仔馬【こうま】 kouma foal (late spring)
- 馬の仔【うまのこ】 uma no ko foal / baby horse.
- 馬の仔生まる【うまのこうまる】 uma no ko umaru a foal is born
- 孕馬【はらみうま】 harami-uma pregnant mare
動物【どうぶつ】 dōbutsu Animals
猫の恋【ねこのこい】 neko no koi （ねこのこひ）, cats' love [refers to their raucous courting] (early spring)
- 恋猫【こいねこ】 koi neko amorous cat
- 浮かれ猫【うかれねこ】 ukare neko philandering cat
- 猫さかる【ねこさかる】 neko sakaru cats mate
- 猫の妻【ねこのつま】 neko no tsuma a cat's (female) mate [note also 猫の夫【ねこのつま】 neko no tsuma, a cat's (male) mate]
Cats come into heat about four times a year, most frequently in spring. At rutting season, cats
cry with a voice like a baby's yowl, courting together in groups. Day and night it seems they contend
madly, their painful cries going on and on. After endless days of carrying on, they return home wounded
and dirty, in pitiful shape. This is a seasonal topic characteristic of haiku, established in Bashō's
day.
"Without body or world" expresses the situation when it is impossible to think of one's self or the world
around one. An amorous cat is not concerned about its appearance, forgets time and place, and earnestly
cries continually; thus the metaphor "without body or world" is skillfully employed.
恋猫のかへる野の星沼の星
橋本多佳子
koineko no kaeru no no hoshi numa no hoshi
the amorous cat
returns--the starry field
the starry marsh
Hashimoto Takako
山国の闇すさまじや猫の恋
原石鼎
yamaguni no yami susamaji ya neko no koi
fierce darkness
of the mountain country . . .
cats in love
Hara Sekitei
恋猫やからくれなゐの紐をひき
松本たかし
koineko ya karakurenai no himo o hiki
the amorous cat . . .
pulled along a dark
red cord
Matsumoto Takashi
はるかなる地上を駆けぬ猫の恋
石田波郷
haruka naru chijō o kakenu neko no koi
distant sound
runs over the ground
the cats' love
Ishida Hakyō
恋猫の恋する猫で押し通す
永田耕衣
koineko no koi suru neko de oshitōsu
an amorous cat's
love for its lover-cat
persists to the end
Nagata KōI
恋猫の身も世もあらず啼きにけり
安住敦
koineko no mi mo yo mo arazu nakinikeri
the amorous cat
without body or world
has become yowl
Anjū Atsushi
蛇穴を出づ【へびあなをいづ】 hebi ana o izu snakes come out of (their) holes (mid spring)
- 蛇出づ【へびいづ】 hebi izu snakes come out
蝌蚪【かと】 kato （くわと）, tadpole(s) (late spring)
- 蝌蚪 kaeruko tadpole(s)
- おたまじゃくし（御玉杓子） otamajakushi tadpole(s)
- 蛙の子【かえるのこ】 kaerunoko baby frog(s)
- 蛙生る【かえるうまる】 kaeru umaru frog(s) is/are born
蛙【かわず】 kawazu （かはづ）, frog(s) [note that this is a literary word] (all spring)
- かえる kaeru frog(s) [the common word]
- 初蛙【はつかわず】 hatsukawazu first frog(s) [usually refers to hearing one or more]
- 遠蛙【とおかわず】 tōkawazu distant frog(s)
- 昼蛙【ひるかわず】 hirukawazu midday frog(s) / frog(s) at midday
- 夕蛙【ゆうかわず】 yūkawazu evening frog(s)
The term kawazu is strongly connected with haiku. While there are various
kinds of frogs, they all tend to choose their habitat in rice fields, ponds, and swamps. The sound of
their croaking becomes most noticeably loud during spring, which is their mating season. The way frogs
crowd around and fight for a chance to mate is called "frogs' war" (蛙合戦 [かえるがっせん]
kaeru gassen), or "frogs' army" (蛙軍 [かえるいくさ] kaeru
ikusa). In haiku, the following three kind of frogs relate specifically to summer: "hikigaeru"(蟇蛙
[ひきがえる]), "amagaeru"(雨蛙 [あまがえる]), and "kajikagaeru" (河鹿蛙 [かじかがえる]).
The frog in the old pond appearing in a famous Bashō haiku is a "king frog"(殿様蛙 [とのさまがえる]),
or a "ground frog" (土蛙 [つちがえる]), which has a tendency to hastily jump into the water when
it hears footsteps.
Has the poet perhaps decided to take a solitary walk on a whim one afternoon? In the rice fields around
the house, frogs are croaking. Which ridge should he take to go home? Any ridge would just as well
take him home, just as any field is equally filled with the frogs' song. In the tone of the poem,
one hears the buoyancy of the poet's heart.
古池やかはづ飛びこむ水の音
芭蕉
furuike ya kawazu tobikomu mizu no oto
an old pond
a frog splashes in
the sound of water
Bashō
やせ蛙負けるな一茶ここにあり
一茶
yasegaeru makeruna Issa koko ni ari
skinny frog,
don't give up
Issa is here
Issa
遠蛙独りで生くる齢なる
中村草田男
tōgaeru hitori de ikuru yowai naru
distant frogs,
the age to live alone
as I am now
Nakamura Kusatao
昼蛙どの畦のどこ曲らうか
石川桂郎
hirukawazu dono aze no doko magarouka
midday frog,
along which ridge should I
make my way?
Ishikawa Keirō
鶯【うぐいす】 uguisu bush warbler [Cettia diphone; sometimes translated as "nightingale" (Luscinia megarhynchos), since it is a small songbird and occupies a position in Japanese literature similar to that of the nightingale in European literature] (all spring)
- 春告鳥【はるつげどり】 haru-tsugedori sign-of-spring bird
- 匂鳥【においどり】 nioidori fragrant bird
- 初鶯【はつうぐいす】 hatsu uguisu first bush warbler
雉【きじ】 kiji pheasant [the common pheasant, Phasianus colchicus] (all spring)
- 雉子【きじ】 kiji pheasant
- きぎす【きぎす】 kigisu pheasant
雲雀【ひばり】 hibari skylark [Alauda arvensis] (all spring)
- 揚雲雀【あげひばり】 age-hibari ascending skylark
- 落雲雀【おちひばり】 ochi-hibari descending skylark
- 夕雲雀【ゆうひばり】 yū-hibari evening skylark
- 雲雀籠【ひばりかご】 hibari kago skylark cage
- 練雲雀【ねりひばり】 neri-hibari trained skylark
燕【つばめ】 tsubame barn swallow(s) [Hirundo rustica] (mid spring)
- 乙鳥【つばめ】 tsubame barn swallow(s)
- つばくろ tsubakuro barn swallow(s)
- つばくらめ tsubakurame barn swallow(s)
- 初燕【はつつばめ】 hatsu-tsubame first barn swallow(s)
- 飛燕【ひえん】 hien swallow(s) in flight
鳥帰る【とりかえる】 tori kaeru （とりかへる）, birds go back [often misleadingly translated "birds return"; refers to those which go back to their (northern/mountain) nesting grounds in the spring, leaving (central/lowland) Japan] (mid spring)
- 小鳥帰る【ことりかえる】 kotori kaeru little birds go back
- 小鳥引く【ことりひく】 kotori hiku little birds depart
- 引鳥【ひくとり】 hiku tori departing birds
囀【さえずり】 saezuri （さへづり）, twittering/chirping [of small birds] (all spring)
- 囀る【さえずる】 saezuru twitter/chirp
- 鳥囀る【とりさえずる】 tori saezuru birds twitter/chirp
雀の子【すずめのこ】 suzume no ko baby sparrow(s) (late spring)
- 子雀【こすずめ】 kosuzume baby sparrow(s)
- 春の雀【はるのすずめ】 haru no suzume sparrows of spring / sparrows in spring
- 黄雀【きすずめ】 kisuzume yellow sparrow / young sparrow [refers to color at the sides of the young sparrow's beak]
- 親雀【おやすずめ】 oyasuzume parent sparrow(s)
巣立鳥【すだちどり】 sudachidori fledgeling (late spring)
- 巣立【すだち】 sudachi leaving the nest
- 親鳥【おやどり】 oyadori parent bird(s)
- 子鳥【ことり】 kotori baby bird
- 鳥巣立つ【すだつ】 tori sudatsu a bird leaves the nest
桜鯛【さくらだい】 sakuradai （さくらだひ）, red sea bream [Sparus species and sometimes also applied to "red snapper" Lutianus species; literally, "cherry sea bream", perhaps in part because they are prominent at the time of blossoming cherries, as well as their color] (late spring)
- 花見鯛【はなみだい】 hanamidai red sea bream [literally, "blossom-viewing sea bream"]
鰊【にしん】 nishin herring (late spring)
白魚【しらうお】 shirauo （しらうを）, whitebait / icefish [Salanx microdon] (early spring)
- しらお【しらお】 shirao whitebait
- 白魚網【しらおあみ】 shirao-ami whitebait net
- 白魚舟【しらおぶね】 shiraobune whitebait boat
- 白魚汁【しらおじる】 shiraojiru whitebait soup
- 白魚火【しらおび】 shiraobi whitebait fire
若鮎【わかあゆ】 waka-ayu young sweetfish ["trout" is sometimes used as a translation for this similarly delicate and much prized fresh-water fish, Plecoglossus altivelia] (late spring)
- 小鮎【こあゆ】 ko-ayu small sweetfish
- 上り鮎【のぼりあゆ】 nobori-ayu climbing sweetfish
- 鮎の子【あゆのこ】 ayu no ko baby sweetfish
花烏賊【はないか】 hanaika (cherry) blossom cuttlefish / (cherry) blossom squid (late spring)
- 桜烏賊【さくらいか】 sakuraika cherry (blossom) squid / cherry (blossom) cuttlefish
飯蛸【いいだこ】 iidako （いひだこ）, webfoot octopus [literally, "cooked-rice octopus"; Octopus ocellatus] (early spring)
- 望潮魚【いいだこ】 iidako （いひだこ）, webfoot octopus [literally, "full-moon tide-fish"]
蛤【はまぐり】 hamaguri cherrystone clam (all spring)
桜貝【さくらがい】 sakuragai cherry (petal) shell(s) [small seashells that very much resemble cherry petals] (all spring)
- 花貝【はながい】 hanagai (cherry) blossom shell(s)
- 紅貝【べにがい】 benigai pink shells
蜆【しじみ】 shijimi Asiatic clam [a freshwater clam, Corbicula fluminea] (all spring)
- 蜆貝【しじみがい】 shijimigai clamshell
- 蜆舟【しじみぶね】 shijimibune clam boat
- 蜆取【しじみとり】 shijimi-tori clamming
- 蜆売【しじみうり】 shijimi-uri clam selling
- 蜆掻【しじみかき】 shijimi kaki clam rake
田螺【たにし】 tanishi mud-snail(s)/paddy-snail(s) (all spring)
- 田螺取【たにしとり】 tanishi-tori gathering mud-snail(s)
- 田螺鳴く【たにしなく】 tanishi naku mud-snails cry [a fanciful image]
蝶【ちょう】 chō （てふ）, butterfly [the spring butterfly image is typically a cabbage white, white members of the family Pieridae; see also "summer butterfly", etc.] (all spring)
- 蝶々【ちょうちょう】 chōchō butterfly
- 初蝶【はつちょう】 hatsuchō first butterfly
- 黄蝶【きちょう】 kichō yellow butterfly [sulphur]
- 胡蝶【こちょう】 kochō sulphur butterfly [literally, "foreign butterfly"]
蚕【かいこ】 kaiko （かひこ）, silkworm (late spring)
- 春蚕【はるご】 harugo spring silkworm
- 捨蚕【すてご】 sutego discarded silkworm / abandoned silkworm
- 毛蚕【けご】 kego silkworm hatchling(s)
- 桑子【くわご】 kuwago mulbery child [i.e., silkworm]
- 病蚕【びょうご】 byōgo sick silkworm
