Waga seko ga sasagete moteru hohogashiwa atakamo niru ka aoki kinugasa

我が背子が捧げて持てるほほがしは
あたかも似るか青き蓋

Roma-ji: Waga seko ga sasagete moteru hohogashiwa atakamo niru ka aoki kinugasa
English Translation: My dear friend there
holds it lifted in his hands,
that leaf of hoho—
how very like it looks
to a blue silk parasol
Meaning: The hoho leaf that my dear friend holds raised up in his hands looks just like a blue silk parasol.
Commentary: Book Nineteen 4204

Headnote: "Two poems on seeing hoho leaves that had been pulled down and broken off"
On the way back from the excursion, seeing Yakamochi holding aloft a large hoho leaf he had broken off, the poet says the leaf looks just like the blue silk parasol held over a person of rank. "Waga seko" is thought to refer to Yakamochi, and the poem carries a courteous spirit of praising the governor as a nobleman.
"Atakamo" (just like) derives from the reading of Chinese texts and is rare in the Man'yōshū, revealing the learning of the poet, a monk. The left note reads "the lecturer-monk Ekō."
The poet, Ekō, was a monk who served as the kōji (lecturer) of Etchū, a clerical office established in each province to supervise monks and nuns and expound the sutras; he accompanied Yakamochi and the provincial officials on the excursion.

First line, "waga seko ga" (my dear friend): "seko" is a term for a close male companion, here thought to refer to Yakamochi.
Second line, "sasagete moteru" (holding it raised up), depicts it lifted high in both hands, preparing for the comparison to a parasol.
Third line, "hohogashiwa" (the hoho leaf), refers to the large leaf of the Japanese bigleaf magnolia, also used for serving food.
Fourth line, "atakamo niru ka" (how very like it is): "atakamo" is a word from Chinese reading, and "ka" is exclamatory; the poem pauses here.
Fifth line, "aoki kinugasa" (a blue silk parasol), ends on a noun, likening the green leaf to a nobleman's parasol and revealing the object of comparison last by inversion.
Author: Ekō
Source: Manyoshu
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