Du Juan & Gemma Ward for Vogue Paris August 2005 ''La Cité Des Anges''
Photographer Patrick Demarchelier
Fashion Editor/Stylist Carine Roitfeld
Makeup Artist Peter Philips
Hair Stylist Christiaan
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Someone sent a cuckoo as a gift. If it doesn't sing:
If it doesn't sing, kill the cuckoo - Oda Ufu
If it doesn't sing, make the cuckoo sing - Hōtaikō
If it doesn't sing, wait until the cuckoo sings - Daigongen-sama
It originated from the Kasshi Yawa 甲子夜話, a text written in the Edo period by Matsuura Keizan 松浦静山, whose real name was Matsuura Kiyoshi 松浦清 (1760-1841). It's a text that included various subjects, from contemporary incidents of Matsuura's lifetime, to legends and folktales.
There are various interpretations that could be made, since those lines are very simple. For example, while the standard reading for the Hideyoshi line is to associate it with diplomacy, some has interpreted it as a tyrannical force, making people obey by threat.
Regardless of what the original author intended those lines to mean, though, this was written in the Edo period. It may have very well been passed down through hearsay to boot. It only gives us an image of the perception that people of the Edo period have of them, and not an actual proper description.
Per the customs of the time, the three unifiers were not listed by their plain names, but their honorific titles. 右府 Ufu is the title designating the post of Minister of the Right, which Nobunaga did hold for a time. 太閤 Taikō is a title that is used to refer to a Kanpaku that has formally resigned, but still continues to hold influence. 豊太閤 Hōtaikō is the term used to refer to Hideyoshi specifically. 大権現 Daigongen is an abbreviation of 東照大権現 Tōshō Daigongen. When Ieyasu had died, he was deified by that name.
An interesting thing to note is that "hotototogisu" (cuckoo) is written with different kanji for each person.
Nobunaga's hototogisu is written as 時鳥. The kanji is translates to "the bird that tells time". Hototogisu are active in the early summer (around late May to June), so in olden times it was said the farmers star planting rice when the hototogisu sings.
Hideyoshi's hototogisu is written as 杜鵑. This was taken directly from the Chinese word for a cuckoo (Dù Juān in modern Chinese pinyin). It's originally referring to a different species of bird than the hototogisu cuckoo, but was adapted as such by the Japanese. It is a name connected to a legend where a Chinese king became a cuckoo after his death.
Ieyasu's hototogisu is written as 郭公, alternately pronounced as kakkou. This is the simplest one, derived from the sound of "cuckoo cuckoo" call. As with the above, this originally does not refer to hototogisu, but the Japanese adapted its usage because the bird is of similar species.
I have not seen any theories or analysis relating to why the kanji used to write them is different. Perhaps it's simply for aesthetic reasons.