Tokoshie ni natsu fuyu yuke ya kawagoromo ōgi hanatanu yama ni sumu hito

とこしへに夏冬行けや裘
扇放たぬ山に住む人

Roma-ji: Tokoshie ni natsu fuyu yuke ya kawagoromo ōgi hanatanu yama ni sumu hito
English Translation: Is it that forever
summer and winter pass at once?
clad in fur robes,
yet never letting go the fan—
the one who dwells on the mountain.
Meaning: Do summer and winter pass together there for all eternity? The one who dwells on the mountain wears a fur robe, yet never lets go of a fan.
Commentary: Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems 1682

Headnote: "A poem presented to Prince Osakabe, on the figure of an immortal"
Looking at a painting of an immortal owned by Prince Osakabe, the poet is amused that the figure wears a fur robe yet holds a fan, and wonders whether summer and winter turn together in the mountain world of the immortals. The odd image in the painting is wittily taken as a wonder of the realm of the immortals.
The headnote says the poem is "on the figure of an immortal," and it seems to have accompanied a painting of an immortal presented to Prince Osakabe. It shows how interest in Daoist immortality had spread at court.
The author, Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, was a court poet active in the reigns of Jitō and Monmu. This poem is taken from the Hitomaro Collection, which is thought to contain both Hitomaro's own poems and poems by others that he gathered. Prince Osakabe was a son of Emperor Tenmu and took part in drafting the Taihō Code.

The first line, "is it that forever," points to the ageless, deathless world of the immortals.
The second line, "summer and winter pass at once?" uses the realis form with ya to pose a question of cause, and the poem pauses here.
The third line, "clad in fur robes," refers to animal-skin garments against winter cold.
The fourth line, "yet never letting go the fan," names a tool of summer. The winter robe and the summer fan form a pair, giving concrete shape to "summer and winter."
The final line, "the one who dwells on the mountain," closes on a noun, revealing only at the end, in inversion, who this strange figure is.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Manyoshu
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