The ancient pond
A frog leaps in
The sound of the water.
– Matsuo Basho (Translated by Donald Keene)
Have you ever heard about Haiku, which is the shortest poem in the world? It is a type of Japanese poem, originated in 17th century. Japanese people have been enjoying and loving it, for more than 400 years, to express their heart and love for nature just with three lines and 17 syllables. This ancient method of expression has recently been gaining popularity in and out of the nation. There are numerous associations across the globe holding contest after contest which applaud the creativity of the creative minds. Even the terminology has caught up to popular culture as a means to indicate a footage within 15 seconds.
In Japanese traditional rules for writing Haiku, a sense of seasons and concise expression are important. Following this pursuit of aesthetic simplicity, Haiku lovers all over the world choose words carefully to polish their poems. However, when it comes to using season words, there are various regional characteristics that make people difficult to follow the rule. Every area has its peculiar climate, so it is not easy for us to share unified concept of Japanese season words. Only if one has the changes of seasons, the idea of season words arises. Therefore, in some “Haikus” the rule of the length or the rule of seasonal words or both are altered to fit the poets needs. So the big question here is whether or not such anomalies should still be recognized as Haiku instead of a completely separate format.
Our answer is that it should not be considered a different format. Since the dawn of civilization, language has always been subject to adaptation. Take English for example. We have adapted many words from Celtic, French, Greek, Latin and a whole bunch of other languages. Even today we borrow foreign words and alter words that already exist to suit our usage. On the same note, being a product of language, Haiku could also be affected by cultural adaptation which omits the traditional regulations. If you express your heart with unforgettable scenes, impressive moment of nature and daily occurrences, it will be excellent and wonderful Haiku even though rules are somewhat different. When one unique culture meets the another one, it will undergo further development. Thus, whoever you are, wherever you live, you can enjoy Haiku. Let’s see the world through the lens of your heart and press the shutter button by words.
Additional Reading
Reginald Blyth – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald_Horace_Blyth
First of all, I enjoyed reading this article!
However, I thought it is too flexible to accept foreign Haiku as “Haiku”. It is not because of the vocabularies people use, knowing that there exists a type of Haiku which does not include seasonal words, but the idea of “Wabi” and “Sabi”, which are the part of Japanese aesthetic theory. It is difficult to represent those ideas in non-Japanese Haiku, since they are deeply concerned with Japanese seasonal climate and its culture.
Interesting post! And I like the title.
I think that such anomalies should be recognised as Haiku. They’re not limited to Haiku in other language as you can tell from the fact that there are irregular ones in Japanese with a hypermeter or without a season word, and they are usually considered Haiku, so why not when they’re in other languages? Moreover, though I know there’s much debate on it, I personally don’t even think that a season word is vital to Haiku.
I don’t think that Haiku in other languages should be considered a different type of poetry from Haiku in Japanese either because it is possible to give a sense of the season in other languages though the season may not correspond to the Japanese one. But I have to admit that they sound quite different from what most of us Japanese know as Haiku. For example, English has a stress-timed rhythm and a stronger sound of consonants while Japanese has a syllable-timed one and a milder sound, which can make the former feel like a different type of poetry.
What a wonderful blog it is!
I am surprised to know that haiku is famous and written in the world now. When I read the blog, I got ashamed that I have little knowledge about haiku though I’m Japanese. I want to be able to introduce haiku to foreign people as Japanese.
I love the title of this blog and the content as well!
Though the format of Haiku is important, I believe if the writer made it to be a Haiku, than it should be. I think even foreign people can have the heart of Japanese, and that is more important than the format it is expressed by.
I love the title of this blog and the content as well!
Though the format of Haiku is important, I believe if the writer made it to be a Haiku, than it should be. I think even foreign people can have the heart of Japanese, and that is more important than the format it is expressed by.
I enjoyed reading your blog!
They were all topics I’ve never thought about. Culture and seasonal differences are difficult to get understood between different regions, and when you look at the English Haiku, it doesn’t seem like a Haiku at all at first. However, I think the best things about poems are being free so I think there can be many rules and formats in Haikus.
I enjoyed reading this blog!
I have heard that children learn Haiku at school in the U.S. I was surprised that Haiku is popular in the world.
but I think it is not Haiku that have different rules. I think it is just short poem or something different from Haiku.
Nice post!
I agree with your opinion that language should adjust to social change. However, I think omitting rules from Haiku is different issue. The reason is that there is “Senryu” in Japanese culture and that is the different type of Japanese poem which doesn’t have complicated rules. When the difference between them is considered, it’s reasonable to assume that Haiku should have rules to be Haiku.
So, in my opinion, when foreign people want to write Haiku, they should create their own rules which reflect the characteristics of their culture instead of Japanese ‘Wabi’ and ‘Sabi’ and spread Haiku in their own way.
In short, I agree that Haiku can have a new style but there needs to be rules even though it’s not the same as in Japanese Haiku.
I really enjoyed reading your blog, I love the context, as well as the pictures!
It was interesting particularly because I found the Haiku format connects to English poetry, which we are currently studying. I wonder somehow people wanted to fit the words into strict rules, like the number of lines and syllables, which Haiku and English traditional poetry both have common, in order to express the senses of beauty, nature, or what they feel in their heart.