Winter Night :: Haiku of Japan #107

koko ni koushite watashi oiteiru fuyuyo


here in this way
I place myself
winter night
—Santoka


(Tr. David LaSpina)

_{(Snowy District by Shiro Kasamatsu)}

According to the Buddhist tradition, the main cause of misery is, as many of us have been told, desire. Desire for the future, the past, a rich dinner, a new lover, or, in the case of many in winter, a warm bed. This desire for things that we often don't have or can't have makes us angry, unhappy, frustrated, and so on. In short: desire very often leads to misery.

Roaming the country for most of his life and living in a hermitage for several years at the end of it, Santoka often lacked a warm bed. As a trained Zen monk, however, he was ok with that and didn't let it get him down.

Then again, knowing Santoka, he probably got drunk on sake after writing this haiku. That is another way to deal with a cold night.

David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org.