And the florist says, "White lily."

November 14, 2011 3:22 PM

This one time in Edo Japan, Bashō got together with a bunch of his rich friends from Nagoya to make up a set of interlocking poems (renku) — 36 of them, to be exact (a format called kasen). Then, 320 years later, the complete cycle was animated by a diverse international team of artists.

Released in 2003, 『冬の日』 (Winter Days) is a collaborative animated treatment of Bashō's 1684 poem cycle of the same name. Kasen renga follow a schema that introduces a particular sequence of seasonal and sentimental themes and crucially relies on being split across two separate folios. The animated interpretation follows the same format. Except for the first, each "visual poem" is just about a minute in length.

Sheet 1, Side 1 — jo (opening)

• 狂句木枯しの身は竹斎に似たるかな… (Bashō) — The hokku (opening verse) was animated by the project's guest of honor, Yury Norshteyn, the artist behind the touchingly mystical Hedgehog in the Fog and The Tale of Tales (1 | 2 | 3 | 4).
• …たそやとばしる笠の山茶花… (Yasui, a dry goods merchant) — Kihachirō KAWAMOTO, a luminary of Japanese animation (prev.), animated the second short in his role as the project's host (much like Yasui, the author of the second verse, hosted Bashō in Nagoya). Some examples of Kawamoto's animation shorts: Farce anthropo-cynique (1970), 鬼 (Oni, 1972), 旅 (Journey, 1973), セルフ ポートレート (Self-Portrait, 1988).
• …有明の主水に酒屋つくらせて… (Kakei, a doctor) — By Fumio OI, a mysterious animator about whom nothing is known.
• …かしらの露をふるふ赤馬… (Jūgo, a lumber merchant) — By Tatsutoshi NOMURA, who also directed little Fuji-TV shorts about Stray Sheep Poe (1 | 2 | also) and Nanami-chan (JP) (e.g.).
• …朝鮮のほそり芒のにほひなき… (Tokoku, a rice merchant) — By Shinichi SUZUKI, a prolific studio animator with a number of credits, including One Piece, Naruto, and, of course, Cobra the Animation: The Psychogun OVA.
• …日のちりちりに野に米を苅… (Shōhei, the scribe) — By Haru FUKUSHIMA, another unknown.

Sheet 1, Side 2 — ha (development)

• …わが庵は鷺に宿貸すあたりにて… (Yasui) — By Takuya ISHIDA, evidently one of the animators behind various Shin-Chan things.
• …髮はやす間をしのぶ身のほど… (Bashō) — Created by the venerable Belgian animator Raoul Servais. Some examples of his work: Chromophobia (1966), Harpya (1979), Atraksion (2001).
• …偽りのつらしと乳をしぼり捨て… (Jūgo) — By Noriko MORITA.
• …消えぬ卒塔婆にすごすごと泣く… (Kakei) — By Tatsuo SHIMAMURA, involved with various studio projects like the 1980s favorite Tao Tao (im Deutsch, em português, بالعربية, suomea) and Cleopatra: Queen of Sex (1970).
• …影法の暁寒く火を燒て… (Bashō) — Animated by the husband-and-wife team Yōichi KOTABE (Hols, Prince of the Sun (1968), 300 Leagues in Search of Mother (1976), Wizard of Oz (1986), animation supervisor for Pokémon) and Reiko OKUYAMA (Shōnen Sarutobi Sasuke (1959), Tatsu no Ko Taro (1979), illustrator of children's books).
• …あるじは貧にたえし虚家… (Tokoku) — Animated by Russian artist Aleksandr Petrov, one of Norshteyn's pupils, using paint-on-glass animation.
• …田中なるこまんが柳落るころ… (Kakei) — An abstract animation by artist Maya YONESHO.
• …霧に舟引く人はちんばか… (Yasui) — Created by Yōji KURI, a seminal figure in Japanese independent animation: 愛 (Love, 1963), アオス (Aos, 1964), The Room (1967).
• …たそがれを横にながむる月細し… (Tokoku) —Animated by the husband-and-wife team UrumaDelvi, who also unleashed the "bottom-biting bug" upon Japan (get bitten).
• …隣さかしき町に下り居る… (Jūgo) — Created by the artist Seiichi HAYASHI, who wrote and illustrated 1971's groundbreaking Red Colored Elegy (JP site, US publisher page).
• …二の尼に近衛の花の盛り聞く… (Yasui) — Created by Azuru ISSHIKI.
• …蝶は葎にとばかり鼻かむ… (Bashō) — Created by renowned Czech animator Břetislav Pojar: Svatba v korálovém moři (A Coral Sea Wedding, 1944), Balablok (1972), E (1981).

Sheet 2, Side 1 — ha (development)

• …乗物に簾透く顔おぼろなる… (Jūgo) — Created by Katsushi BODA, a stop-motion animator: Pulsar (1990), various commercials.
• …今ぞ恨の矢を放つ声… (Kakei) — Created by Masahiro KATAYAMA, an eminent figure in Japanese animation.
• …盗人の記念の松の吹き折れて… (Bashō) — Animated by UK's Mark Davis, who has worked on various studio projects like Peppa Pig (2006) and Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom (2009), as well as some shorts: The Hill Farm (1989, 1 | 2), Jolly Roger (1999).
• …しばし宗祇の名を付けし水… (Tokoku) — Created by Yuichi Ito, who directs his own studio. He is behind various Knyacki shorts and Norabitts (2006), created for Shochiku's 110th anniversary.
• …笠ぬぎて無理にも濡るる北時雨… (Kakei) — Created by Keita KUROSAKA, who also created Midori-Ko (2010, trailer) and a number of other things.
• …冬がれ分けてひとり唐苣… (Yasui) — Created by Reiko YOKOSUKA: クレーターのなる木 (1987), GAKI 琵琶法師 (Biwa-Playing Gaki, 2005).
• …しらしらと砕けしは人の骨か何… (Tokoku) — Created by Yuko ASANO (probably not the actress of the same name).
• …烏賊は夷の国の占形… (Jūgo) — Animated by IKIF (JP), a studio that's worked on a number of mainstream projects (Beyblade: The Movie, Doraemon odds and ends, etc.).
• …あはれさの謎にもとけじ郭公… (Yasui) — Animated by Bai-Rong WONG of the Shanghai Animation Studio, which has been producing brilliant animated films for decades.
• …秋水一斗もりつくす夜ぞ… (Bashō) — Created by Studio Gibli co-founder Isao TAKAHATA. Here are several versions of the GeGeGe no Kitaro opening song: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | live.
• …日東の李白が坊に月を見て… (Jūgo) — Created by Norio HIKONE (JP), an animator for Toei in the 1960s and 70s, and accomplished designer since then.
• …巾に木槿をはさむ琵琶打… (Kakei) — Created by Masaaki MORI (JP, pig nudity), an accomplished animator and character designer.

Sheet 2, Side 2 — kyū (denouement)

• …牛の跡弔ふ草の夕暮に… (Bashō) —Created by Taku FURUKAWA, a pupil of Yoji Kuri's and another well-known figure in Japanese independent animation. His work doesn't seem to be on YouTube, but here's a DVD and a cached blog entry.
• …箕に鮗の魚をいただき… (Tokoku) — Created by the Dutch-Canadian animator Co Hoedeman: see all of his shorts.
• …わが祈り明がたの星孕むべく… (Kakei) — Created by Canadian pinscreen animator Jacques Drouin: watch films.
• …けふは妹の眉描きに行き… (Yasui) — Created by claymation artist Fusako YUSAKI, who has spent a number of years in Italy: Talpy, Triangle | Square | Circle, live.
• …綾ひとへ居湯に志賀の花漉て… (Tokoku) — Created by independent animator Kōji YAMAMURA: カロとピヨブプト (Karo & Piyobupt shorts, 1993), バベルの本 (Babel's Book, 1996), 頭山 (Mt. Head, 2002, as seen on the Animation Show).
• …廊下は藤の影伝ふなり… (Jūgo) — Kihachirō Kawamoto also provides the closing short.

Sources: the indispensable Nishikata Film Review blog and Haruo SHIRANE's Early Modern Japanese Literature, which explains and annotates many of the poems. Enjoy!

posted by Nomyte (26 comments total)

Fantastic post!
posted by vorfeed at 3:25 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

Here's a YouTube playlist, if you want to sit back and watch them all in a row.
posted by filthy light thief at 3:34 PM on November 14, 2011 [9 favorites]

FUCK YES
posted by beefetish at 3:45 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

*BOGGLES*
posted by troll on a pony at 3:50 PM on November 14, 2011

Amazing post. Thank you, Nomyte.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 4:02 PM on November 14, 2011

Sigh.
posted by Nomyte at 4:19 PM on November 14, 2011

Before I delve into this, can you tell me what it has to do with Lauri Anderson?
posted by The Bellman at 4:27 PM on November 14, 2011 [2 favorites]

Thanks for this, Nomyte; and to FLT for the playlist.
posted by cerulgalactus at 4:30 PM on November 14, 2011

This just delights me all to pieces! Thank you.
posted by Anitanola at 6:29 PM on November 14, 2011

INsane. Sidebar, please.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 9:11 PM on November 14, 2011

These are marvellous. The variety in animation styles is huge, from child-like drawings to sophisticated CGI.
posted by Huw at 12:13 AM on November 15, 2011

This so fantastic... thank you, Nomyte! Now I know how I will be spending my winter evening tonight.
posted by taz at 3:09 AM on November 15, 2011

This is what makes MetaFilter cheap at $5

Thankyou for pulling this post together
posted by infini at 6:26 AM on November 15, 2011

A heartfelt "Thank you" for assembling this, Nomyte. I've been reading and ruminating on Basho's Narrow Road to the Interior lately; this is very timely for me...
posted by OneMonkeysUncle at 9:47 AM on November 15, 2011

There's so much room for discussion here I'm struck silent.
posted by Twang at 10:49 AM on November 15, 2011

I'm still diving in to this, but this is an astoundingly interesting, beautiful, well presented post, I'm trying to recall ever seeing a better one on MeFi. There's a lot here that I know nothing about and now I am enthralled.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 12:13 PM on November 15, 2011

I will definitely have to watch again after work but I have a question:

It seems like a written version of improv, where one poet sets the scene and one describes the action or feeling in the scene. But I'm confused as to the whole "sided sheets", "number of pages", and different authors. Is each author describing his own meta story while still contributing to the overall work? Or is it supposed to be one cohesive story about the same characters?
posted by Khazk at 1:17 PM on November 15, 2011

This is a gorgeous post. Thanks!
posted by methinks at 3:07 PM on November 15, 2011

Khazk: Each line is intended to be read with the one previous to form a distinct "poem." The task of each contributor is to recontextualize the previous line.

So, for example, #7 appears to be about a recluse watching some farmers harvesting rice. The author of #8 implies that the recluse is in hiding, possibly a monk waiting to return to the secular world. In #9 we discover that the recluse is a mother whose child was taken away by someone. In #10 we learn that the child had died. Each verse subtly changes the scene.

There is also a set of rules for which poems should refer to which seasons. A number of poems must obligatorily mention the moon or love.

Most readers can get a Google preview of the book I linked, which includes detailed commentary. Begin on p. 197 (you can get to it by searching for "Yasui" in the text of the book).
posted by Nomyte at 5:02 PM on November 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

Ah.
posted by nickyskye at 5:42 PM on November 15, 2011

post of the year
posted by facetious at 6:19 PM on November 15, 2011

Exquisite! Rules and collaboration make me think of my old Odyssey of the Mind days back in middle school. It's so exciting to test limits, and to do it with a bunch of your friends... ! Poetry is sort of like creative problem solving, right?
posted by carsonb at 7:19 PM on November 15, 2011

This is wonderful. Thanks, Nomyte.
posted by homunculus at 12:37 AM on November 16, 2011

Thank you. This is grand.
posted by pleasebekind at 3:46 AM on November 16, 2011

Thank you, Nomyte. This is a treasure trove.

On the one hand, I think YouTube has been incredible at making obscure animation accessible. On the other, animation suffers far more than live-action video from video compression. It just about makes me cry sometimes to see the art so desecrated. Better than not seeing it at all, but still painful.

It's probably even more painful for animators to imagine people knowing their work only through YouTube. I once spoke to an animator who was unwilling to release his work on DVD due to the loss of quality compared to film.
posted by snarfois at 1:03 AM on November 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

springtime!
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:21 PM on November 27, 2011