And here is your daily almanac for Friday the ninth of July 2023.

Today in 880, the poet Arihara no Narihira (在原 業平) died. Considered one of the Six Poetic Geniuses, one of his poems was featured in the famous Hyakunin Isshu, and eighty-seven others were featured in other imperial anthologies.

^{Narihira watching the birds on the Sumida River by Hiroshige}

Besides poetry, Narihira is renowned for his many love affairs. It is said he had an affair with the high priestess of Ise Grand Shrine, as well as famed poetess Ono no Komachi, and with the emperor's consort, Fujiwara no Takaiko, an act that caused a big scandal and got him in so much trouble that he fled east for a time. The Tales of Ise, a collection of poems and stories which he inspired, suggests that he fathered Emperor Yōzai. To this day, he still appears in media as the the model handsome, amorous nobleman.

He died on this day in 880 at the age of 54/55, and his death poem reflects his shock at his sudden end.

つひにゆく道とはかねて聞きしかど昨日今日とは思はざりしを
tsui ni yuku michi to wa kanete kikishikado
kinō kyō to wa omouwazarishi wo

Scholar Donald Keene translated that as:

Long ago I heard
That this is the road we must all
Travel in the end,
But I never thought it might
Be yesterday or today.

Old Japanese is hard enough, but Narihira was known for being very difficult to understand. Some scholars suggest that the last two lines should instead be "Until yesterday, I never thought that it might be today."

I might write render it as something like:

although I had
heard of the road
we all must travel in the end—
Never did I think
it would be my turn

I might have some more to say about this poem. If so, I'll do another post on it for Blockchain Poets.

^{Looking for the ghost of Ono no Komachi by Yoshitoshi}

Today is tomobiki (友引), one of the rokuyō, the Buddhist horoscope. Boy this is not a good day for our historic anniversary. On this day, it is said that your friends may be drawn towards things for good or ill. Funerals are to be avoided on this day for fear that people who attend it will be drawn into death with the deceased.

(Read more about the rokuyō here)

On the old calendar, today would have been the twenty-second day of the fifth month. It is Warm Wind Blows (温風至), the first microseason of Shōsho (小暑). This is the time when rainy season usually starts to end and the real heat of summer starts. Did I say real heat? This is just the beginning! The next miniseason, Taisho (大暑) sees the weather getting even hotter .

Here's a haiku from Katsumi Ozawa:

業平の歌よりはじむ夏期講座
narihira no uta yori hajimu kaki kōza

summer classes
begin with a poem
by Narihira

I think all of us remember our high school years and that feeling of dread as we learn we are studying some old archaic poem in English class. It's likely that many students in Japan can relate to this feeling.

Have a good day, everyone! 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.