehensive Saijiki”), edited by Shuoshi Mizuhara, Shuson Kato, and Kenkichi Yamamoto, published by Kodansha, Tokyo, Japan, 1981

Fay’s Note:  Takajo Mitsuhashi (1899-1972)

Today’s Haiku (November 18, 2019)

蜜柑の香染みたる指を洗はずに　　　山口誓子

mikan no ka shimitaru yubi o arawazuni

the fingers

with tangerine smell

not being washed

                                                Seishi Yamaguchi

from “Nihon Dai-Saijiki” (“Japanese Comprehensive Saijiki”), edited by Shuoshi Mizuhara, Shuson Kato, and Kenkichi Yamamoto, published by Kodansha, Tokyo, Japan, 1981

Fay’s Note:   Seishi Yamaguchi (1901-1994)

Today’s Haiku (November 17, 2019)

女あり父は魚津の鰤の漁夫　　　高野素十

onna ari chichi wa uozu no buri no gyofu

            this woman…

            her father is a yellowtail fisherman

            in Uozu

                                                Suju Takano

from “Nihon Dai-Saijiki” (“Japanese Comprehensive Saijiki”), edited by Shuoshi Mizuhara, Shuson Kato, and Kenkichi Yamamoto, published by Kodansha, Tokyo, Japan, 1981

Fay’s Note:  Suju Takano (1893-1976)   Uozu is a fish port town in Toyama, Japan.

 

Today’s Haiku (November 16, 2019)

魚河岸の床はずぶ濡れ冬に入る　　　しなだしん

uogashi no yuka wa zubunure fuyu ni iru

            the floor at the fish market

            completely wet…

            we enter the winter

                                                            Shin Shinada

from ‘Hayabusa no Mune’(‘Falcon’s Chest’) haiku collection by Shin Shinada, Fusansu-Do, Tokyo 2011

Today’s Haiku (November 15, 2019)

梯子（はしご）より人の匂ひや神無月　　　桂　信子

hashigo yori hito no nioi ya kannazuki

            human smell

            from the ladder—

            a month without gods

                                                            Nobuko Katsura

from “Nihon Dai-Saijiki” (“Japanese Comprehensive Saijiki”), edited by Shuoshi Mizuhara, Shuson Kato, and Kenkichi Yamamoto, published by Kodansha, Tokyo, Japan, 1981

Fay’s Note:   Nobuko Katsura (1914-2004)

It was believed all the gods and deities in Japan gathered in Izumo Shrine in November; thus people (except the ones in Izumo) called the month ‘a month without gods.’

Today’s Haiku (November 14, 2019)

秋の雪弥勒菩薩へ行く途中　　　坪内稔典

aki no yuki mirokubosatsu e iku tochû

            autumn snow

            on my way

            to Maitreya-bodhisattva

                                                            Nenten Tsubouch

from “Haiku Dai-Saijiki” (“Comprehensive Haiku Saijiki”), Kadokawa Shoten, Tokyo, 2006