Matsuo Bashō

And while they were beautiful woods, There's lots of beautiful woods in Japan.

Well, what about the mountaintop shrine and the Basho monuments that we found right at the top of the peak? That was cool.

I thought that was pretty unique.

That was

definitely cool.

I mean, Basho's been everywhere, so it's not the only place there's Basho monuments.

Yeah.

But having the shrine right up there at the top and...

And usually the poetry is fairly bad.

The person who's most, there's two poets, Ryokan, the Zen poet Ryokan and Basho.

have formerly been important to me.

I could never write a Ryokan poem.

I mean, it's weird, you know, these Zen...

Buddhists, they go off and live on their own and then complain about being on their own.

And then Basho, I think particularly, particularly the Haibung form, like the narrow road to deep north.

Basho, I mean, if you read, I've only read it in two translations, his Haibungs, but they are absolutely gorgeous.

Oh, thanks.

That was, I was trying to, to do that one as a, you know, obviously after the, the old Basho frog- ... famously-

Uh-huh

... who I was trying to.

In ancient Greece, frogs were associated with the goddess Aphrodite and with fertility, and Aristophanes wrote a comedy called The Frogs in 405 BCE, in which the god Dionysus travels to the underworld accompanied by a chorus of frogs.

The Batrachomyomachia, or The Battle of the Frogs and Mice, is a comic parody of the Iliad that was long attributed to Homer, though it was likely written by an anonymous poet in the fifth or sixth century BCE.

Aesop's Fables include several stories about frogs, including The Frogs Who Desired a King, in which frogs ask Zeus for a king and are given first a log and then a stork that eats them, a parable about being careful what you wish for.

In Japanese culture, the frog, or kaeru, is a symbol of good luck and safe return, partly because the word kaeru also means to return.

Travelers sometimes carry small frog charms to ensure a safe journey home.

The Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō wrote perhaps the most famous haiku in history about a frog, a short poem about a frog jumping into an old silent pond, a moment of sound breaking the stillness.

In Chinese tradition, the three-legged money toad, or Jin Chan, is a symbol of prosperity, and figurines of the money toad with a coin in its mouth are placed near cash registers and in homes to attract wealth.

The frog also appears in Chinese folklore as a lunar symbol.

At the same time, he said he had never asked that the budget amount be reduced.

Haiku master Basho revived as interactive AI avatar in Mie.

Iga, Mie Prefecture haiku master Matsuo Basho, 1644 to 1694, has been revived as a digital avatar through generative artificial intelligence at a library here, the birthplace of the famed poet.

Basho's AI avatar was shown September 30th on an eighty-five-inch liquid crystal display installed at the city central library.

The virtual Basho then talked to and answered questions from students with Mie Prefectural Ueno Senior High School, who had been invited to the venue.

A volunteer group of Ueno Senior High School graduates helped to operate the Basho San Comes Back to Iga demonstration test, including enabling conversations with the historic figure.

The large LCD display will remain installed at the library through October 15th.

Residents who visit the library are invited to talk to the avatar and fill out a questionnaire on their impressions and suggested improvements.

Wednesday, October 14, this is the The Asahi Shimbun Asia and Japan Watch News Briefing.

Haiku Master Basho revived as interactive AI avatar in Mia.

IGA, Mia Prefecture Haiku Master Matsuo Basho, 1644-1694, has been revived as a digital avatar through generative artificial intelligence at a library here, the birthplace of the famed poet.

Basho's AI avatar was shown September 30 on an 85-inch liquid crystal display installed at the city's central library.

The virtual Basho then talked to and answered questions from students with Mia Prefectural Ueno Senior High School, who had been invited to the venue.

A volunteer group of Ueno Senior High School graduates helped to operate the Basho-san comes back to EGA demonstration test, including enabling conversations with the historic figure.

The large LCD display will remain installed at the library through October 15.

Residents who visit the library are invited to talk to the avatar and fill out a questionnaire on their impressions and suggested improvements.

From the oldest classical period to the present day, the theme has never ceased to be a favorite one with poets of all ranks.

A fact noteworthy in this relation is that the first poem written in the measure called Hoku by the famous Basho was about frogs.

The triumph of this extremely brief form of verse, three lines of five, seven, and five syllables respectively, is to create one complete sensation picture.

And Basho's original accomplishes the feat, difficult if not impossible, to repeat in English.

Furu ikiya kawazu tobikomu mizu no oto Old pond, frogs jumping in, sound of water.

An immense number of poems about frogs were subsequently written in this measure.

Mm.

And for me, the section that really blew my head off was Basho.

Mm.

So I'd come across Basho, always shirked the haiku form, not into it, too formal, not into it.

But you know, she says that she describes Basho, A, as queer, which is amazing.

You know, he had a lover who was a man who died, and he spent the rest of his life writing these beautiful poems tinged by this grief, living in complete isolation often.

Um, and it just, the, the book is written in this way, which again, it's a full poem.

And so I think it's very important that we have literary criticism that talks to the bigger picture.