River (kawa)

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River (kawa)

***** Location: Japan, worldwide
***** Season: Non-seasonal Topic
***** Category: Nature

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Explanation

A river, from its small beginnings to the grand finale, some more than a few thousand kilometers, some rather short ...

The word RIVER, just like that, is a topic for haiku.

But there are quite a few KIGO during all seasons.


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kigo for all spring

haru no kawa 春の川 はるのかわ river in spring
..... harukawa 春川（はるかわ）
..... junkoo 春江（しゅんこう）(very poetic)
haru no e 春の江（はるのえ）

haru no kawanami 春の川波（はるのかわなみ） river waves in spring


haru no se 春の瀬（はるのせ） rapids in spring


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kigo for mid-spring

. transporting timber on the river, rafting logs
kinagashi 木流しrafting timber　


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kigo for late spring


river during snow-melting, yukigegawa 雪解川


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kigo for all summer

natsu no kawa 夏の川 (なつのかわ) river in summer
gatsugawa 夏川（なつがわ）summer river
natsugawara 夏河原（なつがわら） river shore in summer

. kawa asobi 川浴（かわあび）
swimming in the river



kawagari 川狩 (かわがり) hunting (for fish) in the river
kawaboshi 川干し（かわぼし）"drying out the river"
seboshi 瀬干し（せぼし）"drying out the shallows"
semawashi 瀬廻し（せまわし）
dokunagashi 毒流し（どくながし）poisoning the river water
in order to catch fish


kawatomoshi, kawa tomoshi 川ともし（かわともし）
illuminating the river
as part of night fishing, often with cormorants



river crab, kawagani　川蟹


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kigo for mid-summer

satsukigawa 五月川 (さつきがわ) "river in the fifth month"
according to the Asian lunar calendar.
Now it is a river in the rainy season.

demizu 出水 (でみず) flooding
natsu demizu 夏出水（なつでみず）flooding in summer
tsuyu demizu 梅雨出水（つゆでみず）flooding in the rainy season
demizugawa 出水川（でみずがわ）flooded river
suigai 水害（すいがい） flood damage


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kigo for late summer

kawadome 川止め (かわどめ) an interruption [a stoppage] in ferry service
kawazukae 川づかえ（かわづかえ）
kawadomari 川どまり（かわどまり）
Especially in the Edo period, it was forbidden to cross a river by foot or with porters, when the river was swollen after a strong rain



kawabiraki 川開き (かわびらき) opening of the river season
Ryoogoku kawabiraki 両国川開き（りょうごくかわびらき）
opening the season at the bridge Ryogoku in Edo
Nagaokagawa biraki 長岡川開き（ながおかかわびらき）
Ryoogoku no hanabi 両国の花火（りょうごくのはなび）
fireworkd at Ryogoku, Edo, to celebrate the season.



kawayashiro 川社（かわやしろ）shrine by the river
visited during harae ablution rituals

kawaharae, kawa harae 川祓（かわはらえ）ablutions in a river
misogigawa 禊川（みそぎがわ) river for ablutions

Summer Purification Ceremony (nagoshi, harae　祓)



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kigo for all autumn

aki no kawa 秋の川 (あきのかわ) river in autumn
akigawa 秋川（あきがわ）autumn river
..... shuukoo 秋江（しゅうこう）
..... aki no koo 秋の江（あきのこう）


kawanori 川苔 (かわのり) "river nori"
..... 川海苔（かわのり）
edible seaweeds picked up from rocks on the river mouth


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kigo for early autumn

"river in heaven", milky way, ama no gawa 天の川 and Tanabata Festival


kigo for mid-autumn

aki demizu 秋出水 (あきでみず) flooding in autumn



kigo for late autumn

momijigawa 紅葉川（もみじがわ) river with red leaves
(trees on its shore have colored leaves)


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kigo for all winter

a dry river, kawa karu 川涸る（かわかる）
... karegawa 涸川（かれがわ）


fuyu no kawa 冬の川 (ふゆのかわ) river in winter
fuyukawa 冬川（ふゆかわ）winter river

fuyugawara 冬川原（ふゆがわら）river shore in winter

kawabushin 川普請（かわぶしん）river construction work
(to strenghten the banks, dams and more)


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kigo for early winter

kawaoto no shigure 川音の時雨（かわとのしぐれ）sleet on the river


. kawabitarimochi 川浸り餅（かわびたりもち）
mochi prepared on the day of kawabitari
kawabitari no tuitachii 川浸りの朔日（かわびたりのついたち）
kawawatari no tsuitachi 川渡しの朔日（かわわたしのついたち）
first day of the 12th lunar month


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kigo for late winter

kawa kooru 川凍る（かわこおる）river is frozen
..... hyookoo 氷江 (ひょうこう)frozen river
..... tookoo 凍江（とうこう）
..... tooga 凍河（とうが）


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topics for haiku

se 瀬 rapid, rapids
asase, kawase 川瀬, hayase 早瀬
without any further reference to a season
Stromschnelle

se o kudaru 瀬を下る driving down a rapid


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. ..... Water in various kigo
including Waterfall (taki)


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In temperate zones, rivers may have kigo too, such as in Ireland "Shannon cruisers" (come out in summer) and "irises" and "flooding" (a winter / spring phenomenon in Ireland along the banks of the Shannon).

In Kenya, there are rivers which flow and which disappear according to the season, and there are terrible flash floods along the dry river beds, which may hit when the rains start.

Isabelle Prondzynski

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The River as a Symbol

Rivers are symbols of the self replenishing, self purifying, life sustaining cycles of matter and energy on earth. Basically all rivers are the same with very little differences. But because a river is fluid in motion each one of them is ever changing.

Rivers are the best manifestations of the dynamism of land and they all merge with the sea. They transform the very face of the land over which they flow. Rivers are habitats for a wide spectrum of life and they also provide water so essential for life. They are critical modulators that decide other limiting factors in the environment. Although rivers are restricted to the land they are crucial for the nutrient cycles of the oceans. The birth, growth and death of civilizations are inextricably bound to the rivers and the valleys carved out by them.

More ancient the land, one can be sure that the river will also be old. Older the river, possibilities are that civilizations along its banks will also be old. Older civilizations usually have greater harmony within and without, in the individuals and collectively. Those civilizations that have lasted longer evolving along with a live river we can be sure have mastered the true art of survival.

For the people of such cultures the river becomes sacred, etched in their racial memory as the provider, sustainer and as one who shows the way. Narmada was all these not only to those who lived in that ancient central Indian rift valley but for all who had access to the common Indian cultural matrix. Until there came about a basic change in human attitudes...

Read more about it in this LINK
http://www.narmada.org/sardar-sarovar/narmada.html

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Worldwide use

Alaska

i read a novel about alaska. there, rivers freeze in winter and become highways! snowmachines and other vehicles, like jeeps, travel the rivers as if they were paved!

susan delphine delaney
plano, texas

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Germany

Vater Rhein, Father Rhine

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India

Mother Ganges, the Holy River Ganga

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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

One of the most famous rivers in haiku, the Mogami-gawa:

さみだれを 集めて早し 最上川
samidare o atsumete hayashi Mogamigawa

collecting the rain of the fifth month
and flowing so fast -
the Mogami River
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

Matsuo Basho

The Mogamigawa has its origins on the slopes of Mt. Azuma on the border between Fukushima and Yamagata.
Read: Station 28 - Mogamigawa Discussion

rain in the fifth month, lit. "May-Rain", rain of the rainy season (samidare　五月雨): a kigo

... ... ...

涼しさや 海にいれたる 最上川
suzushisa ya umi ni iretaru Mogamigawa

Coolness–
pouring into the sea–
Mogami River
(©Haruo Shirane)

Matsuo Basho (1689)

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Grapes grow mellow.
The Rhein runs in the fields.
Had a Bacchus surprised Lorelei?

by Toyoko
http://kotn.ntu.ac.uk/workshop/haiku/haikuspage3.cfm?Num=OWW


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Related words

*****
Milky Way and Tanabata Star Festival


***** Bridge (hashi)


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. SAIJIKI ... category EARTH


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