Hyakunin Isshu Oracle

No.11 参議篁(小野篁)「わたの原 八十島かけて 漕ぎ出でぬと 人には告げよ 海人の釣舟」

わたの原 八十島かけて 漕ぎ出でぬと 人には告げよ 海人の釣舟

参議篁(小野篁)

stranger, if you go back — say that I rowed out

stranger, if you go back — say that I rowed out

キーワードKeywords

Exile by SeaEighty IslandsMessageFishing BoatLast Signal
★★★ Journey

参議篁(小野篁)Ono no Takamura — No. 11 公卿Court Noble

A scholar-official exiled to the Oki islands for defying the emperor, later pardoned and promoted to state councillor.

わたのはら やそしまかけて こぎいでぬと ひとにはつげよ あまのつりぶね

Wata no hara Yasoshima kakete Kogi-idenu to Hito ni wa tsugeyo Ama no tsuribune

現代語訳Modern Japanese

コンセプトConcept

情景The Scene

Open water, no land behind. A small fishing boat drifts within earshot, a stranger hauling nets. The exile cups his hands and shouts the only message he will get to send: tell them I went out — out past all the islands. The fisherman may or may not remember.

日本の美意識Japanese Aesthetic

Kotodama (The Word as Vessel)

A message entrusted to chance, to a passing boat, to a stranger. Every released record is this: you hand a sentence to someone whose name you will never know and let the current decide. Write the line so it survives the journey without you.