How to Live and Think in an Uncertain Era
Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2025 9:27 am
The military brothers Akiyama and the haiku poet Masaoka Shiki may seem like very different people, but Shiki was also a man of realism who believed in "seeing reality as it is."
"When you eat a persimmon, the bell at Horyuji Temple rings."
Many people may wonder why this poem, the most famous of Shiki's works, is regarded as a masterpiece.
In fact, from the Manyoshu until Shiki appeared, there were hardly any poems about persimmons. Persimmons are valuable as a preserved food, so in the olden days, every home had a persimmon remove background image tree. Persimmons, which are an everyday part of life, were not recognized as an object of beauty in the world of poetry for a long time. During the Manyo period, the first flower to become an object of beauty was the bush clover flower. Miyagino is a specialty area for bush clover. When a local official who was posted to Mutsu brought back bush clover as a souvenir, the people of the capital were fascinated by it and wrote poems about it. The next most commonly written about flower was the plum blossom, an imported product of Chinese civilization. At the time, cherry blossoms were not considered an object of beauty because they were an everyday flower that could be seen everywhere.
In this tradition of poetry, Shiki's poem, which looked at reality and wrote about the persimmons around him, was revolutionary. This poem was highly praised, and Shiba also chose Shiki, who idealized "sketching" and tried to see the world as it is, as one of the protagonists.
Many of Shiba's other works feature protagonists with a rational mind, such as Omura Masujiro in "Kagami" (Flower God), Eto Shinpei in "Years," and Saito Dosan in "Kunitori Monogatari" (The Tale of the Conquest of the Country). While Shiba portrayed both sides of the human spirit, we can see that he highly valued realism, which does not close one's eyes to see beauty, but rather opens one's eyes to see reality.
"When you eat a persimmon, the bell at Horyuji Temple rings."
Many people may wonder why this poem, the most famous of Shiki's works, is regarded as a masterpiece.
In fact, from the Manyoshu until Shiki appeared, there were hardly any poems about persimmons. Persimmons are valuable as a preserved food, so in the olden days, every home had a persimmon remove background image tree. Persimmons, which are an everyday part of life, were not recognized as an object of beauty in the world of poetry for a long time. During the Manyo period, the first flower to become an object of beauty was the bush clover flower. Miyagino is a specialty area for bush clover. When a local official who was posted to Mutsu brought back bush clover as a souvenir, the people of the capital were fascinated by it and wrote poems about it. The next most commonly written about flower was the plum blossom, an imported product of Chinese civilization. At the time, cherry blossoms were not considered an object of beauty because they were an everyday flower that could be seen everywhere.
In this tradition of poetry, Shiki's poem, which looked at reality and wrote about the persimmons around him, was revolutionary. This poem was highly praised, and Shiba also chose Shiki, who idealized "sketching" and tried to see the world as it is, as one of the protagonists.
Many of Shiba's other works feature protagonists with a rational mind, such as Omura Masujiro in "Kagami" (Flower God), Eto Shinpei in "Years," and Saito Dosan in "Kunitori Monogatari" (The Tale of the Conquest of the Country). While Shiba portrayed both sides of the human spirit, we can see that he highly valued realism, which does not close one's eyes to see beauty, but rather opens one's eyes to see reality.