Kyorai Mukai no 7

March 2013

SPECIAL COMMEMORATIVE KEY-NOTE PUBLIC LECTURE

AT WORLD HAIKU FESTIVAL 2010 IN NAGASAKI

BY

SUSUMU TAKIGUCHI

CHAIRMAN, THE WORLD HAIKU CLUB

Kyorai Mukai (1651－1704):

PART SEVEN

Thus apparently haikai was an unlikely pursuit for Kyorai. There must therefore be some good reason why in the event he began to be interested in it. The key to this question lies in Kikaku. It goes like this: When Kikaku visited Kyoto he was introduced to Kyorai through a mutual friend. Kikaku in turn introduced Kyorai to Basho later. The mutual friend in question is said to be Bunsoku Wada who originally came from Kyoto but at that time was living in Edo as a haikai master. Kikaku was only in his 20s but being precocious had managed to make himself established as a “seasoned” haijin, having the haiku career of over ten years. He was in many ways opposite to Kyorai. He had a penchant for date (coxcombry), was a bit of a doraku-mono (libertine), foppish and extravagant. However, he had a serious side also. For instance, he published a diary composed of memorial haiku entitled “Hana-Tsumi” (picking flowers) after the death of his beloved mother. Nevertheless, on the whole he was living a life of debauchery. One of his haiku goes:

since fifteen

I’ve been drinking…

this day’s moon

Kikaku set out on a journey for Kyoto and Osaka area in the summer of Jokyo 1 (1684). The famous haikai feat by Saikaku Ihara was performed on the 5 June and Kikaku was asked to play the role of Koken (official assistant) for him. The venue was Sumiyoshi Shrine in Settsu. Here, Saikaku is said to have performed a Doku-gin (solo renku) in which he created 23,500 stanzas within a single day and night. There is a poem by Kikaku which recalls this occasion.

When Saikaku did the Yakazu-Haikai in Sumiyoshi, he asked

me to be his assistant:

he gallops away

20,000 stanzas, while this fly

gasps for air

What the poem means is that while Saikaku Ihara was churning out one poem after another at an incredible speed comparable to that of the legendary thoroughbred that was said to be able to gallop one thousand ri (about 2,440 miles) a day, Kikaku was assisting the Master like a fly. At that time Saikaku was 43 years old, well-established and influential whereas Kikaku was 24 and only a young upstart. Despite his youth and relative inexperience Kikaku was given this very responsible job as an official assistance of the big man. Also, in spite of the significant age difference in feudal Japan the two were good friends. This was partly because Saikaku recognised Kikaku’s unusual capability and was magnanimous towards him but it was largely because Kikaku was such an outstanding talent. Kikaku’s haikai had a reputation of being “flamboyant”, “novel and magnificent” or “foppish” just like himself as a person. His works are at any rate full of evidence of his talent. The following are some examples:

越後屋に衣さく音や更衣

echigo-ya ni kinu saku oto ya koromo-gae

season of changing clothes –

the sound of fabrics being torn

at Echigo-ya

名月や畳の上に松の影

meigetsu ya tatami no ue ni matsu no kage

harvest moon –

the shadows of pine trees

on the tatami mats

この木戸や鎖（じやう）のさゝれて冬の月

kono kido ya jo no sasarete fuyu no tsuki

winter moon –

this wooden gate now

being locked

鐘ひとつ売れぬ日はなし江戸の春

kane hitotsu urenu hi wa nashi edo no haru

each and every

bell is sold out –

spring in Edo

鶯の身を逆（さかさま）に初音かな

uguisu no mi wo sakasama ni hatsune kana

hanging upside down,

the bush warbler sends me

his first song

草の戸に我は蓼くふほたる哉

kusa no to ni ware wa tade kuu hotaru kana

living in a hut,

I am but a firefly feeding

on smartweeds

稲妻やきのふは東けふは西

inazuma ya kino wa higashi kyo wa nishi

lightning –

flashing in the east yesterday

and today in the west

It is almost certain that Kikaku met Kyorai for the first time when the former was visiting Kyoto. As has already been mentioned, Kikaku was travelling in Keihan area at that time. The person who introduced the two to each other is said to have been the aforementioned haijin, Bunsoku. It is not hard to imagine that the encounter was dramatic, if not a predetermined fate which would be a little over-exaggerated. To prove it, one would not be able to have better words than those of Basho’s. Basho wrote:

If we just look back on the time when Kikaku was travelling in the Capital (Kyoto) he became very close to Kyorai Mukai and the two had occasions to drink together or have tea together. They talked and talked, all things sweet or sour, bitter or mild with the water of hearts shallow or deep, knowing the tastes of a hundred rivers by a single scoop of the water.

This quote is derived from an epilogue written by Basho for a Kyorai’s haikai travelogue entitled “Ise Kiko” (A Journey to Ise) . Kyorai made a trip to Ise Shrine with his sister, Chine, in the autumn of Jokyo 3 (1686) and this travelogue was written about it. It is my surmise that Basho was told of the relationship between Kyorai and Kikaku by both of them. Kikaku must have told his side of the story in the way which would amuse Basho. Basho liked Kyorai and trusted him. For him Kikaku was also a favourite disciple. When later there was an incident whereby Kyorai attacked Kikaku, Basho defended Kikaku. Whatever else may have happened to these two, one thing is certain: when they met for the first time they got on well like a house on fire according to the epilogue of “Ise Kiko”.

(To be continued)