[pp.135-140]

Botanical Season Words in Basho, Buson, and Issa: Changes in Botanical Season Words during the Edo Per

Kinuko JAMBOR and Yoji AOKI （Haiku International / National Institute for Environmental Studies）

Abstract:
Haiku is most important information obtained by the experience of environment (Aoki 1995). The haikai poetry of the Edo Period inherited the use of season words or kigo from the linked poetry that preceded it. As haikai grew in popularity, however, additional season words came into use. These poems’ treatment of everyday life -- religious festivals, rice-planting, cherry-blossom viewing, and others -- led to a marked increase in the number of season words during the Edo Period. Followed by the opening of the country in Meiji, this led to an even greater increase in the number of season words. Of course, botanical season words also grew in number as well. Glossaries of season words (saijiki) illustrate that botanical season words have increased eleven-fold, larger than 6 for the total, during two hundred years. To demonstrate more closely these trends in the Edo Period, this study looks at the botanical season words used by Basho, Buson, and Issa, the three leading haiku poets of the time. From an environmental viewpoint, these changes point to several possible causes. One might be the passing attraction of certain plants, while others lost their popularity over time. Another was the introduction of foreign plants from overseas. It is hoped that this study will prove useful to those involved in such work.

Key Word:
Haiku, Kigo, season words, changes over times

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