[Biographies of Famous Women of Past and Present] Gion Kajiko
|Gion Kajiko| About 150 or 160 years ago from now, there was a woman of elegant nature named Kajiko who ran a teahouse in the Gion Woods in the east of the capital. From a young age, she was skilled at composing poems and was admired by poets (soukaku) from near and far. She produced many excellent poems in her lifetime. She collected them into a single volume and named it "Kaji no Ha" (Leaves of the Paper Mulberry).
Among them, the poem she composed about the night sleet is particularly outstanding and is on everyone's lips.
If it were snow, I would keep it on the branches and see it tomorrow,
but it is only the sound of the night sleet.
In some books published by certain people, the final phrase is mistakenly written as "oto nomi zo shite" (only the sound). With this, the particles (te-ni-o-ha) are difficult to balance.
In the "Konzan Shu" (Collection of Mount Kunlun), it says:
On the leaves of the paper mulberry, hang the Tanabata festival poems
* "Soukaku" refers to a poet or a person of refined taste.
* "Kaji no Ha" is the personal poetry collection of Gion Kajiko. Reference: "Gion Sannyo Kashu (Collection of Poems by Three Women of Gion) (Kaji no Ha) (National Diet Library Digital Collections)
* "Nazuku" means to name or title.
* "Jinko ni kaisha suru" means to be widely known and admired by people in society.
* "Te-ni-o-ha" refers to Japanese grammatical particles.
* "Konzan Shu" is a haikai anthology published in the early Edo period. "Konzan Shu. Vol. 1-13, Appendix / Edited by Ryotoku" (Waseda University Library Database of Classical Japanese Books)
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Kajiko was a woman who lived in the mid-Edo period.
Dates of birth and death unknown (mid-Edo period)
She was the daughter of a teahouse owner in the Gion Woods, and details about her birth and background are unknown.
Kajiko was good at poetry from a young age. At the end of her fourteenth year, she became known for a poem she composed on the theme of "Year-End Love" (Saibo Koi), which was considered excellent.
On the theme of "Year-End Love"
Longing and longing, this year too has ended in vain,
will the ice of my tears melt tomorrow?
I think this poem, written in her mid-teens (fourteen in the traditional counting system is equivalent to 15-16 today), shows skill that puts adults to shame. She captures the atmosphere of the end of the year and the subtleties of adult emotions without missing a beat.
People at the time must have been surprised by this. I believe it was due to her innate poetic talent combined with the human observation skills she cultivated at the teahouse in the Gion Woods.
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The Gion Woods refers to the current grounds of Yasaka Shrine and the surrounding forest. At the time, it was called Gion-sha Kanshin-in. It became Yasaka Shrine following the Shinto and Buddhism separation policy of the Meiji Restoration.
Kajiko's teahouse is said to have been located near the front approach to Gion-sha (the large torii gate in the bottom right of the figure below).
Source: National Diet Library Digital Collections "Dainippon Meisho Zue (Illustrated Guide to Famous Places in Great Japan)"
Kajiko's teahouse must have been bustling with many worshippers. The lively scene of the front approach can also be seen in "Gion Otorii" by the Osaka ukiyo-e artist Hasegawa Sadanobu.
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The name "Kajiko" is derived from the leaves of the paper mulberry (kaji).
Since the ancient Heian period, mulberry leaves have been used as a medium for writing poems.
For us today, Tanabata wishes are written on paper strips, but in the Edo period, they were apparently written on mulberry leaves. Looking at the shape of the leaf, it feels just right for writing thirty-one characters.
In the Tanabata festival section of the 'Hoei Karaku Saiken-zu' published in the mid-Edo period, children are depicted writing characters on mulberry leaves.
The mulberry leaves with wishes written on them are floated down the river. I thought it was interesting that they brought writing desks all the way to the riverside.
Also, in the Kyoto event known as 'Kaji-no-ha Nagashi' (Mulberry Leaf Floating), it seems there were large-scale mulberry leaf decorations like this.
Source: National Diet Library Digital Collections 'Miyako Meisho Zue Shui'
It must have been natural for a girl who was good at poetry to be called 'Kaji' (Mulberry).
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In the fourth year of Hoei (1707), Kajiko's poems were published as the 'Kaji no Ha' (Mulberry Leaves) poetry collection. The illustrations were provided by the fan painter Miyazaki Yuzen, who is considered the inventor of Yuzen dyeing.
Source: National Diet Library Digital Collections 'Gion Sanjo Kashu '
Kajiko adopted a daughter and named her Yuriko. Yuriko was also skilled at poetry, inherited the teahouse, and published her own poetry collection, 'Sayuri-ba' (Small Lily Leaves).
Yuriko gave birth to a daughter, and that child (Machiko) later became the wife (Gyokuran) of the master of Nanga painting, Ike no Taiga. Gyokuran also published a poetry collection, 'Shirofuyo' (White Hibiscus).
[Kajiko's granddaughter Gyokuran and Ike no Taiga]
'Sentetsu Zoden Kinsei Kijinden Hyakka Kiko Den '
The three generations of mothers and daughters of the Gion forest, starting with Kajiko, were likely one of the centers of literature in Gion, Kyoto.
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If it were snow, I would let it rest on the branches and see it tomorrow,
but I only hear the sound of the night hail.
* Reference: "Kinsei Kijin-den (Gion no Kajiko)", "Kinsei Kijin-den Vol. 1-5 (Gion no Kajiko)", "Miyako Meisho Zue Shui (Kaji)", "Nihon Shiden Bunsen Vol. 2 (Gion no Kajiko)", "Itsuwa Bunko: Popular Education, Women's Volume (Gion no Kajiko)", "Fuso Shoga Kan-in Shuran (Gion no Kajiko)", "Meijo-den (Gion no Kajiko) (Yuri-jo) (Gyokuran)", "Shinsen Nihon Shoga Jinmei Jisho Vol. 1, Calligraphers Section (Yuriko)", "Shinsen Ukiyoe Nenpyo (Kaji no Ha) (Sayuri-ba)", "Great Figures of Modern Science (Ninsei and Yuzen)", "Gion Sanjo Kashu (Kaji no Ha) (Sayuri-ba) (Shirofuyo)", "Joryu Bungaku Zenshu Vol. 4 (Kaji no Ha)", "Ukiyoe and Woodblock Prints (Miyazaki Yuzen)" (National Diet Library Digital Collections)
Author's Note: ● indicates characters that could not be deciphered. I will update this as needed when new characters are deciphered or when I notice typos or misreadings. For more details, please read the "
Self-Introduction/Disclaimer" section. 📖