283 Ryokan’s Tanka World Sanford Goldstei A㎞ous anecdote about Ryokan of㎞some insight in ㎞ka. Ryo㎞ls㎞ily, the Yamamoto, was a pro曲ent one town of Izumozaki, which is now part of Niigata P brotller Yoshiyuki had a son called Umanosuke, w become the head of the Yamamoto clan, in decline at years. Ryokan°s nephew had begun to indulge in a l pleasures and would not take allyone,s advice. So YasUko asked Ryokan to show her son the errors in proceeded to the family ho正he and stayed there on a t㎞ree while remaining silenちapparently unable to offet a young man. When it c㎜e㎞e飴r Ryo㎞to l㈱,血e m Ryokan would filla皿y speak up when he asked the son sandals, and she hid behind a screell to listen to Ryok Wisdom to her son. Suddenly, as the son was tying Ryoka something cold on his neck, and gla血cing叩, he fbun Ryokaゴs eyes. L,ike the incongmity of a satori recovered his lost sense of responsibility. Ryokan stoOd It seems to me that this episode contains the essence Ryokan, as恥as I㎞ow, never wrote a tankca on tlris event compelled to write my own tanka on it, it might be fbnowing: no words of admonisiment for血e boy, no moral clic116s, Ryokan’s tears say it all It was Ish汰awa Ta㎞bo㎞who, in a long essay serial
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Ryokan’s Tanka World Sanford Goldstein · TakUbOku, Saito Mokichi, Masaoka Shiki, and Aizu Yaichi. Havi血g attendOd the 58th memorial service fbr Aizu Yaichi°s adopted
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283
Ryokan’s Tanka World
Sanford Goldstein
A㎞ous anecdote about Ryokan of㎞some insight into the creation of
㎞ka. Ryo㎞ls㎞ily, the Yamamoto, was a pro曲ent one in the coastal
town of Izumozaki, which is now part of Niigata PrefectUre. Ryokan°s
brotller Yoshiyuki had a son called Umanosuke, who was to eventually
become the head of the Yamamoto clan, in decline at that time fbr several
years. Ryokan°s nephew had begun to indulge in a life of irresponsible
pleasures and would not take allyone,s advice. So Umanosuke’s mother
YasUko asked Ryokan to show her son the errors in his behavior. Ryokan
proceeded to the family ho正he and stayed there on a t㎞ree-day visit, all the
while remaining silenちapparently unable to offet any moral advice to the
young man. When it c㎜e㎞e飴r Ryo㎞to l㈱,血e mo血舳oゆ血t
Ryokan would filla皿y speak up when he asked the son to llelp him tie his
sandals, and she hid behind a screell to listen to Ryokan,s parting words of
Wisdom to her son. Suddenly, as the son was tying Ryokan°s sandals, he felt
something cold on his neck, and gla血cing叩, he fbund tears falling丘om
Ryokaゴs eyes. L,ike the incongmity of a satori moment, Umanosuke
recovered his lost sense of responsibility. Ryokan stoOd up and silently left.
It seems to me that this episode contains the essence of a tanka moment.
Ryokan, as恥as I㎞ow, never wrote a tankca on tlris event, but since 1 feel
compelled to write my own tanka on it, it might be something like tlle
fbnowing:
no words
of admonisiment for血e boy,
no moral clic116s,
Ryokan’s tears
say it all
It was Ish汰awa Ta㎞bo㎞who, in a long essay serialized in the Tokyo
284
Mainichi newspaper from November 30 to Dece血ber 7,1909, de血ed what
Ibelieve was tme fbr Ryokan and fbr most modem tanka poets. Wrote
Ta㎞bo㎞:”Poetry must not be what is usually called poe虹y. It must be an
exact report, an honest diary, of the ・cha lges in a ma 1,s emotiona1 life.”11
believe that Ryokan’s tanka are reports of his everyday life血joy or sadness,
in sickness or health, in isolation or in harmony. Tanka as diary I have found
is also tme fbr the tanka poets I have studied, Yosano Akiko, Ishikawa
TakUbOku, Saito Mokichi, Masaoka Shiki, and Aizu Yaichi. Havi血g attendOd
the 58th memorial service fbr Aizu Yaichi°s adopted daughter Takahashi
Kiiko in July in 2002, I am moved again and again by Aizu Yaichi,s
beautifUl tanka sequellce】ramabato, which is a killd of diary of Aizu°s
escape fbom Tokyo du㎡ing the bOmbings in the last war and of the final days
of his adopted daughter at the Kamondo Temple in Nish輯o village, now part
of Nakajo-machi m’ Niigata Prefecture.
The first six of the one hundred Ryokan tanka that Professor F両isato
KitItjima and 1 translated for our book on Ryokan’s tanka and haiku are tanl(a
relating to the village children. It is not di伍cult to see what the dialy entry
fbr that day would be:
with the children
in this village
I bOunce my temari’bal1-
may the ev㎝ing shadows
fail to fall this spring day!2
丘Om mOming tO eVening
this long hazy spring day
has passed
bounc㎞g the te〃zari ball
with the village children 3
bounce the temari ball-
one two thrree four five sb【seven
eight nine ten
and ten once reached
Ryokan°s Tanka World 285
it StartS all OVer again!4
at long last
the spr血g day has arrived
when under the trees
of this sllrine
Ican play with the village children 5
beneath the trees
in the grove of this shrine
I play with the Village kidS-
may it not 9row datk
this spr血g day!6
children
let冒s go out
t()the lli皿s of Mt. Yahiko
to see the bright-colored violets
i11血11 bloom!7
Nor is it di伍cult to understa血d why Ryokan delighted in playing with the
village children-after the long winter in Snow Country dudng severe
mon血s of restricted actiVity, what a delight it must have been fbr Ryokan,
the fkeedom of the outdoors and all its beauty, especially the appeal of the
games of children. Kera Yoshishige, whose飴ther Kera Shu㎞mon was
Ryokan曾s丘iend and patron, had the good fb血me to be olle of the village
children Ryokan played舳. In RyokO〃zθ脚wα伽゜o”s Accounts of
the Zenルlaster Ryokan♪, which Kera Yoshishige wrote around l8450r
1846,血ere are numerous anecdotes about Ryokan’s daily life.
Kera notes血his伽゜ous Accounts how Ryokan always joined wi舳e
village children in their vadous games. One of these games was a game in
which the children made him bend over backWard counting each t㎞e he
bent a血t of money so血at Ryokan had to bend back more and more until
he practically lost his balance, thus ma㎞[g the children laugh hysterically.
’rhis fall血9 backWard was based on a story of Ryokan,s watchng an quction
286
going on. The auctioneer shouted out a price in such a loud voice tllat
Ryokan recoiled, bending all the way backWard, so that the local children
made it into a game. Anodler game was with the燃αη’ball bomced to
vanous songs, a co即etitive bo皿cing by血e numbers to see how long a
child could do it. I am indebted to Ryuichi Ab6°s and Peter Haskel°s
remarkable book Great Fool for information about this game as well as
other aspects of Ryokan.8 The temari ball is made of cloth bo皿d toge血er
with bright colored threads. This traditional ball is apparently difficult to
bounce, the game demanding concentration as wel1 as tec㎞ique. The child
must not only bounce tlle ball at a speed that is steady but must also keep up
the counting. On one occasion, Teishin, the nun wllo was to have such a
prominent role in Ryokanls Iast years, made him a temari ball. Wrote
Teishin in her tanka to Ryokan:”playing on Buddha’s road/you never tire/of