Yoshida Kenkō, Tsurezuregusa
for Caroline Going on a journey, whatever the destination, makes you feel suddenly awake and alive to everything. There are so many new things to see in rustic places and country villages as you wander…
Category: Japan
Don’t Waste Your Life
Yammamoto Gempo Roshi used to say, “There is no murder worse than the killing of time.” He devoted an entire teisho to this topic, reading aloud from the crime section of the newspaper. So-and-so knifed…
Itadakimas
Itadakimas is an important word in the Japanese language. Literally, it means, “I place this over my head,” and is translated as “I humbly receive.” It is the blessing which all Japanese, from the day laborer…
Word of the Day: Gassho
Gassho is the Japanese equivalent of the Sanskrit Anjali. It is the greeting, palm to palm, found among people throughout Asia, from the Dalai Lama to the Singhalese peasant, from the Pakistani weaver to the…
Yesterday/Today
Yesterday I was reading a history of Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb against Japan In one of the chapters The author noted that during the war The US thought of the Japanese As…
Simple Words
Give back my father, give back my mother; Give grandpa back, grandma back; Give my sons and daughters back. Give me back myself. Give back the human race. As long as this life lasts, this…
On Ryōkan
The following was written about Japanese Zen Master Ryōkan by a friend… When Ryōkan visits it is as if spring had come on a dark winter’s day. His character is pure and he is free of…
For Eileen
The mists rise over The still pools at Asuka. Memory does not Pass away so easily. –Yamabe no Akahito, 8th century translated by Kenneth Rexroth
A Poem by Anryu Suharu
When, with breaking heart, I realize This world is only a dream, The oak tree looks radiant. –Kenneth Rexroth and Ikuko Atsumi, Women Poets of Japan
A Poem by Akiko Yosano
Even at nineteen I knew The violet would fade, The brook would dry up, And life would pass away. Tangled Hair: Selected Tanka from Midaregami trans. Sanford Goldstein and Seishi Shinoda