浅あさ茅じ

noun

sparse cogon grass; short cogon grass

Literary term for thinly growing or short cogon grass (Imperata cylindrica), often used in classical Japanese literature to evoke a bleak, desolate landscape.

See also: チガヤ (ちがや)

• 浅あさ茅じが生おい茂しげる野の原はらは、どこか寂さびしげな趣おもむきがある。

  A field overgrown with sparse cogon grass has a somewhat lonely charm.

• 古ふるい和わ歌かには、浅あさ茅じを詠よみ込こんだものが多おおい。

  Many old waka poems incorporate the image of sparse cogon grass.