Kawara no In Minamoto Toru

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. sennin　仙人と伝説 Legends about Immortals .
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Kawara no In 河原院 源融 Minamoto Toru
河原院大臣侍 Kawara no In / 河原院の大臣（おとど）の侍　Otodo　
Kawara no Sadaijin 河原左大臣 - Poet and statesman

He is Nr. 20 of
. 日本の仙人37人 - The 37 Immortals of Japan .

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Minamoto no Tōru 源 融 (822 – September 21, 895)
was a Japanese poet and statesman. He was born the son of Emperor Saga and a member of the Saga Genji clan. He is sometimes mentioned as the model for Hikaru Genji in important Japanese literary classic The Tale of Genji.
Under his title Kawara no Sadaijin (河原左大臣, Minister of the Left of Kawara), he is the author of poem 14 in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu poetry anthology:

陸奥のしのぶもぢずり誰ゆゑに
乱れそめにしわれならなくに

Michinoku no
Shinobu-mojizuri
Tare yue ni
Midare somenishi
Ware naranaku ni

Like Michinoku prints,
Of the tangled leaves of ferns,
It is because of you,
That I have become confused;
But my love for you remains.



The poem originally appeared in the Kokinshū, no. 724. Here is another translation:

The dye with hare's-foot-fern, of Michinoku
who else would have made me feel as disturbed?

The poet is also famous for making a replica of the uta-makura Shiogama ("poetic place name") in his garden.
His tomb resides at the Seiryō-ji, a Buddhist temple situated on what was once Saga Moor in Kyoto.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !


Shiogama in Kyoto 京都の塩竈


source : yomigaereshiogama.jp...

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. Matsuo Basho visiting Shinobu .

みちのく（陸奥）の　しのぶもぢずり（忍ぶ 綟摺り）
誰ゆえに　乱れ染めにし　我ならなくに

shinobu mojizuri is a special cloth dyed in the region of the village
Shinobu gun Fukushima 福島県信夫郡.
Made from shinobugusa 忍ぶ草、hare's-foot fern, deersfoot fern
Davallia bullata and others
. Michinoku roads みちのく路 .

As wholly confused
as cloth dyed in moss-fern design
from Michinoku
so distraught is my heart now
and for no one else but you.
Tr. Steven D. Carter

and

I long to find a path
to the depths of Mount Shinobu
that I might fathom
the secrets of
another’s heart
Tr. Shirane

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Shinobu Mottling Rock, Fukushima
6 km north-east from Fukushima City sits the village of Shinobu (present-day Mojizuri). Three seemingly unconnected objects - a large, moss-dappled rock, the Michinoku (Tohoku) kimono design of mottled ferns made famous in the Heian period (794 - 1185), and an impossible love story - have together made Shinobu a vastly recognized and esteemed location of utamakura.
Utamakura is a place-name used in waka (traditional Japanese poetry) which, through alternative readings of the name's kanji (Chinese characters) or its associations with national histories and figures, can be used as an allusive tool towards sentiment and meaning within waka; an incredibly popular and admired poetic device which was employed even in everyday conversation at the Heian Kyoto Court.

In the 9th century, Minamoto no Toru (a high-ranking noble of the Heian Imperial Court in Kyoto) traveled to the "great north," Michinoku, which was at that time deemed an uncivilized land due to its distance from the shining capital. At some point, he passed through Shinobu, a village well-known by the Imperial Court for its unique production of a kimono design called Shinobu Mojizuri (fern mottle). It was not uncommon for high-ranking nobles to undertake vast journeys north for state affairs. And on these journeys, it wasn't completely unheard of to learn of nobles falling in love with villagers of little, or no, social status.

Unfortunately for Minamoto no Toru and the lady of Shinobu, he did just so. Staying with the lady's father and delaying his return to the capital for over a month, he was eventually called back to court and the separation was impossible to withstand for both of them. Minamoto no Toru did as all Heian courtiers in his day could do; he wrote a poem about it. And the lady of Shinobu took to her bed with grief, dying before the verse could reach her.
The verse adopts the word 'shinobu' and its three potential readings in Japanese: the name of the village Shinobu; the type of fern found in abundance around the village, called shinobugusa; and the verb shinobu, "to love secretly."
In just five lines, Minamoto no Toru encapsulates his sentiment, the history and relevance of the setting to his story, and appropriate similes for such a saddening poem in incredible subtlety and talent in his employment of utamakura.

Like the cloth printed
with ferns in far Shinobu
of the deep north —
if not for you
for whom would I dye my heart
with tangled love?


Since this all occurred over twelve centuries ago, Shinobu has welcomed such admirers of its history and poetry as Basho Matsuo, who came to compose a haiku on the subject in his Oku no Hosomichi pilgrimage of Michinoku utamakura locations.

早苗とる手もとや昔しのぶ摺

Deft hands that now pluck
seedlings, once you used to press
patterns from the stones.
Tr. Donald Keene

The mottling rock upon which the famous Michinoku kimono was mottled with fern is enshrined by an open gate. The two poems are also on the grounds, set in stone. All are surrounded by a wonderful view of Fukushima, the Kannon-Do Temple and Phoenix Pagoda, and a river also famous in traditional waka, the Abukumagawa.
- source : http://ja.japantourist.jp


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. Japanese Legends - 伝説　民話　昔話 – ABC-List .

................................................................................. Fukushima 福島県　

文知摺石 Mojizuri Ishi
Minamoto no Toru stayed some time at the residence of a rich family near the Mojizuri Ishi stone. He fell in love with the beautiful Torajo 虎女 (Tiger Woman), but eventually he had to go back to Kyoto. There was no further news from him.
Torajo was so sad, waiting and waiting for her lover. She made a vow to the stone, to show her the image of her lover Toru. After praying for many days, her wish was fulfilled and his figure appeared on the stone.



source :　HeartLand-Icho

mojizuri ishi 文字摺石 - 信夫文知摺石 mojizuri mottlilng stone, rock
shinobu mojizuri しのぶもじずり / 忍捩摺り／信夫捩摺り

The lower part of the stone has been used so often that it is all shining and the stone was once called
kagami ishi 鏡石 mirror stone.



................................................................................. Kyoto 京都府　

tooru no daijin no rei 融の大臣の霊 / Tôru daijin / The Minister Toru
Most of the stories of ghosts are about people becoming ghosts and appearing as a skull.
One of the oldest records is the Nihon Ryooiki 日本霊異記 Nihon Ryoiki.
宇多院 Emperor Uda (867 - 931) made an official visit to 河原院 Kawara no In (the official residence of Minamoto no Tooru 源融 Toru (822 - 895).
The late owner of this Kawara residence, Toru, appeared clad in 衣冠 formal robes as a ghost to greet the visitor.

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oni 鬼 demon
When 栄爵 Eishaku and his wife from the countryside came to Kawara no In to find work, she was taken away by a demon.

. Onipedia 日本の鬼 The Demons of Japan .

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- reference : Nichibun Yokai Database -


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. sennin 天狗と仙人伝説 Legends about Tengu and Immortals .

. sennin　仙人と伝説 Legends about Immortals .


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