Lot 19: Yosa Buson (1716-1784)

New Year's Greeting for Kuroyanagi Ikoma Signed Yahan'o and Buson, dated tenth day of the first month Letter mounted as a hanging scroll; ink on paper 6 1/16 x 21 3/8in. (15.4 x 54.2cm.) NOTES Buson's letter, written at the begining of the new year, includes two haiku. The first one is titled Saitan -- Misoka no yami no kuraki yori (New year's day--from the darkness of the last day of the year). The poem reads Ono ga ha no moji mo yometari hatsugarasu. Buson explains that in ancient times a Chinese wrote a letter on crow's feathers to test Japanese wisdom and sent the letter to someone named Saeki. Saeki was clever and able to read the letter by steaming the crow's feathers in a basket-steamer and pressing paper against them to lift off the ink. The second poem is titled Seibo (Last day of the year). The poem reads Hiiragi sasu hatashiya soto no hamahisashi. Buson explains that there are two opinions about hamahisashi but it is best to understand it as the part of a beach that looks like caves when scooped out by waves.