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- Mount Haguro
- Mount Haguro is a center for the practice of religious austerities. For
further details see: Togawa Ansho. "Haguroyama in Okeru Basho," Kokugo
Kokubun no. 23, issues 1 and 2.
- Zushi Sakichi
- A fabric dyer and haiku poet who lived in the village at the foot of Mount
haguro. He died in Kyoto in 1693.
- Snow
- The context of this poem is that in the distance they can see the snow on
Mount Gassan. The wind blowing down from the peaks and through the valleys
is both fragrant with spring and chilly with winter. Basho felt a deep
sense of gratitude for this sacred place.
- Nojo
- Nojo Taishi was the third son of the Emperor Sushun (5897-92). He came to
this remote place in order to flee Soga no Umako in whose insurrection the
Emperor Sheishun was killed. It is hard to know what to make of this since
the Sogas supported the introduction of Buddhism in opposition to the Monobe
and the Nakatomi families who supported the native religions. If Umako
murdered Sushun in the cause of Buddhism, why did Nojo Taishi become such an
ardent Buddhist? Also, what are we to make of the fact that Umanoko's son
was Soga Emishi?
- Dewa
- The difference between Sato and Kuro is much more obvious in Japanese than
it is in English.
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