Micro-Season: “The Wagtail Calls”

September 12 to September 16 is the micro-season of “The Wagtail Calls”.   This is the second micro-season of the season of White Dew.  All the seasons within White Dew are:

• White Dew on Grass (Sep 07 – Sep 11)
• The Wagtail Calls (Sep 12 – Sep 16) 
• The Swallows Leave (Sep 17 – Sep 21)

These seasons were established in 1685 by Japanese astronomer Shibukawa Shunkai. While they are specific to Japan, you can use them as a starting point to explore your environment.

To celebrate this season, we will learn about the wagtail and then read haiku by Issa, Basho, and Buson.

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The Wagtail

Wagtail is the name given to several species of birds found in the order Passeriformes genus Motacilla.  Birds found in the order Passeriformes are sometimes called “perching birds” or “passerines”. 

There are 13 species of wagtail and they can be found worldwide.  In North America, we have the Eastern yellow wagtail (Motacilla tschutschensis). In Japan, there is the Japanese wagtail (Motacilla grandis).

All wagtails are insectivores, have long tails, and perform a similar tail-wagging behavior from which their name is derived. Wagtails often live near waterways, roost in trees, and have ground nests.

Japanese Wagtail

The Japanese wagtail (Motacilla grandis) is native to both Japan and Korea.  This bird is about 8 inches long (20 centimeters) and has black upperparts, throats, and back, with a white underbelly.  

The Japanese wagtail is often found near inland bodies of water including streams, rivers, and lakes.  Their call, from which this season is named, is described as being “distinctly buzzy”

You can follow this link to listen to Japanese Wagtail calls on eBird.

The authors of the 72-season app tell us the wagtail is also sometimes called ishitataki, which basically translates to “stone hitter”. 

Wagtails in Myth

The Ainu people, who are native to northern Japan, include the wagtail in their creation myths. In one myth, the creator sends a  “water wagtail to create habitable land in the watery world below. The little bird fluttered over the waters, splashing water aside, and then he packed patches of the earth firm by stomping them with his feet and beating them with his tail. In this way, islands where the Ainu were later to live were raised to float upon the ocean.”⁽⁵⁾

In another myth the Ainu gave the water wagtail a cupid-like role.  Researcher John Batchelor explains:

“The water-wagtail is called Ochiu-cJiiri by some people, and this means the ” bird of passion” or “desire.” He is thus named because he has strong sensual desires. After God had created human beings and placed them in the world, the water-wagtail came to them, and first taught them their duties to one another as husbands and wives. . . .Through his kindly instructions, men increased and multiplied in the world. He is known to be a good charm, and therefore to be highly prized.”⁽⁶⁾

In both of these myths, the bird is identified as a water wagtail.  A water wagtail is not one of the species of wagtail that I could find in my research.  I suspect that the water wagtail is the same as the Japanese wagtail and that the “water” part of this name is in reference to its preferred habitat.

You can read more about the role of the wagtail in myths at Japanese Mythology and Folklore

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Seasonal Haiku

In the World Kigo Database “Wagtail” (sekirei) is listed as an autumn kigo. Other wagtail-related kigo for autumn include “hitting stones” and “tapping in the garden”.  

 The Five Hundred Essential Japanese Season Words as selected by Kenkichi Yamamoto lists the “wagtail”, “sandpiper”, and “goose” as waterbird-related kigo.

In A Dictionary of Haiku, Jane Reichhold doesn’t list “wagtail” as an autumn kigo. However, she does list “cormorants” and “cranes” as autumn kigo.

With all this in mind, let’s read some haiku.

Issa

maybe the wagtail
put it there...
lantern for the dead
(translated by David. G Lanoue)

running messages, wagtail
for the shrine's god?
irises
(translated by David. G Lanoue)

a standing priest
a standing crane..
field chrysanthemums
(translated by David. G Lanoue)

Basho 

a sick goose
falling into the night’s coldness
sleep on a journey 
(translated by Jane Reichhold)

fields half harvested, 
cranes come wandering through - 
a village autumn 
(translated by Sam Hamill) 

Buson

A candle’s
tears rain down —
cranes in the night
(translated by Allan Persinger)

On Soushyu River
a wild goose’s tears —
a hazy moon
(translated by Allan Persinger)

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Haiku Invitation

This week’s haiku invitation is to write a haiku or senryu that references a shorebird or water bird in autumn. 

Share your haiku in the comments below, or post on your own page and link back to this post. I can’t wait to read what you write!  

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Thank You!

Resources:

1. “Wagtail”; Wikipedia
2. “Japanese Wagtail”; Wikipedia
3. “Japanese Wagtail”; eBird.org
4. 72 season app
5. “Ainu creation”; Wikipedia
6. “Wagtail myths of Japan and their parallels elsewhere”; Japanese Mythology and Folklore

Issa’s haiku were retrieved from HaikuGuy.com by David G. Lanoue.  Basho’s haiku was retrieved from Matsuo Bashō’s haiku poems in romanized Japanese with English translations. Buson’s haiku was retrieved from Foxfire: The Selected Poems of Yosa Buson.