Tanomo Saigo · Aizu
Original
あいづねの 遠近人に 知らせてよ 保科近悳 今日死ぬるなり
Tanomo Saigo's death poem, "あいづねの遠近人に知らせてよ保科近悳". Read the original Japanese, translation, meaning, and historical background. This is a direct death poem with little ornament.
Person
A chief retainer of Aizu who bore the political and familial tragedy of the domain during the Boshin War. His name carries the sorrow of Aizu, where loyalty to the shogunate became a burden that consumed households as well as armies.
Know This Person
Translation
Tell the people near and far in Aizu: Hoshina Chikanori dies today.
Poetic Shape A Japanese death poem is less a final explanation than a last shape given to feeling. Its brevity matters: a life is not narrated, but compressed into a few lines that leave room for silence.
Reading
This is a direct death poem with little ornament. As a chief retainer of Aizu, it carries the weight of announcing one's death to name and land.
Background
Introduced as the death poem of Saigo Tanomo, later Hoshina Chikanori. He bore the tragedy of his family and domain in the Aizu War. A chief retainer of Aizu who bore the political and familial tragedy of the domain during the Boshin War.
Source / Transmission Wording and readings may differ by transmission; this page treats the text as one circulated form.
Further Reading
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