Spring is considered the time when cats get their groove on. Issa had some thoughts on that when he observed it two hundred years ago.

山寺や祖師のゆるしの猫の恋
yamadera ya soshi no yurushi no neko no koi

mountain temple:
with the blessing of the founder
cat's love
—Issa

(trans. David LaSpina^[1])

^{Cat - Inagaki Tomō}

Issa may have been making an observational haiku here. He was at the temple and spied some cats having a bit of fun, perhaps. There is a bit of a double-meaning, however.

Issa followed True Pure Land Buddhism (Jōdo Shinshū, 浄土真宗). The priest who created this sect, Shinran, got rid of the requirement for priests to remain celibate. His argument was that humans no longer had the ability to achieve enlightenment through their own efforts alone and could only do so by the grace of Amida, the cosmic Buddha. In other words, he made his flavor of Buddhism into a faith-based religion. Because salvation was solely granted by faith in Amida, remaining celibate was no longer necessary. He also criticized the established monastic system, calling it corrupt and out-of-touch.

So, then, back to the haiku: you can see how in his sect of Buddhism cats are free to make love with the founder's blessing. No wonder Pure Land Buddhism became the most popular sect of Buddhism in Japan!

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【Also published on my website】

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David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Twitter or Mastodon.

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1. That is, me! If you like this translation, feel free to use it. Just credit me. Also link here if you can. ↩