On that day in question, a group of gaudily dressed young women lounged indolently outside a teahouse called the Peony Pavilion. No less an authority than that old lecher, Ihara Saikaku, stated that in ancient times, the wag-tail bird taught humans the ways of lust, and since then there has been no end to the mischief it has caused. Once that arduous task was completed, men and women were free to return to carnal pursuits. A macron (ō or ū) indicates a vowel held for slightly longer, but the pronunciation remains the same.Īccording to the almanac for the eighth year of Bunsei (1825) in the reign of the Emperor Ninkō, the third day of the month of Yayoi was to be set aside for the changing of winter to summer clothes. All consonants are more or less as in English, although the g is always hard. The only exception is u, which is often elided following some consonants, especially s. Vowels in Japanese always retain the same pronunciation no matter where they occur, and each vowel is always pronounced, including final e. Poem by Ōshikōchi no Mitsune in the Kokinshū collection Yet how could I fail to notice their scent? I may not see the alluring plum blossoms, No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
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