Issa

A haiku poet active in the Bunka and Bunsei periods (1804-1830) of the Edo period. His real name was Kobayashi Yataro. He was born in Kashiwabara, Kitashinano (a post town on the Hokkoku Kaido road; Shinanomachi, Nagano prefecture). He left for Edo at the age of 15 (according to the Japanese age reckoning system), but returned to his hometown in later years. His father, Yagobei, was a middle-class farmer living in front of Tenma-yashiki. He lost his mother Kuni at the age of three, and his stepmother was arrested, resulting in the birth of his stepbrother Senroku (later known as Yabei), which is thought to be the reason for his departure from his hometown. At the age of 29, he began writing in the Katsushika school (a school of Edo haiku characterized by a rural style), but little is known about his circumstances up to that point. After returning home that year, he compiled his experiences in the "Kansei Sannen Kiko" (Travels Through the Third Year of the Kansei Era), but what happened after that can be found in his own diary-style haiku collections (such as the "Nanaban Nikki"). Issa was a note-taking maniac who kept records.

For six years from 1792 to 1798, relying on acquaintances and disciples of his late master Chikua, he traveled around Kyoto and Osaka, the inland sea side of Shikoku and Chugoku, and the northern half of Kyushu (as far as Nagasaki), meeting influential haiku poets such as Gobai (Kanonji), Chodo (Matsuyama), Shoroku, Oemaru (Osaka), and Ranko (Kyoto), and keeping records of what he read and learned. It was a journey of training in the western provinces. However, even if he returned to Edo, he could not become a master. Therefore, he had no choice but to live as an itinerant haiku poet, walking around Shimousa (northern Chiba Prefecture and part of Ibaraki Prefecture) and Kazusa (central Chiba Prefecture), where there were many people related to the Katsushika school ("Does my star roam the sky of Kazusa?"). At the age of 39, Issa's father died (later he wrote "The Diary of My Father's End": "With my father, I saw the dawn in Aotahara"). He felt increasingly lonely living in Edo, where he was teased as a "starling" (a nickname for people who went to work in the winter) and did not get along well with his supporter, Seibi Natsume (a famous haiku poet and bill-broker). Eventually, he began to feel the decline of his robust body, and the uncertainty of traveling became evident ("The autumn wind, the beggar, compares me with me"). Thus, Issa decided to return to Kashiwara, and traveled back and forth between Edo and Kashiwara six times, finally getting his stepmother and brother-in-law to share his fortune in half as per his father's will. Also, before and after his return, he gained many powerful disciples from the area around Kashiwara to both sides of the Chikuma River, including Shunpo in Naganuma (now Nagano City), Nabuchi, and Shunkou in Murasaki (now Takayama Village), Baido in Nakano (now Nakano City), and Kijo in Yudanaka (now Yamanouchi Town). He returned to his hometown at the age of 50 ("Is this my true home? Five feet of snow"). He married at the age of 52 (first marriage). He traveled around to his disciples' homes, and sometimes went to Edo to stay with his close friends Ippyo, Matsui, and Kakuro on the Tone River, but he lost all three sons and one daughter, including his wife Kiku. He also divorced his second wife, Yuki, after three months. His marriage to Yawo was short-lived, as the following year he was hit by a major fire and was forced to live in a storehouse, where he died of a third stroke on November 19, 1827. His daughter, Yata, was born the following year. However, after recovering from his first stroke, he was known to be devoted to a free and easy way of life, writing things like "From this year onwards, I will make a full recovery, play in this world" and "I am a common man," and wishing to live forever, he wrote, "I will not sleep in the shadows of flowers, the future is frightening." Issa's former home (a nationally designated historic site) is in Kashiwara.

[Kaneko Tota]

"The Complete Works of Issa, Volume 8 and Special Issue 1 (1976-78, Shinano Mainichi Shimbun)" ▽ "Kobayashi Issa, by Kobayashi Keiichiro (1961, Yoshikawa Kobunkan)" ▽ "Kobayashi Issa, by Maruyama Kazuhiko (1964, Ohfusha)" ▽ "Selected Japanese Poets 19: Kobayashi Issa, by Kuriyama Riichi (1970, Chikuma Shobo)" ▽ "Kobayashi Issa, by Kaneko Tota (Kodansha Gendai Shinsho)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸時代の文化・文政期（1804～30）に活躍した俳諧師(はいかいし)。本名は小林弥太郎。北信濃(きたしなの)の柏原(かしわばら)（北国(ほっこく)街道の宿場町。長野県信濃町）に生まれる。15歳（数え年）で江戸に出たが、晩年は生地に帰住した。父の弥五兵衛は伝馬屋敷一軒前(てんまやしきいっけんまえ)の中の上の本百姓。3歳で母くにを失い、継母さつがきて、義弟専六(せんろく)（のちに弥兵衛）が生まれたことが、離郷の原因とみられている。29歳で葛飾(かつしか)派（江戸俳諧の一派で田舎(いなか)風が特色）の執筆(しゅひつ)になるが、それまでの事情はほとんど不明。この年帰郷しのちに『寛政(かんせい)三年紀行』にまとめるが、それ以後のことは一茶自身の日録風の句文集（『七番日記』など）などにより承知できる。一茶はメモ魔のごとく記録をとっている。

　寛政4年から6年間（1792～98）、亡師竹阿(ちくあ)の知人門弟を頼りに、京坂、四国・中国の内海側、九州北半分（長崎まで）を遍歴し、五梅(ごばい)（観音寺）、樗堂(ちょどう)（松山）、升六(しょうろく)、大江丸(おおえまる)（大坂）、闌更(らんこう)（京都）などの有力俳諧師に接し、読書見聞の記録を残す。西国修業の旅だった。しかし、江戸に帰っても宗匠(そうしょう)にはなれない。そのため、葛飾派関係の人の多い、下総(しもうさ)（千葉県北部と茨城県の一部）、上総(かずさ)（千葉県中央部）を歩き回って、巡回俳諧師として暮らすしかなかった（「わが星は上総の空をうろつくか」）。39歳のとき父死去（のちに『父の終焉(しゅうえん)日記』を書く。「父ありて明(あけ)ぼの見たし青田原(あおたはら)」）。そして、「椋鳥(むくどり)」（冬季出稼ぎ人の綽名(あだな)）とからかわれ、支持者夏目成美(せいび)（札差(ふださし)で著名俳人）との心の通いもしっくりしない江戸暮らしに、ますます孤独を覚え（「江戸じまぬきのふしたはし更衣(ころもがえ)」）、やがて、頑健な体にも衰えを感じ始めて、巡回旅の不安定が身にしみてくる（「秋の風乞食(こじき)は我を見くらぶる」）。かくして、柏原帰住を決意した一茶は、江戸と柏原の間を6回も往復して、ついに継母義弟に、父の遺言どおりの財産折半を実行させる。また帰住前後を通じて、長沼（現長野市）の春甫(しゅんぽ)、魚淵(なぶち)、紫(むらさき)（現高山村）の春耕(しゅんこう)、中野（現中野市）の梅堂(ばいどう)、湯田中(ゆだなか)（現山ノ内町）の希杖(きじょう)をはじめ、柏原周辺から千曲(ちくま)川両岸にわたる地域の力ある門弟を多数得る。50歳で帰住（「是(これ)がまあつひの栖(すみか)か雪五尺」）。52歳で結婚（初婚）。門弟のところを回り歩き、ときには江戸に出て、親友の一瓢(いっぴょう)、松井(まつい)、さては利根(とね)川畔の鶴老(かくろう)の寺に泊まったりしているが、3男1女の全部を失い、妻きくまで失う。後妻ゆきとも3か月で離婚。やをを妻に迎えたのもつかのま、その翌年は大火にあって、土蔵暮らしとなり、文政10年11月19日、三度目の中風で死ぬ。娘やたは次の年に生まれた。それでも、最初の中風回復のあとは、「今年から丸まうけぞよ娑婆遊(しゃばあそ)び」とか、「荒凡夫(あらぼんぷ)」などと書いたりして、自由勝手な生きざまに徹し、「花の影寝まじ未来が恐ろしき」とつくって、いつまでも生きたいと願っていたのである。柏原に一茶旧宅（国指定史跡）がある。

［金子兜太］

『『一茶全集』8巻・別冊1（1976～78・信濃毎日新聞社）』▽『小林計一郎著『小林一茶』（1961・吉川弘文館）』▽『丸山一彦著『小林一茶』（1964・桜楓社）』▽『栗山理一著『日本詩人選19　小林一茶』（1970・筑摩書房）』▽『金子兜太著『小林一茶』（講談社現代新書）』

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