Chimaki 粽, three syllables, chee (like cheese) -ma -key.

making Chimaki
one hand to pinch and to tuck
— hair on her forehead

preparing rice cakes
one hand making chimaki
the other her hair

粽ゆう 片手にはさむ 額髪
Chimaki yū / katate ni hasamu / hitaigami

When Ordinary is Extraordinary

The beauty of the haiku lies in the ambiguity of the movement. The woman making chimaki must do two things with one hand. How does she hold the bamboo leaves, wrap them around the mochi, tie the string, and remove the strand of hair that has fallen in front of her eyes?

粽ゆうchimaki yū — wrapping the bamboo around glutinous rice, holding it tightly with your fingers, while using the other hand, tying it with string.

Basho’s disciple, Bashō no yōna, is going to Tokyo in November, hoping there to find such a woman tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she prepares chimaki. Chimaki (粽), the disciple is told is a leaf-wrapped rice dumpling. Picture Cynthia Erivo playing Elphaba in Wicked with long green fingers, tied with bamboo strings.

Where to Wander

Where shall I wander to find chimaki?

Yanaka perhaps with its old residential streets and more traditional atmosphere. Head north of the city center, passsing through Ueno Park. Recommended is Hachidaime Denzaemon Meshiya, a small, traditional teishoku restaurant serving ordinary Japanese set meals.

Asakusa also. Head east of Yanaka, two to three miles towards Sumida River. Mizuguchi is an old-fashioned shokudō—the sort of place with uncomplicated Japanese dishes.

What do I Look For

食堂 — shokudō, meaning “diner,” look for a sliding door, a noren, a short curtain, with Japanese characters in the panels – 食堂 plus two others. Watch the Netflix series Midnight Diner, and you’ll get a feel for a shokudō run by a Master.

Better not to look, just wander, and stumble across someplace out of the ordinary.