Today in Japan ~ 27 May
Let's get the misc out of the way.
- Today is senshō (先勝), which if you read my post on the rokuyō means good luck in the morning but bad luck in the afternoon; if you have anything important to do today, make it in the morning!
- It is also full moon today. Might want to pack a silver bullet in case of any werewolf attacks.
- It is the second day of 紅花栄, which is given a different reading in almost every source I check (kouka sakau seems the most common, and is what WikipediaJP uses, but another common one is benibana sakau). According to the almanac, this is when the safflower starts to bloom.
- Finally, on the old calendar (旧暦) today would have been the sixteenth day of the fourth month.
Today in 1986 Dragon Quest was released in Japan for the Famicom (NES). It was so incredibly popular that it set the template for basically all role-playing games that followed. The release of subsequent games in the series led to extremely long lines and so many people skipping work and school that it led to an urban legend that the government forbid any more release dates during the week. The game was so influential that to some this day is casually known as ドラゴンクエストの日, Dragon Quest Day. If you do the math, you'll see this year is actually the 35th anniversary of the first game. So yes, certain segments of Japan are going completely nuts.
If you grew up with it like I did, this may bright back some memories.
Ah...懐かしい。。
Today in 1905 the Battle of Tsushima began, one of the major battles of the Russo-Japanese War. It was the first and last decisive sea battle fought by a modern steel battleship fleet. The destruction of the Russian fleet caused the Russian public to turn against the war which led to a peace treaty. For many years this date was a public holiday, celebrated as kaigun kinenbi (海軍記念日), Navy Day, but celebration of it was abolished in 1945. It is still celebrated, however, by some organizations privately.
Today is also the day that Fujiwara no Tameie (藤原 為家) is said to have died in 1275. Tameie was the second son of Teika, who is one of the most famous names in Japanese poetry. In some accounts, Teika compiled the famous Hyakunin Isshu at Tameie's urging. He retired from public life in 1256 to become a Buddhist monk.
Here is a poem from Tameie:
花の色の紫野なる壷菫草のゆかりに誰か摘むらむ
The flowers’ hue
Is purple at Murasakino:
This violet
Of which I am fond, indeed:
Who is it will pluck you, I wonder?
(Trans. Thomas McAuley)
Murasakino (紫野) was a creation ground in the northern part of Kyoto, the capital at the time.
To veer into the haiku world, on this date in 1670 Bashō was staying at or near Unganji Temple in the town of Kurobane on his final journey which he later recorded in Oku no Hosomich, The Narrow Road to Oku. He had visited here to see the remains of Butcho's hermitage. Butcho was the priest who introduced Bashō to Zen Buddhism years before, the philosophy that would influence him enormously.
In the remains of Butcho's hut, on a post, Bashō wrote:
木啄も庵はやぶらず夏木立
kitsutsuki mo io wa yaburazu natsu kodachi
even woodpeckers
don't harm this hut
in the summer grove
(Trans. Me)
Have a good day today! Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.
❦
 | 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. |