Everything is Gonna Be Alright – 馬九行久

[Cover story from Hiragana Times March 2024 issue]

all 9 horses

Since ancient times, Japan has been called “a country where happiness is born through the spirit of words,” and the sound of words has been cherished.

日本は古来「言霊の幸(さき)わう国」と称され、言葉の響きを大切にしてきました。

Finding meaning in each sound of words and compiling them into 50 sounds, starting from “a, i, u, e, o ,” is what constitutes the “gojuonzu” (fifty-sound chart).

言葉の一音一音に意味を見いだし、50の音にまとめたのが「あいうえお」から始まる「五十音図」です。

In Japan, wordplay imbuing meaning, “infuse with significance,” has been commonly observed since the Nara period (8th century) when the “Manyoshu” was compiled, continuing to the present day.

日本では音に意味を縁起づける言葉遊びが根付いており、奈良時代の万葉集から現代にまでよく見られます。

This month’s cover is decorated with nine samurai paintings by BUNTA iNOUE – samurai riding around on horses. This pattern, which means “umaku iku (Everything is Going to be Alright)” because “uma ga kyuutou iku (umaku iku/ nine horses go),” has long been favored in Japan.

今月の表紙には、井上文太氏による9枚の武者絵、武士が馬で駆け巡る姿が飾られています。「馬が九頭行く」から「うまくいく」ことを意味するこの絵柄は、日本では昔から好まれています。

Depicted in these warrior paintings is KATO Kiyomasa, a military commander from the Azuchi-Momoyama period to the early Edo period (mid-16th to early 17th century). Kiyomasa is said to have been an extremely large man. His beloved horse was also of considerable size, and due to its wild nature, it was affectionately called “Taishakukurige” (God Taishaku chestnut hair). Currently, at Higo Honmyoji Temple in Kumamoto Prefecture, where Kiyomasa is enshrined, there is a hall dedicated to Taishakukurige, housing a wooden statue of a red horse.

この武者絵に描かれているのは、安土桃山時代から江戸時代初期（16世紀半ば〜17世紀初め）の武将、加藤清正です。清正は非常に大柄な男だったと伝えられています。その愛馬も相当な巨体で、さらには荒々しい性格から「帝釈栗毛[たいしゃくくりげ]」の名で親しまれました。現在、清正を祀る熊本県の肥後本妙寺には、帝釈栗毛を祀ったお堂があり、赤い馬の木像が鎮座しています。

The sumi-e paintings on the campus are new and different from conventional sumi-e paintings on Japanese paper, which are shown through the expression of blotchiness. In the era of Reiwa (2019-present), the revived Kiyomasa resonates with a message of encouragement: “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright.”

キャンパスに描れた墨絵は、滲みの表現で見せる、従来の和紙に描かれた墨絵とは異なる新しさを感じさせます。令和の時代に蘇った清正が、「万事うまくいく」という激励のメッセージを響かせています。