Happy New Year, everyone! It is Jan 1st here on this side of the world. We welcomed the New Year a few hours ago with the traditional singing contest on TV, then I ran out to the local temple to have some free saké. Good times.

I have the urge to share one of my favorite New Year's haiku, but I do so every year, so I'll let it pass this one. You can go read last year's post if you are curious.

I missed the first sunrise this morning, which is something many older people are always trying to catch. A good first sunrise to the year is good luck! I have some haiku about it, but we'll skip those since I missed it!

Instead, one about the custom of hoping for a good first dream.

はつ夢や正しく去年の放し亀
hatsuyume ya masashiku kozo no hanashi-game

first dream
it was last year's
freed turtle
—Gonsui

(trans. David LaSpina^[1])

^{"Turtles and Sake Cup" by Yashima Gakutei}

Traditionally, people stayed up most of the night of the 31st, so the first dream refers to the dream had on the night of Jan 1st. It's considered especially good luck to dream of Mount Fuji, a hawk, and/or an eggplant. It might be easy to see why dreaming of Mt Fuji would be good luck, but what of other two? Various theories are floating around, but the leading one says that eggplant and falconry were favorites of Ieyasu, the warlord who conquered Japan and was appointed Shogun in 1603 and, well, dreaming of his favorites is auspicious I suppose.

This haiku refers to something else. Liberating animals once or twice a year is an old Buddhist practice, and that is what old Gonsui is referring to here. Turtles are a very special creature in Japan. In mythology the turtle is associated with long life — 1000 years, they say — and it is also a very thankful creature, always returning any kindness shown to it. In olden times fishermen would throw back any turtles they caught, but not before treating them to a bit of saké. No doubt they hoped the turtle would be thankful and would come back to reward them.

So Gonsui may not have been dreaming of the three most auspicious objects, but having the turtle he set free the previous year visit him in his dream probably felt pretty lucky.

❦

David is an American teacher and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Bluesky. 【Support @dbooster with Hive SBI】

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1. That is, me! If you like this translation, feel free to use it. Just credit me. Also link here if you can. ↩