As September arrives, the angle and color temperature of the sunlight in the mornings and evenings suddenly begin to take on an autumnal appearance. This is probably because the sun’s altitude decreases and sunlight travels a longer distance through the atmosphere before reaching the ground, reducing the amount of solar radiation received and making the sunlight feel softer.
In fact, the seasonal changes of autumn enrich a variety of emotional sensitivities, and poets, artists, philosophers, psychologists, and many others have expressed these in their own unique ways.
English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) expressed her impressions of autumn as follows:
“There is a harmony in autumn, and a luster in its sky.”
German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) expressed this sentiment:
“Notice that autumn is more the season of the soul than of nature.”
Avant-garde artist and John Lennon’s wife, Yoko Ono, expressed it this way:
“Autumn passes and one remembers one’s reverence.”
During the Heian period in Japan, people began to capture the subtleties of weather, climate, and seasonal phenomena with greater sensitivity and detail, and expressed them in waka poetry.
For example, the following waka poem appears in the autumn poetry section of Saigyo’s (1118-1190) “Sankashu (山家集)”:
をしめども、鐘の音さへかはるかな、霜にや露を結びかふらむ
Oshimedomo kane no otosae kawarukana shimoniya tsuyu wo musubikauwamu
Trans.:
There was no dew on the bell, but now it has begun to form, and the tone seems to have changed.
Perhaps because radiative cooling caused an inversion layer to form on the Earth’s surface, resulting in a subtle change in the waveform of the transmitted sound, Saigyo sensed the deepening of autumn from the faint change in the tone of the temple bell.
There are countless memorable quotes, poems, and artworks about autumn, but there may be a few reasons why this season provides such delicate emotional inspiration.
1. The Emotional Connection with Seasonal Change:
Autumn brings clear natural changes—cool breezes, changing leaves, and harvest season—that evoke emotional resonance. Joy and melancholy, harvest and demise, warmth and cold—all coexist simultaneously, and this diversity of emotions may provide literary and artistic inspiration.
2. Aesthetic Appeal:
Autumn’s beautiful colors, added by the changing leaves, and the abundance of aesthetically appealing natural elements may sometimes inspire deeply moving or sentimental moments.
3. Connections with Life:
Autumn, as a transitional season, brings about change not only in nature but also in life, and these transitions may connect to themes of change, maturity, joy, and loss in life.
In Japan, there has long been a passion for appreciating the natural phenomena and emotions of each season, and in renga (連歌), haikai (俳諧), and haiku (俳句), the words that represent specific seasons are called kigo (季語, seasonal words), while the word that serves as the theme of a verse is called kidai (季題, seasonal theme). Kigo are said to have been established in the late Heian period, but the Manyoshu and Kokin Wakashu already contain volumes organized by season.
It can be said that kigo were therefore a fundamental rule that enabled the aristocrats of the time to sharpen their consciousness, capture the lingering emotions of the changing seasons, and express natural scenes and the emotional nuances associated with them through aesthetic words and vocabulary.
When haikai came into being in the Edo period, the number of kigo increased significantly as they were collected from everyday sources. Kigo play an essential role in haiku, which evoke seasonal associations and emotions with their short 17-character structure (5-7-5). In other words, seasonal words are deeply connected to the topography of a region, which encompasses the lifestyles and cultures based on the changing seasons within its natural features.
In any case, haiku poets grasp the seasonal dramas unfolding in the natural world from a certain distance, capturing them in an overview, and using a sophisticated vocabulary to condense them into 17 syllables, and expressing it in a realistic and descriptive style, or sometimes in an anti-realistic style, or sometimes in a fictional way.
This may have something in common with Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), who considered transcendentalism to be the act of tracing back the conditions under which cognition is established, in other words, the attitude of examining consciousness from a higher level that transcends one’s own current consciousness.
However, while Kant highlighted the limits of reason through his examination of antinomy, Matsuo Basho, the founder of haiku, transformed the relative (being) into the absolute (nothingness or vanity) through the Zen concept of existence being nothingness, and sought to harmonize with sensibility in the disconnection and connection between time and space, and between life and death, without falling into the fallacy that reason itself falls into.
In other words, it is a state in which things (objects, objectives) and the self are one, and is called the unity of things and the self (物我一致). In other words, because things are both objects and objectives, reaching the state in which everything is one with the self and is the self’s mind is a state of nothingness.
In haiku, the word “kire” (切れ, cutting word) also plays an important role, cutting out a certain aspect of nature or creating space in a poem. This space, which gives the impression of something missing, adds a sense of another dimension, making the poem stand out in beauty. The space (間, ma) created by “kire” is also connected to the Japanese aesthetic of wabi (侘び), sabi (寂び), and respect for imperfection.
Basho skillfully expressed in his haiku the inseparable connection between the individual, who is incorporated into the transcendent whole of nature, while at the same time that whole is inherent within the individual.
In Japan, respecting nature and living in harmony with it, appreciating the changes of the seasons, and finding beauty in them are essential not only to everyday life but also to the aesthetic sense, leading to inner fulfillment and spiritual depth.
Several universal concepts underlie the aesthetic that shapes Japanese culture.
* Wabi-sabi (侘び寂び):
Finding beauty in the simple and imperfect.
* Mono no aware (もののあはれ):
The charm inherent in the transition and transience of things, a sense of pathos in objects.
* Yugen (幽玄):
The depth, mystery, and refinement that reside in the invisible.
* Iki (粋):
An Edo period aesthetic sense of beauty based on refinement and the elimination of waste.
* Ma (間):
A concept referring to the meaning of white space and space, and the beauty of the intervals between time and space.
* Wa-kei-sei-jaku (和敬静寂):
An aesthetic sense that values spirit, harmony, respect, purity, and tranquility in the tea ceremony.
The boundary between existence and non-existence can be rephrased as “ma (間)” or “the beauty of white space (余白の美).” It removes the visible form and beauty and connects it to an aesthetic sense that finds infinite beauty in the essence hidden within. It could be said that this is the origin of Japanese creativity and the pinnacle of beauty.
Returning to the topic of autumn at the beginning, autumn is a fascinating season with clear air, soft light, resonant sounds, and heightened senses, so many people may feel an urge to express something using autumn words that reflect its stillness and depth.
Kigo are words that delicately express seasons, changes, scenery, scenes, atmospheres, emotions, and more. Saijikis (歳時記) contain collections of kigo and explanations of poems, which help to develop awareness of the changing seasons and the sensitivity to sense the stories embedded in each word.
As an aside, tanka and haiku are filled with not only aesthetic sense, but also a variety of things such as views on nature, philosophy, ideas, and sentiments, and are said to contain mindfulness-like elements that lead to physical and mental health, and are said to lead to a sense of well-being that allows people to feel happy and live better, such as positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and achievement.
Seasons in haiku correspond to the old (lunar) calendar, with the four seasons beginning on the first day of spring (立春), the first day of summer (立夏), the first day of autumn (立秋), and the first day of winter (立冬), respectively. Therefore, in the solar calendar, also known as the new calendar, the first day of each season is approximately one month later.
The Yoko Ono quote mentioned above actually states that each of the four seasons plays a different role in life, bringing with it different lessons and memories.
Here is the full quote:
Spring passes and one remembers one’s innocence.
Summer passes and one remembers one’s exuberance.
Autumn passes and one remembers one’s reverence.
Winter passes and one remembers one’s perseverance.
The theory of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements was introduced to Japan from ancient China, and defines spring as Seishun (青春), summer as Shuka (朱夏), autumn as Hakushu (白秋), and winter as Gentou (玄冬), and is color-coded as blue, red, white, and black, and is also associated with the stages of life.
* Seishun (青春):
0 to 25 years old. The period leading up to adulthood, filled with dynamism and optimism for the future, this is a time of greatest energy, naivety, and a strong sense of justice.
By the way, the modern concept of seishun, a passionate and youthful spirit, became widespread after the Meiji period, and is attributed to Natsume Soseki’s novel Sanshiro.
* Shuka (朱夏):
25 to 60 years old. The period when one moves beyond adolescence and enters adulthood, a time filled with diligence, tireless effort, excitement, enthusiasm, productive work, and vitality.
* Hakushu (白秋):
60 to 75 years old. The time when one has experienced everything in life and is beginning a pure, calm, and tranquil life.
* Gentou (玄冬):
75 years old and older. The twilight of life, when one becomes aware of death.
As Yoko Ono described it as “reverence,” autumn may indeed be a season of introspection, of imparting wisdom to the next generation, and of becoming as mellow as the autumn air.
In autumn, the humidity decreases and the air becomes clearer. The color temperature of autumn light decreases, so the longer wavelengths of red and orange become more prominent, and as the sun’s altitude decreases, its intensity weakens, creating a warm and somewhat nostalgic atmosphere.
In autumn, nature takes on beautiful colors and becomes more vibrant.
As the temperature drops and the daylight hours shorten, the leaves change color. Maples turn red due to an increase in the red pigment anthocyanin in their leaves, while ginkgo trees turn yellow due to a yellow pigment called carotenoid.
Essential conditions for the leaves to take on beautiful autumn colors are clear autumn days, sudden drops in temperature at night, and moderate precipitation to provide a certain amount of moisture.
The final chapter of French poet Arthur Rimbaud’s (1854-1891) collection of poems, A Season in Hell, entitled “Farewell” (Une Saison en Enfer: Adieu), begins with this passage:
“Autumn already! – But why regret an eternal sun, if we are engaged in discovering the divine light – far from races that die with the seasons.”
This line is often contrasted with the opening line of Charles Baudelaire’s (1821-1867) poetry collection, “Autumn Song” (Les Fleurs du mal – Chant d’automne), from the collection The Flowers of Evil, in which he anticipates autumn and laments parting with the intense light of summer.
“Shortly we will plunge within the frigid gloom,
Farewell swift summer brightness; all too short—”
Rimbaud continues in the final line of the next section, “And I fear winter because it’s the season of comfort!”
It is not clear whether Rimbaud understood winter as the Gentou (玄冬) that signifies the end of life, but the beginning of the final chapter, “Farewell,” can be summarized as follows:
Like the changing seasons, the time allotted to us flows with it, moving us inexorably from life toward death. However, if we are setting out to escape the flow of time and discover the divine light that illuminates the eternal world, there is no need to regret the loss of the sun, which is thought to be eternal in this world, in autumn.
In any case, autumn is a season that fosters artistic creativity and a rich and sensitive mind, and is also the perfect time to develop emotions, sense, and sensibility.
It is also said that in everyday life and in academics, it is necessary to cultivate emotions in order to live and act with sensitivity and intuition. (See Ten Stories of Spring Evenings (春宵十話, 1963) and Emotions and the Japanese (情緒と日本人, 2008) by mathematician Oka Kiyoshi (岡潔, 1901-1978), Note: In this blog, ‘josho (情緒)’ is literally translated as ’emotion’, but in the books mentioned above, it refers to the ability to judge and act based on sensitivity and insight, so please keep in mind that it also includes the meaning of ‘sense’.)
1. Be true to your own feelings:
Value what you feel and don’t be swayed by the opinions of others.
2. Have your own unique opinions:
Have your own opinions and thoughts on things, and value the differences that set you apart.
3. Develop your powers of observation:
Carefully observe the situations and people around you and practice using your intuition.
4. Gain experience:
Hone your intuition through a variety of experiences.
“When the harmony at the heart of emotions is lost, the human heart becomes corrupted. Society and culture quickly deteriorate without limit,” Professor Oka wrote in Ten Stories of Spring Nights, expressing his concern over the current state of environmental destruction. It can be seen that he believes that not only everyday life but also academic studies and education should be promoted while placing importance on humanity and the acquisition of a moral sense.
For this reason, in order to enrich the soul, it is essential to achieve a harmony between truth (intellect), beauty (emotion), and goodness (will).
* Truth (intellect):
The attempt to understand the essence of things using intellect and reason.
* Beauty (emotion):
Emotions, sensibility, and the emotion of appreciating beauty within the heart.
* Goodness (will):
Compassion toward others and society, and righteous behavior.
As Professor Oka says, it may be difficult to define emotion, but in the context of intellect, emotion, and will, it is emotion that is directly related to well-being, and that instincts, emotions, and other feelings are not something to be suppressed but rather honed and transformed into the power to live in harmony with others.
In other words, the emotions in Japanese culture that Professor Oka speaks of are something to be cultivated and linked to virtue, rather than the Western cultural approach of Plato and Kant, who believe that emotions should be subordinate to reason. Therefore, in Japan, emotion may be linked to concepts such as consideration, restraint, compassion, deep affection, and respect for harmony.
This may be a bit off topic, but the German sociologist Max Weber (1864-1920) defined social action as behavior that has intention and purpose, and whose meaning is derived from relationships with others, rather than simply unconscious social behavior, and classified social action into four types depending on motivation and purpose.
1. Instrumental Rational Action:
Action that chooses the most efficient means to achieve a clear goal.
2. Value Rational Action:
Acting based on specific values and beliefs, prioritizing the pursuit of those values over results or efficiency.
3. Affectual Action:
Action driven by emotions such as joy, anger, and love.
4. Traditional Action:
Action carried out in accordance with custom or tradition, performed without deep thought as a matter of course.
Weber’s classification of social action can also be interpreted as a characteristic of human behavior being actions that are directed by subjective ideas.
Subjective means that the formation of ideas depends on a particular social and cultural context, and varies from person to person, while ideas refer to the content of consciousness that becomes thoughts. Therefore, as Weber said, systematically understanding the actions of individual humans may lead to clues to understanding the laws of social phenomena.
In other words, society can be understood not simply as a collection of institutions and structures, but as a totality of meaningful individual actions, and it appears that the framework of social action is thought to be able to analyze modern society and apply to a variety of phenomena.
Although it may seem tyrannical to classify people based on these theories, they are actually used as frameworks in various fields of social science.
Returning to the original topic, emotions are a factor that determines behavior, and it is said that when the environment is safe, positive moods are brought about, people tend to deal with things in a general manner and engage in divergent thinking, while when the environment is dangerous or fraught with problems, people tend to process things in a detailed manner and engage in convergent thinking.
Divergent thinking is thinking that uses existing information to expand one’s thinking and come up with new ideas that have never been thought of before, while convergent thinking is thinking that uses existing information to find a single correct answer.
In any case, emotions can be complex mixtures such as happy and sad, happy confusion, sad laughter, or a sense of accomplishment amidst pain. Some emotions also have ambivalent, contrasting meanings that coexist.
Haiku utilizes the symbolic function of kigo, entrusting these emotions, impressions, and feelings to scenes and landscapes of the four seasons, condensing the connection between sketched nature and inner images into 17 characters.
Matsuo Basho can be said to have pioneered a style of realistic depiction of nature while simultaneously highlighting inner feelings and images, and “An Old Pond and the Sound of Water as a Frog Jumps In (Furuike ya kawazu tobikomu mizuno oto” is a prime example of this.
To put it another way, the individual, limited in time and space, is incorporated into the transcendent, infinite whole of nature, yet at the same time, that wholeness is inherent within the individual. So, while transcendence and immanence seem contradictory, they may actually be inseparably linked.
Basho captured eternal life while depicting a moment in reality, which can also be said to mean that each individual is essentially free and has the free will to make judgments and act based on their intentions and choices. Therefore, freeing emotions, senses, and sensibilities from constraints may lead to the recognition of free causation.
Incidentally, the idea that everything is predetermined and that neither chance nor freedom exists is known as natural causation.
The literary arts of haiku, which utilize kigo, provide the opportunity for a series of cognitive activities such as feeling, imagining, thinking, summarizing, and writing in the most condensed form, and are said to be related to mindfulness.
The fundamental technique of haiku is sketching, and it utilizes the beauty of the melody created by the fixed 17-syllable form and the symbolic function of kigo to entrust emotions to scenes and landscapes of the four seasons. Kigo contain a variety of background knowledge and the associated semantic memories and emotions, and there is a common understanding that a single word can express a lot.
A haiku is composed of a part that includes the seasonal word and another part. Kigo have two elements: true meaning (本意、honi) is the inherent meaning of the kigo, and true feelings (本情, honjo) is the inherent emotion of the kigo.
There are no rules for the placement of a kigo, but it is often placed within the first or last five syllables. How these syllables are related is determined by the author’s expressive intention, and it is believed that the choice of kigo plays a major role in the psychological effect of the haiku.
This is because seasonal words don’t simply specify the season and spread seasonal associations; they also serve to enhance the haiku’s communicative power by acting as a medium for true intention and emotion.
By overlaying the author’s feelings at any given time with the seasons and entrusting them to a kigo, the message is conveyed with a lingering resonance, striking a chord with the reader and creating an emotional connection, even without using words that directly express emotions or feelings such as happiness, joy, sadness, or beauty.
Haiku styles include visual expression using techniques from painting, autobiographical states, contemplative works that shed light on the inner workings of human beings, allegorical and metaphorical expressions, expressions of the desire and pursuit of psychological growth, and attempts to entrust one’s own mental images into objective descriptions of the subject. In any case, haiku are written by confronting oneself and entrusting the emotions one holds to scenes and landscapes of the four seasons.
Through haiku, the creator and reader converse and an empathetic-like interaction is brought about, which is said to have two functional elements.
* Cognitive empathy:
A calm functional element that infers and understands the mental state of others.
* Emotional empathy:
A passionate functional element that emotionally shares a state or synchronizes with it through physical reactions.
In any case, there are two ways to enjoy haiku: by creating it and by reading it. It requires imagination and communication skills based on deep creativity, observation, insight, and reading comprehension, so it can be said to be a practice that improves a growth mindset toward inquiry, awareness, and harmony.
Mindfulness is originally the English translation of the Pali word “sati,” and was a Buddhist meditation technique for enlightenment that was systematized by Jon Kabat-Zinn (1944-), a professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. It refers to intentionally paying attention to the present moment and accepting and observing sensations, emotions, and thoughts as they are, and it began to spread in the United States in the 1960s and has since spread throughout the world.
A state that is not mindfulness is called mindlessness, and refers to a state of distracted attention, unconsciousness, or a daze and lack of concentration.
Mindfulness meditation brings the brain and mind into a mindful state, allowing for complete attention and observation of what is happening internally in the present moment. Although it is a relaxed state, the senses are sharpened and it is said to lead to a stable state free from vague feelings of anxiety.
1: Stress Reduction:
Focusing on sensations and thoughts, it provides an opportunity to recognize stress and develop coping strategies.
2: Enhances concentration:
Enabling to control emotions and thoughts that interfere with concentration, such as anxiety and impatience.
3. Improved sleep quality:
Creates a calming state of mind, making it easier to fall asleep and improving sleep quality.
4. Improved immunity:
Reducing stress creates an environment that allows the immune system to function normally, improving immunity.
5. Anger Reduction:
Learn to objectively observe emotions such as anger and frustration and make calm judgments.
6. Prevention and Treatment of Depression:
Accepting emotions such as regret and anxiety, as well as negative thought patterns, as they are can lead to stress management and mental health care, which can help prevent and treat depression.
There are several types of mindfulness, not just haiku, but it can be practiced at any time and in any situation based on awareness and self-efficacy.
1. Mindfulness meditation:
* Samatha meditation:
The meditator focuses their attention on one thing and, if their attention is drawn to other things, returns it to the original object.
* Vipassana meditation:
The meditator focuses their attention on everything and accepts all emotions, thoughts, and other consciousnesses as they are.
2. Body scan meditation:
The meditator focuses their attention on and observes every part of their body. This can be done while sitting or lying on their back.
3. Mindfulness walking:
While out and about, meditators pay attention to their senses and their environment.
Paying attention to the feeling of their feet touching the ground, their posture, their breathing, body temperature, the wind, smells, surrounding sounds, nature, and living things, etc.
4. Mindfulness Eating:
Pay attention to your everyday meals.
* Create a quiet environment where you can concentrate on eating.
* Pay attention to the appearance and aroma.
* Chew slowly and enjoy the taste.
* Chew more frequently and pay attention to changes in the texture and taste of food.
There are many other mindfulness meditation techniques, but the bottom line is that mindfulness is not something special, but rather an ability that everyone possesses inherently.
It is already autumn.
The sense of freedom brought by the clear blue and transparency of the autumn sky, and the fiery transition from green to warm colors as the leaves of the autumn trees turn red, yellow, and orange, simultaneously reflect feelings of joy, sadness, and quiet loneliness. Autumn is also said to be a season of contemplation, a time for introspection.
Furthermore, autumn is also a season of new beginnings and farewells, a fascinating season in which the changing scenery evokes emotions and weaves feelings, making us keenly aware of the connection between nature and our inner selves.
Releasing emotions, senses, and sensibilities from various constraints and focusing full attention on the present moment in a state of mental freedom, cultivating pure intuition, and raising consciousness may be an essential aspect and path of life.
Basho said, “Falling flowers, singing birds, if you do not stop to watch and listen, they will not stay.” Acquiring the ability to watch and listen through haiku may lead to self-awareness, enlightenment of the laws of nature, and harmony.
Sincerely grateful for your financial support.
Sources and references:
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