Haiku are short Japanese poems. When people write Haiku in English, they usually write a poem which has 5 syllables in the first line, 7 syllables in the second line, and 5 syllables in the third line. But this is not a traditional Japanese style haiku. For a traditional Japanese haiku, the poem must also have a season word.
HAIKU’s History
・At first, Haiku started off as a linked poem. It was like a letter in which a certain person wrote a short 5-7-5 poem as a message. The person who received the message would write back with a 7-7 ending. When partners were interested in each other, such exchanges were repeated and might continue for a long time. These linked poems were called ‘renga.’
・The first 5-7-5 part of the linked poems did not become independent until after the 1600.
・Arround 1650 Basho, a famous poet, and Basho’s students were the first to make the independent 5-7-5 form of HAIKU popular, but the poems were not called Haiku.
・SHIKI MASAOKA made the word “HAIKU” in 1868 during the Meiji period.
Here are some examples of famous haiku:
・梅が香に のっと日の出る 山路かな
U・me・ ga・ ka・ ni / no ・tt・to・hi・no・de・ru / ya・ma・ji・ka・na
Suddenly the sun rose
To the scent of the plum ? blossoms
Along a misty mountain path?
—Matsuo Basyo, 1694
・柿くえば 鐘がなるなり 法隆寺
Ka・ki・ku・e・ba / ka・ne・ga・na・ru・na・ri / ho・u・ryu・u・ji
Houryuji
Eating a persimmon
The temple bell ring
By Masaoka Shiki, 1895
Thank you for reading this history of HAIKU. If you are interested in a writting HAIKU even a little, please click this URL and apply for our HAIKU contest.
english haiku contest 