{{Short description|"Season word" used in Japanese poetry}} {{other uses}} {{Italic title|reason=:Category:Japanese words and phrases}} [[File:Cherry tree blossoms.jpg|thumb|Cherry blossoms (''sakura''), often simply called blossoms ({{transliteration|ja|hana}}) are a common spring kigo.]]
A {{nihongo||季語|'''kigo'''|extra='season word'}} is a word or phrase associated with a particular season, used in traditional forms of Japanese poetry. Kigo are used in the collaborative linked-verse forms renga and renku, as well as in haiku, to indicate the season referred to in the stanza. They are valuable in providing economy of expression.
==History== Representation of, and reference to, the seasons has long been important in Japanese culture and poetry. The earliest anthology of Japanese poetry, the mid-8th century {{transliteration|ja|Man'yōshū}}, contained several sections devoted to the seasons. By the time of the first imperial Japanese anthology, the {{transliteration|ja|Kokinshū}} a century and a half later (AD 905), the seasonal sections had become a much larger part of the anthology. Both of these anthologies had sections for other categories such as love poems and miscellaneous ({{transliteration|ja|zō}}) poems.{{sfn|Higginson|1996b|pp=31-34}}
The writing of the linked-verse form renga dates to the middle of the Heian period (roughly AD 1000) and developed through the medieval era. Over time, set rules developed for the writing of renga, and its formal structure specified that about half of the stanzas should include a reference to a specific season, depending upon their place in the poem. According to these rules, the {{transliteration|ja|hokku}} (the opening stanza of the renga) must include a reference to the season in which the renga was written. Poets as early as Iio Sogi (1421-1502) introduced the concept of seasonal references with anthologies of seasonal topics.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Blyth |first=R.H. |date=1963 |title=A History of Haiku Volume One |url=https://thehaikufoundation.org/omeka/items/show/215 |access-date=13 January 2024 |website=The Haiku Foundation Digital Library |page=68 of PDF, page 46 of original text}}{{harvnb|Addiss|2012|p=47}}{{harvnb|Higginson|1996b|pp=94-95}}</ref>
A lighter form of renga called {{transliteration|ja|haikai no renga}} ("playful" linked verse) was introduced in the 16th century,{{sfnp|Ueda|1991|p=428}} and became a salon type recreation by the Tokugawa era.{{sfn|Higginson|1996b|p=19}} Poets soon began to compose {{transliteration|ja|hokku}} independent of the longer, collaborative renga and it began to become an independent style.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=William Scott |title=A Beginner's Guide to Japanese Haiku |publisher=Tuttle Publishing |year=2022 |isbn=978-4-8053-1687-0 |pages=15 |language=English}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> In the early twentieth century poets began experimenting with breaking the traditional elements of haiku, such as omitting the kigo entirely. This eventually led to the New Haiku and free verse haiku movements, which advocated more modern styles of haiku. Today most Japanese haiku include a kigo, though many haiku written in languages other than Japanese omit it (see for example Haiku in English).{{sfn|Higginson|1996b|pp=109-112}}
==Significance== Season words are evocative of images that are associated with the same time of year. For readers in New England, a poem about frost on a pumpkin evokes other sensations and traditions, like frosty air and apple cider. For Higginson writing in ''The Haiku Seasons'', season words are a type of logopoeia--a word used not just for its meaning, but for its associations with other ideas.{{sfn|Higginson|1996b|pp=94-95}}
==Seasons== thumb|right|The moon is associated with autumn in Japanese poetry. The association of kigo with a particular season may be obvious, though sometimes it is more subtle. In Japan, Pumpkins ({{transliteration|ja|kabocha}}) are a winter squash associated with the autumn harvest. It may be less obvious why the ''moon'' ({{transliteration|ja|tsuki}}) is an autumn kigo, since it is visible year round. In autumn the days become shorter and the nights longer, yet they are still warm enough to stay outside, so one is more likely to notice the moon. Often, the night sky will be free of clouds in autumn, with the moon visible. The full moon can help farmers work after the sun goes down to harvest their crops (a ''harvest moon'').{{sfn|Higginson|1996b|pp=108-109}}<ref>{{cite web |author1-link=22 July 2011 |title=Kiyose - collection of season words in Japan - Autumn |url=http://haiku.cc.ehime-u.ac.jp/~shiki/kukai/kiyose-autumn.html |website=Shiki Internet Haiku Salon |access-date=17 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722071506/http://haiku.cc.ehime-u.ac.jp/~shiki/kukai/kiyose-autumn.html|archive-date=22 July 2011}}</ref>
===Japanese seasons=== Japan is long from north to south, so the seasonal features vary from place to place. The sense of season in kigo is based on the region between Kyoto and Tokyo, because Japanese classical literature developed mainly in this area.{{sfn|Higginson|1996b|p=21}} In the Japanese calendar, seasons traditionally followed the lunisolar calendar with the solstices and equinoxes at the middle of a season. The traditional Japanese seasons are:
*Spring: 4 February–5 May *Summer: 6 May–7 August *Autumn: 8 August–6 November *Winter: 7 November–3 February
Within season categories, kigo can denote early, middle, or late parts of a season, which are defined approximately as the first, second, or third month of the season.<ref>Higginson, William J. ''Kiyose (Seasonword Guide)'', From Here Press, 2005, p.24</ref> In linked haiku forms like renku, subsequent linked haiku must move forward in season temporally. There are other rules governing season words in renku, including the frequency of certain season words, and how many stanzas remain in a season, once mentioned.<ref name="five hundred">{{cite web |last1=Yamamoto |first1=Kenkichi |title=The Five Hundred Essential Japanese Season Words |url=https://www.thehaikufoundation.org/omeka/files/original/d22bc15ada2b14fa309f849c3fddab5f.pdf |publisher=Renku Home |access-date=15 July 2024}}</ref>{{sfn|Higginson|1996b|pp=60-61}}
==''Saijiki'' and lists of kigo== {{Main|Saijiki}} {{main|List of kigo}} [[File:A sunflower.jpg|thumb|right|A sunflower, a typical summer kigo.]] Japanese haiku poets often use a book called a {{transliteration|ja|saijiki}}, which lists {{transliteration|ja|kigo}} with example poems. An entry in a {{transliteration|ja|saijiki}} usually includes a description of the kigo itself, together with a list of similar or related words, and some examples of haiku that include that kigo.{{sfnp|Gill|2007|p=18}} The {{transliteration|ja|saijiki}} are divided into the four seasons (and modern {{transliteration|ja|saijiki}} usually include a section for seasonless ({{transliteration|ja|muki}}) words). Those sections are divided into a standard set of categories, and then the kigo are sorted within their proper category. ''Japan Great Saikiji'' uses the sub-categories of season words, the heavens, earth, humanity, observances, animals, and plants.{{sfn|Higginson|1996b|pp=96-97; 100-101; 113-116}}
Examples of Japanese summer kigo are:<ref name="five hundred"/>
'''Summer''' * The Season: short night, burning, hot * The Sky and Heavens: rainy season, evening downpour, afterglow, drought * The Earth: waterfall, summer meadow, clear water * Humanity: switching clothes, straw mats, swimming, fireworks * Observances: Boys' Day (May 5), Gion festival (July) * Animals: fawn, mosquito, cuckoo * Plants: peony, lotus flower, orange blossoms, lily, sunflower
==Outside Japan== Haiku started as a form of Japanese poetry and is now written in many different languages around the world. William J. Higginson's ''Haiku World'' (1996), which is the first international {{transliteration|ja|saijiki}}, contains more than 1,000 poems, by over 600 poets writing in 25 languages.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Welch |first1=Michael Dylan |title=HAIKU WORLD: AN INTERNATIONAL POETRY ALMANAC |journal=Woodnotes |date=Autumn 1997 |issue=31 |url=https://www.graceguts.com/reviews/haiku-world-an-international-poetry-almanac}}</ref> The writing of haiku around the world has increased with the advent of the internet, where one can even find examples of haiku written in Latin, Esperanto, and Klingon, as well as numerous examples in more common languages.<ref>{{cite web |title=jach qa'rol – A collection of Klingon haiku – Klingon Language Institute |url=https://www.kli.org/product/jach-qarol-a-collection-of-klingon-haiku/ |publisher=Klingon Language Institute |access-date=17 July 2024}} {{cite web |title=Hajko en Esperanto |url=https://www.vastalto.com/hajko/hajko.cgi |website=www.vastalto.com}} {{cite web |last1=Ricius |first1=Alexander |title=Crateris Chilias |url=http://www.pitaka.ch/ricius.htm |website=www.pitaka.ch}}</ref>
[[File:Jacarandatree.jpg|thumb|right|A large Jacaranda tree in full bloom]] Different regions internationally have their own lists of kigo. The Southern California Haiku Study group created their own list, which includes regional weather like June gloom and smog, Forest fires, seasonal events like the Tournament of Roses Parade, and local flora like the Jacaranda.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dee |first1=Billie |title=Southern California Season Words |url=https://socal-kigolist.blogspot.com/ |website=Southern California Haiku Study Group |access-date=15 July 2024}}</ref>
==Kigo and haiku: an example== In the famous haiku by Matsuo Bashō below, {{nihongo|"frog"|蛙|kawazu}} is a {{transliteration|ja|kigo}} for spring. Haiku had been traditionally written about the singing of mating frogs, but Bashō chose to focus on a very different sound.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Welch |first1=Michael Dylan |title=This Perfect Rose: The Lasting Legacy of William J. Higginson |journal=Juxta |date=May 2014 |volume=1 |issue=1 |url=https://www.graceguts.com/essays/this-perfect-rose-the-lasting-legacy-of-william-j-higginson}}</ref> {| border="0" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="4px" | {{nihongo2|古池や <br />{{color|green|'''蛙'''}}飛び込む <br />水の音 }} | {{transliteration|ja|Furuike ya<br />{{color|green|'''Kawazu'''}} tobikomu<br />Mizu no oto}} | The old pond;<br />A {{color|green|'''frog'''}} jumps in,—<br />The sound of the water.<ref>Translation by R.H. Blyth in Sato, Hiroaki. ''One Hundred Frogs: from renga to haiku to English''. Weatherhill, 1983 {{ISBN|0834801760}} p154</ref> |}
==Haiku without kigo== Haiku without kigo is possible, and are described as {{transliteration|ja|Muki}} {{lang|ja|無季}} (no-season).<ref name=kaneko/> Because of the practice of anthologizing haiku in saijiki, haiku that did not mention seasons were not as well-known, and many haiku writers assumed that haiku had to contain a kigo. Poems on non-seasonal topics appeared in the imperial anthology {{transliteration|ja|Kokinshū}}, such as love, travel, and religion. Usually about half the stanzas in a renku do not reference a season. In contemporary haiku composition, Japanese haiku writers disagree about if a haiku requires a kigo, while writers outside of Japan feel free to write haiku without kigo.{{sfn|Higginson|1996b|pp=109-111}} The Modern Haiku Association of Japan published a collection of kigo in 2004 which included non-seasonal kigo.<ref name=kaneko>{{cite web |last1=Gilbert |first1=Richard |last2=Kaneko |first2=Tohta |title=A New Haiku Era: Non-season kigo in the Gendai Haiku saijiki |url=https://www.thehaikufoundation.org/omeka/items/show/857|publisher=The Haiku Foundation Digital Library |date=Summer 2006}}</ref>
==See also== * Culture of Japan * Haiku in English * List of kigo
==Further reading== ===Print=== * {{lang|ja|『入門歳時記』大野林火監修、俳句文学館編。角川書店}} 、{{ISBN|4-04-063000-9}}. [Title: "Introductory Saijiki", editor: "Ōno Rinka", Publisher: Kadokawa Shoten] * {{cite book |last=Gill |first=Robin D.|author-link=Robin D. Gill |title=The Fifth Season—Poems to Re-Create the World: In Praise of Olde Haiku: New Year Ku; Books 1 & 2 |location= |publisher=Paraverse Press |date=2007 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VWFl5iFIi_cC&pg=PA18 |page= |isbn=<!--0974261890, -->978-0-9742618-9-8}} * {{cite book |last=Higginson |first=William J. |author-link=William J. Higginson |author-mask=2 |title=Kiyose (Seasonword Guide) |location= |publisher=From Here Press |date=2005 |url= |page= |isbn=<!---->978-0-89120-041-3}}<!--http://booklikes.com/kiyose-season-word-guide-william-j-higginson/book,9382327--> :(24 pp. A pocket kiyose listing over 700 Japanese kigo in English, ordered by season and category) ===Online=== {{refbegin}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060709202123/http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/japanese/haiku/saijiki/ Japanese Haiku — a Topical Dictionary] at the [https://web.archive.org/web/20050121101920/http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/japanese/ Univ. of Virginia Japanese Text Initiative] a work-in-progress based on the Nyu-mon Saijiki by the Museum of Haiku Literature in Tokyo, most translations by William J. Higginson and Lewis Cook * [http://www.kyoshi.or.jp/12month/12month-1.htm ''Haiku in Twelve Months''] by Inahata Teiko, on the Kyoshi Memorial Museum website {{refend}} ===Online lists of season words=== {{refbegin}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20150615160130/http://youngleaves.org/season-word-list/ The Yuki Teikei Haiku Season Word List] from the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society (Northern California) * Kiyose from the Shiki Internet Haiku Salon: ** [https://web.archive.org/web/20110722071448/http://haiku.cc.ehime-u.ac.jp/~shiki/kukai/kiyose-spring.html spring kigo] ** [https://web.archive.org/web/20110722071456/http://haiku.cc.ehime-u.ac.jp/~shiki/kukai/kiyose-summer.html summer kigo] ** [https://web.archive.org/web/20110722071506/http://haiku.cc.ehime-u.ac.jp/~shiki/kukai/kiyose-autumn.html autumn kigo] ** [https://web.archive.org/web/20110722071518/http://haiku.cc.ehime-u.ac.jp/~shiki/kukai/kiyose-winter.html winter kigo] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20041023102047/http://home.gci.net/~alaskahaiku/saijiki.html Alaska Haiku Society Saijiki], with pictures and commentary for some kigo {{refend}}
==Notes== {{reflist}}
==References== * {{cite book |last1=Addiss |first1=Stephen |title=The Art of Haiku: Its History Through Poems and Paintings by Japanese Masters |date=2012 |publisher=Shambhala |isbn=9781590308868}} * {{cite book |last=Higginson |first=William J. |author-link=William J. Higginson |title=Haiku World: An International Poetry Almanac |location= |publisher=Kodansha International |date=1996a |url= |page= |isbn=4770020902|ref={{SfnRef|Higginson|1996a}}}} :(An international haiku saijiki with over 1,000 haiku from poets in 50 countries covering 680 seasonal topics) * {{cite book |last=Higginson |first=William J. |author-link=William J. Higginson |author-mask=2 |title=The Haiku Seasons: Poetry of the Natural World |location=Berkeley |publisher=Kodansha|date=1996|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_q69itupXQsC |page= |isbn=4770016298|ref={{SfnRef|Higginson|1996b}}}} :(a companion book to ''Haiku World'' discussing the development of haiku, and the importance of the seasons and kigo to haiku) * {{cite book |last=Ueda |first=Makoto |author-link=Makoto Ueda (poetry critic) |title=Basho and His Interpreters: Selected Hokku with Commentary |location= |publisher=Stanford University Press |date=1991 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kmdWOrsYBgMC&pg=PA428 |page= |isbn=<!--0804725268, -->9780804725262}}
{{Japanese poetry}}
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Category:Kigo Category:Japanese poetry Category:Japanese literature Category:Japanese literary terminology