> I have been checking a bit on the bears of Japan.
> There are some famous bear hunting areas, also in Hokkaido.
>
> http://wkdkigodatabase03.blogspot.com/2007/06/bear-kuma.html
>
>
>
> tabibito ni kumakari no uta kuma matsuri
>
> the bear hunting songs
> for a traveller -
> bear festival
>
> Naruse Chiyo
>
>
> kuma o ou oosuzu hitotsu robashira ni
>
> one large bell
> to ward off the bears
> on the pillar of the hearth
>
> Yazu Sengyo
>
> and a few more
>
> ....................
>
> Enjoy the culture of Northern Japan !
> GABI


Random thoughts about bears...

I grew up in the United States with Smokey the Bear. He was a cartoon-
like bear created for public service television announcements about
fire safety in forests. He wore a broad-brimmed forest ranger's hat,
carried a shovel, and told us," Only YOU can prevent forest fires!"

Here is a link to Gary Snyder's "Smokey the Bear Sutra:"

http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma6/smokey.html


I was wondering why there would be professional bear hunters in
Japan. Then I read about the use of bear gall bladders in traditional
and folk-medicine, right up to the present day. *sigh*


In the tri-state area where I live (Connecticut, New York, New
Jersey), as suburban sprawl encroaches on wilderness areas, there are
increasing reports of bears invading backyards of houses in search of
food. The fortunate bears are tranquilized and returned to the
wilderness. The unfortunate bears are shot. As population in the U.S.
continues to grow, this problem could very well get worse.


I have a fear of trichinosis, so I like my pork well-cooked!
Trichinosis is a parasitic disease one gets from eating raw or
undercooked pork or wild game. It is now only rarely found in hogs
butchered in the United States, but sometimes I read with great
interest about cases caused by people eating "bear tartare." Why
anyone would want to eat ground-up, raw bear meat is beyond me!


Although not connected to bears, the pictures of hunters dressed in
traditional garb that Gabi has posted on the WKDb entry on "bear" as
kigo, has made me remember a movie I saw many years ago, directed by
Akira Kurosawa, which won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language
Film, "Dersu Uzala" (1975) (released as "Derusu Uzara" in Japan). A
movie well-worth seeing.


An alternative translation of the bear haiku by Seishi Yamaguchi:

kuma no ko ga kawarete tetsu no kusan namu

a baby bear
held in captivity
licks his iron chain

trans. Gabi Greve


Nurtured in a cage,
a bear cub licking away
at his iron chain.

trans. Takashi Kodaira and Alfred H. Marks, from "The Essence of
Modern Haiku: 300 Poems by Seichi Yamaguchi." In this book, the
translators try their best to make the translations comform to a 5-7-
5 English-language syllable pattern, which doesn't always make for
the best translation.

In the above-mentioned book, there is a date of composition, and a
note by Seishi:

Composed 1968. "Here is a bear caught in the interior of Mount
Hakusan. He spends his days in an iron cage, tied by an iron chain.
He licks his iron chain, the chain that restricts his freedom."


And I found another bear haiku, by Billie Dee:

Ursa Major--
by starlight, a black bear
raids our trash

http://billie-dee-haiku.blogspot.com/


Hoping everyone will bear with me, Larry