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JR Matsuyama Station (JR松山駅) Matsuyama Castle (松山城) Dogo-Onsen Station (道後温泉駅) Dogo-Onsen-honkan (道後温泉本館) Dogo-Onsen Shopping Street (道後温泉商店街) Matsuyama City Shiki Memorial Museum (松山市立子規記念博物館) Birthplace of Akiyama Brothers (秋山兄弟生誕地) Grave of Yoshifuru Akiyama (秋山好古墓) The site of Aisho-tei (愛松亭) Bansui-so (萬翠荘) Santoka Taneda's Isso-an (種田山頭火の一草庵) |
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| JR Matsuyama Station (JR松山駅) is situated at 1-14-1 Minami-Edo, Matsuyama City (松山市南江戸一丁目14-1). | ||
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(Sunday 20 March) R Matsuyama Station, 1-14-1 Minami-Edo, Matsuyama City | |
| Matsuyama Castle (松山城) is a flatland-mountain castle (平山城) that was built in 1603 on the Hill of Katsuyama (勝山 or 城山), whose height is 132 meters, in Matsuyama City in Ehime Prefecture (the former Iyo Province). It is not to be confused with Bitchu Matsuyama Castle (備中松山城) in western Okayama Prefecture.
This castle was originally built by Yoshiaki Kato (加藤 嘉明) in 1603. It had a large five-story tenshu (天守), or keep, which was moved to Aizu Castle (会津城) when Kato was transferred there in 1627. The next lord, Tadachika Gamo (蒲生 忠知), died in 1635, shortly after completing the nino-maru (二の丸). After Tadachika, Sadayuki Matsudaira (松平 定行) became the new lord. He completed a new donjon (tenshu) in 1642. His heirs continued to rule the castle after his death. However, on New Years Day, 1784, this donjon (tenshu) was struck by lightning and burned down. The current donjon (tenshu) was built between 1820 and 1854. The castle survived the Meiji Restoration (明治維新), but parts of it were destroyed by bombing from American forces during World War II. Since 1966, the city of Matsuyama has been working to restore the castle. In Matsuyama, the donjon (tenshu), or the main building of the castle can be seen from almost all places. The castle is accessible from the city central via Matsuyamajo Ropeway (松山城ロープウェイ), a chairlift, or on foot. The castle address is: 1 Marunouchi, Matsuyama (松山市丸之内1). (Main Reference: The Site of "Wikipedia") |
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(Sunday 20 March) Stone walls of Matsuyama Castle, 1 Marunouchi, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) Matsuyama Castle, 1 Marunouchi, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) "Kakure-mon" Gate (隠門), Matsuyama Castle, 1 Marunouchi, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) "Taiko-mon" Gate (太鼓門), Matsuyama Castle, 1 Marunouchi, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) "Nobara-yagura" (野原櫓), Matsuyama Castle, 1 Marunouchi, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) Matsuyama Castle, 1 Marunouchi, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) The donjon of Matsuyama Castle, 1 Marunouchi, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) The donjon of Matsuyama Castle, 1 Marunouchi, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) Matsuyama Castle, 1 Marunouchi, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) Inside of the donjon of Matsuyama Castle, 1 Marunouchi, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) A view from the donjon of Matsuyama Castle, 1 Marunouchi, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) A view from the donjon of Matsuyama Castle, 1 Marunouchi, Matsuyama | |
| Dogo-Onsen Station (道後温泉駅) is located at 1 Dogo-cho, Matsuyama City (松山市道後町1丁目). It is the closest station to Dogo Spa and the last station of the Botchan Ressha (an antique train that runs on the streetcar route) on the Iyo Railway Jonan Line (伊予鉄道城南線). | ||
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(Sunday 20 March) Dogo-Onsen Station, 1 Dogo-cho, Matsuyama City | |
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(Sunday 20 March) Dogo-Onsen Station Square | |
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(Sunday 20 March) "Botchan Karakuri-dokei" (坊ちゃんカラクリ時計; the tower clock with revolving puppets featuring the characters of Botchan) near Hojo-en Footbath (足湯 放生園) in the opposite side of Dogo-Onsen Station. It was made in 1994 (平成6年) commemorating the 100th anniversary of the construction of the main building of the Dogo-onsen. | |
| Dogo-Onsen (道後温泉) is a hot spring in the city of Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku, Japan. Dogo-Onsen is one of the oldest onsen hot springs in Japan, with a history stretching back over 1,000 years. The springs are mentioned in the Man'yo-shu (『万葉集』or Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves, c. 759 CE), and according to legend Prince Shotoku (聖徳太子, 574-622 CE) used to partake of the waters. Dogo-Onsen was the favorite retreat of Soseki Natsume (夏目漱石, 1867-1916) when he was working near Matsuyama as a English teacher in what was at the time rural Shikoku. In Natsume's loosely autobiographical novel Botchan (『坊ちゃん』), the eponymous main character is a frequent visitor to the springs, the only place he likes in the area. Modern haiku poet Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902), a noted critic of Basho Matsuo (松尾芭蕉, 1644-1694), was a resident of Dogo-Onsen. His poems are prominently inscribed in many places around town.
The present building of the Dogo-Onsen public bath was built in 1894. Built on three levels for maximum capacity, the baths remain popular and are usually crowded at peak times, such as in the early evening before dinner. While Dogo is largely engulfed in the suburban sprawl of modern-day Matsuyama, the area around Dogo retains the feeling of a resort town, with guests from all over the country wandering the streets in yukata robes after their bath. Dogo is easily accessible from central Matsuyama by tram, and has regular bus services to and from both the air and ferry ports. The main building in Hayao Miyazaki's animation movie Spirited Away (『千と千尋の神隠し』) was modeled on the present building of the Dogo-Onsen public bathhouse. The address of Dogo-Onsen-honkan (道後温泉本館) or the main building is 5-6 Yunomachi, Dogo, Matsuyama (松山市道後湯之町5-6). (Main Reference: The Site of "Wikipedia") |
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(Sunday 20 March) Dogo-Onsen-honkan, 5-6 Yunomachi, Dogo, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) Dogo-Onsen-honkan, 5-6 Yunomachi, Dogo, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) Dogo-Onsen-honkan, 5-6 Yunomachi, Dogo, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) Dogo-Onsen-honkan, 5-6 Yunomachi, Dogo, Matsuyama | |
| The arcaded Dogo-Onsen Shopping Street (道後温泉商店街) is located north of Dogo-Onsen Station (道後温泉駅). I did not have enough time to look around but had a lunch at a cafe (see below). | ||
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(Sunday 20 March) The arcaded Dogo-Onsen Shopping Street (道後温泉商店街) | |
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(Sunday 20 March) "Dogo-no-Machiya" (道後の町屋), 14-26 Yunomachi, Dogo, Matsuyama (松山市道後湯之町14-26) | |
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(Sunday 20 March) My lunch at "Dogo-no-Machiya," 14-26 Yunomachi, Dogo, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) My dessert at "Dogo-no-Machiya," 14-26 Yunomachi, Dogo, Matsuyama | |
| Matsuyama City Shiki Memorial Museum (松山市立子規記念博物館) is located at 1-30 Dogo-koen, Matsuyama City (松山市道後公園1-30). This city museum was open on April 2, 1981 in commemoration of the Matsuyama native haiku poet Shiki Masaoka (正岡子規).
Shiki Masaoka (正岡 子規, September 17, 1867 - September 19, 1902), the pen-name of Noboru Masaoka (正岡 升) was a Japanese author, poet, literary critic, and journalist in Meiji-Period Japan. Shiki is generally regarded as the major figure in the development of modern haiku poetry and also played an important role in revitalizing tanka poetry. Shiki, or rather Tsunenori (常規) as he was originally named, was born in Matsuyama City in Iyo Province (伊予の国; present day Ehime Prefecture) to a samurai class family of modest means. As a child, was called Tokoronosuke (処之助); in adolescence, his name was changed to Noboru (升). His father, Tsunenao (正岡常尚), was a low-ranking official, and his mother, Yae (八重), was the eldest daughter of Kanzan Ohara (大原観山), a Confusian teacher at the clan school. Shiki lost his father when he was five. Shiki, or rather, Noboru, attended Ehime Daiichi Middle School (旧制愛媛一中), where Taisuke Itagaki (板垣退助), a leader of a democratic movement, had served for a time as principal (though he was forced to resign in 1879 his influence remained strong). In 1883, an uncle arranged for Noboru to come to Tokyo, where he enrolled in a preparatory school. He entered the literature department of Tokyo Imperial University (東京帝国大学) in January 1890. Shiki was a strong advocate of modernization of Japanese poetry, introducing the terms haiku to replace stand-alone hokku (発句), and tanka to replace the 31-mora waka. Shiki suffered from tuberculosis much of his life. In 1889, after coughing up blood, he adopted the pen-name of "Shiki". His illness was severely aggravated by a stint as a war correspondent with the Imperial Japanese Army during the First Sino-Japanese War. Upon return from military service in 1895 he convalesced at Soseki Natsume's house in Matsuyama, but he realized that he was terminally ill. He continued to write vigorously, but was largely bed-ridden by 1898. He kept a series of journals dated 1901-1902, in which he described his physical deterioration and the progress of his illness in clinical detail. These journals also contain numerous tanka and haiku, which occurred to him while he was writing. He died in Tokyo on September 19, 1902. Shiki is today often credited with single-handedly revitalizing the poetry forms of haiku and tanka. Although his ideas and theories were regarded as revolutionary by his contemporaries, he mostly remained within the bounds of the traditionally established “rules” and formats, unlike his more radical free verse successors. His work has an austerity, and a freshness that remains popular today. He is now regarded as one of the four great masters of haiku, along with Basho Matsuo (松尾芭蕉), Buson Yosa (与謝蕪村), and Issa Kobayashi (小林一茶). Shiki is widely known to have played baseball (his position was a catcher) when he was a student of Tokyo Imperial University and translated basic baseball terms into Japanese for the first time most of which are still used in Japan: He entered Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame (野球殿堂) in 2002. (Main Reference: The Site of "Wikipedia") |
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(Sunday 20 March) An tanka inscription stone in front of Matsuyama City Shiki Memorial Museum:
Ashi nahe no (足なへの) Itai-yu to (病いゆとふ) Iyo no yu ni (伊豫の湯に) Tobite mo ikana (飛びても行かな) Sagi ni aramaseba (鷺(さぎ)にあらませば ) (Shiki 1898) (Taking the baths at Iyo is said to be good for cripples. I would fly there If I were a heron.) (trans. Eishiro Ito) It is one of the nine tanka poems under the title of "Longing for my hometown" (「故郷を憶(おも)ふ」) of the tanka collection Take no Sato Uta (『竹乃里歌』1898). Since autumn 1898 (明治28年), Masaoka had lumbar caries in his left hucklebone and could not walk very well. He had to stay in bed for eight years until his death in 1902. |
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(Sunday 20 March) Matsuyama City Shiki Memorial Museum, 1-30 Dogo-koen, Matsuyama City | |
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(Sunday 20 March) Seated statue of Shiki Masaoka, Matsuyama City Shiki Memorial Museum, 1-30 Dogo-koen, Matsuyama City | |
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(Sunday 20 March) Information board for the replica of "Gudabustu-an" (愚陀佛庵) where Shiki Masaoka and his friend Soseki Natsume (夏目漱石, 1867-1916) lived in 1895 (明治28年). Courtesy of Matsuyama City Shiki Memorial Museum. | |
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(Sunday 20 March) The replica of "Gudabustu-an" (愚陀佛庵) where Shiki Masaoka and his friend Soseki Natsume (夏目漱石, 1867-1916) lived in 1895 (明治28年). Courtesy of Matsuyama City Shiki Memorial Museum | |
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(Sunday 20 March) The replica of "Gudabustu-an" (愚陀佛庵) where Shiki Masaoka and his friend Soseki Natsume (夏目漱石, 1867-1916) lived in 1895 (明治28年). Courtesy of Matsuyama City Shiki Memorial Museum | |
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(Sunday 20 March) The replica of "Gudabustu-an" (愚陀佛庵) where Shiki Masaoka and his friend Soseki Natsume (夏目漱石, 1867-1916) lived in 1895 (明治28年). Courtesy of Matsuyama City Shiki Memorial Museum | |
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(Sunday 20 March) The replica of "Gudabustu-an" (愚陀佛庵) where Shiki Masaoka and his friend Soseki Natsume (夏目漱石) lived in 1895 (明治28年). Courtesy of Matsuyama City Shiki Memorial Museum | |
| Birthplace of Akiyama Brothers (秋山兄弟生誕地) is located near the foot of Matsuyama Castle: The address is: 2-3-6 Kachi-machi, Matsuyama (松山市歩行町2-3-6). Hisataka Akiyama (秋山久敬, 1822-1890) and his wife Sada (貞; 山口貞, 1827-1905) had five sons and a daughter here. Yoshifuru Akiyama (秋山 好古, 1859-1930) was their third son while Saneyuki (秋山真之, 1868-1918) was the fifth and youngest son. After the house was restored in 2005, now it is open to the public as a museum of Akiyama Brothers with the affiliated drill hall for Judo and Aikido. | ||
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(Sunday 20 March) A photo of the Akiyama family, the Birthplace of Akiyama Brothers, 2-3-6 Kachi-machi, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) Birthplace of Akiyama Brothers, 2-3-6 Kachi-machi, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) Birthplace of Akiyama Brothers, 2-3-6 Kachi-machi, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) Birthplace of Akiyama Brothers, 2-3-6 Kachi-machi, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) The drill hall of the Birthplace of Akiyama Brothers, 2-3-6 Kachi-machi, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) Bust of Yoshifuru Akiyama (replica), the drill hall of the Birthplace of Akiyama Brothers, 2-3-6 Kachi-machi, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) Bust of Saneyuki Akiyama (replica), the Birthplace of Akiyama Brothers, 2-3-6 Kachi-machi, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) Posters of the NHK Drama Saka no Ue no Kumo (『坂の上の雲』; "Clouds over the Slope," 2009-2011) in the Birthplace of Akiyama Brothers, 2-3-6 Kachi-machi, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) Posters of the NHK Drama Saka no ue no Kumo (『坂の上の雲』; "Clouds over the Slope," 2009-2011) in the Birthplace of Akiyama Brothers, 2-3-6 Kachi-machi, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) An equestrian statue of Yoshifuru Akiyama (replica), in the Birthplace of Akiyama Brothers, 2-3-6 Kachi-machi, Matsuyama | |
| Grave of Yoshifuru Akiyama (秋山好古, 1859-1930), former general/educator, 4 Sagitani-cho, Dogo, Matsuyama City or off Tsubaki-no-yu (椿の湯) of the Dogo-Onsen.
Akiyama Yoshifuru (秋山 好古, February 9, 1859 - November 4, 1930) was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, and was considered the father of the modern Japanese cavalry (日本騎兵の父). He was an older brother of Vice Admiral Saneyuki Akiyama (秋山 真之) who made a strategy to annihilate the Baltic Fleet of Imperial Russia during Russo-Japanese War (日露戦争) in 1904-5. Born as the third son to a poor samurai in the Matsuyama Domain, Iyo Province (modern Ehime Prefecture), Akiyama's family was so poor in his childhood that he was forced to work as a fire stoker and janitor in a local public bathhouse for a pittance each day. Akiyama entered the Rikugun-Shikangakko (陸軍士官学校; the forerunner of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy) in 1877. He went on to attend the Army Staff College (陸軍大学校), and was sent as a military attache to France to study cavalry tactics and techniques. He was the only Japanese officer sent to study at the Ecole speciale militaire de Saint-Cyr at a time when the rest of the Japanese Army had turned to the Imperial German Army as its model and was being taught by instructors from Germany. Akiyama had very pale skin and large eyes (for a Japanese in the era). He was often mistaken for a European student by many foreign instructors such as Jakob Meckel while at the Japanese Army Academy, and developed a reputation as a “ladies' man,” much to the envy of his colleagues during his stay in France, whereas he himself disliked his attractive looks. He was an impartial man who had a bowl of rice with slices of pickles for his meal. However, he spent his money on sake and had a reputation as a heavy drinker. Akiyama was active in the First Sino-Japanese War (日清戦争) of 1894-1895 as a cavalry regimental commander in the IJA 1st Division, and served with Japanese expeditionary forces in the subsequent Boxer Rebellion with the IJA 5th Division. In the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, he led his troops in the Battle of Shaho (沙河会戦), Battle of Sandepu (黒溝台会戦), and in the Battle of Mukden (奉天会戦) against the Cossack cavalry divisions of the Imperial Russian Army. In April 1906, he was awarded the 2nd class Order of the Golden Kite (金鵄勲章功2級). Akiyama became commander of the IJA 13th Division in 1913, and after his promotion to full general in 1916, was given command of the Imperial Guards Division. The following year, he was assigned command of the Chosen [Korean] Army (朝鮮駐剳軍). In 1920, he became Director General for Military Education (陸軍教育総監). After he retired from active military service in 1923, declining promotion to Field Marshal (元帥). He returned to his native island of Shikoku and became the principal of the Hokuyo Junior High School (北予中学校; present-day Matsuyama-Kita High School [松山北高校]). Akiyama died of complications (心筋梗塞) from diabetes at the Army Medical School Hospital in Tokyo in 1930, and his grave is off Dogo-Onsen, Matsuyama. Akiyama is, as well as his brother Saneyuki Akiyama and Shiki Masaoka (正岡子規), one of the three main characters in Saka no Ue no Kumo (『坂の上の雲』; "Clouds over the Slope," 1968-1972), a novel by Ryotaro Shiba (司馬 遼太郎), which was broadcast as a historical drama on the Japanese television network NHK from 2009-2011. Akiyama was portrayed by actor Hiroshi Abe (阿部寛). (Main Reference: The Site of "Wikipedia") |
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(Sunday 20 March) Signpost of the grave of Yoshifuru Akiyama, Sagitani Graveyard (鷺谷墓地), 4 Sagitani-cho, Dogo, Matsuyama City or off Tsubaki-no-yu (椿の湯) of the Dogo-Onsen | |
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(Sunday 20 March) Information board of Sagitani Graveyard (鷺谷墓地), 4 Sagitani-cho, Dogo, Matsuyama City or off Tsubaki-no-yu (椿の湯) of the Dogo-Onsen | |
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(Sunday 20 March) Stone steps to Sagitani Graveyard, 4 Sagitani-cho, Dogo, Matsuyama City or off Tsubaki-no-yu (椿の湯) of the Dogo-Onsen | |
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(Sunday 20 March) The grave of Yoshifuru Akiyama, Sagitani Graveyard, 4 Sagitani-cho, Dogo, Matsuyama City or off Tsubaki-no-yu (椿の湯) of the Dogo-Onsen | |
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(Sunday 20 March) The grave of Yoshifuru Akiyama, Sagitani Graveyard, 4 Sagitani-cho, Dogo, Matsuyama City or off Tsubaki-no-yu (椿の湯) of the Dogo-Onsen | |
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(Sunday 20 March) The grave of Yoshifuru Akiyama, Sagitani Graveyard, 4 Sagitani-cho, Dogo, Matsuyama City or off Tsubaki-no-yu (椿の湯) of the Dogo-Onsen | |
| The site of Aisho-tei (愛松亭), Hokichi Tsuda (津田保吉)'s small Japanese-style restaurant where Soseki Natsume lodged on the 2nd floor between early April and late June in 1895 (明治28年). Later this place was modeled for the boarding house of Botchan (『坊ちゃん』1906). The address is 3-3-7 Ichiban-cho, Matsuyama (松山市一番町3-3-7). | ||
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(Sunday 20 March) The site of Aisho-tei (愛松亭), 3-3-7 Ichiban-cho, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) The site of Aisho-tei (愛松亭), 3-3-7 Ichiban-cho, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) The site of Aisho-tei (愛松亭), 3-3-7 Ichiban-cho, Matsuyama | |
| Bansui-so (萬翠荘) was built in 1922 (大正11年) by the 15th lord of the former Matsuayama clan, Sadakoto Hisamatsu (久松 定謨, 1867-1943) with the famous designer Shichiro Kigo (木子 七郎, 1884-1955) who studied Western architecture in Europe. The building is now used as an annex of the Museum of Art, Ehime (愛媛県美術館). The address is 3-3-7 Ichiban-cho, Matsuyama (松山市一番町3丁目3-7). | ||
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(Sunday 20 March) Bansui-so, 3-3-7 Ichiban-cho, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) Bansui-so, 3-3-7 Ichiban-cho, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) Bansui-so, 3-3-7 Ichiban-cho, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) Signboard of the site of the reconstructed Gudabutsu-an (愚陀佛庵) behind Bansui-so, 3-3-7 Ichiban-cho, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) The site of the reconstructed Gudabutsu-an (愚陀佛庵, re.1982 [昭和57年]) behind Bansui-so, 3-3-7 Ichiban-cho, Matsuyama: People used to gather here for haiku gatherings (句会). The building was destroyed by the record downpour on July 12, 2010 (平成22年). Now local people engage in fund-raising for re-reconstruction. See the above photos emy2011-022- 031 of the replica of Gudabutsu-an in Matsuyama City Shiki Memorial Museum. | |
| Isso-an (一草庵), the last residence of the famous haiku poet Satoka Taneda (種田山頭火, 1882-1940) is 20 minute's walk away from Dogo-Onsen: the address is 1-435-1 Miyuki, Matsuyama (松山市御幸1-435-1).
Santoka Taneda (種田 山頭火, birth name: Shoichi Taneda; 種田 正一; 3 December 1882 - 11 October 1940) was the pen-name of a Japanese author and haiku poet. He is known for his free verse haiku (自由律俳句). Santoka was born in Nishisabaryo Villege (西佐波令村; now Daido, Hofu City [防府市大道]), Yamaguchi Prefecture, to a wealthy land-owning family. At the age of eleven his mother Fusa (フサ) committed suicide by throwing herself into the family well. Though the exact reason for her action is unknown, according to Santoka’s diaries his mother had finally reached the point where she could no longer live with her husband’s philandering. Following the incident, Santoka was raised by his grandmother Tsuru (ツル). In 1902, he entered Waseda University (早稲田大学) in Tokyo as a student of literature. While there, he began drinking heavily, and in 1904, at the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War (日露戦争), he dropped out of school. The documented reason was “nervous breakdown” (神経衰弱), which some believe to be a euphemism for frequent and severe drunkenness. By that time his father Takejiro (竹治郎) was in such dire financial straits that he could barely afford to pay his son’s tuition. In 1906, Taneda father and son sold off family land in order to open a sake brewery. In 1909 his father arranged for Santoka to marry Sakino Sato (佐藤 咲野), a girl from a neighboring village. In his diaries, Santoka confesses that the sight of his mother’s corpse being raised from her watery grave had forever tarnished his relationship with women. In 1910 Sakino gave birth to a son, Ken (健). In 1911, he began publishing translations of Ivan Turgenev and Guy de Maupassant in the literary journal Seinen (『青年』; "Youth") under the pen name Santoka (山頭火), meaning "Mountain-top Fire." That same year he joined his area’s local haiku group. At that time, his haiku mostly adhered to the traditional syllabic format, though some were hypersyllabic. In 1913, Santoka was accepted as a disciple by the leading haiku reformist Seisensui Ogiwara (荻原 井泉水). Seisensui (1884-1976) could be regarded as the originator of the free-form haiku movement, though fellow writers Shiki Masaoka (正岡子規) and Hekigoto Kawahigashi (河東碧梧桐) also deserve recognition. Writers following the early-twentieth century movement known as free-form or free-style haiku ("shinkeiko"; 新傾向) composed haiku lacking both the traditional 5-7-5 syllabic rule and the requisite seasonal word (季語; "kigo"). Santoka began regularly contributing poetry to Seisensui’s haiku magazine Soun (『層雲』; "Layered Clouds"). By 1916 he became an editor. That same year, however, was marked by the bankruptcy of his father's sake brewery after two years of spoiled stock. The family lost all that remained of their once great fortune. His father fled into hiding and Santoka moved his family to Kumamoto City on the southern island of Kyushu, where plans to open a second-hand bookstore soon materialized into the opening of a picture frame shop. Two years later, plagued by debt, Santoka’s younger brother Jiro (二郎) committed suicide. Then Santoka’s grandmother Tsuru (ツル) died. In 1919, at the age of thirty-seven, Santoka left his family in order to find a job in Tokyo. In 1920, following her parents’ wishes, Santoka divorced his wife. His father died soon after. Santoka proved no more reliable at working a steady job than he had at going to college, and though he did secure a permanent position as a librarian in 1920, by 1922 he was again unemployed due to another “nervous breakdown.” He stayed in Tokyo long enough to experience the Great Kanto Earthquake (関東大震災), after which he was apparently jailed as a suspect Communist. Soon after being released, he returned to Kumamoto City where he helped Sakino keep shop. In 1924, an extremely drunk Santoka jumped in front of an oncoming train in what may have been a suicide attempt. The train managed to stop just inches from him, and he was brought by a newspaper reporter to the Soto (曹洞宗) Zen temple Hoon-ji Temple (報恩禅寺; 千体佛), where the head priest Gian Mochizuki (望月 義庵) welcomed him to the Zen fraternity. The Zen life seemed to work for Santoka: by the next year at the age of forty-two he was ordained in the Soto sect. In 1926, after a year spent as caretaker of Mitori Kannon-do Temple in Kumamoto, Santoka set out on the first of many walking trips. He was away for three years. Part of this time was spent completing the eighty-eight temple pilgrimage circuit on Shikoku Island (四国霊場八十八カ所遍路). He visited the gravesite of a deceased friend and follower of Seisensui Ogiwara (荻原井泉水), Hosai Ozaki (尾崎放哉, 1885-1926). In 1929 he returned briefly to Kumamoto to visit Sakino and publish some more haiku in Soun (『層雲』). He also began a publication of his own, Sambaku (『三八九-さんぱく-日記』), named after his boardinghouse. Soon, however, he was back on the road. During his trips, Santoka wore his priest’s robe and a large bamboo hat known as a kasa (笠) to keep off the sun. He had one bowl, which he used both for alms-getting and for eating. To survive, he went from house to house to beg. Begging (托鉢; "takahatsu") is an important part of practice for monks in Japan, but, considering that Santoka was not a member of a monastery while he journeyed, begging just for his own needs, he was often regarded with disdain and on a few occasions even questioned by the police. A day’s earnings would go toward a room at a guesthouse, food, and sake. In 1932, Santoka settled down for a time at a cottage in Yamaguchi Prefecture. He named it “Gochu-an” after a verse in the Lotus Sutra. While there, he published his first book of poems Hachi no Ko (『鉢の子』; “Rice Bowl Child”). He lived on the contributions of friends and admirers, whatever he could grow in his garden, and money sent from his son Ken. In 1934 he set off again on a walking trip, but soon grew seriously ill and had to return home. He attempted suicide but lived. In 1936, he again began to walk, intent on following the trail of the famous haiku poet Basho Matsuo (松尾芭蕉, 1644-1694) as described in Oku no Hosomichi ("The Narrow Road to the Interior"). He returned to Gochu-an after eight months. In 1938, Gochu-an (其中庵) became unfit for habitation, and after another walking trip, Santoka settled down at Miki-ji Temple (御幸寺) near Dogo-Onsen on December 15, 1939 (昭和14年), building himself a hermitage called Isso-an (一草庵) in the precinct. On October 10, 1940 Santoka died in his sleep, aged 57. He had published seven collections of poems and numerous editions of Sambaku (known as Diaries of Santoka;『山頭火日記』). (Main Reference: The Site of "Wikipedia") See also the Yamaguchi City page. |
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(Sunday 20 March) Flagsign of Santoka Taneda's Isso-an, Miyuki, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) Road to Isso-an, Miyuki, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) Miki-san Miki-ji Temple (御幸山御幸寺), 1-442 Miyuki, Matsuyama (松山市御幸1-442). It belongs to Shingon-shu Buzan-ha sect (真言宗豊山派) of Buddhism. | |
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(Sunday 20 March) Signpost of Isso-an, 1-435-1 Miyuki, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) Portrait of Santoka Taneda, Isso-an, 1-435-1 Miyuki, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) The house plan of Isso-an, 1-435-1 Miyuki, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) Isso-an, 1-435-1 Miyuki, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) Inside of Isso-an, 1-435-1 Miyuki, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) Inside of Isso-an, 1-435-1 Miyuki, Matsuyama | |
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(Sunday 20 March) Inside of Isso-an, 1-435-1 Miyuki, Matsuyama |
