In one part of the Kokon Chomon-shu, a collection of stories compiled in the Kamakura period, there is a description of an insect-catching expedition to the Sagano area of Kyoto in 1095. The emperor at the time ordered his retainers and servants to head out on horseback to capture the specimens and present them in an insect cage strung with purple threads.
The party, reciting an insect-hunting poem as they went, reached Sagano where they got off their horses and continued their search until the evening. The search was very extensive, spanning around one kilometer. When they had collected enough insects, they headed back to the palace with their catch as well as bunches of flowers -- bush clover and golden lace -- and presented them to the emperor in a basket. There followed a great banquet, with drinking and poetry recitations, and a great time was had by all.
In no other country in the world but Japan may have events like these -- official banquets held by princes of long-standing dynasties to the sound of insect song -- ever taken place. The Japanese studies pioneer Lafcadio Hearn, looking to introduce the special qualities of Japanese culture to a Western audience through stories from history, quoted this tale of the banquet by insect song in one of his works.
While the summer heat lingers through September, the sound of insects singing in the bushes signals the coming onset of autumn. Insect song is an iconic part of the warmer months on the Japanese archipelago, but there are now fewer Japanese people who could distinguish the different varieties of insects just by their sounds. Yet it seems likely that there are very few Japanese people who would not, upon hearing the insects of this season, appreciate the special sweetness, and the pleasant but melancholy beauty of autumn, carried in their song.
According to the theories of neuroscientist Tadanobu Tsunoda, Japanese people hear the songs in the left brain, also responsible for language. This is said to stem from the special characteristics of the Japanese language, and to say that Japanese people hear the "voices" of the insects is certainly understandable.
It's also true that Japanese people in particular hear the sounds of birdsong and of flowing rivers as "voices." And so, in this autumn of disaster recovery and nuclear crisis, let us Japanese concentrate on the small wonders of nature, and open our ears to its voices. ("Yoroku," a front-page column in the Mainichi Shimbun)
Click here for the original Japanese story(Mainichi Japan) September 15, 2011
余録：虫の音の秋
「古今著聞集」という書物に嘉保２（１０９５）年８月の宮中の虫とりの様子が記されている。帝（みかど）より侍童や従者に嵯峨野で虫をとってくるようにとの詔があり、紫色の糸をかけた虫籠を与えられた。一同は左右馬寮の馬で出かける▲道中に「野に虫を探す」との歌題が出され、嵯峨野では馬を下りて夕刻まで１０町ほどの間で虫を探した。内裏へ帰ると、虫と共に萩（はぎ）や女郎花（おみなえし）を入れた籠が帝に献上され、宮中は酒宴と歌の朗詠で盛り上がったという次第だ▲虫とりと、虫の音を聞きながらの宴が王朝の半ば公的行事のように行われる国は他にあるまい。実はこの記述、小泉八雲（Ｌ・ハーン）が文中に引用しているので知った。彼は虫の音をめでる日本の文化を何とか西欧人に理解させようと、歴史から説き起こしたのだ▲残暑続く９月、草むらの虫の音が告げてくれる秋の訪れだ。今やその種類を聞き分けられる人も少なくなった日本人である。だがこの季節、「心地良いながらも胸苦しい秋の美、夜の声の不可思議な甘さ」（小泉八雲「虫の演奏家」）に思い当たらぬ人はまれだろう▲外国人は虫の音を機械の雑音と同じく右脳で聞くのに対し、日本人は虫の音を言語と同じ左脳で聞いているというのが脳科学者の角田忠信さんの説だった。この違いは日本語の特性に根ざすというが、私たちは虫の「声」を聞いているのだという話ならよく分かる▲虫だけでなく鳥のさえずりや川のせせらぎも「声」のように聞いてきたという日本人だ。震災と原発災害の秋、ことさらいとおしく思える小さな自然の営みに目をこらし、その「声」に耳をすませたい。
英訳毎日新聞 2011年9月15日 0時16分
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