Nijō Yoshimoto: The Grand Father of Renga

Nijō Yoshimoto

My last post was about Takayama Sōzei, and I wrongly referred to him as “one of the founding fathers” of renga. I made this mistake because in my most trusted source, “Traditional Japanese Poetry” by Steven Carter, Steven neglected to mention that Nijō Yoshimoto (1320-1388 A.D.) was actually the first poet to compile a collection of renga.

He probably didn’t feel the need to mention it because of his disdain for the Nijō faction which dominated Japanese poetry after the death of Fujiwara no Teika. Japanese poetry in the medieval period can be described as pre-Teika and post-Teika. He was a very important figure, and after his death there was much discord among his followers. Two main factions emerged: the Nijō school and Kyōgoku Tamekane’s school. According to Steven, the majority of scholars nowadays consider Kyōgoku Tamekane’s school to have produced better poetry, however, the Nijō school had the edge in terms of political power. Therefore, almost all the poetry anthologies of this period were compiled by those from the Nijō school. The major difference between the two was the Nijō school was more conservative and its followers thought that Teika’s later years were what they should emulate. The Kyōgoku Tamekane school on the other hand, thought that Teika’s younger, rebellious years were of more importance.

Nijō Yoshimoto was a scholar and a poet from a privileged background. It seems that he had a passion for renga, but also wrote tanka. The first couple tanka I translated below are from the Shingoshūiwakashū which was an imperial anthology compiled in the 14^th century. After that I translated an excerpt from the Tsukubashū which he edited himself, and is the first renga anthology ever compiled (officially...that we know of...).

春といへばやがて霞のなかにおつる妹背の川も氷とくらし

二条良基

When spring’s upon us,

Haze will float down the center

Of Imose river.

It seems that the winter’s ice

Has begun to melt away.

Nijō Yoshimoto

The Imose river did confuse me a bit and after further research, thanks to the investigation of Mootori Norinaga who investigated this back in the 18^th century, I found out that there is no Imose river. It comes from a poem in the Man’yōshū, which is one of the oldest poetry compilations in the Japanese tradition. The poem goes: “I crossed Mt. Imo and Mt. Se”, so we can infer that Imose river is the river that lies in between these two mountains. Nijō could be merely referencing the older poem to show off how learned he is.

Imose could also be a play on words. The first kanji is  妹(imo) which means young girl, but I think could also be an archaic way to say “wife”. The second kanji is 背(se) which can mean height or stature, but could also mean “husband”. So it could be the river that runs between “Mt. Husband” and “Mt. Wife” which add some sexual innuendo to the poem.

Can be found here

降りかかる梢の雪の朝あけにくれなゐうすき梅のはつ花

二条良基

In the early dawn,

Clouds dwelling in the treetops,

Descend upon us,

The first plum blossoms this year

Glimmer with subtle crimson.

Nijō Yoshimoto

のどかなる春のまつりの花しづめ風をさまれとなほ祈るらし

二条良基

On a bright, calm day

During a spring festival,

Blossoms shine bright, and

When the wind is at peace

I will bow my head and pray.

Nijō Yoshimoto

Aside from the poem’s religiosity, it has a some nice wordplay. I like the line “kaze wo samare to” because samare comes from the verb osamaru which means “to be at peace” or “lessen”. I assume that the obvious translation would be “when the wind lessens”, but considering how inclusive the Shinto religion is with nature, I thought I would personify the wind.

-Note: This poem comes from Shinshūiwakashū.

The following is an excerpt from the Tsukubashū. It’s also spring themed.

山かげしるき雪のむら消え

For those who dwell in the shade

Of the mountain, vanish snow!

あらたまの年の越えくる道なれや

Joy to the new spring!

Another year has come and gone,

That’s the way things.

Asama Mountain

たえぬ煙と立ちのぼるかな

Smoke rises high in the sky

Even though the fire went out.

春はまだ淺間の岳のうす霞

Spring’s yet to arrive,

There is only a light haze

At Asama Mountain.

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山の梶井坊にて百韻連歌侍りけるに

In the mountain dwelling of Kajii, they begin a new renga sequence:

なほもこほるは志賀のうら波

The wave breakers at Shiga

Still now, are frozen over.

雪間より道ある山となりぬるに

Patches of grass in the snow

Seem a more suitable path,

Than the icy mountain road.