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- Tosa Nikki
Shimo dani mo okanu kata zo to iu naredo nami no naka ni wa yuki zo furikeru
They say this is a land where not even frost settles, yet within the waves the snow is falling.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Minasoko no tsuki no ue yori kogu fune no sao ni sawaru wa katsura narurashi
As our boat rows over the moon lying deep beneath the water, what brushes against our pole must surely be the laurel that grows upon the moon.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Kage mireba nami no soko naru hisakata no sora kogiwataru ware zo sabishiki
Looking at the reflection, I see the far-off sky lying beneath the waves—and how lonely I am, rowing across it.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Isoburi no yosuru iso ni wa toshitsuki o itsu tomo wakanu yuki nomi zo furu
On the rocky shore where the breakers pound, snow alone keeps falling, heedless of the passing months and years.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Kaze ni yoru nami no iso ni wa uguisu mo haru mo e shiranu hana nomi zo saku
On the shore where wind-driven waves break, there bloom only flowers that neither the warbler nor the spring itself has ever known.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Tatsu nami o yuki ka hana ka to fuku kaze zo yosetsutsu hito o hakaru beranaru
Making the rising waves look now like snow, now like blossoms, the blowing wind keeps driving them ashore, as if to fool us.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Aounabara furisake mireba kasuga naru mikasa no yama ni ideshi tsuki kamo
Gazing far out over the wide blue sea, I see the moon—the very moon that once rose over Mount Mikasa in Kasuga, back home.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Miyako nite yama no ha ni mishi tsuki naredo nami yori idete nami ni koso ire
In the capital I watched this moon rise and set at the mountains' rim; here it rises from the waves and sinks into the waves.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Waga kami no yuki to isobe no shiranami to izure masareri okitsu shimamori
The snow of my hair, or the white waves breaking on the shore—which is the whiter? Tell me, guardian of the offshore isle.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Kogite yuku fune nite mireba ashibiki no yama sae yuku o matsu wa shirazu ya
Seen from our boat as we row along, even the mountains seem to be moving—don't the pine trees on them know?
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Nami to nomi hitoe ni kikedo iro mireba yuki to hana to ni magaikeru kana
I had heard them only as waves, but seeing their color, I cannot tell them from snow and blossoms.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Watatsumi no chiburi no kami ni tamukesuru nusa no oikaze yamazu fukanamu
O following wind that carries the offerings we make to the god who guards travelers at sea—blow on and never cease.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Oikaze no fukinuru toki wa yuku fune no hote uchite koso ureshikarikere
When the following wind blows, the sails of our boat snap taut, and we clap our hands—oh, how glad we are!
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Hi o dani mo amagumo chikaku miru mono o miyako e to omou michi no harukesa
Even the sun we can see close by the clouds in the sky—yet how far away is the road to the capital we long for!
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Fuku kaze no taenu kagiri shi tachikureba namiji wa itodo harukekarikeri
As long as the wind keeps blowing and the waves keep rising, the sea road home seems to stretch ever farther.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Obotsukana kyō wa ne no hi ka ama naraba miru o dani hikamashi mono o
I'm not quite sure—is today the Day of the Rat? If I were a fisherwoman, I could at least pull up some sea-pine weed.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki