If you become familiar with haiku, you can feel the changes in the seasons through seasonal words. An "item" that enriches your daily life-Itsuki Natsui, a poet

``Mebari hagu'' is a season word that describes how to peel off the ties on windows to prevent drafts from entering in the spring. Even for those of us who live in modern homes with excellent insulation and airtightness, seasonal words convey the lifestyle of the Japanese people in the past.
What is the appeal of season words that are deeply rooted in the living environment of Japanese people? And as global Climate Change continues, how should we perceive the seasons? We interviewed Itsuki Natsui, a haiku poet who is known for appearing on TV programs.

Haiku is interesting because you can imagine the scene with seasonal words

-Mr. Natsui actively picks up and disseminates seasonal words that may disappear with the changing times, such as the "Kigo Dictionary on the Verge of Extinction" (Chikuma Bunko).

Itsuki Natsui (Natsui): Around 2001, when the first edition of the "Kigo Dictionary on the Verge of Extinction" came out, there was a debate in the world of haiku about "organizing seasonal words." "I think it's better to delete the ones that are no longer used from Saijiki * and add new season words."
I'm a hobbyist reading Saijiki, so I thought "I'm not kidding" about that tone. That sense of crisis led to the writing of the "Extinct Seasonal Dictionary".
* A book that classifies haiku season words, adds explanations, and includes example phrases.

-Why did you feel a sense of crisis in the movement to organize the season words?

Natsui: Speaking of seasons, there is no accreditation body. It is not something that some kind of association recognizes, but something that naturally takes root in a long history.
Do you know a shell called "Akoya pearl oyster"? It is a shell that produces pearls, but if a foreign substance such as a stone gets inside this shell, it will be wrapped in multiple layers so as not to damage it. As a result, pearls are slowly made. The maturation of season words is similar. It takes a long time to make one season word, and I think that period is exactly the culture. Can you easily judge that you don't need it? Who has the right to decide that it is a culture that is no longer in use?
However, when I say this, I sometimes argue that "Kigo is meaningful to experience, but can I leave something that I cannot experience?"

-What does "experience make sense"?

Natsui: Haiku has only 17 sounds of "575". It is unreasonable to say various things in it. But by using seasonal words, many people can imagine the scene.

For example, the famous seasonal word "Kaze Kaoru". Weather forecasters often use it on TV, don't they? Many people living in Japan will think of the season of young leaves when they hear the words of the five sounds. It reminds me of the experience of being exposed to the refreshing breeze and the experience of my own eyes being pleased with the greenery. In other words, Kigo brings "a common understanding of the greatest common divisor" and gives us a re-experience.

-It is true that words that are often used today are easy to imagine and understand.

On the other hand, a seasonal word that many poets like to use is "turtle crying." Turtles shouldn't have vocal organs, and no one should have heard of them. In other words, it is a seasonal word that you have never experienced and cannot relive. However, poets like the style of "something is voicing in the spring book. That must be a turtle crying," and I am attracted to the seasonal word "turtle crowing."

A poet should be able to imagine things that you have never seen or heard with your five senses. If you say, "I don't need anything I've seen or heard," I think it's the same as abandoning the poet's spirit.

In this way, haiku is interesting because it is imagined by seasonal words. I want to convey the inherited seasonal words with the stance that "even if you can't experience it now, you can imagine the scene. In other words, you can just enjoy it as a trivia."

You can feel the difference in seasons just by looking at the trees near your house.

―I believe that the Japanese have created season words by Extreme weather the changes of the seasons delicately.

Natsui: That's because I'm living vaguely.

When you start haiku, people start to hang out antennas that feel the seasons through seasonal words. For example, "Lichun" refers to around February 4th. You might think, "It's still cold at the beginning of February," but the wind after the beginning of spring is different from the wind in midwinter. When the cherry blossoms bloom, there is a seasonal word "flower cold". Do you think it's cold even when the cherry blossoms are in bloom in April? However, the cold at the beginning of spring and the cold at the time of cherry blossoms are different.

An antenna that feels the season should be able to stand even if you live in the city. There are many trees in Tokyo and various birds live there. Everyone cares about the time when the cherry blossoms bloom, but if you just care about the time when the hydrangea blooms or the difference in color from last year, you can feel the change in the seasons. .. You can make a difference just by looking at the trees near your house.

-By becoming familiar with haiku, you will be able to feel the seasons more deeply.

Natsui: As I write haiku, my consciousness to search for haiku seeds becomes more and more sharpened. Artists and comedians will live their lives as if they were looking for material.

I started to worry about the signboards that I casually saw on the road, and I noticed changes in the clothes of people who passed each other. Such a scene should be reflected in the eyeball normally, but it will not be visible unless you are aware of it. Haiku is also a training to catch the casual scenery around you as interesting. For me, the work itself is also a curiosity.

A future literary calendar that I want to give to people 100 years from now

Climate Change has become a major issue these days, but what kind of impact is it having on the world of haiku?

Natsui: First of all, it's probably the effect of changes in the creatures. The way the flowers bloom and the colors are changing, and I hear from poets living by the sea that "the types of fish that can be seen have changed due to changes in seawater temperature." In terms of the climate itself, a fellow poet who lives in Hokkaido grumbled, "I couldn't make a snow phrase this year because of less snowfall."

As a person involved in haiku, of course, there are concerns that the climate will change. However, I also think that it is the role of the poet to write about the changing climate. Just because the seasons in Japan have shifted does not mean that haiku cannot be sung. Like reportage, I think it is necessary to grasp the current changes in a straightforward manner.

-For Japanese people 100 years from now, it may be a valuable historical source for the 2020s.

Natsui: That's right.

You may feel that there are many changes now, but as I said at the beginning, season words are born after a very long period of time. For example, the word "hay fever" is used on a daily basis, but it has not yet appeared in Saijiki, and it may be included in the Saijiki of the next era. The sympathy that "hay fever is a spring season word" spread to many people, and it was not until many people began to write haiku as a season word, when a good haiku was actually born. It is stored in the diary. Such a long and long transition of culture will be the historical material.

-How long does the "next era" mean?

Natsui: It's not decided that "about this much". A person who deepens his career as a poet and thinks "I should do it" compiles the Saijiki of the next era. That's how it went on.

I myself would like to compile Saijiki someday. I would like to give it to people 100 years from now as "100 Years Saijiki". Even if I can't compile it while I'm alive, I want to pass it on to the next generation.

The seeds of haiku can be a couple's genka or a disgusting boss's complaints

-Mr. Natsui, what do you think is necessary to inherit the rich seasonal words?

Natsui: I think that it will change if more people are interested in haiku, even if only a little. That is why I continue to quietly sow haiku seeds. It's been about 7 years since I appeared on a TV program, but some people should have started to be interested in haiku after watching the program. It's fine little by little, so I'd like you to set up an antenna for Kigo.

-Recently, the number of people who post "good 575" on Twitter etc. is increasing.

Natsui: I'm happy.

I think that what makes haiku a little different from other literature is that the author and the reader, that is, the "sender" and the "receiver," are in the same standing position. It's hard to do that with a novel. Isn't it difficult to get the sympathy of many people by "let's write a novel"? But if it's a haiku, you can tweet it lightly on SNS and get people to sympathize with it. The wider the connection, the more you will be able to catch and study the phrases of various people.

I don't think it's necessary to celebrate haiku as lofty. The seeds of haiku can be anything. It can be a couple's genka or a disgusting boss's complaints. It would be great if you could get rid of stress and negative emotions by doing haiku. I want you to use it well as an item that can make everyone happy. Haiku is an "easy-to-use item" that enriches everyday life.

* Honorific titles omitted in the text

Interview / Writing: Shinsuke Tada / Photo: Reiko Inada