toyokuni no kiku no somamatsu oinikeri shirazu ikuyo no toshi ka henikemu
In the land of Toyo The timber pines at Kiku Have grown old; I know not how many ages and Years they have passed through…[i]
692
[i] See: 豊洲 聞浜松 心裳 何妹 相云始 toyokuni no / kiku no hamamatsu / nemokoro ni / nani shika imo ni / ai’iisomekemu ‘As in the land of Toyo / At Kiku the beach-pines, / Sweetly, / Why has my darling / Begun to meet and talk with me?’ Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection (Man’yōshū XII: 3130)
Composed on the conception of love at a famous location
とよ国の菊のながはま夢にだにまだみぬ人に恋ひやわたらん
toyokuni no kiku no nagahama yume ni dani mada minu hito ni koi ya wataran
In the land of Toyo, in the western isle, Lies the long beach of Kiku, I hear— Even in my dreams Have I yet to see her, but Will my love for her go on and on?
