Takarai Kikaku

Takarai Kikaku, 宝井其角 (1661-1707), also known as Enomoto Kikaku, was a Japanese haikai poet and a disciple of Matsuo Bashō. ["Eighteen Haiku by Kikaku, translated by Michael K. Bourdaghs", in [http://www.nycbigcitylit.com/feb2004/contents/poetrybourdaghs.html Big City Lit, Feb 2004] ] He is best known for his haiku, such as the one in this anecdote about him and his master Bashō: One day, Kikaku composed a haiku,:"Red dragonfly / break off it wings / Sour cherry" which Basho changed to, :"Sour cherry / add wings to it / Red dragonfly"; thus saying that poetry should add life to life, not take life away from life. [ [http://www.midwestbookreview.com/rbw/oct_01.htm MBR: Reviewer's Bookwatch, October 2001 ] ] [ [http://www.williammichaelian.com/conversation/conversation29.html The Conversation Continues - Page 28 ] ]

Kikaku left an important historical document, describing Bashō's final days, and the immediate aftermath of his death, which has been translated into English. [Takarai, Kikaku. "An Account of Our Master Basho's Last Days", translated by Nobuyuki Yuasa in "Springtime in Edo". Keisuisha, 2006. ISBN 4-87440-920-2, pp.15-26]

In commemoration of the 300th anniversary of Kikaku's death, Nobuyuki Yuasa led an international bilingual (Japanese and English) renku, or collaborative linked poem, which opened with the following hokku by Kikaku: [Yuasa, Nobuyuki et al. "Springtime in Edo". Keisuisha, 2006. ISBN 4-87440-920-2, pp.3-9]

:鐘ひとつ賣れぬ日はなし江戸の春

:Springtime in Edo,:Not a day passes without:A temple bell sold.

References

External links

* [http://www.thegreenleaf.co.uk/HP/Kikaku/00haiku.htm A selection of Kikaku's haiku translated into English]
* [http://simplyhaiku.com/SHv4n3/features/Nobuyuki.html Kikaku's "An Account of Our Master Basho's Last Days"]
* [http://simplyhaiku.com/SHv4n4/renku/springtime.html "Springtime in Edo"] , the international renku composed in memory of the 300th anniversary of Kikaku's death