zendera ni matsu no ochiba ya kannazuki
pine needles falling
month of no gods
—Boncho
Nozawa Boncho was one of Basho's leading students, and often performed renku with him. He was also a successful doctor.
I meant to post this last month, but got busy and forgot. It's still an interesting story, so I think you guys will enjoy. In the old Japan calendar, the 10th month (神無月 kannazuki) was known as the month of no gods in most of the country. As the story goes, at this time all the gods in all the shrines all over Japan travel to Izumo Shrine in modern day Shimane Prefecture where they met for their annual god meeting.
So in most of the country the month was kannazuki, the month of no gods. But in that area it was known as kamiarizuki (神在月), the month of gods.
❦
 |
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. |
If this blog post has entertained or helped you, please follow/upvote/reblog. If you want to further support my writing, donations are welcome.
That is, me! If you like this translation, feel free to use it. Just credit me. Also link here if you can. ↩