Half a Day in Koshigaya and Other Essays

A family outing can begin with plum blossoms and end in a barber’s pun. A mountain holiday can turn into a climb through fog, thistles, and rain. Even bringing balloons home to the children can expose the brief life of pleasure.

In these eleven essays, Ōmachi Keigetsu travels through Koshigaya and Ashigara, visits Kinkasan and Kashima, explores the Abukuma River’s headwaters, and walks across Tokyo toward Asukayama. Friends, children, drinking companions, shrines, and waterfalls share the road with him. His tribute to Oshikawa Shunrō is affectionate and vehement; his discussion of Kamakura’s Great Buddha begins with Yosano Akiko’s poem and becomes a spirited argument about beauty.

A poet and travel writer of the Meiji and Taishō eras, Keigetsu observes landscapes with lyrical pleasure and people with humor, irritation, and strongly held opinions. This complete translation retains the supplied poems, quotations, headings, and concluding dates, with brief notes on historical references and uncertain readings. The journeys reveal an evolving countryside and the restless personality moving through it. AI-assisted translation.