逢坂の関

Japanese

Kanji in this term
逢	坂	関
あ(う) > お(う) Jinmeiyō	さか Grade: 3	せき Grade: 4
kun’yomi

Alternative spelling
逢坂の關 (kyūjitai)

Etymology

逢坂 (Ōsaka) refers to 逢坂山 (Ōsaka-yama, “mountain bordering Otsu and Kyoto”).

Proper noun

逢(おう)坂(さか)の関(せき) • (Ōsaka-no-seki) ^{←あふさかのせき (Afusaka-no-seki)?}

1. (historical) a mountain checkpoint west of Kyoto, bordering the ancient provinces of Yamashiro and Omi
   • c. 951–953, Gosen Wakashū (book 15, poem 1089)

     これやこの行(ゆ)くも帰(かへ)るも別(わか)れつつ知(し)るも知(し)らぬも逢(あふ)坂(さか)の関(せき)

     kore ya kono yuku mo kaeru mo wakaretsutsu shiru mo shiranu mo Ōsaka-no-seki

     This and here, whether they leave or return as they separate, knowing or not the hill of meeting (i.e. the Barrier of Ausaka).

     [Note: Ōsaka puns to 逢ふ坂 (au saka, literally “meeting hill”). The Hyakunin Isshu, poem 10 replaces wakaretsutsu with 別れては (wakarete wa, “as they parted”).]