Do kids still fly kites in your country? They did in Issa's day. He mentioned the practice here:
凧抱たなりですやすや寝たりけり 一茶
tako daita nari de suya suya netari keri
holding his kite
soundly and peacefully
sleeping
—Issa
(trans. David LaSpina[1])
Kite is a spring kigo (season word), so this is considered a spring haiku, but flying kites is traditional a New Years activity in Japan and so that is the time that might be first thought of when we hear the word.
It's right there in the second verse of the New Year's song (Oshōgatsu)
お正月には凧あげて
Oshōgatsu ni wa, tako agete
On New Year's Day, we will fly kites
On the traditional calendar, Japan celebrated the lunar New Year and that was usually near the first day of spring, so you can see the connection.
(The system that tracked the seasons was a solar system whereas the calendar was a lunar system. As you might imagine, these two systems didn't sync up exactly. For example, this year the traditional first day of spring occurred about a week before the lunar new year.)
As sweet a scene as this haiku paints, it is actually bittersweet. Issa's children all died young, too young to have enjoyed flying a kite. He wrote this haiku in 1816, after they were all gone. He may have been sitting there one day close to New Years and thinking of them, wishing he had had a chance to watch them enjoy this traditional activity.
I can really relate to this haiku. When my boys were smaller they were always falling asleep clutching their toys close. Well, they still do that. When they were smaller it was usually toy cars or action figures; these days it is usually their Switch.
Some things never change, eh?
❦
| 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. |
That is, me! If you like this translation, feel free to use it. Just credit me. Also link here if you can. ↩