The only substantial
collection in English
of Basho's renku, tanka,
letters and spoken word
along with his haiku, travel
journals, and essays.
The only poet in old-time
literature who paid attention with praise
to ordinary women, children, and teenagers
in hundreds of poems
Hundreds upon hundreds of Basho works
(mostly renku)about women, children,
teenagers, friendship, compassion, love.
These are resources we can use to better
understand ourselves and humanity.
Interesting and heartfelt
(not scholarly and boring)
for anyone concerned with
humanity.
“An astonishing range of
social subject matter and
compassionate intuition”
"The primordial power
of the feminine emanating
from Basho's poetry"
Hopeful, life-affirming
messages from one of
the greatest minds ever.
Through his letters,
we travel through his mind
and discover Basho's
gentleness and humanity.
I plead for your help in
finding a person or group
to take over my 3000 pages of Basho material,
to edit and improve the material, to receive 100%
of royalties, to spread Basho’s wisdom worldwide
and preserve for future generations.
Quotations from Basho Prose
The days and months are
guests passing through eternity.
The years that go by
also are travelers.
The mountains in silence
nurture the spirit;
the water with movement
calms the emotions.
All the more joyful,
all the more caring
Seek not the traces
of the ancients;
seek rather the
places they sought.
遊女の他にも、街道沿いの茶店や宿で働く「飯盛女」もまた客にセックスを提供していた。“vast numbers of unofficially recognized prostitutes thronged early modern Japanese society.”(Sone 1999, 174）もし芭蕉が下の記録において、売春宿の外で体を売っていた女性をさして、適切でない遊女という語を用いているのならば、その女はヒモか牛夫を連れていなければならない。Sone(1999, 176）は “instances of individual prostitution in which a woman made a living without an employer or anyone watching over (or living off) her were extremely rare”と述べている。₁
“What terrible karma accounts for our inconstant vows, the sins we have daily committed? We are wretched indeed.” 訳している。‘sin（罪）’とは「宗教的な戒律や法的道徳を犯し、神や人間性に背くこと」である。芭蕉の原文にはどこにも‘sin’について書いていない。この遊女たちは罪を犯していないし、逆に彼女たちは男たちが犯した罪によって生まれた被害者なのだ。
Yuasa Nobuyuki(1967, 131)は以下のように述べて、さらに明確にその惨めさは被害者である彼女たち自身のせいにしている。“having been forced to find a new companion each night, they had to renew their pledge of love at every turn, thus proving each time the fatal sinfulness of their nature.” Yuasaはこの遊女たちは私娼であると想定している。なぜなら、売春宿では女性たちは‘相手を探す’必要はなく、宿側が客に割り当てるか、客側が女を選ぶからだ。Keeneが女性たちが罪を犯したと言う一方、湯浅は “fatal sinfulness of their nature’ というフレーズで罪を女性に内在するものにしている。これは仏教の教義である業因とユダヤキリスト教の原罪というものを混同しているのではないだろうか。
１ この一節は J.E. deBecker, The Nightless City: Or the History of the Yoshiwara Yukwaku の19世紀の売春について述べられたものから抜粋されたもので、芭蕉の時代と基本的には変わっていないと思う。
２ 日本語の現代語訳はすべて日本古典文学全集71巻、2003年）による
【参考文献】
井本農一2003 「松尾芭蕉集②」井本農一ほか『新編日本古典文学全集７１』小学館
Aitken, Robert, 1978．A Zen Wave: Basho’s Haiku and Zen, Weatherhill.
Barnhill, David Landis. 2005. Basho's Journey: The Literary Prose Of Matsuo Basho. State University of New York Press.
De Becker, J.E. original publication 1899/ 2000. The Nightless City: or the History of the Yoshiwara Yūkwaku. New York: ICG Muse, Inc.
Hane, Mikiso. 1982. Peasant, Rebels and Women and Outcastes: The Underside of
Modern Japan.: Pantheon Books.
Keene, Donald. 1996. The Narrow Road to Oku,: Kodansha.
Perez, Louis G. 2001. Daily Life in Early Modern Japan: Greenwood Press.
Sone, Hiromi. Translated by Terashima, Akiko and Walthall, Anne. 1999. ‘’Prostitution and Public Authority in Early Modern Japan’’ in Women and Class in Japan History. 169-185: Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan
Ueda, Makoto, 1982. Matsuo Basho: Kodansha USA.
Yuasa, Nobuyuki. 1967. Matsuo Basho: The Narrow Road to the Deep North and other Travel Sketches, Penguin Classics.
I plead for your help in finding a person or group to take over my 3000 pages of Basho material, to edit and improve the presentation, to receive all royalties from sales, to spread Basho’s wisdom worldwide and preserve for future generations.
The only substantial
collection in English
of Basho's renku, tanka,
letters and spoken word
along with his haiku, travel
journals, and essays.
The only poet in old-time
literature who paid attention with praise
to ordinary women, children, and teenagers
in hundreds of poems
Hundreds upon hundreds of Basho works
(mostly renku)about women, children,
teenagers, friendship, compassion, love.
These are resources we can use to better
understand ourselves and humanity.
Interesting and heartfelt
(not scholarly and boring)
for anyone concerned with
humanity.
“An astonishing range of
social subject matter and
compassionate intuition”
"The primordial power
of the feminine emanating
from Basho's poetry"
Hopeful, life-affirming
messages from one of
the greatest minds ever.
Through his letters,
we travel through his mind
and discover Basho's
gentleness and humanity.
I plead for your help in
finding a person or group
to take over my 3000 pages of Basho material,
to edit and improve the material, to receive 100%
of royalties, to spread Basho’s wisdom worldwide
and preserve for future generations.
Quotations from Basho Prose
The days and months are
guests passing through eternity.
The years that go by
also are travelers.
The mountains in silence
nurture the spirit;
the water with movement
calms the emotions.
All the more joyful,
all the more caring
Seek not the traces
of the ancients;
seek rather the
places they sought.
