Ton'a

Ton'a (頓阿; 1289–1372), also read as Tonna; lay name – Nikaidō Sadamune (二階堂貞宗), was a Japanese Buddhist poet who was a student of Nijō Tameyo. Ton'a took a tonsure at Enryaku-ji Temple, but was later associated with the Ji sect (founded by Ippen). He looked up to Saigyō's poetic genius.

Ton'a

Poetry

The following are two of his best-known poems:

naku semi no koe mo hitotsu ni hibikite matsu kage suzushi yama no takitsuse

Crying cicadas are in one voice with the sound that reverberates – cool, in the shade of the pines – from a mountain cascade.[1]

ne ni tatete nageku wa nani zo utsusemi no munashiki yo to wa shiranu mono ka wa

Just what can it be that makes them cry so loudly? But, ah, of course: cicadas would know how empty is this world of the cicada shell.[2]

Extant Works

Ei Sanshu Waka (詠三首和歌/頓阿), 1367

In 1367, Ashikaga Yoshiakira hosted a poetry gathering at Nii-Tamatsushima Shrine. The scroll consist of three poems, and the script's casual arrangements indicates influence from Fujiwara no Yukinari. The scroll originally was owned by Fujita Denzaburō until 1934, subsequently sold in Kyoto in 2014 to collectors Mary and Cheney Cowles, who then donated the scroll to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2022 (Accession 2022.432.5).^[3]

目にむえぬ　神のあはれむ　道をなを わきてぞまもる　玉津しま姫

The goddess of Tamatsushima maintains a pathway from the heavens so gods can manifest themselves even if invisible to the eye.