WKD (03) ..... SAIJIKI of all categories (2024)

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Pampas grass (susuki, obana)

***** Location: Japan, other areas
***** Season: various, see below
***** Category: Plant

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Explanation

Miscanthus species, usually M. sinensis
Papmas grass is native to Japan and China, it grows everywhere near rivers and in mountainous plains.
It is one of the seven plants of autumn and as kigo best know in autumn, together with the moon.

Seven Flowers of Autumn (aki no nanakusa).. Seven Herbs of Autumn

susuki 薄 (すすき) pampas grass
..... 芒（すすき）

Kaya 萱 is an older name, kaya was often used to thatch the roofs of old farmhouses.

The ears, plumes of this grass are also called
"tail flowers", obana 尾花.

yoshi / ashi 葦、芦、蘆、葭 reed grass
Phragmites australis

ogi 荻 (おぎ) common reed
Miscanthus sacchariflorus

. Ogikubo 荻窪 Ogikubo district .
Suginami, Tokyo

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Miscanthus sinensis (Chinese silver grass, Eulalia grass, Maiden grass, Zebra grass, Porcupine Grass; syn. Eulalia japonica Trin., Miscanthus sinensis f. glaber Honda, Miscanthus sinensis var. gracillimus Hitchc., Miscanthus sinensis var. variegatus Beal, Miscanthus sinensis var. zebrinus Beal, Saccharum japonicum Thunb.) is a grass native to eastern Asia throughout most of China, Japan and Korea.

It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 0.8-2 m (rarely 4 m) tall, forming dense clumps from an underground rhizome. The leaves are 18–75 cm long and 0.3–2 cm broad. The flowers are purplish, held above the foliage.

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............... SPRING

In early spring, many susuki fields are burned down to fertilize and make space for the new harvest. In many areas this is an activity of the whole community, involving the fire brigade to make sure not too much is burned down.

blackened pampas grass, suguro no susuki
末黒の薄すぐろのすすき
kuro-u no susuki 黒生の芒（くろうのすすき）

burned fields of pampas grass, yakeno no susuki
焼野の芒（やけののすすき）

buds of papmas grass, susuki no me 芒の芽（すすきのめ）

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kigo for mid-spring

tsubana 茅花 (つばな) Chigaya flowers, reed grass flowers
Imperata cylindrica
chigaya no hana
茅萱の花（ちがやのはな）、tsubana no 茅花野（つばなの）
tsubana 針茅（つばな）、chibana ちばな、
asajigana 浅茅が花（あさじがはな）
shirahagusa しらはぐさ
tsubana meku 茅花ぬく（つばなぬく）

. haru no mizu sumire tsubana o nurashi-yuku .
Yosa Buson

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kigo for late spring

ashi wakaba 蘆若葉 (あしわかば) young leaves of ashi
..... waka ashi 若蘆（わかあし）
ashi no wakaba 蘆の若葉（あしのわかば）

harugaya 春茅 (はるがや) kaya in spring

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............... SUMMER

green pampas grass, ao susuki 青芒 (あおすすき)
luxuriant pampas grass, susuki shigeru 芒茂る (すすきしげる)

green rushes, aoashi ao-ashi 青蘆（青葦） (あおあし)
Phragmites species

セミナリヨ跡の青蘆信長忌
seminario ato no ao ashi Nobunaga ki

green rushes grow
over the seminary remains -
Nobunaga Memorial Day

Sano Michi 佐野美智

. Nobunaga Ki 信長忌 Nobunaga Memorial Day .

green sedge, aogaya 青萱 (あおがや)
Cyperus species
luxuriant sedge, kaya shigeru 萱茂る (かやしげる)

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Susuki and the Moon,
two ingredients of the Japanese Autumn

............... AUTUMN

pampas grass, susuki 芒 (すすき) 薄
Miscanthus sinensis

flowering pampas grass, hana susuki 花芒 (はなすすき)
ho susuki 穂芒（ほすすき）susuki ears
no susuki 芒野（すすきの） field with susuki
susuki hara 芒原（すすきはら）plain with susuki

susuki chiru 芒散る（すすきちる） susuki is falling apart

ito susuki 糸芒（いとすすき）"susuki strings"
..... oni susuki 鬼芒（おにすすき）、

. Fukiyachoo 葺屋町 Fukiyacho District of roof thatchers .

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August :
Moon and Pampass Grass, Susuki ni Tsuki　
ススキに月 , 月に薄
Flower Trump (hanafuda) and Haiku

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The Rabbit pounding rice in the full moon

Pounding rice (mochi tsuki, mochitsuki) and haiku

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HAIKU

ともかくもならでや雪の枯尾花
tomokakumo narade ya yuki no kare obana
tomokaku mo narade ya yuki no kareobana

well, yes, somehow
I made it - snow
on the withered pampas grass

Here Basho refers to the fact that after a long and difficult journey he finally made it despite all odds, without meeting his death, to the town of Edo. He may be getting old and fragile, like pampas grass bends in heavy snow, but he is still up and writing poetry.
Written in 1691.

The expression
tomokaku mo naru ともかくもなる
It will become so, there is nothing I can do about.
Often used with reference to the death of a human being.

(Tut marker YA is in the middle of line 2.)

. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .

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ともかくも風にまかせてかれ尾花　
tomokaku mo kaze ni makasete kare-obana

anyway
leave it to the wind -
withered pampas grass

anyway
it is at the mercy of the wind -
withered pampas grass

Chiyo-Ni 千代尼

a honkadori to the poem by Basho.

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- - - - - Kobayashi Issa - - - - -
Tr. David Lanoue

withered grassland--
once upon a time there was
a female demon...

枯すすきむかし婆々鬼あったとさ
kare susuki mukashi baba oni atta to sa

Issa /Demons and Haiku

. . .

穂すすきや細き心のさわがしき
ho susuki ya hosoki kokoro no sawagashiki

plumes of pampas grass--
the thin hearts
swishing

誰ぞ来よ来よとてさわぐすすき哉
tare zo ko yo ko yo tote sawagu susuki kana

come one! come all!
the rustling
pampas grass

. . .

夕立の枕元よりすすき哉
yûdachi no makura moto yori susuki kana

extending from my pillow
in the downpour...
pampas grass

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穂すすきや細き心のさわがしき
ho susuki ya hosoki kokoro no sawagashiki

slender-hearted
tufted miscanthus grass
rustling, trembling
Tr. Chris Drake

This autumn hokku was found among Issa's papers after his death, so it probably comes from the final period of his life. The tall (3-10') susuki grass Issa is watching and listening to is often called "Japanese pampas grass," but strictly speaking it is miscanthus grass (Miscanthus sinensis). A look at photo will show that miscanthus is slightly slimmer than true pampas grass, and its tufts are more like soft tassels than the long plumes of the pampas grass, which can almost suggest spearheads. It is also different from eulalia grass. The most popular common names for miscanthus grass in English are maiden grass and Chinese silver grass, though susuki grass seems to be catching up. It grows in clumps, and in the early fall each tall but slender stalk puts out even more slender 6-8" tassels at the top that resemble golden cords. In dry weather the tassels are a bit stiff, though they bend and move in the wind. But when they are wet by rain the tassels often droop and hang down like long hair. Both the leaves of the stalks and the tassels rustle, but the sound from the leaves is stronger and in Japanese traditional poetry often suggests voices.

In this hokku Issa speaks of whole stalks of miscanthus grass that have put out tufts of slender tassels at their tops. In virtually the slightest breeze the tassels move, and with a little wind the whole thin stalk also sways a little, so miscanthus grass has, since the days of early medieval waka, been associated being "slender-hearted" or having "slender hearts": being extremely sensitive, feeling a sense of general loneliness, having a tendency to feel anxious or forlorn or having feelings of helplessness. Being slender-hearted was regarded positively by waka poets and critics and believed to be a prerequisite for writing waka able to evoke the sublime, transcendent, mysterious beauty sometimes called yuugen. I wonder if Keats' "negative capability" -- "... when a man is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason...." -- wouldn't be one good translation for the openness to change and creative anxiety implied by "slender-hearted." Basho also talked of hosomi or slenderness in terms of the inseparability of beauty from anxiety, sadness, and change.

The word Issa uses in line three refers to how this slender-heartedness, this restless anxiety and sensitivity of the heart-mind, express themselves physically. The rustling of the leaves and tassels make audible the trembling that is going on in the heart-minds (kokoro) of the miscanthus grass and no doubt in Issa's own heart-mind as he hears their sounds and sees their swaying. This is of course personification, but it also draws on the Buddhist belief that plants and trees have various forms of consciousness and can achieve enlightenment. I wonder if Issa doesn't recognize in the trembling, rustling heart-minds of the miscanthus grasses an open admission of some sort by the grasses of their complete dependence on the wind and on Amida Buddha.

I think Issa regarded miscanthus grass stalks not only as parallel but different companions on the path leading through areas of the Pure Land in the present life but also as a mirror for getting a better view of himself, as in these hokku:

ho-susuki ya ore ga tsuburi mo tomo-soyogi

tufted tall grass --
my head, too, sways
with your swaying

- and

ho-susuki ya ore ga kobin mo tomo-soyogi

tufted tall grass --
my loose hairs sway
with your swaying

The miscanthus grass seems to teach Issa about the value of tremblings and rustlings in himself he wasn't completely aware of before.

Chris Drake

. Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 in Edo .

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waking up
to a load of snow -
susuki bending low

Gabi Greve, January 2011

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Related words

kigo for mid-spring

***** horns of reeds (ashi no tsuno)
蘆の角 (あしのつの)
sprouts of reeds
..... ashi no me 蘆の芽 (あしのめ) ashi buds
ashi no kiri 蘆の錐（あしのきり）"drill of ashi grass"
tsunogumu ashi 角組む蘆（つのぐむあし）
ashikabi 蘆芽（あしかび）

ogi no tsuno 荻の角 (おぎのつの) "horns of ogi"
tsunogumu ogi 角組む荻（つのぐむおぎ）
ogi no me 荻の芽（おぎのめ）buds of ogi

kigo for late spring

ashi wakaba 蘆若葉 (あしわかば) young sprouts of ashi
waka ashi 若蘆（わかあし）"young ashi"
ashi no wakaba 蘆の若葉（あしのわかば）

ogi wakaba 荻若葉 (おぎわかば) young sprouts of ogi
waka ogi 若荻（わかおぎ）
ogi no futaba 、荻の二葉（おぎのふたば）

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***** Reed, cutting reed grass (ashi kari)

***** . suge 菅 Suge sedge
Carex morrowii

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kigo for all summer

***** igusa 藺 (い) rush, Binse
..... igusa 藺草（いぐさ）
Juncus effusus
ida 藺田（いだ）field with rushes
hosoi 細藺（ほそい） thin rush
tooshingusa 燈心草（とうしんぐさ） "wick rush"
The stem had been used to make wicks for oil lamps.

futoi, futo i 太藺 (ふとい) bulrush
lit. "fat rush"
Scirpus tabernaemontani, Teichsimse
- - - - -
gama 蒲 (がま) Gama cattail, reed mace
Phalaris arundinacea

. gamamushiro 蒲筵 (がまむしろ) mat from gama .

kigo for mid-summer

i no hana 藺の花 (いのはな) flower of the rush

. i karu 藺刈る (いかる) harvesting rushes .
..... ikari, i kari 藺刈（いかり）
i hosu 藺干す（いほす）drying rushes
and more kigo about igusa

Igusa is the main material for the tatami floor mats.
Tatami is made with a rush plant, igusa. Rush is planted in the rice fields in August.
Tatami is made from natural igusa . . .
. Tatami 畳 floor mats .

kigo for late summer
gama no ho 蒲の穂 ( がまのほ) ears of Gama cattail
..... gama no hana 蒲の花（がまのはな）flowers of Gama cattail
gamaboko 蒲鉾（がまぼこ）

hamasuge, hama suge 浜菅 (はますげ) coco-grass
purple nut sedge, red nut sedge
..... koobushi こうぶし
Cyperus rotundus

yuusuge, yuu suge 夕菅 (ゆうすげ) tall daylily, with yellow flowers
lit. "evening Suge"
kisuge, ki suge 黄菅（きすげ） "yellow Suge"
Hemerocallis thunbergii

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kigo for all summer

***** kusayoshi 草葭 (くさよし) reed canarygrass
Phalaris arundinacea

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***** Seven herbs of autumn (aki no nanakusa)

***** shino 篠 small kind of bamboo
shinodake 篠竹, medake メダケ（雌竹）
Pleioblastus Simonii
shinohara 篠原 arrow bamboo grove

. WKD : Bamboo (take 竹) .

. PLANTS - - - the Complete SAIJIKI . 　

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WKD (03) ..... SAIJIKI of all categories (2024)

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