Fujinami no hana no sakari ni kaku shi koso ura kogimitsutsu toshi ni shinowame

藤波の花の盛りにかくしこそ
浦漕ぎ廻つつ年に偲はめ

Roma-ji: Fujinami no hana no sakari ni kaku shi koso ura kogimitsutsu toshi ni shinowame
English Translation: Wisteria waves
at the height of their blossoming—
just like this, indeed,
rowing round and round the bay,
let us cherish it each year
Meaning: When the wisteria is in full bloom, let us row around the bay just like this every year and delight in this place.
Commentary: Book Nineteen 4188

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "A poem composed on an excursion to the lake of Fuse on the sixth day, with a short poem"
An envoy to the long poem on an excursion to the lake of Fuse on the sixth day of the fourth month, it says that, rowing around the bay like this at the height of the wisteria, the poet will come to love this place every year. Where the long poem said he would keep coming in the fullness of spring flowers and autumn leaves to admire the lake, the envoy narrows its focus to the present peak of wisteria.
The lake of Fuse was a lagoon in present-day Himi, Toyama Prefecture, a scenic spot Yakamochi often visited. The poem is known as one of his poems in praise of the land of Etchū.
The poet, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, was the son of the Grand Counselor Ōtomo no Tabito. From 746 he served as Governor of Etchū, living at the provincial headquarters in what is now Fushiki, Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture. He is regarded as the leading poet of the Nara period and is thought to have played a central role in compiling the Man'yōshū.

First line, "fujinami no" (of the wisteria waves): "fujinami" likens wisteria clusters swaying in the wind to waves, here referring to wisteria hanging along the lake.
Second line, "hana no sakari ni" (at the height of the blossoms), fixes the time of the excursion at full bloom.
Third line, "kaku shi koso" (just like this): "shi" is emphatic and "koso" a binding particle stressing this very manner of excursion; it binds with "me" in the last line and takes up the same phrase from the long poem.
Fourth line, "ura kogimitsutsu" (rowing round the bay), depicts the boating scene.
Fifth line, "toshi ni shinowame" (let us cherish it each year): "shinou" here means to admire, and the line ends in the realis "me" in answer to "koso," expressing the resolve to admire it every year.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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