Today, July 11th, in 1628 Tokugawa Mitsukuni (徳川 光圀) was born, also known as Mito Kōmon (水戸黄門). He was cousin to the shogun, Iemitsu, and was the 2nd daimyo of Mito Domain.
He oversaw a number of interesting events, both good and bad. One of the bad ones was he repressed Buddhism, ordering the destruction of a thousand temples, and he promoted Shinto, ordering every village to build at least one shrine. This action anticipated the much more forceful and violent division of Shinto and Buddhism (shinbutsu bunri) that would take place in 1868.
He claimed to be the first Japanese to eat ramen, interestingly.
The most interesting thing about Mitsukuni, however, was the stories that rose about him. In the late Edo period and Meiji period, fictionalized tales of his travels across Japan became popular. This tradition continued with a book and later a long-running TV series that lasted from 1969 to 2011, running for 1227 episodes, making it the longest running period drama in Japan.
In the show, Mitsukuni, under the name Mitsuemon, roamed Japan with two samurai servants. At the start of every episode he would arrive in town, discover some injustice that had taken place and spend the episode investigating it. The episode would end with a big fight in which he and his samurai retainers won the day, a reveal of his true identity, and a fade to black and he wandered out of town again.
I have only seen bits and pieces of the TV show so I can't comment much on it, but I have seen the 1978 film, which is great fun.
Mito City has a festival every year that features actors playing him in his more roaming hero identity.
Today is taian! If you remember my article on the rokuyo you'll remember that this is the luckiest day! So go out and do something at which good luck will benefit you.
If you're curious, this would have been the twelfth day of the sixth month on the old Japanese calendar. I haven't done my microseason forecast for awhile, but this would make it 腐草為螢 (fusō hotaruto naru), which means something like rotten grass attracts fireflies. This strange title refers to a belief in the old days that the rotting grass turned into the fireflies.
Here is a haiku for today from Issa:
はつ蛍ついとそれたる手風哉
hatsu-botaru tsui to soretaru te kaze kana
first firefly
swerves away
air in my hand
Who hasn't tried to catch fireflies, eh? I remember when I was a kid we'd use mason jars. I would always try to sneak up on them slowly, then would slip the lid on. I'd make a lot of holes in the lid with a butter knife so they'd survive awhile. Then I could enjoy watching them in my room.
| 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. |
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