歳時記

Futon is a generic term for several kinds of bedding and padded or quilted material, including coverlets, mattresses, and padded kimono-like robes that are worn indoors to stay warm. Although futon are used as bedding throughout the year, futon and associated season words such as "airing futon" (蒲団干す【ふとんほす】futon hosu) are classified under winter in haikai because of the special importance of futon in protecting against cold winter nights. The word futon seems originally to have referred to a kind of circular mat woven of cattail leaves and used as a seat during Zen meditation. Futon are usually lined with cotton wadding, though straw, feathers or other materials are sometimes used instead. The "back futon" (背蒲団【せなぶとん】 senabuton), "hip futon" (腰蒲団【こしぶとん】koshibuton), "shoulder futon" (肩蒲団【かたぶとん】 katabuton), and so on, have their respective uses and names, but all are associated in haikai with winter and protection against the cold. On sunny winter mornings, the sight of futon hung out for airing is a familiar reminder of this traditional aspect of life in Japan. [This poem has the preface: "Mourning Rika's wife" (李下が妻の悼).] It is understood that with old age, physical strength wanes and the body becomes smaller. Even so, the poet is surprised by how pathetically tiny is the figure of his mother, lying asleep under her futon.

In modern haiku the topic "hunting" refers mainly to the practice of hunting birds and wild animals for sport, but includes professional hunting as well. This is a winter topic because winter is the season when migratory birds visit Japan and when native game birds reach maturity. Deer and wild boar are more likely to approach human habitations in search of food during the winter months, as well. Under modern Japanese law, certain species of birds and animals are protected from hunters, and the season is limited to a period from about the middle of November to mid-March. Birds typically hunted in mountains and fields include pheasant, copper pheasant, wild goose, bamboo partridge, and the dusky thrush, while waterfowl commonly sought by hunters include the duck, water rail, moorhen, and sandpipers. Animals that hunters pursue include the badger, weasel, fox, racoon dog (tanuki), deer, wild boar, marten, giant flying squirrel, and other squirrels. Some hunters go deep into the mountains; others hunt among reeds along the water's edge or in boats. For bear and wild boar, teams of beaters may be employed, while traps, snares, and nets are used to capture smaller animals such as rabbits. In ancient times, "hunting" meant primarily "falconry" (鷹狩【たかがり】takagari), the use of trained falcons to capture pheasants, quail and other prey. Today, however, the art of falconry is no longer preserved outside the Imperial Household Agency. Haikai words related to hunting are almost all associated with the season of winter. One such word, popular in pre-modern haikai, is "night hunter" (夜興引【やこひき】 yakohiki). This is a professional hunter who goes into the mountains with dogs on a winter night, usually in pursuit of furs and pelts. ["First blood" (走り血) is a hunter's expression for the first kill of the season, in both English and Japanese; the noro is a small deer native to mainland East Asia.] The speaker has just passed a hunter in the winter mountains, and notices the cold glint of metal on the shouldered gun and the cool, attentive eyes. Such a person is more fearsome than any wild beast: less a sense of human being than of grazing coldness and a thirst for blood.

In haikai, "bonfire" ordinarily means a fire made outdoors in winter to provide warmth. People who work outdoors, especially in the countryside, often start their day warming up around a morning bonfire. An evening bonfire marks the end of the day's work. Temples and shrines have their "fallen-leaf fires" (落葉焚【おちばたき】 ochiba-taki), and bonfires may be lighted in the yard of a private home to dipose of flammable trash; fishmongers or other shop keepers often burn fires on the street in front of their stores to attract customers. Smoke rising from bonfires in distant pastures or fields is a favorite topic for haikai poets. There is a kind of magic about outdoor fires in winter--whether they are occasions for children to roast sweet potatoes or for neighbors to get together to chat. The season words "morning", "evening" and "night bonfires" refer to different times of day, of course, but also suggest different shades of firelight. The poet's daughter went into the yard and tossed some things into the bonfire there. She stands watching until they are completely burned. What kinds of secrets might this girl, engaged to be married, be intent on forgetting?

At the year's end, close friends gather for a meal or party to share feelings of gratitude that another year has passed without incident. In recent years, businessnes often hold "year-end parties" (literally, "forgetting the year party") to thank employees and clients for their cooperation through the year. These often become occasions for excessive indulgence in spirits, and while these year-end parties are surely one way of forgetting the year, the original motive for year-end gatherings was to look back and reflect on the year's events. By recalling the past one prepares to "forget the old year" and welcome the new one. One is reluctant to make excuses to leave early from a year-end party. The poet offers this verse, in imitation of the great Man'yōshū poet Yamanoue Okura, who once composed a poem to excuse himself early from a banquet, pleading that his children were surely crying while awaiting his return, and that his wife was waiting, too.