Posted by Nan Hannon on October 27, 2001 at 02:23:35:
Could anyone be both so learned and so kind as to point me in the direction of a translation of the poem from a print in Hiroshige's 'Dai-Tanzakuban Kacho-ga' series ('Pictures of Flowers and Birds in Large Tanzaku Size')? The large tanzaku size print shows not birds, but two spotted frogs happily hopping over a sweep of blue that perhaps represents a stream. Cascading over them from the top left corner is Kerria japonica, the plant sometimes known in the west as Japanese rose, and in Japan as Yamabuki. The Kerria is in exuberant bloom with big, butter-yellow flowers. The poem is in the upper right corner. The print in its entirety is delightful, but I have a special interest in botany and ethnobotany in Japanese prints, and haven't seen Kerria depicted in a print before. (If anyone knows of some other representations, I'd be grateful to learn of them.)
The gentleman from whom I purchased the print kindly pointed out a few of the words for me. The poem is in cho-ka style. The third line contains the phrase yamabuki-no (yamabuki's) and the last line naku kaeru-no (the crying frogs; the cry of the frogs). "The cry of the frogs" is so evocative; I'd love to hear the rest. And more than that, I'd like to know what is being said about the yamabuki. After diligent searching on the Internet, and in the books available to me, I haven't been able to come up with any particular cultural or symbolic meaning for yamabuki. I'd appreciate that information, if anyone has it.
I like to grow the plants that I have in my prints, and have two Kerria japonicas growing up my western wall. Here in southwestern Oregon they bloom with the daffodils, for which they are an excellent backdrop, and they continue to throw blossoms now and then through spring and summer. I had a hard time finding the single-flowered variety that I understand is most common in Japan and that is the plant depicted in the Hiroshige print. 'Flora Pleno' - the double-flowered variety - is the one usually sold in the United States. I found the simple, single-flowered variety at Gossler Farms Nursery in Oregon's Willamette Valley. It's a reliable nursery that does do mail order, and can be found via search engine.
Thank you.
Best,
Nan