Hotaru and Haiku

Ochanomizu hotaru. Kobayashi Kiyochika, circa 1880

 

At the beginning of the rainy season like these days, I like to sit on the back porch at dusk with my children, watching the fireflies. When they were small, they had once actually caught some fireflies and stored them in glass bottles, only to try to make fireflies lamp like often depicted in comics and anime, then let them go again.

There is a soft and subtle impression on fireflies which makes them very interesting. Their feeble twinkling and slow flying like a flare moved in the dark. The attraction of these luminous creatures led to the development of many folk tales, myths, superstitions, and poems related to fireflies in various cultural settings.

 

In Indonesia, for example, it was said that fireflies come from the nails of the dead. In ancient China, fireflies were believed to originate from burning grass. Ancient Chinese manuscripts suggest that a popular hobby in summer was catching fireflies and placing them in transparent boxes, to be used as lanterns. Meanwhile, in the Victorian tradition, England, there is a superstition that if fireflies enter the house, it means that soon someone will die in that house.

Fireflies also frequently appear in Native American folklore. In an Apache tribe legend, there is a story of trickster fox who tries to steal fire from a village of fireflies. The fox get his own tail on fire with a pieace of burning bark. The fox escaped and gave the bark to the Eagle, which took it flying and spread embers around the world. In this way the Apache were first introduced to fire.

 

Most interesting is in Japan, which has a special liking for these insects which they call "hotaru". Having lived in Tokyo for almost five years, I can testify of how the hot summer there stings all our senses. The non-stop vibrating sound of cicadas throughout the day, and flocks of fireflies at night along the banks of the river that I often pass.

Since long ago the sight of fireflies on a summer night has been a highly anticipated show. Until now, several places in Japan routinely hold firefly festivals — hotaru matsuri — by releasing thousands of fireflies which in Japanese culture are associated with the spirits of warriors who died on the battlefield.

In Kyoto, for example, there is a famous firefly viewing tour along a section of road dubbed the Philosopher's Path, a narrow strip on the banks of a small river that connects to Lake Biwa at the foot of Higashiyama.

In popular culture there is the song "Hotaru no Hikari (Light of the Fireflies)" which is perhaps one of the most recognizable Japanese songs, often sung at farewells, such as at graduation ceremonies, event closings, and year-end. There is also a famous children's song called "Hotaru Koi (Fireflies Come Here)." 

Hotaru also inspired lots of anime and movie, one of the most famous is "Hotaru no Haka (Grave of Fireflies)" in 1988, an animation production work of Studio Ghibli, considered to be one of the most powerful anti-war movies ever made. 

 

Japanese Zen Buddhism makes hotaru a symbol for its central concept of the brevity of life. In Zen, hotaru has a close affinity to the transcience which is interpreted in a positive light. Weak but beautiful fireflies when seen in large numbers in the pine forest or in the meadow at night, just a perfect way to tell about the poignancy of our own lives: short and fleeting, but also everlasting and beautiful.

With their pleasing and soft appeal, it's no wonder that fireflies are also often used in poetic expressions and have entered the tradition of haiku. Since the 8th century, in the Man'you-shu anthology, the firefly has been a metaphor for passionate love of poetry.

Izumi Shikibu, who is considered to be the greatest female poet of the Heian period, wrote this haiku to describe the longing she feels for her deceased lover:

    Remembering you ...
    Flickering fireflies in the valley
    Like the light of my longing body

 

The great seventeenth-century poet Matsuo Basho turned his attention to these little creatures with short lifetimes, in order to remember our own limitations but remain hopeful:

    Falling from  

    A blade of grass, to fly off – 

    A firefly

Katsura Nobuko (1914–2004) female poet writer of modern haiku whose early poetry was rather erotic, describing a gathering on a summer evening:

    Wearing my kimono loosely
    to meet him
    firefly night

 

The firefly with its delicate wings is a reminder of the need for submission in the face of the majesty and mystery of the universe. Kobayasi Issa, an 18th century Buddhist priest who was also a haiku master, wrote 230 poems about fireflies. In one of his most famous haiku, he records a moment of silence as time passes more slowly:

    The fireflies are sparkling  

    And even the mouth of a frog 

    Hangs wide open

These haikus captures brief, enlightening moments from the presence of fireflies. Its weak flickering light, just like its body and life, can inspire poetic expression and reach eternity in the works of various cultures. 

Fireflies in their tenderness and fragility give us affirmation, how precious are every life we encounter in the middle of the vast universe, in which we are also nothing more than a grain of dust. 

Even the fragile and ephemeral lights in the dark can spark undying hopes and remembrance that bring up happiness for the moment. 

That's the gift of Hotaru.

Hunting for fireflies.Harunobu Suzuki 1767-1768

Indonesian version