Proloque by author

In the Wake of Basho. Bestiary in the Rock garden.
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"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function".
F. Scott Fitzgerald


This book just happened. After very intense submerging into Japanese culture, history, art and poetry (daily Aikido and Iaido trainings, Zen garden meditations, picking up some basic Japanese, reading the poems written by my beloved Matsuo Basho and other Japanese and Chinese poets ) for about 3 years (2008-2010), one early morning the whole idea of the book came to me as one piece: to introduce Shakespeare to Japan at least two centuries before it actually happened. The idea (however crazy it may sound) is not quite too far away from reality: it could truly have happened that a Catholic Japanese with traditional samurai background and upbringing escaped to Christian Macao, where he was introduced to English, which  became his second mother tongue und through English was captured by genius of Shakespeare. Of course Haruki Okami's  core was still Japanese with all the bells and whistles. Once a samurai, forever a samurai. The tiger doesn't change his stripes. His Basho and Shakespeare-influenced existential poetry is a sort of crossover or fusion of both languages, cultural, poetic and religious traditions of both countries. Hokku married with Shakespearean blank verse. Haruki Okami (who is my alter ago) was impressed by Shakespeare-like French artists were impressed by Japanese art in the second half of the 19th century which brought impressionism to life. His (my) poetry is sort of extended minimalism with more attention to transient details. Important is the architecture of Haruki Okami's verse: 3 lines: long, shorter one and the shortest. It is sort of backward steps or stairway arranged sense wise in ascending order. You are kind of going downstairs but actually you go up. The suspension is growing toward the climatic end and ends up with an ellipsis […] inviting the reader to fill up the omitted words, connotations and meanings (the reader can find all this intended omissions in extensive Notes). The number of the hokku (46) has a certain symbolism: Numerical value of the Hebrew word for number 46 is haia, which according to gematria (Kabbalistic numerology)  means the beast. For several decades, some theorists have suggested William Shakespeare placed his mark on the translated text of Psalm 46 that appears in the King James Bible, although many scholars view this as unlikely. The 46th word from the beginning of Psalm 46 is "shake" and the 46th word from the end (omitting the liturgical mark 'Selah') is 'spear'. Shakespeare was in King James' service during the preparation of the King James Bible, and was generally considered to be 46 years old in 1611 when the translation was completed. Most likely that the presence of Shakespeare's name in the King James Bible is merely a coincidence, but so was the number of tercets which I never planned. When the book was finished I just counted them.
Why Shakespeare?
I'm pretty sure that few countries if any in the world have embraced Shakespeare with such animal passion as Japan. He is just the extension of Japanese soul and spirit wrapped in English language. Author Damian Flanagan wrote in The Japan Times: "From 1868 to the end of the Taisho Era (1912-1926), Shakespeare became so naturalized in Japan that he assumed his own Japanese name, “Sao.” Japan’s opening up to the West in the late 1800s coincided with the heyday of the British Empire and Shakespeare’s propulsion to the status of a worldwide literary icon. In the postwar era, some of Akira Kurosawa’s greatest films were influenced by Shakespeare, such as “Throne of Blood” and “Ran,” which were inspired by “Macbeth” and “King Lear” respectively. And Japan’s great theater director Yukio Ninagawa has produced “Hamlet” eight times. Unfortunately, in English at least, the quality and number of translations — and most particularly the quality of criticism — lags far behind what is available to readers of Shakespeare in Japanese".
There is another rather mysterious connection between the Bard and Japan. The spear which is featured  on poet's coat of arms and is of course a vital part of his last name is somehow connected to the Amenonuhoko (heavenly jeweled spear or naginata) which as the ancient Japanese legend goes was used  to create Japan.  The two deities went to the bridge between heaven and earth, Ame-no-ukihashi ("floating bridge of heaven"), and churned the sea below with the spear. When drops of salty water fell from the tip of the spear, they formed into the first Japanese island, Onogoro-shima.

Why bestiary?

Japan is a truly beautiful and ancient country and its variety of symbols including national animals, birds, imaginary creatures  and rich iconography reflects its unique religious and cultural aesthetics and sense of the world. Besides the simple but vivid flag and transient cherry blossom, Japanese animal symbols reflect an appreciation for a simple, clean, aesthetic that focuses on the transient more than the permanent. Japanese animal and religious symbolism is rich and deep, incorporating myth and reality, philosophy and beauty, into one unified whole. William Shakespeare has also interwoven throughout his plays and poetry an immense deal of curious folk-lore connected with animals. Not only does he allude with the accuracy of a naturalist to the peculiarities and habits of certain animals, but so true to nature is he in his graphic descriptions of them that it is evident his knowledge was in a great measure acquired from his own observation.

The whole book of Haruki Okami's poetry is about last circle of life, spiritual journey, last farewell to all living things created by God before departing to "the undiscover'd country, from whose bourn no traveller returns". The whole book was written by me within 15 consecutive days. Every morning I woke up with new poetic Rock on my lips. The animals were coming to me one by one in the same order as published as they came to Buddha. It was a kind of spiritual enlightenment which I never experienced before. I just put the poems on the paper with few or no corrections at all. I haven't changed a thing in the Russian original since. The translation into English with a help of a very professional translator Mrs. Elena Sheverdinova took of course much longer. Than I put the book aside and turned my attention to other projects. Now the time is ripe to publish it.
The year 2016 marked the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare (1564-1616) and 322nd anniversary of the death of Matsuo Basho(1644- 1694), the greatest dramatist and Bard of the English speaking world and the greatest poet of the Japanese speaking world respectively. Their spirits and poetical gems are pretty much alive and demanded in modern world, still facing eternal themes of  war and peace, death and live, hate and love.
God bless you all!
Love
Yury Lobo a.k.a. Haruki Okami


 
http://www.stihi.ru/2016/10/18/359

http://www.stihi.ru/2016/12/21/10072

http://www.stihi.ru/2016/12/16/333