This and That in the Town of Edo: From Haifu Yanagidaru
Many different people lived in the town of Edo, which was called a city of a million, and they lived many different lives. I will introduce a glimpse of that through Senryu poetry.
Senryu from the Edo period is called Ko-senryu. There was a seven-seven question (called a maeku), and ordinary people would compose and submit a five-seven-five response to it. Excellent works were awarded prize money.
I will introduce works from the Haifu Yanagidaru, which collected these excellent works. The numbers before the poems are the volume number and poem number of the Haifu Yanagidaru.
A soot-sweeper with no face appearing to answer the door
1-48A soot-sweeper with no face appearing to answer the door What a nuisance, what a nuisance
At the end of the year, there is a custom called soot-sweeping. In an era without electricity or gas, people burned wood to start fires. This produced a lot of soot, so a year's worth of soot-sweeping was necessary.December 13th is the day for soot-sweeping, and when you clean, your face gets covered in soot. This poem is about how if a guest arrives at such a time, you are troubled because you cannot go out to greet them.
Since the maeku is "what a nuisance," it was likely composed by thinking about what things are annoying.
There is also this work about soot-sweeping.
Washing the soot-sweeper's face, it's someone I know
1-607Washing the soot-sweeper's face, it's someone I know Oh my, oh my, oh my, oh my
When they washed the soot-covered face, it was a familiar face. It is exactly the "oh my, oh my" situation mentioned in the maeku.
Having the cutting board planed during a smoke break
3-13Having the cutting board planed during a smoke break Just a casual request, just a casual request
Wooden cutting boards get dented in the middle the more you use them. A carpenter happened to be visiting, so I wanted him to plane it, but he was working. This poem is about how I asked him casually during his smoke break, and he did it for me.
There is also this poem about tobacco.
My own tobacco is offered to me by someone else
2-32My own tobacco is offered to me by someone else Indeed it is, indeed it is
When you visited someone in the old days, they would serve tea and offer you tobacco, saying, "Please have a smoke." Tea is one thing, but the tobacco was something I brought myself. This poem is about the confusion of having your own things offered to you by someone else.
As the maeku says, it is indeed just like that.
Things that Columbus and those who followed him brought to Europe and that spread throughout the world in the blink of an eye include syphilis and tobacco. There were many syphilis patients in the town of Edo, and tobacco was a daily necessity that everyone smoked.
Even in the countryside a few decades ago, it was standard to serve tea and bring out an ashtray when someone visited. "Having a smoke" and "doing tobacco" were used to mean "taking a break."
In the town of Edo, both men and women smoked tobacco. Oh, and yet, look at the lack of smoking areas today. Even though it is permitted by law, if you smoke, you are thought of as a villain.
Holding mother's hand, the kotatsu is put away
1-380Holding mother's hand, the kotatsu is put away What a disaster, what a disaster
Speaking of heating in the old days, it was hibachi and kotatsu. You could also light a cigarette with the charcoal from the hibachi. Inside the kotatsu, because it was hidden, men and women could flirt. Thinking it was that girl's hand, I grabbed it, but it was the mother's hand. If the angry mother puts the kotatsu away, you can't even get warm. It truly is a "disaster."
The bride's face, glared at from outside the glasses
2-471The bride's face, glared at from outside the glasses Enduring it, enduring it
As mentioned in the preceding phrase, the one enduring is the bride. She is enduring the mother-in-law's treatment.
A verse about a mother-in-law doing needlework while wearing glasses, glaring at the bride. Just being looked at like that must be chilling.
It is said that glasses were introduced to Japan by Francis Xavier in 1549. While glasses in Europe were hooked over the ears with strings, in Japan, they were made to hook onto the nose. Surprisingly, glasses have been used for a long time and were also made in Japan.
People over a hundred years ago lived lives similar to those of us living today.
Knowing Edo senryu also leads to thinking about our own lives today.
The title image is from the kibyoshi "Komansai Angya Nikki." That work is here,
A summary of the old senryu from "Haifu Yanagidaru" is included in the latter part of this, containing everything introduced so far,