Wednesday, June 10, 2026

о̄-edo ya inu mo aritsuku hatsu-gatsuo

This is a haiku by Issa. David Lanoue reports that he originally wrote it with 大家, ō-ie, "great house," as the opening phrase, but later changed it to 大江戸, о̄-edo, "great Edo" (modern Tokyo). It is a summer haiku, because summer is the season of the first bonito, the hatsu-gatsuo. 

I also found a hatsu-gatsuo senryu, which has a proverbial quality (as senryu sometimes do!): 女房を質に入れても初鰹, nyōbō wo shichi ni iretemo hatsu-gatsuo “even if I have to pawn my wife, I must have a taste of the season’s first catch!”

The verb is a godan (type 1, u verb): ありつく, aritsuku, "get, obtain, secure." 

great city of Edo!
even your dogs get a taste
summer's first tuna

大江戸や犬もありつくはつ松魚
о̄-edo ya inu mo aritsuku hatsu-gatsuo

о̄-edo ya
    great Edo, ya!
inu mo aritsuku
    the dog even obtains
hatsu gatsuo
    first-bonito (of the season)

о̄ ~ big, large.
や ya
江戸 Edo ~ Edo.
inu ~ dog.
も mo
ありつく aritsuku ~ get, obtain.
はつ hatsu ~ first, initial.
松魚 gatsuo (katsuo) ~ skipjack tuna.


"Bonito fishing, Tosa Province" ~ Utagawa Hiroshige, 1877


No comments:

Post a Comment

Comments are restricted to Google accounts because of, ugh, spam. Comments on old posts are moderated.