The word “Kare Susuki (withered pampas grass)” inevitably gives the feeling of “shabby “. I think that the influence of popular songs such as “Sendou Kouta” and “Showa Kare Susuki” that we have often heard from long ago is great.  Both are depressing songs that make us feel the twilight of our life.  Susuki (Japanese pampas grass) is also called Obana and is one of the seven autumn herbs.  Senryu of Yokoi Yayu, a poet from the Edo period, also sang it as “if you look at the true nature of the ghost, it’s a beautiful Obana”. The English saying is “One always proclaims the wolf bigger than himself”.  Susuki  is also called Kaya, and was used as a material for the roofs thatched by Kaya and as feed for livestock by farmers.  In this way, the relationship between Susuki and people has been around since the days of Manyoshu, but Susuki is now exclusively one of the autumn landscapes.

枯れ薄と聞けばどうしても「うらぶれた」と言う感じが拭えません。昔からよく耳にした「船頭小唄」とか「昭和枯れすすき」と言った歌謡曲の影響が大きい様に思います。どちらも気が滅入る様な歌で、人生の黄昏れを感じさせます。枯れ薄の薄は尾花とも言い、秋の七草の一つです。江戸時代の俳人である横井也有の川柳にも『幽霊の正体見たり枯れ尾花』として歌い込まれています。幽霊と思い込んだものを良く見たら、なんと枯れ尾花だったことを詠んだ句です。また薄は茅(萱)とも呼ばれ、農家で茅葺屋根の材料に用いたり、家畜の餌として利用しました。この様に薄と人との関わりは、古くは万葉集の時代からあり、今ではもっぱら秋の景観の一つになっています。