三千の俳句を閲し柿二つ sanzen no haiku wo kemishi kaki futatsu Shiki - Three thousand, Haiku to examine, Two persimmons

Three thousand haiku looked through, and two persimmons.

三千の俳句を閲し柿二つ (sanzen no haiku wo kemishi kaki futatsu): three thousand haiku looked through, and two persimmons. 閲し is 閲する, to look through, the selector's verb; Shiki read the verses sent to the newspaper 日本 by the box, and 柿, the persimmon, is the fruit that returns through his poems. The verse carries a headnote of Shiki's own: 或日夜にかけて俳句凾の底を叩きて, one day, on into the night, striking the bottom of the haiku box. That is the whole story: the box emptied, and at the end of it the reward a sick man allows himself. Kyoshi later gave the night a fever in his novel 柿二つ, though his own later tellings leave it out; the retellings that follow the novel keep it. The verse does not need it. Watson's English keeps the headnote as its title; Blyth's puts the count first and the persimmons last with nothing between them but the verb. The English is Timothy L. Jackowski's, made for Takase Studios.

Shiki - Three thousand, Haiku to examine, Two persimmons (三千の俳句を閲し柿二つ) in Block style Japanese calligraphy by Eri Takase

Shiki - Three thousand, Haiku to examine, Two persimmons 三千の俳句を閲し柿二つ sanzen no haiku wo kemishi kaki futatsu Vertical Block VB6C

Shiki - Three thousand, Haiku to examine, Two persimmons (三千の俳句を閲し柿二つ) in Cursive style Japanese calligraphy by Eri Takase

Shiki - Three thousand, Haiku to examine, Two persimmons 三千の俳句を閲し柿二つ sanzen no haiku wo kemishi kaki futatsu Vertical Cursive VC6B

Shiki - Three thousand, Haiku to examine, Two persimmons (三千の俳句を閲し柿二つ) in Design style Japanese calligraphy by Eri Takase

Shiki - Three thousand, Haiku to examine, Two persimmons 三千の俳句を閲し柿二つ sanzen no haiku wo kemishi kaki futatsu Vertical Design VD5B

Shiki - Three thousand, Haiku to examine, Two persimmons 三千の俳句を閲し柿二つ sanzen no haiku wo kemishi kaki futatsu Vertical Design VD6B

More about 三千の俳句を閲し柿二つ

The verse is from the autumn of 1897, the year under which Shiki's manuscript sets it; it was first printed in 1909, in the 子規句集 that 虚子 and 碧梧桐 selected from his manuscripts.

We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of 三千の俳句を閲し柿二つ.

About the Designs

Each design is Master Japanese Calligrapher Eri Takase's hand-brushed calligraphy of the word or phrase on this page, delivered as a PDF you can print. Every PDF includes the line art, so a tattoo artist or a craftsperson can work from the outline as well as the brushed image.

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Shiki - Three thousand, Haiku to examine, Two persimmons (sanzen no haiku wo kemishi kaki futatsu)

Haiku by Shiki on a traditional Japanese Scroll by Master Eri Takase.

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Shiki - Three thousand, Haiku to examine, Two persimmons as a hand-brushed scroll

Master Takase personally brushes your scroll when you order, and it bears her red seal and her signature. The scroll has real silk borders and layered Japanese paper, so it hangs straight, and it arrives ready to display.