Samhain Festival

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Samhain Festival

***** Location: Ireland
***** Season: Autumn
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

(November 1st), mostly the West of Ireland.

In other parts celebrated as All Saints's Day.

Samhain (pronounced 'saun' from the old Irish samain) is the word for November in the Gaellic languages. The Scottish Gaellic spelling is Samhainn or Samhuinn (for the feast), or an t-Samhain (for the month). Samhain, meaning Summer's End, is the Celtic festival held on November 1st, which is generally regarded as 'The Celtic New Year.' The Festival of Samhain is a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Celtic culture. It was celebrated with bonfires throughout centuries. In early Ireland, people gathered at the ritual centers of the tribes, for Samhain was the principal calendar feast of the year.

The greatest assembly was the 'Feast of Tara,' focusing on the royal seat of the High King as the heart of the sacred land, the point of conception for the new year. In every household throughout the country, hearth-fires were extinguished. Even today, one can see bonfires lighting up the skies in Ireland, as well as in many parts of Britain at this season.

Despite the fact that the dates of the ancient Celtic Samhain and the Christian All Saints' Day coincide, the significant difference between them is that Samhain recognises the evil spirits, whereas Hallowmas recognises those that were good. While Samhain was (and is) a time to fear the spirits of the dead, All Saints' Day continues to be a time to celebrate life.

Anatoly Kudryavitsky





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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

T-shirts on the line
November wind tries on
a "Samhain" one

Anatoly Kudryavitsky
(from 'Morning at Mount Ring', DOGHOUSE Books, 2007)

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Related words

***** All Saints’ Day

***** All Souls' Day

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ALL SOUL'S DAY
(The Day After Samhain, i.e. November 2nd)

In Ireland, it was once widely believed that the souls of the faithful departed would return to their family home on All Soul's Night. Great care was taken to make them feel welcome.
Rituals included sweeping the floor clean, lighting a good fire, and placing the poker and tongs in the shape of a cross on the hearth. A bowl of spring water was put on the table, along with a place setting for each deceased relative. In some areas, children would go "soul-caking" - they'd visit neighbors and beg for cakes in exchange for prayers to be said for the dead.

Families would usually retire early, but before they did, many of them went to the cemetery where their loved ones were buried. They would say prayers for each departed family member, make sure the gravesites were neat and tidy, and then they would leave a candle burning on each grave.

During evening prayers, the family would again light a candle for each of their departed relatives . Often, a candle would be placed in the window of a room where a relative had died. Or, it might be placed in a window that faced in the direction of the cemetery. Then, when evening prayers were over, the candles would either be extinguished or left to burn out.

by Bridget Heggarty
(from www.irishcultureandcustoms.com)


All Souls' Day
shabby old man talks
to a statue's shadow

Anatoly Kudryavitsky
(from 'Morning at Mount Ring', DOGHOUSE Books, 2007)


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Tarweed

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Tarweed

***** Location: Ireland
***** Season: Summer
***** Category: Plant

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Explanation

Common tarweed.
Specimens kept in the Dublin Botanic Garden. Tarweed is a heavily scented annual alien plant probably originating from western North America, which some botanists describe as resinous, composite, with little white (mountain tarweed) or yellow (common tarweed) daisy-like flowers. Occasional specimens can be found in the Wicklow mountains and the Mountains of Mourne areas.

Anatoly Kudryavitsky


Cluster tarweed, Mountain tarweed. Madia glomerata





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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

mountain tarweed –
touching the flowers
smelling my fingers

Anatoly Kudryavitsky
(from 'Morning at Mount Ring', DOGHOUSE Books, 2007)

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Related words

***** EUROPA Saijiki

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Meadowsweet

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Meadowsweet

***** Location: Ireland
***** Season: Summer
***** Category: Plant

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Explanation

Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria)
is a common fen plant growing amongst other tall herbs and forming extensive stands, to 1m or more. It is a a tall hairless perennial herb, growing in damp meadows, ditches and bogs, at the edges of ponds, on river banks and in damp open woodland.

It is common throughout Northern Ireland, as well as throughot other parts of Europe. It can also be found in the eastern US and Canada. The creeping rootstock sends up a reddish, angular stem, up to 120cm tall, branched near the top and bearing alternate long-petioled leaves composed of two to five pairs of ovate, serrate leaflets, which are green above but silvery below.

The small, sweet smelling, creamy-white five-petaled flowers with over twenty protruding stamens grow in panicled cymes from June to August. The flowers do not develop where the plant is in shade and it is absent from permanently waterlogged ground. Meadowsweet and water mint were held in high regard by the Druids and later by the "fairy doctors" who existed in rural Ireland until recently. These days you can buy packages of meadowsweet tea in some Irish shops.

Anatoly Kudryavitsky




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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

damp meadowsweet –
horses in mist
up to their oxters

Kate Newmann

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Related words

***** EUROPA Saijiki

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Gooseberry

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Gooseberry

***** Location: Ireland
***** Season: Summer
***** Category: Plant

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Explanation

The Gooseberry (Ribes uva-crispa, syn. R. grossularia)
is a species of Ribes, native to Europe, northwestern Africa and southwestern Asia. These plants are derived from garden stock: it is not native to Ireland. However this spiny shrub is frequent in hedgerows in many parts of lowland Northern Ireland.
An Irish mother would explain to her kids that a newborn baby was found in the cabbages or in the gooseberry bushes.

Anatoly Kudryavitsky





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Worldwide use

Stachelbeere


. Alma, amalika - Indian gooseberry .
Phyllanthus emblica (syn. Emblica officinalis)



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HAIKU

low summer sky –
in the gooseberry bush
cats' eyes

Kate O'Shea


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tangled and thorny...
goosebrry bush
and politics

- Shared by Pat Geyer ‎.
Joys of Japan, March 2012



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Related words

***** EUROPA Saijiki





. WKD : Berry, berries in all seasons .


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Cormorant

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Cormorant

***** Location: Ireland, other countries
***** Season: Early autumn
***** Category: Animal

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Explanation

A large and conspicuous waterbird, the cormorant has an almost primitive appearance with its long neck making it appear almost reptilian. It is often seen standing with its wings held out to dry. Regarded by some as black, sinister and greedy, cormorants are supreme fishers which can bring them into conflict with anglers and they have been persecuted in the past.

The UK holds internationally important wintering numbers and with its breeding concentrations at a few sites it is an Amber List species.



http://www.photobirdireland.com/photobirdireland/index.asp



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Japan

humanity kigo for all summer

ukai 鵜飼 (うかい) cormorant fishing



ubune 鵜舟（うぶね）boat for cormorant fishing
ukaibi 鵜飼火（うかいび）torchlight for cormorant fishing
..... ukaigari 鵜篝（うかがり）
..... utaimatsum u taimatsu 鵜松明（うたいまつ）
ushoo 鵜匠（うしょう）fisherman using cormorants
..... utsukai, u tsukai 鵜遣（うつかい）

unawa 鵜縄（うなわ）rope for cormorants
ukago 鵜籠（うかご）basket for cormorants



arau, ara-u 荒鵜（あらう）wild cormorant
tsukare-u 疲鵜（つかれう）tired cormorant
hanare-u 離れ鵜（はなれう）
kachi-u 徒歩鵜（かちう）
ukawa, u kawa 鵜川（うかわ）river with cormorants

u 鵜（う）cormorant
..... u no tori 鵜の鳥（うのとり）
umi-u 海鵜（うみう）sea cormorant
kawa-u 川鵜（かわう）river cormorant
hime-u 姫鵜（ひめう）pelagic cormorant
mizudori 水鳥（みずどり）"water bird"
Shimazudori 島津鳥（しまずどり） bird from Shimazu
(old province in Kyushu)

.SAIJIKI ... HUMANITY - Kigo for Summer 　

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Cormorant fishing has a long tradition in Japan.

Historically, cormorant fishing has taken place in Japan and China from around 960 AD. and recorded from other places throughout the world.

To control the birds, the fishermen tie a snare near the base of the bird's throat. This prevents the birds from swallowing larger fish, which are held in their throat, but the birds can swallow smaller fish. When a cormorant has caught a fish in its throat, the fisherman brings the bird back to the boat and has the bird spit the fish up. Though cormorant fishing once was a successful industry, its primary use today is to serve the tourism industry.

The types of cormorants used differ based on the location. In Gifu, Japan, the Japanese Cormorant (P. capillatus) is used; Chinese fishermen often employ Great Cormorants (P. carbo). Darters (Anhinga), which are very close relatives of cormorants, are also used for this fishing technique on occasion.

Cormorant fishing, called ukai (鵜飼) in Japanese, takes place in 13 cities in Japan.
The most famous location is Gifu, Gifu Prefecture, home to Cormorant Fishing on the Nagara River, which has continued uninterrupted for the past 1,300 years.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !



CLICK for more ukiyo-e about cormorant fishing !

. . . CLICK for more ukiyo-e about cormorant fishing ! !

岐阻路ノ驛　河渡長柄川鵜飼船
by Eisen 英泉

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Cormorant as a roof tile at the Akai-ya 閼伽井屋, which is a well house of the temple hall Nigatsu-do in Nara. During the Omizu-tori ceremony, water will be taken from the well in this building.

The cormorant is the sacred animal of the deity
鵜草葺不合尊 Ugayafukiaezu no mikoto
father of Jinmu Tenno 神武天皇

Omizu-tori　お水取り is a ceremony to receive subsoil water which was "sent" from Wakasa by Omizu-okuri ceremony. Omizu-tori and Omizu-okuri ceremonies originate in a legend about the Wakasa deities (Wakasahiko and Wakasahime) and their apostle cormorants.

- Shared by Taisaku Nogi -
Joys of Japan, 2012


"Cormorant River" at Wakasaand the O-Mizutori rituals.
. U-no-se (鵜の瀬)" River Unose .


Water-spouting statue of a cormorant in Temizuya at
. Uwase Shrine 宇波西神社, Mikata .


. The Wakasa Wedding .
Wakasahiko Jinja (若狭彦神社)
Wakasahime Jinja (若狭姫神社)


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Things found on the way

Noh play UKAI 鵜飼 (能)


©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

"The sight of cormorants catching fish one after another in rapid succession is so exciting that the thoughts of sin, retribution, and afterlife all go out of my mind."
"It is so sad to see the darkness after the torchlight on the boat goes out."


About Basho's haiku below:

Barnhill notes that this hokku appears in Basho's haibun, "Cormorant Fishing Boat 鵜舟 ubune ."
In the haibun, Basho refers to the Noh play "Cormorant Fishing."

Ueda mentions that "today [as of 1992], as in Basho's time, it is practiced only in the Nagara River, on a moonless night."

The commentator Shoogatsudoo (in Ueda's "Basho and His Interpreters") points out that "this hokku draws on two sentences that appear in the noo play 'Ukai' [Cormorant Fishing].

Blyth mentions that there is apparently an earlier version, "where we have 'weeping' instead of 'sad' [no romaji available]."

- Compiled by Larry Bole
Kigo Hotline, December 2007



source :　itoyo/basho

Ubune 鵜舟
岐阜の庄長柄川の鵜飼とて、世にことごとしう言ひののしる*。まことや、その興の人の語り伝ふるにたがはず、淺智短才の筆にも言葉にも尽すべきにあらず*。
「こころ知れらん人に見せばや」*など言ひて、闇路に帰る、この身の名残惜しさをいかにせむ.

松尾芭蕉

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HAIKU




おもしろうてやがて悲しき鵜舟哉
omoshiroote yagate kanashiki ubune kana

so fascinating,
but then so sad:
cormorant fishing boat
Tr. David Landis Barnhill



so exciting
and, after a while, so sad -
cormorant fishing
Tr. Makoto Ueda

Written in 1688, 元禄一年 Basho age 45

At the river Nagaragawa in Mino 美濃の長良川

. Matsuo Basho　松尾芭蕉 .


. Emotions expressed in Haiku .



source :　circleboard - sukesan


River Nagaragawa 長柄川 / 長良川
has its source in the city of Gujō, Gifu Prefecture, and its mouth in the city of Kuwana, Mie Prefecture, Japan. Along with the Kiso River and Ibi River, the Nagara River is one of the Kiso Three Rivers of the Nōbi Plain.
Previously, the river was named Sunomata River (墨俣川 Sunomata-gawa). With a length of 166 km (103 mi), it drains an area of 1,985 square kilometres (766 sq mi) in the Chūbu region and empties into Ise Bay.
. . . Cormorant fishing takes place in two cities: Gifu, where it is called "Cormorant Fishing on the Nagara River,"
and Seki, where it is called "Oze Cormorant Fishing" (小瀬鵜飼 Oze Ukai). Though eleven other places in Japan also host cormorant fishing, only the fishing masters on the Nagara River are Imperial Fishermen of the Household Agency.
Read the details here :
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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鵜とともに心は水をくぐり行く
u to tomo ni kokoro wa mizu o kuguriyuku

My soul
Dives in and out of the water
With the cormorant.
Tr. Blyth

. Uejima Onitsura 上島鬼貫 .


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つくづくと鵜ににらまるる鵜飼哉
tsuku-zuku to u ni nirama[ru]ru ukai kana

Haiku by Issa

the cormorants stare
at them hard...
cormorant fishermen

renku by Sakuo

安い賃金ストをも辞せず
yasui chingin suto o mo jisezu

cheap wages
come on strike　


Haiga by Nakamura Sakuo


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鵜のつらに篝こぼれて哀れなり
u no tsura ni kagari koborete aware nari

How pitiful!
The torches drip
On the faces of the cormorants.
Tr. Blyth

Katoo Kakei 加藤かけい Kato Kakei (1900 - 1983)


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akatsuki ya u-kago ni nemuru u no tsukare

Morning twilight;
In their basket, the cormorants
Asleep, exhausted.
Tr. Blyth

. Masaoka Shiki 正岡子規 .


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autumn storm
a cormorant sits
on the throne of winds

by Anatoly Kudryavitsky
(from 'Morning at Mount Ring', DOGHOUSE Books, 2007)


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cormorants glide
over orange bull kelp--
autumn sea

©　Deborah P. Kolodji / tinywords

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for a shining breath
the comorant surfaces --
how short, this waking life

©　Erin Noteboom


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cormorants glide
over sea duck decoys -
autumn sea

© Jim Tantillo / huntinghaikudaily


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Related words

***** . Keta Taisha U Matsuri 気多大社鵜祭
Cormorant festival at Shrine Keta Taisha 　　

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- reference : Arai Yoshimune (1873-1945) -

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Cotoneaster

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Cotoneaster

***** Location: Ireland, other countries
***** Season: Summer
***** Category: Plant

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Explanation





Any of various erect or creeping shrubs of the genus Cotoneaster in the rose family, native to Eurasia (Himalayas). Small-leaved cotoneaster, also called rockspray or entire-leaved cotoneaster, is a once-common garden shrub which has now become naturalised and established in many wild situations.

A low-growing or prostrate evergreen shrub producing numerous small white to pinkish flowers which are followed by tiny, bright red or black fleshy berries containing two or more hard stones. Has flowers and, and frequently cultivated for ornament.

The leathery leaves are c. 7 mm long, oval with a notch at the tips, dark green and shiny. In many places, especially rock exposures in quarries, on crags, or on masonry. There is an extensive colony on crags on Garron Head high above Garron Tower, County Antrim.
http://www.habitas.org.uk/


Kudryavitsky Anatoly

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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

Cotoneaster
where an orchestra of bees
tunes up for summer

Clare McDonnell


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Related words


***** WKD
: Ireland Saijiki, Irish Saijiki

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Cornflower

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Cornflower

***** Location: Ireland, other countries
***** Season: Summer
***** Category: Plant

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Explanation

The bright blue Cornflower was once a common sight in the countryside through the months of July, August and September. In the past it grew as a weed in fields of corn on light soils and was very plentiful - sadly, it is now on the edge of extinction except for a population found on the Aran Islands and in Wicklow.

The Cornflower has many cultivated relations, and these are very popular as fresh cut and dried flowers. Cornflower is proven to help grain grow due to root secretions and is now used as a beneficial weed in some USA grain crops. In 1992 Design By Nature saved the Irish Cornflower from extinction. However pollen from garden strains of cornflower effected the crop in 1998 and the breeding program had to be restarted again.
http://www.wildflowers.ie/

Anatoly Kudryavitsky






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Worldwide use

Germany
Kornblume


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU




her eyes, blue sky -
and now only these
cornflowers

by Anatoly Kudryavitsky
(from 'Morning at Mount Ring', DOGHOUSE Books, 2007)

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Meines Papas knotige Hände
pflanzen Zwiebeln.
Eine Kornblume blüht im Krug.

Aksiniya Mihailova. Bulgarien

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Related words

***** WKD
: Ireland Saijiki, Irish Saijiki


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Kiss on July 1

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Kiss on July 1

***** Location: Bulgaria
***** Season: Summer, July 1
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

Bulgarians kiss each other as they meet the first July sunrise at the Black Sea coast of Varna, some 450 kilometers (280 miles) east of the capital Sofia, Sunday, July 1, 2007.
Every year on 1st of July hundreds of Bulgarians traditionally celebrate this July morning.


©　PHOTO Yahoo News AP

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Thousands Bulgarians Hail the Sunrise Hippy-Style on July Morning

Thousands young people gathered at Kamen Bryag village on the Black Sea coast, the traditional location for the hippy-style celebration of hailing the sunrise, known as July Morning.
The tradition dates back to the hippy period in the 1970s and 1980s and originated as a protest against the restrictions of the communist regime. Nowadays this meaning is lost but the sun worship as a symbol of a new beginning in life motivates young people to keep the tradition alive.

As the name suggests, the anthem of the celebrations is British rock band Uriah Heep's 1972 hit July Morning. This year July Morning was marked with a concert of Uriah Heep vocals John Walden and Bulgarian rock band BTR.

The tradition begs for associations with the sun worship of Peter Dunov followers, who hail the sunrise at the Hill of Prayers in the Rila mountian, which they consider to be a divine mystery.

©　www.novinite.com/

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Worldwide use

Kissing is done at any time, any season . . . so the word

KISS is not a kigo.

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kemono tsurumu 獣交む (けものつるむ) animals mating
kemono sakaru 獣交る（けものさかる）animals in heat
. WKD : animals in spring .

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The tradition of kissing under the mistletoe -
. WKD : Mistletoe (Viscaceae) .
kigo for all winter.

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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

羨ましい　皆で祝う　夏のキス
urayamashi minna de iwau natsu no kisu

enviable--
all celebrating
summer kiss

Nakamura Sakuo

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July First Morning:
sunrise and kisses warming us
all the way through

Larry Bole

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Related words

***** Europa Saijiki


. BULGARIA SAIJIKI .


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Matonge Festival

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Matonge Festival (Fête du Quartier Matonge)

***** Location: Brussels, Belgium
***** Season: Mid-summer
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

At the end of June every year, the Brussels area of Matongé (within the commune of Ixelles) takes an entire week-end to stage a huge street party. The through roads are blocked for the festivities, and people come from all over Brussels and beyond, to enjoy themselves. Brussels loves summer street festivals, but this is one of the biggest!

The Matongé is the African area of Brussels -- named after the elegant city centre street of Kinshasa (DR Congo). It started modestly with a few African shops and a hostel for African university students. Over the decades, it has grown in both size and attractiveness, and is now sought out by the Brussels Africans and non Africans alike for its relaxed, tropical atmosphere and the African music, groceries, restaurants, textiles and hair care provided by the many outlets. The Brussels Africans are well integrated into European society -- they are on the whole no poorer than the local Belgians, and some of them are quite wealthy, liking to flaunt it!

The Matongé is always an enjoyable area, but at festival time, it goes wild!

There is non-stop music up to (and beyond!) midnight for two days, there are cultural events in the many centres around the area, and there is lots of eating and drinking, with the numerous African restaurants of the quarter setting out their various foods. Although there is an increasing population of Anglophone Africans (mostly Nigerians and Ghanaians) now living in Brussels, the Matongé is Francophone, and the local specialities are most often from Congo, Senegal and other West African countries. The atmosphere is relaxed, and the party is for everyone, children and grown-ups alike.

The greatest joy for me, over the years, has been the mixing and blending that I observe. In 2007, most of the tables set out in the streets had mixed parties of African and European friends or family who had come to enjoy the party. A huge proportion of the children are mixed African and European, and a new coffee-coloured generation is growing up into beautiful young citizens.


Enjoying themselves at the Matongé Festival 2007

Text and photo © Isabelle Prondzynski

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One of the “must-see” sights of Brussels, certainly among the Top Ten on the Brussels sightseeing trips, is the Matongé mural named “Porte de Namur -- Porte de l’Amour” (Namur gate -- the gate of love). It can be found attached to a house near the old city gate of the road to Namur, and shows a leisurely scene depicting well-off Africa in Brussels -- with a show of flesh that would not be altogether typical!!


©　PHOTO virtualtourist.com

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Matonge : la fresque

Chéri Samba, peintre congolais de réputation internationale, a été invité à peindre un tableau traduisant les sentiments multiples qui habitent les habitants du quartier Matonge à Ixelles et à rapporter avec humour les éléments signifiants de leur vie quotidienne.

Cette toile a été agrandie sous forme d'une fresque photographique de 15mx12m qui est accrochée à la facade du magazin Hema situé à la rencontre de la chaussée de Wavre et de la Chaussée d'Ixelles à Bruxelles.

Le projet a été accompagné d'animations scolaires et de conférences publiques.

©　www.cec-ong.org/Matonge

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More Matonge photos (from both Brussels and Kinshasa) here :





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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

Matonge feast --
traffic jams reach out
far and wide

lured by
a drummer from Senegal --
Matonge beat

a rasta whirls --
his trinkets and chains
all dance with him

~ Isabelle Prondzynski


Photo © Isabelle Prondzynski


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Related words

***** Kenya and African Haiku

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http://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.com/

Europe Day

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Europe Day - Europa-Tag

***** Location: European Union
***** Season: Early summer (9 May)
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Europe Day is a public holiday for European civil servants and other EU staff worldwide. But even those who do not get the day off, can join in the Europe Day celebrations and festivities in the European capitals and many other towns and cities.

Elsewhere around the world, there are Press articles, reports to commemorate the event, and the usual diplomatic receptions and celebrations to wish Europe well on its “national day”.

Even though the Treaty of Rome was signed on 25 March 1957 (50 years ago in 2007, a year of celebrations), the foundations were laid earlier, on 9 May 1950, when Robert Schuman made his famous speech (see below), which was soon followed by the creation of the first of the European Communities, that on Coal and Steel.


© PHOTO European Commission.

2007 is special for another reason as well -- Bulgaria and Romania joined the European family, and (it pleases the Irishwoman in me to say!) Irish finally became an official language of the European Union.

The week-end before Europe Day is a day of open doors to the European Institutions, and the public enjoy the information, the little gifts, the fun and the many multi-cultural activities laid on for them in the well-known buildings of Brussels, Luxembourg, Strasbourg and the EU Delegations and Representations elsewhere. My haiku notebook dates back to Europe Day 2004!

Text © Isabelle Prondzynski

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The 2007 Europe Day poster is here, together with its predecessors :

http://europa.eu/abc/symbols/9-may/gallery_en.htm


The great array of 2007 celebratory events can be seen here :
http://europa.eu/50/news/article/070503_en.htm

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What is Europe Day?

On 9 May 1950 the first move was made towards the creation of what is now known as the European Union.

In Paris that day, against the background of the threat of a Third World War engulfing the whole of Europe, the French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman read to the international press a declaration calling France, Germany and other European countries to pool together their coal and steel production as "the first concrete foundation of a European federation".

What he proposed was the creation of a supranational European Institution, charged with the management of the coal and steel industry, the very sector which was, at that time, the basis of all military power. The countries which he called upon had almost destroyed each other in a dreadful conflict which had left after it a sense of material and moral desolation.

Everything, therefore, began that day. That is why during the Milan Summit of EU leaders in 1985 it was decided to celebrate 9 May as "Europe Day".

Every country which democratically chooses to accede to the European Union endorses its fundamental values of peace and solidarity.

These values find expression through economic and social development embracing environmental and regional dimensions which are the guarantees of a decent standard of living for all citizens.
http://europa.eu/abc/symbols/9-may/euday_en.htm



[Picture © http://europa.eu/abc/symbols/9-may/images/euday_scaffold.jpg]

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Declaration of 9 May 1950

This is the first part of the proposal, which was presented by the French foreign minister Robert Schuman and which led to the creation of what is now the European Union :

World peace cannot be safeguarded without the making of creative efforts proportionate to the dangers which threaten it. The contribution which an organized and living Europe can bring to civilization is indispensable to the maintenance of peaceful relations. In taking upon herself for more than 20 years the role of champion of a united Europe, France has always had as her essential aim the service of peace. A united Europe was not achieved and we had war.

Europe will not be made all at once, or according to a single plan. It will be built through concrete achievements which first create a de facto solidarity. The coming together of the nations of Europe requires the elimination of the age-old opposition of France and Germany. Any action taken must in the first place concern these two countries. With this aim in view, the French Government proposes that action be taken immediately on one limited but decisive point.

It proposes that Franco-German production of coal and steel as a whole be placed under a common High Authority, within the framework of an organization open to the participation of the other countries of Europe. The pooling of coal and steel production should immediately provide for the setting up of common foundations for economic development as a first step in the federation of Europe, and will change the destinies of those regions which have long been devoted to the manufacture of munitions of war, of which they have been the most constant victims.

The solidarity in production thus established will make it plain that any war between France and Germany becomes not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible. The setting up of this powerful productive unit, open to all countries willing to take part and bound ultimately to provide all the member countries with the basic elements of industrial production on the same terms, will lay a true foundation for their economic unification.

More here :
http://europa.eu/abc/symbols/9-may/decl_en.htm


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Worldwide use

The national holidays and independence days of many countries are comparable festivities.

In the World Kigo Database, see

***** Independence Day worldwide
................. Independence Day (India)

***** Jamhuri Day Kenya
***** Patrick's Day (Ireland) St. Patrick's Day

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Things found on the way

The traffic roundabout outside the main building of the European Commission in Brussels (the Berlaymont) is called Rond-Point Schuman, to honour Robert Schuman, whose far-reaching ideas set it all in motion.

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HAIKU

Europe Day --
a new haiku notebook
to take away

Europe Day --
the sound of war only
on my radio

a new
Euro coin in my purse --
Slovenian

[Slovenia joined the Euro zone in 2007]

~ Isabelle Prondzynski

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Photo © Isabelle Prondzynski

year's first pleasant dream
coming true before its end:
crossing the border!

Admittedly, this haiku needs some explanations.

In Japanese tradition the first dream one has during the year is going to influence the rest of the year. If it's a pleasant one, the year will be good. It was a practice even to sell one's auspicious dream for big money. Some legends even tell of people having their exact dream fulfilled.

In Romania this New Year's Day also meant our country joining the European Union. The first and most obvious consequence thereof was the supression of border control and of the humiliation of having to show a heap of papers and a lot of money (as a proof you had it, so they were just shown not given as a bribe) in order to be free to travel west. Thousands of people crossed the border to Hungary on foot, had a coffee in Hungary, then came back. Among them some elderly people who would never have had the money they were supposed to show...

~ Cristian Mocanu (Romania) (January 2007)

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two new faces
in the gathering round
the year's first hearth

first chorus -
this time an extra
lilt of harmony

Best wishes to all, but especially to those from our new family members (Romania and Bulgaria)!

~ Norman Darlington (January 2007)

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Related words

***** Eurovision Song Contest



This also takes place in May, is run by the European Broadcasting Union, and includes countries beyond the European Union, so that (in 2007) 42 countries will take part. The contest is held on two days, in form of a semi-final (10 May) and a final (12 May).

The event, which always attracts plenty of snide comments, is eminently watchable and enjoyable, and excitement mounts as countries send in their votes, all the way to a (usually) nail-biting finish.

The official web site is here :
http://www.eurovision.tv/


and a detailed Wikipedia write-up can be read here :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_Song_Contest_2007


eurovision --
the best song of all
is the blackbird’s

Isabelle Prondzynski, May 2007


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Croatia is set to become the 28th member state of the European Union on 1 July 2013.

Croatia applied for EU membership in 2003 and the European Commission recommended making it an official candidate in early 2004. Candidate country status was granted to Croatia by the European Council in mid-2004. The entry negotiations, while originally set for March 2005, began in October that year together with the screening process. The accession process of Croatia was complicated by the insistence of Slovenia, an EU member state, that the two countries' border issues be dealt with prior to Croatia's accession to the EU.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !



this Sunday mass
as the summer purification
before entering EU

- Tomislav Maretic -
Haiku Culture Magazine, June 2013


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European Commission July 2017



Good meeting today between EU Commissioner Cecilia Malmström and Japanese Foreign Minister Kishida.
They ironed out the few remaining differences in the #EUJapan trade negotiations and recommended to leaders to confirm the agreement at the EU-Japan Summit on 6 July.

- Look at the video here
- source : facebook.com/EuropeanCommission... -

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. BULGARIA SAIJIKI .


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