Aratashiki toshi no hajime no hatsuharu no kyō furu yuki no iyashike yogoto

新しき年の初めの初春の
今日降る雪のいやしけ吉事

Roma-ji: Aratashiki toshi no hajime no hatsuharu no kyō furu yuki no iyashike yogoto
English Translation: At the beginning
of the new year that has come,
the first of the spring,
like the snow that falls today
may good things pile ever higher
Meaning: On this first day of spring at the start of the new year, may good fortune pile up more and more, like the snow falling today.
Commentary: Book Twenty Miscellaneous Poems 4516

Headnote: "On the first day of the first month of spring in year 3, a banquet given by the governor to the provincial and district officials at the provincial office of Inaba; one poem."
Like the snow falling today, on this first day of spring at the start of the new year, may good things pile ever higher: a poem blessing the new year. According to the headnote, it comes from the banquet given to provincial and district officials at the Inaba provincial office on the first of the first month of Tenpyō Hōji 3 (759), and the left note attributes it to the governor, Ōtomo no Yakamochi. It is the last poem of all twenty books of the Man'yōshū, blessing the new year's snow as an omen of a rich harvest and closing the whole anthology in celebration. That this book opens with the retired sovereign showing a mountain keepsake and ends with a blessing for the new spring also gives its arrangement a spirit of celebration.
The author, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, son of Ōtomo no Tabito, was at this time Governor of Inaba. He is thought to have been closely involved in the final stage of compiling the Man'yōshū.

The first line, "aratashiki," "new," marks the new year.
The second line, "toshi no hajime no," "at the start of the year," expresses New Year's Day together with the first line.
The third line, "hatsuharu no," "of the new spring," stacks hajime, hatsuharu, and hatsu to stress the newness.
The fourth line, "kyō furu yuki no," "like the snow falling today": the first four lines form a preface leading to iyashike. Snow at New Year was taken as an omen of a rich harvest.
The closing line, "iyashike yogoto," uses shiku, "to pile up": may good things pile ever higher. Ending on a noun, it brings the Man'yōshū to its close.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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