顔見世【かおみせ】 kaomise season debut [of kabuki theater, in December] (mid winter)
- 歌舞伎の顔見世【かぶきのかおみせ】 kabuki no kaomise kabuki season debut
- 面見世【つらみせ】 tsuramise season debut [of kabuki]
- 足揃【あしぞろえ】 ashizoroe actors' lineup [a ritual before the season debut; common to Kyoto and Osaka kabuki theaters]
七五三【しちごさん】 shichigosan Seven-Five-Three (Festival) [15 November; shrine visit by children ages 7, 5, and 3] (early winter)
- 七五三祝【しめいわい】 shimeiwai celebrating Seven-Five-Three
- 七五三の祝【しちごさんのいわい】 shichigosan no iwai Seven-Five-Three congratulations
年の市【としのいち】 toshi-no-ichi year-end market/fair [in preparation for New-Year holiday] (mid winter)
This is a temporary market where goods for New Year's are sold. Shops and stalls selling decorations
and household provisions for New Year's celebrations line up along the streets of marketplaces in towns
or are clustered in the precincts of temples and shrines. In recent years, many department stores also
set up sales areas for year-end markets. The season lasts from the middle of December through the last
day of the year. The pace of sales is a good indicator of whether the economy was healthy or not during
the year just ending. The large-scale year-end market inside Sensōji Temple (浅草持) in downtwon
Tokyo is famous--the densely packed stalls, shouts of vendors, and crowds of customers convey well the
excitement of the final weeks of the year and of urgent preparations for New Year's.
toshi-no-ichi senkō kai ni ideba yana
year-end market
I'd better go shop
for incense sticks
Bashō
chichi no shi o nakuma naku suginu toshi no ichi
no time to cry
since my father's death--
year-end market
Watanabe Suiha
toshi-no-ichi kago ga omokute nekoze baba
year-end
market-basket heavy
humpbacked granny
Uoike Seisui
toshi-no-ichi kaijō mokuba hisoka naru
year-end market
the rocking horse upstairs
becomes quiet
Nakajima Takeshi
toshi no ichi hakuhatsu no haha tadayoeru
year-end market
my white-haired mother
drifts about
Yamada Mizue
The poet's mother threads her way through the crowds and confusion of the year-end market. As she moves
from one stall to another she appears to be floating. No sense here of being rushed but rather of enjoying
the busyness of the market. Stark white hair helps the poet keep her mother in view.
酉の市【とりのいち】 tori no ichi Rooster Market [held on the day of the rooster in November] (early winter)
- 一の酉【いちのとり】 ichi no tori first (day of the) rooster
- 二の酉【にのとり】 ni no tori second (day of the) rooster
- 三の酉【さんのとり】 san no tori third (day of the) rooster
- 酉の町【とりのまち】 tori no machi rooster town [that is, the Rooster Market]
- お酉さま【おとりさま】 otori-sama Mr./Lord Rooster
- 熊手市【くまでいち】 kumade ichi lucky-rake market
- おかめ市【おかめいち】 okame ichi Okame-mask market [mask represents 天鈿女命【あまのうずめのみこと】 Ama no Uzume no Mikoto (also known as Okame), goddess of mirth]
芭蕉忌【ばしょうき】 bashō-ki （ばせをき）, Bashō's (Death) Anniversary / Bashō's Memorial Day [12th day of the 10th lunar month; 28 November Gregorian; Matsuo Bashō (1644-94) is considered the first great master of haikai] (early winter)
- 時雨忌【しぐれき】 shigure-ki Winter-Drizzle Anniversary [for the time of year when Bashō died]
- 桃青忌【とうせいき】 tōsei-ki Peach Green Anniversary [after one of Bashō's longest-used pen names]
- 翁忌【おきなき】 okina-ki Venerable's Anniversary / Old Man's anniversary [in haikai contexts, always refers to Bashō]
The twelfth of the tenth month (28 November Gregorian), by the lunar calendar, is the death anniversary
of the great haikai poet Matsuo Bashō (松尾芭蕉, 1644-94). He became ill after eating tainted
food while travelling in the Kamigata (上方) region, and died in the company of a large gathering of
his disciples. He died at the residence of Hanaya Nizaemon (花屋仁左衛門), of Midōsuji in
Osaka (大阪御堂筋), at the age of 51. In accordance with his last wishes, his remains were interred
at Gichūji Temple (義仲寺) in Ōtsu (大津).
The tenth lunar month is also called Winter-Shower Month (時雨月【しぐれずき】
shigurezuki)
since it is the season showers begin to fall. Bashō was fond of this season, so it is fitting that
his death anniversary is also called "Winter-Shower Anniversary" in haikai. Since Bashō once used
the pen-name "Tōsei" (peach green), "Peach Green Anniversary" is another season word for his death
anniversary, as is "Venerable's Anniversary" after "Venerable Bashō", as he was called.
Because of his reputation as the master who raised haikai to the level of high art, he remains revered
by modern haiku poets and his anniversary is widely celebrated in Japan, often on 12 October. (Note that
many observances formerly celebrated in the lunar calendar have moved to the numerically equivalent date
in the Gregorian calendar, hence shifting their seasonal orientation. But whenever celebrated, in haikai
Bashō-ki is considered an early winter observance.)
bashō-ki to mōsu mo tatta hitori kana
though they say
it's Bashō's Anniversary
all alone
Issa
tōsei-ki yo wa hito no ka no usurekeri
Peach Green Anniversary
at night people's scent
has grown faint
Iida Dakotsu
bashō-ki ya hanarabanare ni shigure ori
Bashō's Anniversary:
scattered here and there
winter showers
Katō Shūson
shigure-ki ya hayashi ni ireba tabigokori
Winter-Showers Anniversary:
entering the woods
with a traveller's heart
Ishida Hakyō
waga yowai todoku bashō no kijitsu kana
my own years
reached his--Bashō's
anniversary day
Gotō Yahan
Bashō died at the age of 51. The poet notes that his own age has already reached this number and,
reflecting on Bashō's life and his great accomplishments, cannot help but be moved by the anniversary
of the master's death.
無村忌【ぶそんき】 buson-ki Buson's (Death) Anniversary / Buson's Memorial Day [25th day of the 12th lunar month; 17 January Gregorian; Yosa Buson (1716-84), second only to Bashō as a great haikai master] (late winter)
- 春星忌【しゅんせいき】 shunsei-ki Spring Star Anniversary [after one of Buson's artistic names]
