Composed on the conception of the arrival of spring, when I was spending the turning of the year near Naniwa[i] on a pilgrimage.[ii]

いつしかとはるきにけりと津のくにの難波のうらを霞こめたり

itsushika to haru kinikeri to tsu no kuni no naniwa no ura o kasumi kometari

So swiftly Spring has come, reveals, In the land of Tsu Across Naniwa Bay, The spreading haze.

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[i] Naniwa 難波 lay near the mouth of the Yodo River in what is now Osaka. It was an important poetic location (utamakura), referenced in innumerable waka.

[ii] Most likely to Sumiyoshi Grand Shrine (sumiyoshi taisha 住吉大社) and the Shitennōji 四天王寺 temple which were important religious sites nearby.