Kobayashi Issa facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Kobayashi Issa (小林 一茶)
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Issa's portrait drawn by Muramatsu Shunpo 1772-1858 (Issa Memorial Hall, Shinano, Nagano, Japan)
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| Born | Kobayashi Nobuyuki (小林 信之) June 15, 1763 Near Shinano-machi, Shinano Province, Japan |
| Died | January 5, 1828 (aged 64) Shinano-machi, Shinano Province, Japan |
| Pen name | Issa (一茶) |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Nationality | Japanese |
Kobayashi Issa (小林 一茶, June 15, 1763 – January 5, 1828) was a famous Japanese poet. He was also a Buddhist priest. He is best known for his short poems called haiku and his personal journals. People often call him just Issa, which means "Cup-of-tea" in Japanese. He is seen as one of the four greatest haiku masters in Japan. The others are Bashō, Buson, and Shiki. Many books have been written about Issa in Japan, showing how popular he is.
Contents
Issa's Life Story
Issa was born as Kobayashi Nobuyuki in a farming family. His childhood name was Kobayashi Yatarō. He was born in Kashiwabara, which is now part of Shinano-machi, in Nagano Prefecture.
Early Life and Challenges
Issa faced many hard times from a young age. His mother died when he was only three years old. His grandmother took care of him and loved him very much. But when he was eight, his father got married again. Two years later, Issa's half-brother was born.
When Issa was 14, his grandmother also passed away. After this, he felt like an outsider in his own home. He was a lonely and quiet child who liked to walk around in the fields by himself. His stepmother did not like his quiet nature.
Moving to Edo and Traveling
A year later, his father sent him to Edo (which is now Tokyo) to find work. We don't know much about the next ten years of his life for sure. He traveled around Japan for many years. He also had disagreements with his stepmother about the property his father left when he died in 1801. Issa wrote a diary about this time, called Last Days of Issa's Father.
Returning Home and Family Losses
After many years, Issa finally got half of his father's property. He returned to his hometown when he was 49 years old. Soon after, he married a woman named Kiku.
Sadly, their happiness did not last long. Their first child died shortly after being born. Their daughter, Satoyo, also died less than two and a half years later. This sad event inspired Issa to write a famous haiku:
- 露の世は露の世ながらさりながら
- Tsuyu no yo wa tsuyu no yo nagara sari nagara
- This dewdrop world --
- Is a dewdrop world,
- And yet, and yet . . .
Issa married two more times later in his life. He kept writing a lot of poems through all his difficulties.
In 1820, a third child died. Then, his wife Kiku became sick and died in 1823. Issa wrote another poem when Kiku died, when he was 61 years old: "Ikinokori ikinokoritaru samusa kana" (生き残り生き残りたる寒さかな) which means:
- Outliving them,
- Outliving them all,
- Ah, the cold!
Issa died on January 5, 1828, in his hometown.
Issa's Writings and Art
Issa wrote more than 20,000 haiku poems. His poems are still popular today. Even though his works were well-liked, he often struggled with money.
Haiku Style
Issa's poems often use everyday language and local ways of speaking. He wrote many poems about plants and small creatures. For example, he wrote 54 haiku about snails, 15 about toads, almost 200 about frogs, and over 100 about fleas. In total, he wrote about a thousand poems about these small animals.
Issa's haiku could be gentle, but they are most famous for being funny and a bit cheeky. Here are some examples:
- No doubt about it,
- the mountain cuckoo
- is a crybaby.
- New Year's Day—
- everything is in blossom!
- I feel about average.
Issa's poems were very strong and emotional. Some people thought his style was different from the traditional style of Bashō. However, Issa believed that poetry and life were connected. He saw his poems as a diary of his feelings.
Other Works
Issa also wrote haibun, which are stories with haiku poems mixed in. Two of his famous haibun are Oraga Haru (おらが春 "My Spring") and Shichiban Nikki (七番日記 "Number Seven Journal"). He also worked with others to create over 250 renku, which are linked poems made by several poets.
Drawings
Issa was also known for his drawings. He often drew pictures to go with his haiku. His drawings are simple and quick, just like his haiku poems.
One of Issa's haiku is very famous around the world. It was translated by R.H. Blyth and appeared in J. D. Salinger's 1961 novel, Franny and Zooey:
- O snail
- Climb Mount Fuji,
- But slowly, slowly!
(Katatsumuri sorosoro nobore Fuji no yama 蝸牛そろそろ登れ富士の山)
This same poem was also used in a Russian novel called Snail on the Slope.
Another haiku by Issa, translated by D.T. Suzuki, shows his feelings when he was poor and in debt:
- ともかくもあなたまかせの年の暮
- tomokaku mo anata makase no toshi no kure
- Trusting the Buddha (Amida), good and bad,
- I bid farewell
- To the departing year.
Another poem, translated by Peter Beilenson, shows his struggles:
- Everything I touch
- with tenderness, alas,
- pricks like a bramble.
Issa's most popular book is called The Spring of My Life. It tells his life story and includes both prose and haiku.
Issa's Former Home
On July 24, 1827, a big fire swept through his village of Kashiwabara. Issa lost his house in the fire and had to live in his kura (a traditional Japanese storehouse). He even wrote about it: "The fleas have fled from the burning house and have taken refuge with me here." He also wrote another poem about the fire: Hotarubi mo amaseba iya haya kore wa haya (蛍火もあませばいやはやこれははや) which means:
- If you leave so much
- As a firefly's glimmer, -
- Good Lord! Good Heavens!
This old storehouse, which has thick clay walls and no windows, is still standing today. It was made a National Historic Site of Japan in 1933.
English Books About Issa
- Kobayashi, Issa (2015). Killing A Fly. Saarbrücken: Calambac Verlag. ISBN 978-3-943117-87-5.
- Hamill, Sam, trans. (1997). The Spring of My Life and Selected Haiku: Kobayashi Issa. Shambhala Publications. ISBN 1-57062-144-6.
- Hass, Robert (1995). The Essential Haiku: Versions of Basho, Buson, & Issa. United States: Ecco Press. ISBN 0880013516.
- Mackenzie, Lewis (1984). Autumn Wind Haiku. Japan: Kodansha International. ISBN 0-87011-657-6.
- Sasaki, Nanao, trans. (1999). Inch by Inch: 45 Haiku by Issa. Albuquerque: La Alameda Press. ISBN 1-888809-13-2.
See also
In Spanish: Kobayashi Issa para niños
