No Mountain: Improvisations from Han-Shan’s New Home

These are 49 improvisations from the ancient Chinese poet Han-Shan (aka Cold Mountain) in his new home in Ueno Park, Tokyo, where he has taken up spiritual residence on an island (聖天島) in Shinobazu Pond. In recognition of his new abode Han-Shan has stopped calling himself Cold Mountain. He is now No Mountain. As a man free of spiritual conceit, he discusses Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. He talks about the pond and his island and also comments on current topics-- corporate disasters from the large like the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe and Prime Minister Abe to the small like Tokyo's Drunk Poets. Ueno Wayne, as the present writer styles himself, is Han Shan's amanuensis. He listens and transcribes. That's it folks!