A Hōjōki Translation
Translator’s Note
In the Summer of 2025, I taught myself Classical Japanese. As I was nearing the end of the summer, I began to read the various English translations of the works I had just finished reading in Classical Japanese, such as the Hōjōki. Dissatisfied by the work of others, I wondered what it would be like to translate a work myself. Specifically, I wanted to translate a work as literally as possible, and then in that process, see the problems that arose from such a translation philosophy. Accordingly, my translation is not intended to be particularly easy to read (although I have indeed tried to make it relatively readable while still maintaining the integrity of the original). Instead, it is an experiment in translation. There are several other translations of the Hōjōki available online at no charge, and this translation is intended to complement them for an invested English-language reader.
Many translations into English or Modern Japanese attempt to clarify or explain what the work is saying or means or where things are (in the hut for example) but oftentimes that information is just not in the work. As a reader I want to bear the burden of interpretation and so as a translator I attempt to let the work speak for itself, in its own voice. Accordingly, I do not translate poetic language with the intent to clarify. However, in some cases there is no way to translate the original in a way that creates a coherent English sentence, so I have added in information through brackets. Similarly, where the original implies something that will not be clear in translation (or was not even clear in the original), bracketed information has been included. These are based on modern Japanese interpretations and my own. Since names contain power in their aural form, I have rendered names into their Modern Japanese pronunciations (which are as close as we can reasonably get as English speakers to the original Classical Japanese pronunciations). Their literal translations and greater meanings are noted. Since animals and plants also have names, I have preserved them in the same way. When I translate a word one way, I continue to translate it the same way, instead of changing the translation to better suit the context. For example, I translate 世 as “world,” and continue to do so even when “society” would otherwise be more appropriate. I also try to keep grammatical constructions the same. For example, when the sentence negates a descriptor, as in “安ならず” I do so in the translation: “not easy,” instead of choosing a more natural negative descriptor: “uneasy” (I would, however translate “不安” as uneasy). There are many other translations that do not do this, adding their own interpretations to the original. This is not to say that I am not myself interpreting the original when I translate, but I believe that my translation is one where that will enable the reader to interpret for themselves, with my presence as much out of the way as is possible. Other translators see a more literal translation as being clunky and ugly, but simple words that directly match those of the original have their own inherent beauty in their selection and arrangement. The Hōjōki in the eight centuries since its creation has become an example of Classical Japanese literature and is considered highly. I feel that many hold Chōmei’s work aloft and subconsciously translate it into the exalted classic that they have constructed in their minds. I want to read faithfully and graciously.
Writing as a medium allows us to think the thoughts of those separated from us by space and time. I hope that this translation will allow you to be even slightly immersed in Chōmei’s world. The area around Kyōto and Uji used to be covered in dense forests, filled with lakes, and dotted with small communities, none of which remain. This result of the passage of time is another example of our impermanent world. Although shutting oneself off from the world and sheltering in a physical hermitage as Chōmei did may be difficult, I hope that his account can serve as at least a mental refuge from the sufferings of the world.
September 2025
Unit Conversions:
1 shaku (一尺) ~ 1 imperial foot
1 jō (一丈) = 10 shaku (一尺)
1 chō (一町) = 36 jō = 360 shaku. Heian-kyō was organized into individual chō blocks with perpendicular streets running through them
Hōjōki
[I – Flowing River]
The going river’s flow ceases not, and yet the water’s origin exists not. In stagnant places surfacing bubbles, sometimes vanish, sometimes link, and there is no precedent that stays for long. In this world, the people and their dwellings, are again like this. Within the bejeweled capital, rooftops line up, their ridges compete, the high and lowly people’s living-places, after generations pass, there is not a thing not exhausted, and when one asks, the houses that were there in the past are rare. A certain one last year burned and this year is being built. A certain large house fell into ruin and became a small house[1]. The people who dwell are as this the same. The place changing not, although there were once many people, out of the twenty or thirty people one once saw, [now] are merely one or two. Mornings dying, evenings being born, this practice simply matches the water’s bubbles. Not knowing, those people who are born and die, where from did they come, where to do they go. Again, not knowing in this false dwelling[2], for whom did one’s heart ache, from what did one’s eyes fill with joy? Those masters and dwellings, competing in their impermanence, and, if we are to say the dewdrop of an Asagao[3], there is no difference. Sometimes the dewdrop falls and the flower remains. Although it remains, it is withered by the morning sun. Another flower will wilt yet the dew disappears not. Although it disappears not, there is not a thing that waits for the evening.
[1] here house can both mean the building and the extended familial structure
[2] i.e. this impermanent world
[3] lit. “morning-faces.” Ipomoea nil – morning-glories
[II – The Great Fire of Angen]
From when I knew the heart of things, in the space of seeing off more than forty springs and autumns, the times when I see the mysteries of the world have gradually become frequent. That time must have been Angen third year[1], fourth month, twenty-eighth day. The wind blew horribly and on that unquiet night, around the Hour of the Dog[2], from the capital’s southeast a fire emerged and reached the northwest. As for the extremities, it moved to the Shushakumon[3], Daigokuden[4], Daigakuryō[5], Minbusho[6], among others, which within a single night became completely dust and ash. The fire-origin was likely Higuchitominokōji[7]. It came out from the shelter[8] a dancer was staying in. By the whirling wind, moving here and there, like an opening fan it spread to the ends completely. Distant houses were choked in smoke, close places were entirely blown to the ground by the flames. Since ash was being blown up into the sky, the fire’s light reflected, and all around in that crimson, the flames blown terribly by the unrelenting wind, like they were flying, crossing one or two chō they moved. The people in the middle of that—did they have hearts that could move?[9] Some were choked by the smoke and fell down, some became disoriented in the smoke and quickly died. Some narrowly escaped with their bodies alone, but they could not take out their fortunes. The Seven Treasures and Ten Thousand Riches[10] became completely ash and cinders. Just how many were the losses? At that time, sixteen of the Kugyō[11]’s houses were burnt. Moreover, other than that the number cannot be known. Of all within the capital, one third was reached. The dead men and women number ten people[12], the extent of horses and oxen similarly, is unknown. The things people do, amongst all their foolishness, if building a house[13] in that dangerous of a city, expending riches, troubling one’s heart, these are especially tasteless.
[1] 1177 CE
[2] 8 p.m.
[3] more commonly the Suzakumon (朱雀門) – “Suzaku gate.” The Suzakumon is the main southern gate of the Daidairi (Greater Imperial Palace)
[4] (大極殿) – “Great Hall of State.” The main central hall of the Daidairi
[5] (大学寮) – University. A four-chō block complex directly southeast of the Suzakumon
[6] (民部省) – “Ministry of Popular Affairs.” A four-chō block complex three blocks west of the Daidairi
[7] (樋口富小路) – the area around the intersection of the minor roads Higuchi-no-kōji and Tomi-no-kōji
[8] jpn. kariya (仮屋), which is also a Buddhist term for this transient world
[9] i.e. could they even keep their sanity?
[10] jpn. 七珍万宝 (しっちんまんぼう) – i.e. all sorts of precious things. The “Seven Treasures” are as follows: gold, silver, lapis lazuli, giant clam shell, agate, pearl, rose (according to the Lotus Sutra). “Ten thousand” can mean both the numerical value, but also can mean just “very many,” so “Ten Thousand Riches” can also be translated as “Myriad Riches”
[11] (公卿) – “senior nobles.” A general term for the highest-ranking nobles who directly served the sovereign. There were never more than about thirty at a single time. This was the highest position anyone could achieve
[12] the Iwanami editors say this is likely a mistake in the manuscript and that it should have been one thousand instead – c.f. ten: 十 and one thousand: 千
[13] it is unclear whether it is the “building the house” that is foolish or once having built a house, doing the other things that is foolish
[III – The Whirlwind of Jishō[1]]
Again about Jishō fourth year[2], fourth month, from around Nakanomikadokyōgoku[3], a large whirlwind occurred, and blew until Rokujō[4]. Within the three or four chō it blew makuru, the houses it engulfed, the big and the small, there was not a single not destroyed. That same way there are also those that collapsed flat. There are also those whose beams and columns only remain. Gates were blown away and left four or five chō outside. Again fences were blown clear and made [a person’s property and the] neighbors’ one. Even more, the fortunes inside of houses, their numbers exhausted were in the sky. Since dust was blown up like smoke, one could not see at all. The clamorous reverberations[5] were to the extent that, voices could not be heard. That Karmic Wind of Hell[6] was thought to be like this. Not only were houses damaged, while repairing these, the people who injured themselves, or were maimed, their number is not known. This wind, moved in the Way of the Sheep[7], and caused the grief of many people. The whirlwind is something that blows normally, but to be a thing like this? Being not a normal thing, I doubted that it was[8] a due portent.
[1] 1177–1181CE
[2] 1180 CE
[3] (中御門京極) – the area around the intersection of the major roads Nakanomikado-no-ooji and Kyōgoku-no-ooji
[4] (六条) – “Sixth Street.” Separates the northern two-thirds from the southern third of the city
[5] this language hints at the tolling of a temple bell
[6] jpn. jigoku-no-gō-no-kaze (地獄の業の風)
[7] south-southwest
[8] i.e. thought that it might be
[IV – Relocation to Fukuhara[1]]
Again about Jishō fourth year, sixth month, suddenly the royal city[2] was relocated. It was something extremely outside of imagination. Generally one hears that the beginning of this capital[3] was, the Saga Emperor’s reign[4], ever since the royal city was decided, all of over four hundred years have passed. There was no special cause, being something not supposed to simply change, over this the world’s people became uneasy and worried, truly surpassing even reason. Even so without reason to say anything[5], after the Mikado[6] who first rose, the Daijin[7] and Kugyō everyone ended up moving completely. The people who serve in society, was there a single person left in that old town? Hanging their thoughts on office and rank, the people who go as far to rely on the shadows of masters, in only a day they quickly endeavor to move, [and in contrast] those who lost time, abandoned by society, and with no place to aspire to, while depressed, stayed behind. The houses of the people who competed over their eaves, as the days passed fell into ruin. Houses were broken and floated on the Yodo River, the earth before one’s eyes became fields. People’s hearts all changed, and only horses and saddles were prized.[8] There were no people who used oxen and carts. The Southwest Sea region was hoped for,[9] and estates in the northeast were not preferred.
[1] the Heike warrior clan, who had control over the imperial court notoriously decided to move the capital to the seat of their power, Fukuhara. This was so calamitous, that this ‘human-made disaster’ is classed with the natural ones as being a sign of Mappō, the “Latter Days of the Law,” i.e. the end times
[2] jpn. miyako – lit. miya-ko = “Sovereign-place.” Chōmei uses both miyako and kyō, which are typically both translated as “capital,” so miyako will be called “royal city” to differentiate the two. In a way, the miyako can be considered the true ‘capital,’ and the kyō the retainers and commoners who flock to be close to the emperor’s seat
[3] the founding of Heian-kyō
[4] 809–823 CE
[5] i.e. I have no reason to say this because it is so expected
[6] (帝) – Sovereign (Emperor / King). Tennō (天皇) is more commonly used and referrs to the person directly. Mikado (帝) comes from mi-kado (御門), lit. (honorific) gate, this gate being that of the Sovereign’s residence. So Mikado may refer to the individual, the institution, and the physical location of the Sovereign (i.e. the palace)
[7] (大臣) – the four highest offices. In descending order: Dajodaijin (太政大臣) – “Prime Minister,” Sadaijin (左大臣) – “Great Minister of the Left,” Udaijin (右大臣) – “Great Minister of the Right,” and Naidaijin (内大臣) – “Great Minister of the Center”
[8] as warriors were ascendant
[9] because it was close to the new capital
[V – Relocation to Heian]
At that time, unexpectedly there was an opportunity and I reached the present capital[1] in Tsunokuni[2]. On looking at the location’s state, that land was cramped, and the division of the city layout was not sufficient[3], the north ran along mountains towering, the south close by descended to the sea. The waves’ sound was always noisy, the salt-wind was especially intense. Because the Dairi[4] was in the middle of the mountains, was that wooden hall[5] also like this?, instead style changed, and it is a refined sort. Day by day [the houses were] broken down, the river narrowly[6] carried down the houses, where would they be built? Still, empty land was plentiful, constructed houses were few. The old capital was completely in ruins, the new royal city was still not complete. All people, everyone made thoughts of floating clouds[7]. Those who lived in this place from the beginning[8] lost land and grieved. The people who had now moved, lamented the difficulties of the public works. When one looked at the side of the road, those who should have been riding carts rode horses, what should have been ikwan[9], hōi[10] many were [instead] wearing hitatare[11]. The royal city’s customs quickly changed, and only the countryside warriors did not. That this is an omen of the world’s collapse into chaos has been heard clearly, as the days pass society floats untethered, and the hearts of people do not settle.[12] Because the people’s worries were ultimately not empty, that same year’s winter, [the Sovereign] returned to this capital[13]. However the houses that had been broken and transported, what became of them?, all in their original way were not built. I have heard, long ago in a wise emperor’s reign, with love he ruled the land. That is to say, the palace was covered with thatch, even the eaves were not in order, when seeing the smoke’s scarcity[14] even the limited taxes were forgiven. He was blessed by the people, as accordingly he had saved the world.[15] The state of the present world, when likened to the past, can be known completely.[16]
[1] i.e. Fukuhara-kyō
[2] (摂津国・つのくに) – lit. “Land of the Taking-in (Welcoming) Harbor.” Tsu-no-kuni is modern-day Settsu
[3] Heian-kyō had been planned out perfectly with regard to geomancy. That the new capital, Fukuhara-kyō, was not foreshadowed the impending issues with the site
[4] (内裏) – “Inner Palace”
[5] jpn. ki-no-marodono (木の丸殿) – a palace hall made from round wooden logs
[6] there were so many houses being floated down, it clogged the river
[7] jpn. ukigumo – “floating clouds” (浮雲) can also be read “depressed gloom” (憂き雲)
[8] the previous residents of Fukuhara
[9] (衣冠) mod jpn. ikan – clothing of an aristocrat or a nobleman to be worn within the city, lit. “clothing and headwear”
[10] (法衣) – Buddhist robes, lit. [Buddhist] law clothing
[11] (直垂) – the clothing of warriors
[12] c.f. ukigumo
[13] i.e. Heian-kyō
[14] i.e. the smoke of the houses of the people – that they were going through a difficult time (since they had no firewood to burn)
[15] c.f. the Mandate of Heaven
[16] because bad leaders cause their people to be bad? Or that bad leaders cannot save a doomed world? Or that because the world is doomed, the leaders will be bad?
[VI – The Famine of Yōwa]
Again during Yōwa[1], a long time has passed and I do not remember [when exactly this occurred]. Within the space of two years the world experienced famine and drought, which was a pitiful thing. One spring and summer the sun shone, one autumn, a great wind, a flood, among others, these completely not-good things all continued, and the Five Grains[2] all did not bear fruit. Pointlessly there was the work of spring plowing, summer planting, and no bustle of fall harvesting and winter storing. Because of this, the countries’ subjects, some left their land and left the borders, some forgot their homes and live in the mountains. Various prayers were started, and non-standard ways performed[3], however there was no sign of them at all. The capital’s customs, whatever it was, everything, their basis relied on the countryside, which ceased, and since there were no things to be taken up [to the capital], could that alone be met with cultivating integrity?[4] While enduring bitterly, the various treasures from one end [to the other] made like they were throwing them away, and yet there were no people at all whose eyes would look upon them. Occasionally a person who did exchange, viewed metal lightly, millet greatly. Beggars by the road were numerous, pained grieving voices, filled one’s ears.
[1] 1181–1182 CE
[2] one version of the list goes: rice, wheat/barley, millet, soybean, red bean
[3] because they had exhausted all the usual measures
[4] i.e. was their noble virtue enough to uphold these customs? (No)
[VII – The Plague Epidemic]
The year before was just like this, at last coming fully setting. Upon thinking that the dawning year could repair its standing, even worse an epidemic accompanied [the year’s start and the famine] and dreadfully left no remains. Because the people of the world all were dying of hunger, as the days passed the extremifying state, matched the story of the fish in shallow water.[1] At the end, kasa[2] donning, legs tightly wrapped, appropriately dressed ones, entirely around the houses begging roamed around. In this way those who were despairing, when one looked if they were roaming about, suddenly they had completely fallen down. Beside an earthen wall, along a road, those who died of famine, their number is unknown. Because a way of removal and disposal was not known, the fowl smell filled the world[3], and their changing looks, state, [the times where one was] not able to lay one’s eyes on them were often. Even more, [the bodies accumulated in] the riverbed[4] among other places so that there was not even a path for horses or carts to go past one another. The lowly commoners, mountain people[5] expended their energies, and since firewood was becoming scarce, the people without anyone to rely upon,[6] themselves broke down their homes, went out to the market and sold [their homes as firewood]. The price of that which one person carried and brought out, did not even sustain a life for one day. The shameful thing is that, within the firewood, vermillion had been applied, wood with metal leaf among others could be seen in various places, when asking why it was mixed in, it was that those without anything they could do, arrived at old temples and stole the Buddhas, destroyed and took the ritual implements from the halls, and divided and broke them. We were all born together in this Impure Evil World[7], and so I have seen these sorts of heart-wrenching things. There were extremely sorrowful things. Those who had a wife, a husband whom it was hard to part with, people with those thoughts that strengthened and were deep, without fail stood ahead and died. The reason for that was because, they placed their own self next, and while thinking caringly about the person, the exceedingly rare food they acquired, offered it to them. For that reason, those who were parent or child, when it came to deciding, the parent stood ahead. Among others, [another tragedy was] the little child who slept still sucking on [its mother’s] breast, not knowing that its mother’s life had been exhausted.
[1] a drowning fish flopping about
[2] (笠) – a conical hat
[3] jpn. sekai (世界) – all the other instances of “world” in this translation are yo (世) in the Japanese.
[4] the word “riverbed” jpn. kawara (河原) sometimes specifically refers to the Kamo River (the very river Kamo no Chōmei’s family was historically charged with)
[5] jpn. yamagatsu (山賤) – lit. “mountain lowly.” Low-class people who lived in the mountains such as woodcutters and hunters
[6] this can be interpreted as: “the commoners and mountain people had no energy left to bring firewood into the city, and since the city-dwellers now had no one to rely upon, . . .”
[7] jpn. jokuakuse (濁悪世)
[VIII – Ninnaji Temple’s High Priest Ryūgyōhōin]
At Ninnaji[1] a person called Ryūgyōhōin[2], was saddened by the deaths of an unknowable number going in this way, and when those heads [of the dead] were visible, on the forehead he wrote the letter “A,” and enacted the work of binding their fate[3]. Trying to know the number of people, when in the fourth and fifth months they counted, within the capital, south from Ichijō, north from Kujō, west from Kyōgoku, east from Shushaka[4], [5], [the heads of those alongside the roads, all were more than forty-two thousand three hundred. Even more, before and after that those who died were numerous, also the riverbed[6], Shirakawa[7], west of the capital, when one speaks after including many many places, for there to be an end is not possible. Somehow even more, [consider] the Seven Roads and Many Provinces[8]. The time when Shutoku-in[9] had the position [of Sovereign], the Chōshō era[10] and the like, although I heard there were examples as in this way, the state of that world, I know not. These are the rare things my eyes alighted upon.
[1] lit. “benevolent harmony temple” (仁和寺・にんわじ). Constructed in 888 CE (Ninna year 4, hence the name). In Chōmei’s time Ninna-ji was a center of Shingon Buddhism
[2] lit. “prosperous dawn high priest” (隆暁法印・りゅうげうほふいん)
[3] a form of Buddhist memorial service. The “A” (阿) is for Amida Buddha (阿弥陀仏) (skt. Amitābha)
[4] Suzaku
[5] i.e. the entire Eastern half of Heian-kyō
[6] i.e. the Kamo River
[7] lit. “White River” (白川)
[8] i.e. the entirety of Japan
[9] this is Emperor Sutoku (Shutoku)’s ‘monk’ name, marking the fact that he is currently a retired emperor
[10] 1132–1135 CE
[IX – The Earthquake of Genryaku[1]]
Again probably around that same time, [I witnessed] the violent shaking of a great earthquake. That state was not usual of the world. Mountains crumbled and rivers were buried, the sea sank and the land was submerged. The earth sundered and water welled out, boulders split and tumbled into valleys. Boats paddling by the shore floated in the waves, horses going on the road lost their feet’s standing places. Near the capital, here and there, temples shrines pagodas mausoleums, as one they were not complete. Some crumbled, some toppled entirely. Dust and ash rose up, as if it were smoke billowing up. The earth’s moving, sounds of the homes being destroyed, were not different to thunder. When [people] were inside their homes, they were instantly crushed. When they ran out, the earth broke and sundered, since they had no wings, they could not fly into the sky. Were they a dragon, they would mount the clouds. Among these fears the one one should have feared, was only the earthquake I thought. In this way the violent shaking, although it stopped for a while, those aftershocks lasted for a moment that did not cease. As to shock the usual of the world the earthquake, there was not a day where it did not quake twenty or thirty times. Once ten days or twenty days had fully passed, gradually the interval became long and maybe four or five times, two or three times, perhaps every other day, one time in two or three days and so forth, mainly those aftershocks, probably were for three months. Among the [Buddhist] Four Elements water fire wind always create danger, but great earth does not create extremely abnormal disasters. Long ago, around the Saikō era[2], a great earthquake shook, and the head of Todaiji’s Buddha fell among other things, although this was a horrible thing, still this [current] time is not reached. At that time[3], people all mentioned their tasteless things, and the slightest heart’s impurity too its fading was visible[4], but after the months and days accumulated, the years passed, even the people who expended words and spoke out were nonexistent.
[1] 1184–1185 CE
[2] 854–857 CE
[3] as in this most recent earthquake
[4] people trying to ‘confess their sins’ for forgiveness
[X – The Disparity of Kamakura][1]
In all the world’s painful existence, one’s self and dwelling’s helpless transient state, again are like this. Even more, depending on the place, one’s limitations follow, the things that trouble the heart, listing their number is impossible. If someone’s self is not turned into a number[2], those who are beside a powerful gate[3], there are things that deeply please them, but they are not capable of much relaxation. In times of intense distress, they do not raise their voices and cry. Advancing and retreating without ease, whenever standing or sitting and trembling from fear their state, for example, is like a sparrow drawing close to a falcon’s nest. If those who are poor and next to the prospering houses, morning and evening they are ashamed of their shabby shape, and while sucking up exit and enter. Their wife and children and servants upon enviously looking, and upon hearing the fortunate house’s people’s scorning look, their hearts moment to moment[4] move, and depending on the time are not at ease. If one is in a cramped place, then when nearby goes up in flames, there is no running away from that disaster. If one is in a distant place, then when going and returning the troubles are many, the misfortune of bandits is severe. Again those with power their greed is deep, those who are solitary are made light of by people. When there are treasures there are many fears, when poor, grief is acute. When relying on a person, one belongs to another. When cherishing another, the heart is used by affection. When one conforms to the world, the self suffers. When one does not conform, one resembles someone who has gone mad. In what place should one occupy, and what kind of actions should one do, for the short time residing in this body, to be able to rest one’s heart even for a moment?
[1] this is when Chomei stayed with his friend in Kamakura. Although he takes a more detached commentary on all of these “If’s” he is likely also reflecting on his own situation
[2] i.e. people who are not troubled by much
[3] i.e. people who are near a powerful family or those in positions of power
[4] jpn. nennen (念念) – Buddhist vocabulary
[XI – The Reason for My Seclusion]
I myself, inherited my paternal grandmother’s house, and for a long time lived in that location. After that the connection was lost and my position declined, my thoughts were in various directions numerous, but suddenly I was not able to keep the house. Becoming over thirty, once again with my heart I tied together[1] a singular hut. On comparing this to the living-place that existed [before], it is one tenth. I constructed just the dwelling-house, and did not reach properly making a residence. Although I can say I narrowly erected an earthen wall, there was no way to build a gate. Bamboo as columns, the cart was lodged[2]. Whenever snow falls or the wind blows, it is not that it is not dangerous. Because this location is close to the riverbed[3], the water-danger is deep[4], the fear of white-waves[5] is loud. All this impossible world we put up with and are passing by, the things that trouble our hearts, it has been over thirty years. In that interval the occasional disappointments, naturally I have fully realized my brief fate. At that time, I greeted my spring of fifty, and exited my house[6] having turned my back on the world. Since from the beginning I had no wife or children, there were no connections that were hard to cast away. There was no rank or stipend for me, so to what would I keep attachments? Meaninglessly in Ōharayama[7]’s clouds I hid, and again five returns of spring and autumn have passed completely. Here[8] I reached the time of my dewdrop of sixty’s disappearing[9], and I have tied anew my last leaf’s lodging. So to speak I made a traveler’s lodge, like an aged silkworm producing its cocoon. When lining this up next to the dwelling of my middle times, again it does not reach one hundredth. In saying these things, my age year on year heightened, my dwelling was occasionally cramped. That house’s state, resembled not the usual of the world, its width merely hōjō[10], its height is within seven shaku. As for the reason I did not decide my thinking about the location, I did not occupy and build on the earth. I put together the foundation, thatched the covering, attached fasteners to each joint. [This is] because if there are things that are not realized with the heart, then I can easily move outside[11]. That event of building again, how many worries are there? At the point of loading, merely two carts [are required], to repay the power of the carts, other than that no expenses are necessary.
[1] jpn. musubu (結ぶ) – Chōmei chooses to use this word, meaning, “to bind,” “to tie,” or “to link” when he describes building his huts.
[2] i.e. I built a shed for my cart with bamboo
[3] Kamo River
[4] jpn. mizu-no-nan (水の難). This is typically translated as “drowning” but considering the context, a more literal, character-by-character translation is warranted
[5] jpn. shiranami (白波). A euphemism for bandits that comes from a story of the Yellow Turban Rebellion
[6] typically a Buddhist euphemism for becoming a monk
[7] lit. “large plain mountain,” or rather, “mountain of the large plain” (大原山). In the foothills of Mt. Hiei, around the area of Ōhara (Kyōto-shi, Sakyō-ku)
[8] presumably Hinoyama, as this is his “last dwelling”
[9] c.f. the Prologue
[10] one jō square
[11] move the hut outside of the bounds of the current location
[XII – The State of the Hut]
Now, after hiding my traces in the depths of Hinoyama[1], to the east I extended an over three-shaku awning, and made it a means to store folded brushwood. To the south, I spread a drainboard, the west of which I made an akadana[2], when facing to the north, a standing screen partitions and an image of Amida is enshrined, beside it one of Fugen[3] is hung, before it the Hokekyō[4] is placed. At the eastern edge, I spread a mattress of Warabi[5], and made it a night’s floor. To the southwest I constructed a suspended shelf of Take[6], and placed three black woven baskets. And then, I placed inside annotated texts like waka[7], kangen[8], ōjōyōshū[9]. To the side stood a single koto, biwa each. The so-called origoto[10], tsugibiwa[11] are these. The state of my transitory hut, is like this.
Speaking of that location’s state, to the south there is a water pipe. It stands on a rock and is collecting water. Because the trees of the forest are close, firewood gathering is not scarce. The name is said Otowayama[12]. Masaki[13] vines have covered the path. The valley is overgrown, but the west is clear[14]. It is not that there are no means of observation and contemplation.
[1] lit. “sun field mountain” (日野山). Not located in the (more) well-known Hino in Echizen Province, but instead in the outskirts of Kyōto, located around Hokai-ji. Hinoyama is to the east. (Kyōto-shi, Fushimi-ku, Hino-chō)
[2] small shelf to place water or flowers or as offerings to Buddha or place ceremonial implements (閼伽棚)
[3] skt. Samantabhadra (普賢) – the patron Boddhisatva of the Lotus Sutra
[4] Lotus Sutra (法華経)
[5] “Japanese bracken fern” (蕨)
[6] “bamboo” (竹)
[7] type of poetry (和歌)
[8] type of music (管絃・くゎんげん)
[9] collection of Buddhist texts relating to rebirth (往生要集・わうじゃうえうしふ). Written by the monk Genshin (源信) in 985 CE, introduces the nenbutsu (→81)
[10] foldable koto (折琴・をりごと)
[11] patched-up biwa (継琵琶・つぎびは)
[12] lit. “sound wing mountain” (音羽山・おとはやま). On the border of Ōmi and Yamashiro, south of Ōsaka (逢坂) (the Ōsaka near Lake Biwa), part of the same range and northeast of Hinoyama. In other manuscripts, this is instead Toyama (外山)
[13] mod. jpn. teikakazura (Trachelospermum asiaticum) or tsurumasaki (Euonymus fortunei)
[14] c.f. the Pure Land in the West
[XIII – Life in the Hut]
Spring I see the wisteria waves. Like purple clouds[1], in the west direction they blossom. Summer I hear the Hototogisu[2]. Every time we converse, the mountain road of death and exiting [this world] is promised. Autumn the Higurashi’s[3] voices are filling the ears. The extent of their sorrow for this hollow world[4] can be heard. Winter I sympathize with the snow. Accumulating and fading, its plight must be a true example of our sins. If the nenbutsu[5] is troublesome, the times when reading the sutras is not sincere, I myself rest, I myself idle. There are no people to disturb me, also there are no people to make me ashamed.[6] Although I do not expressly practice silence[7], because I am alone, I am able to govern the Verbal Actions[8]. Without always keeping the precepts, because there are no circumstances [that can cause negative effects], as to what do I break? If on a morning where I draw near the remains of white waves to this self, I gaze on the boats passing on another near Okanoya[9], then I imitate the airs of Manshami[10], if the wind of the Katsura[11], on an evening where the leaves sound, I try and think of the Shin’yōnoe[12], and study the deeds of Gentotoku[13], [14]. If there is remaining interest, then again and again I accompany the echoes of the pines with Shūfūraku[15], to the sounds of water I pluck Ryūsennokyoku[16]. Although for art this is unskillful, it is not that I intend for people’s ears to be pleased. Playing alone, reciting [poetry] alone, I am merely cultivating my own spirit.
[1] jpn. shiun (紫雲)– Amida rides purple clouds during a visit
[2] lesser cuckoo. The hototogisu is one of the most popular poetic motifs and accordingly has many alternative names, one of which is shide-no-taosa (死出の田長) – “field-chief of the mountain of death,” where shide refers to a mountain that one must cross after dying and exiting this current world. c.f. Kokinshū 789
[3] cicadas. Higurashi can also be interpreted as hi-gurashi (日暮し) – “the sun sets,” which harmonizes with autumn.
[4] jpn. utsusemi no yo. Utsusemi (空蝉) means hollow cicada (i.e. cicada shell) and has been used as a poetic allusion to this hollow world we all inhabit
[5] skt. buddhānusmṛti – recollection of the Buddha. In Japanese: “namu amida butsu” (南無阿弥陀仏).
[6] this can be read several ways: “no people I can feel ashamed of,” “no people I should be ashamed of.” It is unclear if Chōmei is ashamed of the people, or feels shame because of the people observing him
[7] lit. “not speaking” jpn. mugon (無言)
[8] skt. vākkarman – verbal deeds that create wholesome or unwholesome effects in the future
[9] lit. “house of the hill” (岡の屋・をかのや). (Uji-shi, Gokashō-chō, Okaya)
[10] more commonly Manzei (満誓), one of the contributors to the Man’yōshū.
[11] large hardwood tree in China and Japan
[12] “Yangtse River” (尋陽の江・しんやうのえ)
[13] more commonly, Minamoto no Tsunenobu (源経信).
[14] some translations interpret these “deeds” (okonai = 行ひ) as being musical pieces and the “studying” being “performing” this music.
[15] a gagaku piece called “Autumn Wind Music” (秋風楽).
[16] a secret piece for biwa called “Flowing Spring Composition” (流泉の曲)
[XIV – Excursions with Friends]
Also, at the foot of the mountain there is a single brushwood hut. And so it is a location where this mountain’s keeper lives. Over there is a small child. From time to time he comes and pays a visit to meet me. If there is an idle[1] time, I go with this [person] as a friend for a stroll. He is ten years old, this [person][2] is sixty, those ages although they are other than the norm, the comforting of the heart, to this[3] is the same. Some times we pull out Tsubana[4], pick Iwanashi[5], pile up Mukago[6], pick Seri[7]. Some times we reach the fields of the foothills, and pick up the fallen ears [of grain] and make ear bunches[8]. If it is beautiful, then we climb up to the peak, and gaze far away at my old home’s sky, we see Kohatayama[9], Fushiminosato[10], Toba[11], Hatsukashi[12]. Because scenic places have no owners, there is no hinderance to comforting the heart. There are no walking troubles, the times when the heart reaches far, from here the peaks continue, crossing Sumiyama[13], passing Kasatori[14], and some times making a pilgrimage to Iwama[15], some times praying at Ishiyama[16]. Some times we also while pushing through Awazunohara[17], visit the remains of the old man of the cicada song[18], cross Tanakamigawa[19], and pay a visit to the grave of Sarumaromōchigimi[20]. Upon returning, depending on the time, we hunt for Sakura[21], search for Momiji[22], snap off Warabi, pick up Konomi[23], partially to offer to Buddha, partially to be made as keepsakes for home.
If the night is quiet, then at the moon of the window I reminisce about old friends, my sleeve is moistened[24] by the monkey’s voice. The field’s Hotaru[25], from far away remind one of the brazier-fires of Maki[26], the dawn’s rain, naturally resembles the storm that blows the leaves. Also upon hearing the Yamadori[27] cry “horo,”[28] I doubt if it is the father or the mother, also as I become closely familiar with the Kasegi[29] of the peaks, I know the extent of my distance from the world. Some times also, upon stirring up a buried fire, I do it as if I am an old person’s waking by a friend. Because the mountains are not frightening, as I sympathize with the Fukurō’s[30] voice, the scenery in the mountains, the time there is not a thing that is exhausted. Even more, for the people who intend on deeply thinking, deeply knowing, this cannot be limited.
[2] the author
[3] “this” (jpn. kore) is used three times, once to describe the friend, once for the author, and I interpret the third time as meaning both
[4] tsubana (茅花) are the flowers of the chigaya (茅) (Japanese bloodgrass)
[5] Epigaea asiatica (岩梨)
[6] (零余子) – generic term for bulbils
[7] “Japanese parsley” (芹)
[8] to be piled up to dry
[9] lit. “tree flag mountain” (木幡山).
[10] lit. “prostrating and looking village” (伏見の里) – carries a religious feeling. The famous Fushimiinari shrine is in the Fushimi area. (Kyōto-shi, Fushimi-ku)
[11] lit. “bird wing” (鳥羽). (Kyōto-shi, Fushimi-ku)
[12] lit. “wing bundle teacher” (羽束師). (Kyōto-shi, Fushimi-ku)
[13] lit. “charcoal mountain” (炭山). East of Hino, south of Daigo-yama (醍醐山) (Uji-shi, Sumiyama)
[14] lit. “kasa taking” (笠取). A kasa is a conical bamboo hat. Northeast of Sumiyama (Uji-shi)
[15] lit. “stone space” (石間). Refers to Iwama-dera (岩間寺), a branch temple of Daigo-dera (醍醐寺). Southeast of Kasatori
[16] lit. “stone mountain” (石山). Around where Lake Biwa turns into the Seto River. Location name survives to modern times
[17] lit. “plain of the millet harbor” (粟津の原・あはづのはら). Northwest of Ishiyama. Location name survives to modern times
[18] refers to Semimaro (蝉丸) (lit. “cicada circle”), an old man famed for his yamatogoto (倭琴) cicada songs. The yamatogoto is a stringed instrument that, unlike the koto, is though to be native to Japan. Semimaro’s remains are now a shrine—the Sekinosemimaru-jinja (関蝉丸神社) which is in the Ōsaka (逢坂) area
[19] lit. “rice field upper river” (田上河・たなかみがは). Upstream of the Uji River, flows into the Seta River
[20] (猿丸太夫). One of the Sanjūrokkasen (三十六歌仙) – the “Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals.” The poem “Okayamani . . .,” which was included in the Kokinshū as number 215 with unknown author also appears in the Hyakunin Isshu as number 5, which credits Sarumaro as being the composer
[21] “cherry blossoms” (桜)
[22] lit. “red leaves” (紅葉). Momiji is commonly associated with the maple tree / leaves, which contrast with that of the sakura
[23] lit. “fruit of the trees” (木の実). This means both nuts and berries, but not necessarily large “fruit” such as apples
[24] moistened by his tears
[25] “fireflies” (蛍)
[26] “yew plum pine,” “Buddhist pine” (槙). The area directly south of the northern bend of the Uji River used to be a lake called Ogura-ike (巨椋池). Maki-no-shima (槙の島) was an island in this lake, where fishermen used brazier-fires to fish for hio (氷魚), a type of sweetfish. Maki survives as a town in Uji, Makishima-chō
[27] lit. “mountain bird” (山鳥) – the Copper Pheasant
[28] in other versions, this is instead “horohoro”
[29] mod. jpn. shika (鹿) – “deer”
[30] “owl” (梟・ふくろふ)
[XV – A Tranquil Solitary Life]
In a large way, the time when I started living in this location, although I thought it had been a short while ago, now already five years have passed. The transitory hut has also gradually become an old home[1], and on the eaves decayed leaves are deepening, on the foundation moss is growing. When from the occasional tidings of things I hear of the royal city, after secluding myself in these mountains, I often hear of noble[2] people passing away. Moreover that type that cannot become numbers, cannot completely know this. Time after time the houses that went up in flames and were destroyed, again how many are they? Only just the transitory hut, is peaceful and without fears. Even though the area is cramped, at night there is a floor to lay on, during the day there is a seat to sit on. There is no insufficiency to lodge oneself. The Kamuna[3] likes small shells. This is according [to the fact that] to it knows things[4]. The Misago[5] lives on barren shores. The reason is exactly that it is afraid of people. I am also like this. When one has known the world that knows things, one does not desire, does not worry. Just making wishes for quietness, making contentment with no worries.
The entire world’s people their practice of making dwellings[6], is not done necessarily for themselves. Some build for wives and children, their household, some make for intimates, friends. I now, am tying for myself, I do not build for people. As for what the reason is, the practices of the world of now, the state of this self, there are no people one must[7] go along with, no servants that one can[8] rely upon. Even if I make broadly[9], who will lodge, who will settle?
[1] jpn. furusato – carries the feeling of nostalgia, or comfort in one’s hometown
[2] jpn. yamugotonaki – the phrase is literally: “people with no things to stop them”
[3] mod. jpn. yadokari – “hermit crab”
[4] in the manuscript (p. 113), the cursive is ambiguous and “things” (事) may also be interpreted as “itself” (身)
[5] “osprey” (鶚). Lives near the ocean and catches fish to survive
[6] ambiguous. “The entire practice of the people of the world building dwellings” is another valid reading
[7] jpn. beki – can be translated as “must,” “can,” “should,” etc.
[8] see above
[9] i.e. build a large house
[XVI – A Life According to Self-Reliance]
After all, the ones that are friends of people, honor the wealthy, place intimacy first. They do not necessarily love those with compassion and those that are honest[1]. It is not enough to make string and bamboo[2], flower and moon[3] one’s friends. The ones that are servants of people, [consider] reward and punishment tremendously, [those who bring] heavy patronage first. They never wish to be cherished and sympathized with, for peace and quiet. It is not enough to make only one’s self a servant[4]. When one is somehow made [one’s own] servant[5], if there is a thing one must do, then one immediately uses one’s self. Although not at all not tiring, it is easier to conform to people, than to look after people. If there is a thing where one must walk, one walks. Even if [one is tired], it is not enough to trouble the heart with horse saddles and ox carts. Now I split my one self, and am made up of two uses. Hands as servants, feet as vehicles, they are fulfilling my heart nicely. Upon knowing the sufferings of the heart and body, the times I suffer I rest fully, when healthy I use them. Although I use them, I do not overdo the times. Although troublesome, there are no things that move the heart. Somehow even more, always walking, always moving, one can care for one’s health. How does one pointlessly rest sitting? To trouble a person, is a sin[6]. Why should I borrow the strength of another?
[1] jpn. sunao.
[2] jpn. shichiku, itotake (糸竹) – the “string” refers to the koto or the biwa (stringed instruments) and the “bamboo” refers to a flute, so this can also mean simply “music”
[3] jpn. kwagetsu, kagetsu (花月) – lit. “flower and moon” but since these are exemplars of fūryū (elegance, refinement), this can also mean “the elegance of the natural world”
[4] jpn. nubi (奴婢). Other cases of “servant” are yatsuko (奴), unless otherwise noted
[5] jpn. nubi
[6] jpn. 罪業 (ざいごふ)
[XVII – The Feeling of a Quiet Existence]
The kinds of food and clothing, are again the same. Clothing of Fuji[1], blanket of Asa[2], in accordance with what I acquire I conceal my skin, the Ohagi[3] of the field, Konomi of the peak, these alone are the things that barely maintain my life. Because I do not mingle with people, there is also no embarrassed regret about my appearance. Because provisions are scarce, I savor humble blessings. All pleasures are like this, against fortunate people there is nothing to say. This is only just for my one self, comparing past and present.
After all, in the Three Worlds[4], there is only one heart. If the heart is not calm, there is no reason for elephants or horses, or the Seven Treasures, no hope for palaces, or pavilions. Now the lonely dwelling, the one-room hut, these I love. Incidentally I left the royal city, and although one can say I am embarrassed by the fact that I have become a beggar, the times I return [from the world / capital] and am here, I pity others who hurry after worldly dust[5]. If people doubt the things I have said, look at the state of the fish and the bird. The fish does not tire of water. When one is not a fish, one does not know that heart. The bird wishes for the forest. When one is not a bird one does not know that heart. The feeling of a quiet existence is also again the same. Without living it who will understand?
[1] “wisteria” (藤)
[2] “hemp” (麻)
[3] mod. jpn. yomena (嫁菜) – “Aster yomena.” A member of the aster family, the ohagi’s petals are white
[4] jpn. sangai (三界), skt. traidhātuka. Includes the desire realm (jpn. yokukai (欲界), skt. kāmadhātu), the form realm (jpn. shikikai (色界), skt. rūpadhātu), and the formless realm (jpn. mushikikai (無色界), skt. ārūpadhātu)
[5] jpn. zokujin 俗塵 (ぞくぢん)
[XVIII – Conclusion]
So now the moonlight of my one period[1] sets[2], the edge of the Mountain of Remainder[3] is close. In an instant I will attempt to turn towards the darkness of the Three Routes[4]. What deeds am I to complain about?[5] The point of the Buddha’s teachings, is to not form attachments to things. Now loving the grass hut too, adhering to quiet loneliness too, can be hinderances. How does one state useless pleasures, and then pass through regrettable times? On a quiet dawn, I continued to think about this logic, asked my heart and said, “Running from this world and mingling with the mountains and forests, is governing the heart and trying to enact the way[6]. Still, you[7] your appearance is a sage, and your heart is stained in impurities. Although your dwelling instantly dirties the remains of Jyōmyōkoji[8], the points you hold, do not even barely reach the deeds of Shurihandoku[9]. If this were the karma of being poor and lowly[10] does it trouble you, or are you also reaching the madness of a deluded heart?” That time, my heart had no answer at all. Just beside [my heart] I employed my tongue, and unwillingly said “amidabutsu” two or three times and then completely stopped.
The time is Kenryaku Second Year, around Yayoi’s moon-disappearing day[11], the monk Ren’in[12], in the Toyama hut, records this.
Hōjōki
[1] jpn. ichigo 一期 (いちご) – usually “the singular period from birth till death”
[2] towards the West
[3] jpn. yosan 余算 (よさん) – usually taken as the “remainder of one’s life”
[4] jpn. sanzu 三途 (ざんづ) – meaning the Three Routes to the Three Baleful Destinies (skt. apāya, durgati), which are the realms of Hell (jpn. jigoku – 地獄 (じごく), skt. nāraka), Animals (jpn. chikushō 畜生 (ちくしょう), skt. tiryak), and Hungry Ghosts (jpn. gaki 餓鬼 (がき), skt. preta), respectively.
[5] the auxiliary verb mu makes the meaning of this sentence ambiguous?
[6] i.e. Buddhist teachings
[7] jpn. nanji (汝)
[8] jpn. 浄名居士 (じゃうみゃうこじ), skt. Vimalakīrti – roughly “stainless glory” is a Boddhisatva who was famed for having a small hut
[9] jpn. 周利槃特 (しゅりはんどく), skt. Cūḍapanthaka – the dumbest of all of the historical Buddha’s disciples
[10] poor and lowly state is the result of karma
[11] 1212 CE, third month’s last day
[12] jpn. 蓮胤 (れんいん) – lit. “lotus offspring,” Chōmei’s name as a monk
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