[LAW Document 72 Hours] "Saigyo" by Masako Shirasu

"Saigyo" (Shincho Bunko) by Masako Shirasu

"May I die under the cherry blossoms in spring, around the time of the full moon in February"

The three faces of Saigyo.

A figure who existed between the

"aware" (pathos)

of the nobility and the

"appare" (valor)

of the samurai.

Because of this, I believe he is all the more extremely important in the history of Japanese culture.

Zeami, the master of Noh in the Muromachi period, depicted

"Saigyo-zakura"

.

"I believe that Saigyo's true value lies in the fact that he pursued his aesthetic passions with an unbelievable strength of spirit, and that he sang of the fate of human life, which is at times as fleeting as a rainbow and as swift and impermanent as the wind." (From Masako Shirasu's "Saigyo", p. 294)

This book follows his life while tracing the journeys of Saigyo, who left behind only his waka poetry.

It is also a masterpiece that proposes a new theory regarding his reason for entering the priesthood at the young age of 23.

He entered the priesthood due to his unrequited love for Taikenmon-in Shoshi (Fujiwara no Shoshi).

Saigyo loved cherry blossoms and left behind over 200 waka poems about them.

Cherry blossoms at the boundary between life and death.

"May I die in spring beneath the blossoms, around the time of the full moon in the second month."

I was a bit curious, so I checked the etymology of 'sakura'...

"The 'Japan' Created by Cherry Blossoms: A Journey to the Origins of Somei Yoshino" (Iwanami Shinsho) by Toshiki Sato

'Sa' refers to the spirit of grain.

'Kura' is the place where a deity sits.

The place where the spirit of grain first descends after the snow melts and winter ends.

"The Science of Kacho Fugetsu" (Chuko Bunko) by Seigo Matsuoka

'Sakura' is a word derived from 'saku' (to bloom).

'Saku' originates from the word 'saki'.

'Saki' is a state where energy is full and one cannot proceed any further.

Energy becomes saturated, bursts, and emerges forward.

That is what it means to 'bloom'.

Saigyo's waka poems about cherry blossoms, where the blossoms and the moon combine, are somehow wonderful.

"Though I know not where the cherry blossoms go, invited by the wind, the heart that laments them remains within me."

"When I look at the moon, the cherry branches in the wind feel as if they are telling me they are flowers."

"Gazing from beneath the flowers that mingle with the clouds, the moon appears hazy."

"The dream of seeing the spring breeze scatter the flowers makes my heart flutter even after I wake."

"The heart that laments the scattering flowers remains, perhaps to become the seed for the spring that will come again."

Cherry blossoms in full bloom eventually scatter, and the full moon eventually wanes.

I think that only by projecting them onto one's own life can one truly understand the beauty of nature.

Perhaps he was reflecting the image of Taikenmon-in in the cherry blossoms and pouring his feelings into them.

"May I die under the cherry blossoms in spring, around the time of the full moon in February."

Just as he wished in this poem, Saigyo passed away in late March when the cherry blossoms were in bloom.

With that death, his aesthetic was finally completed.