Poetry Wednesday; Japanese Poetry

Japanese poetry

http://lauritasita.multiply.com/journal/item/1376/Poetry_Wednesday_070809_Sign_in_and_take_the_tour

Left on the beach
Full of water,
A worn out boat
Reflects the white sky
Of early autumn.

Nagisa naru
Sutareshi fune ni
Mizu michite
Shiroku utsureru
Hatsu-aki no sora

YOSANO AKIKO
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When I went out
In the Spring meadows
To gather violets,
I enjoyed myself
So much that I stayed all night.

Haru no nu ni
Sumire tsumi ni to
Koshi ware zo
Nu wo natukashimi
Hito yo nenikeru

AKAHITO 8th century
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The hanging raindrops
Have not dried from the needles
Of the fir forest
Before the evening mist
Of Autumn rises.

Murasame no
Tsuyu mo mada hinu
Maki no ha ni
Kiri tachi noboru
Aki no yugure

THE MONK JAKUREN
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The hanging raindrops
Have not dried from the needles
Of the fir forest
Before the evening mist
Of Autumn rises.

Murasame no
Tsuyu mo mada hinu
Maki no ha ni
Kiri tachi noboru
Aki no yugure

THE MONK JAKUREN
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If you liked these you can find lots more here.
http://www.fisdk12.net/ba/japan/poems.htm



Hokusai (1760-1849)
Katsushika Hokusai, Japan's best known artist, is ironically Japan's least Japanese artist. Japan's best known woodblock print, The Great Wave, is very un-Japanese. Welcome to the artist often known as Hokusai.
Hokusai (1760-1849) lived during the Tokugawa period (1600 to 1867). In a Japan of traditional Confucian values and feudal regimentation, Hokusai was a thoroughly Bohemian artist: cocky, quarrelsome, restless, aggressive, and sensational. He fought with his teachers and was often thrown out of art schools. As a stubborn artistic genius, he was single-mindedly obsessed with art. Hokusai left over 30,000 works, including silk paintings, woodblock prints, picture books, manga, travel illustrations, erotic illustrations, paintings, and sketches. Some of his paintings were public spectacles which measured over 200 sq. meters (2,000 sq. feet.) He didn't care much for being sensible or social respect; he signed one of his last works as "The Art-Crazy Old Man". In his 89 years, Hokusai changed his name some thirty times (Hokusai wasn't his real name) and lived in at least ninety homes. We laugh and recognize him as an artist, but wait, that's because we see him as a Western artist, long before the West arrived in Japan.
Hokusai started out as a art student of woodblocks and paintings. During the 600-year Shogun period, Japan had sealed itself off from the rest of the world. Contact with Western culture was forbidden. Nevertheless, Hokusai discovered and studied the European copper-plate engravings that were being smuggled into the country. Here he learned about shading, coloring, realism, and landscape perspective. He introduced all of these elements into woodblock and ukiyo-e art and thus revolutionized and invigorated Japanese art.

Information from
http://andreas.com/hokusai.html