My recent trip to Japan to observe multifamily housing was partially funded through the Arthur A. & Florence G. Fisher Traveling Scholarship / AIA Colorado. The trip was truly astonishing and life altering and I can’t wait to go back with my wife and daughter.
As I walked the streets of Tokyo, Yokohama, Sendia, and Kyoto, I soaked up the architecture—but I was also taken with the beauty of the trees and flowers. This post is a tribute to that. Oh, and I’ve thrown in some traditional Japanese poetry as well. I hope you enjoy.
Poem from The Narrow Road of the Interior by Matsuo Basho
Ah, awesome sight!
on summer leaves and spring leaves,
the radiance of the sun! [/one_half]
ara toto
aoba wakaba no
ni no hikari
Poems from the story Akimichi
(anonymous late sixteenth or early seventeenth century)
It was late in the Third Month. Kitamuki composed this poem on the eve of her departure:
It had seemed to me
that these springtime blossoms
had reached their prime,
but tomorrow, alas,
they are fated to scatter.
kono haru no
hana no sakari to
omoishi ni
asu chiriyukan
koto zo kanashiki
Akimichi’s reply was prompt:
That is foolishness!
We shall surely see them again.
Though someone may break
the branch where they bloom each spring,
our love of the blossoms endures.
oroka nari
mata mo aubeki
haru goto no
eda wa oru tomo
kokoro kawaraji
