Photo/Illutration A lost or forgotten glove is the subject of some haiku. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

A glove lay on the ground. A single black left glove looked lonely, tossed by the wind on the sidewalk.

Its owner must be troubled. The hand that wore it must be cold and numb. Every year I come across this small scene, think the same thoughts and realize that winter has arrived.

Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902), a pioneering haiku poet, once composed the verse: “A glove/ left with only/ the left one.”

A lone glove is quietly poignant; it tugs at sentimentality in almost anyone. Over the years, countless haiku poets have returned to this image, turning it into memorable lines.

Ozaki Hosai (1885-1926), known for his “jiyuritsu” (free-verse) haiku, which dispenses with conventions such as the 5-7-5 rhythm and the requirement of a seasonal word ("kigo"), wrote: “I picked up/ just one/ glove.”

I see. If there is someone who drops and loses one, there is someone who finds it. What did Hosai do with that single glove? Another of his spare, contemplative verses comes back to me: “How lonely it is/ to spread my five fingers/ and look at them—alone.”

For some reason, we are drawn to things that are incomplete—objects missing a part of themselves. Is it because we glimpse in them our own far-from-perfect selves?

The poetics of the lone glove even finds a home beyond formal verse in pop music. In their 1975 hit “Toshishita no Otokonoko” (younger boy), the groundbreaking idol trio Candies sang of their affection for a boy’s endearing imperfections.

They underscored his clumsy charm by mentioning that he had lost one of his gloves along with a pocket button.

The winter solstice is on Dec. 22, the time of “ichiyo raifuku”—the “return of yang”—when yin (darkness) reaches its peak and the long turn back toward yang (light) begins.

In ancient Chinese thought, all things exist as paired forces of yin and yang: opposites that are interconnected and interdependent, shaping the world through repeated cycles of waxing and waning.

At the end of a day feeling frozen through, I pull off my gloves. I become aware of myself, feeling something warm at my fingertips. What is this feeling of relief? I smooth the pair, align them neatly and place them on the desk.

—The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 22

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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