A Few Words about Fireflies

In Hearn's miscellany titled "Kotto", there is a delightful chapter on the subject of fireflies, or hotaru (蛍- combining the characters for fire- 火- and insect- 虫). We read that two species are called Genji-botaru and Heike-botaru, folknames deriving from the famous warring clans. According to legend, the fireflies are ghosts of the Minamoto and Taira warriors, and they meet once a year in June above the waters of the river Uji to reenact the famous 12th century battle. And upon that day all caged hotaru are to be released to participate in the contest. Hearn relates that special trains took passengers from Osaka and Kyoto to Uji to view the Hotaru Gassen, or Battle of the Fireflies. Poet Chiyo was inspired by the spectacle to write: Kawa bakari/ Yami ha nagarete-?/ Hotaru kana, which Hearn translates "Is it the river only/ Or is the darkness drifting) Oh, the fireflies