Fukuda Chiyo-ni

Fukuda Chiyo-ni (1703-1775) was a justly celebrated Japanese poet, haikuist, painter and calligrapher of the Edo period. Also known as Kaga no Chiyo, she began writing haiku at age seven and was popular throughout Japan by age seventeen. In her early fifties she became a Buddhist nun, shaved her head, adopted the name Soen (“Escape”), and took up residence in a temple.

These are Japanese haiku by Fukuda Chiyo-ni in modern English translations by Michael R. Burch

Where possible, I have included the original Japanese text.

Because morning glories
held my well-bucket hostage
I went begging for water!
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
*asano eikou yoku baketto entanguru watashiha mizuwo motomeru*

The haiku above is one of her best-known and I have other translations of the same poem later on this page.

Chiyo-ni wrote this next poem in calligraphy on a portrait of Matsuo Basho. I take it to mean that she liked Basho's poetry but wanted to develop her own unique voice.

To listen, fine ...
fine also not to echo,
nightingale.
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

CHIYO-NI NUN & TEMPLE POEMS

After she had shaved her head, become a nun and retired from public life, she wrote:

No more
fixing my hair ...
merely warming my hands by the fire ...
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Auspicious straw!
Even the compost
looks glorious!
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
*fukuwara ya gomi sae kesa no utsukushiki*

CHIYO-NI POEMS ABOUT LOSS AND LONELINESS

Coolness—
strangers meet on a bridge
late at night.
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation by Michael R. Burch

Ebb-tide:
everything we stoop to collect
slips through our fingers ...
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Whatever ...
Leave it to the weather:
withered pampas grass.
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
*tomokaku mo kaze ni makasete kare-obana*

Heat waves shimmering
above the wettened rock ...
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
*kagero ya hashite wa nururu ishi no ue*

Loneliness
abides within the listener:
the cuckoo’s call
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
*nan to naki mono no isami ya hototogisu*

Skylark,
what do you make
of the trackless sky?
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

We stoop to pick up ebb-tide pebbles
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

It’s child’s play for the cranes
circling the clouds
to celebrate the sunrise
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Cicadas chirp
oblivious to death.
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Inflating the frog’s belly: looming downpour
Inflating the frog’s belly: pregnant thunderheads
The frog inflates: monsoon soon
The frog inflates: prophet of the deluge
Thunderclouds inflating: the frog’s belly
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

CHIYO-NI POEMS ABOUT WOMEN AND DESIRE
How alarming:
her scarlet fingernails
tending the white chrysanthemums!
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
*shirogiku ya beni saita te no osoroshiki*

Moonflowers blossoming:
a woman’s nakedness
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

A woman’s desire:
wild violets’
entangled roots
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

A woman’s passion
flowers from the roots:
wild violets.
—Chiyo-ni (1705-1775), loose translation by Michael R. Burch

My painted lips
purified:
crystalline springwater
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Her day off:
the prostitute wakes
to a frigid morning.
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Isn’t it good
to wake up alone,
unencumbered?
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
*miagari ni hitori nezame no yosamu kana*

She wakes up
alone,
unencumbered.
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
*miagari ni hitori nezame no yosamu kana*

Her body-debt paid
she wakes alone:
a frigid night.
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
*miagari ni hitori nezame no yosamu kana*

CHIYO-NI FAMILY POEMS

Upon her engagement to the servant of a samurai:
Will it be bitter,
the first time I bite
an unripe persimmon?
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

This poem was apparently written for her only son, who died:

My little dragonfly hunter:
how far away has he wandered
I wonder?
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Her husband died when she was 27 years old:
Rising, I see,
and reclining I see
the web of the mosquito netting ...
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

My elderly parents
become my children:
strident cicadas
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

CHIYO-NI MOON POEMS

This is said to be her death poem:

Having seen the moon
I can bid this planet
farewell.
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
*tsuki mo mite ware wa kono yo o kashiku kana*

The moon settled
in a flower-strewn stream ...
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Illuminating
my fishing line:
the midsummer moon.
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
*tsurizao no ito ni sawaru ya natsu no tsuki*

With the waning moon
silence enters the heart.
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Leaves
like crows’ shadows
flirt with a lonely moon.
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

The moon
a morning blur
amid cherry blossoms
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
*tsukikage mo tatazumu hana no asaborake*

How contentedly they snore
in the boondocks:
full moon
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
*uramachi no ibiki akarushi kyo no tsuki*

Returning
from moon-viewing:
we humans, voiceless.
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
*meigetsu ni kaerite hanasu koto wa nashi*

The harvest moon
illuminates these snowdrifts
I trample.
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
*meigetsu ya yuki fumiwakete ishi no oto*

CHIYO-NI BUTTERFLY POEMS

The waterweed
washes away
unaware of the butterfly’s weight
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Ah butterfly,
what dreams do you ply
with your beautiful wings?
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

A butterfly settles on
cherry blossoms:
nap time!
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

The butterfly tip-toes at ebb-tide ...
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Along her path
butterflies flit,
front and back
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Voiceless
as a butterfly:
the Buddhist service
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Whirling its wings
the butterfly
creates its own wind ...
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Now and then
a dandelion intrudes
on a butterfly’s dreams
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Sometimes a butterfly
emerges from the mist ...
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Also a poet arranging words
with its airy wings—
the butterfly.
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

To entangle
or unentangle the willow
is the wind’s will.
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

CHIYO-NI MORNING GLORY POEMS

Since morning glories
possessed my bucket
I seek water elsewhere!
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
*asano eikou yoku baketto entanguru watashiha mizuwo motomeru*

My well-bucket being held hostage
by morning glories,
I went begging for water.
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
*asano eikou yoku baketto entanguru watashiha mizuwo motomeru*

Since my well-bucket’s
being held hostage by morning glories,
I go begging for water.
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
*asano eikou yoku baketto entanguru watashiha mizuwo motomeru*

#CHIYO-NI #MRBCHIYO-NI #MRBHAIKU

Keywords/Tags: Fukuda Chiyo-ni, Japan, Japanese, haiku, English translation, nun, temple, loss, loneliness, moon, butterfly, morning glories, women, desire, wife, husband, son, family