Junicho Variations

Junicho Variations

There are two 12-verse Renga forms that are in widespread use today. I have previously posted about the Shisan. Here I’d like to say a few words about the Junicho. It was offered by Shunjin Okamoto in the late 80’s, I believe, as a loose, open, form that Renga practitioners could accomplish in an hour or two. The following Guidelines are adapted from William J. Higginson’s online Renku site:

A Junicho consists of twelve stanzas,
There is no front or back, no sections,
One blossom stanza, which may be any flower in any season – it need not be cherry blossoms,
One moon stanza, which may be any sort of moon in any season,
About two love stanzas, in any position,
About half the verses will be seasonal (a pair each for spring and autumn, one each for summer and winter),
Progression and diversity are the essence of Renga. Accordingly, a wide variety of things in nature and the world of humans should appear.

I would add:

The opening verse reflects the season of composition.
The principles of link and shift are maintained.

My personal experience with the Junicho is that it is more difficult a form than the Shisan. The Shisan gives the poet a tight formal structure, a scaffolding, that is easy to grasp and that the poet can pour verses into. The Junicho gives one more freedom; but one has to make a lot more decisions, such as where to put the seasonal verses, how to structurally pace the Renga to give a pleasing overall effect, etc.

On the other hand, the Junicho treats time in a way that I have found enticing. The biggest esthetic difference for me between the Shisan and the Junicho is that in the Shisan time is the medium upon which the Renga journey takes place. Time in a Shisan is like the water in a river, or the pavement of a road. In the Junicho time is like a field spread out before the poet and reader. One can begin with summer, proceed to winter, from there to spring, and from there to fall. Or one can compose a Junicho that follows the natural order; but that would be by chance, it is not required. I like that feeling of the field of time and when it is done well the Junicho can be very satisfying.

I have developed a procedure that is kind of eccentric, but here it is for those who might be interested in the Junicho. When writing a solo Junicho I start with the opening verse, reflecting the season I am writing in. I then list the required topics I’m going to have to incorporate into the Junicho. It’s summer now, so my opening verse would be a summer verse. Then the list would be as follows:

Fall, Winter, Spring, Moon, Blossom, Love.

I then take a 12-sided die and throw the die to determine which verse will contain which topic. I place the verse number beside the topic. I then make adjustments. For example, seasonal verses have to have at least one intervening verse so if the die says 4 for Fall, and 5 for Winter, I would shift Winter to 6, or perhaps later. Also, if the number 1 comes up, I toss the die again so as to keep the focus of the opening verse clear.

Usually when I follow this procedure there are interesting intersections that happen. Like the Winter and Love verse will be the same verse and I try to follow through on this, taking it as a challenge.

I allow myself to tinker with the results to achieve an overall balance. Then I proceed following the outline. The advantage for me of this procedure is that it takes me out of my own mind and allows for possibilities of ordering that I would not have thought of on my own. This kind of procedure would not be suitable in the more formal and structured Shisan, but it seems to work well for the Junicho. Give it a try if you like. If you don’t have a 12-sided die, you can use any method to randomly assign the topics. Come up with something that works for you.