Improving your luck in Oarai 2
Tokugawa Mitsukuni and Oarai
Improving your luck in Oarai 2
The shrine building of Oarai Isosaki Yakushi Bosatsu Myojin was established in the Heian period for the god of medicine, but was destroyed by fire in a war during the Warring States period. Tokugawa Mitsukuni, the second lord of the Mito domain, known as one of the three great lords of the early Edo period, initiated the reconstruction of the shrine building, which had been reduced to ashes.
There is a waka poem titled "Isotsuki" that was composed by Tokugawa Mitsukuni during his reign.
Even after his retirement, Mitsukuni continued to enjoy the four seasons in Oarai and compose waka poems.
Isotsuki may be an expression of Mitsukuni's view of life superimposed on the moonlit scenery of the reefs of Oarai.
The moon that breaks and scatters on the rocks of the rough shore
Backwash waves make it one and returns with it, I wonder
Tokugawa Mitsukuni, "Jozan-eiso Akiuta"
The moon's gentle light in the night sky symbolizes a precious peace far away from this world with its rough shores.
The distant moon in the night sky reflects its light on the surface of the sea, so peace is nearby. However, the moonlight reflected on the surface of the water, which represents this world, is broken and scattered on the rocks of the rough shore. (The Chinese character "浪" probably represents these wandering waves.)
The distant moon in the night sky remains the same and peaceful, but the moonlight near us is destroyed and scattered.
But the song is not a lament for the destruction of life. The scattered and wandering lights reunite with the backwash into one, reflecting a peaceful light on the surface of the water. The song concludes in this serene manner.
Rough shore = shore with heavy waves (natural disaster, sudden separation, war damage)
Moon in the night sky = distant peace
Moonlight on the surface of the water = peace and people floating in this world
Wave = scattered wandering light (wandering peace, wandering people)
You may want to think about peace in life and peace in the world while appreciating the monument of Isotsuki, which stands quietly beside the Kamiiso no Torii of Meisho Oarai and the rough shores of Oarai where a robust ecosystem lives in the tides.
