Wikipedia

Kigo

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Introduction

The seasons have always been important to Japanese culture and Japanese poetry. Even the first large anthology of Japanese poetry, the Man'yōshū, had sections devoted to the seasons. By the time of the first imperial Japanese anthology, the Kokinshū, a century and a half later (900 A.D.) the season sections had become a much larger part of the anthology. Both of these anthologies also had sections for other categories, such as love poems, and also for miscellaneous (zō) poems.

When the writing of the linked verses of renga started (in the 13th century), the formal structure of the renga specified that many of the stanzas were supposed to include a reference to a specific season. It is from the opening stanza of a renga, the hokku, that haiku are derived from. The rules for renga said that the hokku should include a reference to the season in which the renga was being written, and it should include a compliment to the host of the renga writing party. This is where the requirement for haiku to include a seasonal reference or kigo comes from.

In haiku, a kigo (季語) is a special seasonal word. That is, a kigo indicates in which season the poem is set and a proper haiku must use a kigo. Those haiku without kigo are called Zou (雑), lit. mix or Muki Haiku (無季俳句), lit. non-seasonal haiku, and in Edo period, these are came to be called senryu.

A kigo collection are published under the title of Saijiki (歳時記).

Kigo were grouped under a season according to the Chinese calendar that had been in use until Meiji period. After the Gregorian calendar was adopted in 1873, some kigo did not point to the right season, especially those used for a New Year. New Year Kigo were grouped under spring and this was a problem as a new New Year was in winter. Since then, Saijiki had a new section for New Year in addition to four seasons.

Common kigo in Japanese haiku

  • cherry blossoms (sakura) and cherry blossom-viewing (hanami) - late spring (April) - for the Japanese, cherry blossoms are such a common topic that in just mentioning blossoms it is assumed to be cherry blossoms. Blossom-viewing is an occasion for partying with friends or coworkers
  • cicada (semi) - late summer (july) - know for their cries
  • colored leaves (momoji) - late autumn (october) - a very common topic for haiku along with related topics such as first colored leaves (hatsu momiji) mid-autumn, shining leaves (zōki momiji) late autumn, leaves turning color (usumomiji) mid-autumn, leaves start to fall (momoko katsu chiru) late autumn, etc. (fallen leaves (ochiba) and dry leaves (kareha) would be a winter topic).
  • crickets (kōrogi) - all autumn (august-october) - noted for the singing of the males
  • frogs (kawazu) all spring (february-april) noted for their loud singing
  • hototogisu (Little Cuckoo - C. poliocephalis) - all summer (may-july) - a bird in the Cuckoo family noted for its song
  • moon (tsuki) - all autumn (august-october), and moon-viewing (tsukimi) mid-autumn (September) - the word "moon" by itself is assumed to be a full moon in autumn. Moon-viewing and leaf-viewing in autumn (and snow-viewing (yukimi) in winter) are a common group activity in Japan.
  • Nashi pear (nashi - 梨) - autumn - the Wikipedia article on Nashi pears briefly talks about using them as kigo. There are many other fruit that are autumn kigo, such as quince (boke no mi), peach (momo), persimmon (kaki), apples (ringo) and grapes (budō). Pear blossoms (nashi no hana) are a late spring (april) kigo.
  • Tanabata (the festival of the weaver maid and the herdsman), Grave-Visiting (haka mairi), and Bon Festival (Festival of the Hungry Ghosts) - all early autumn (august) - autumn festivities. The Bon Festival is associated with small bonfires called okuribi (welcome-fire) and folk dancing (odori), among other things..

Resources

  • Haiku World: An International Poetry Almanac by William J. Higginson, Kodansha International © 1996 ISBN 4-7700-2090-2 (An international haiku saijiki with over 1,000 haiku and senryu from poets in 50 countries covering 680 seasonal topics)
  • The Haiku Seasons: Poetry of the Natural World by William J. Higginson, Kodansha International © 1996 ISBN 4-7700-1629-8 (a companion book to Haiku World discussing the development of haiku, and the importance of the seasons and kigo to haiku)

See also

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