Autumun is the best season for art

Autumun is the best season for art – this is Japanese common saying.

Let’s enjoy Japanese poetry – Haiku

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Haiku is Japanese poetry comprising 17 syllables (five syllables in the first line, seven in the second and five in the last). Basically it has to contain at least one kigo, a word that expresses a season. Matsuo Basho is famous for developing an early form of haiku in the Edo period, while Masaoka Shiki perfected and established the style in the Meiji period. The following are some famous examples of haiku poetry for the autumn season.

Eat a persimmon And the bell will toll  At Horyuji. – Masaoka Shiki

Deep autumn How does my neighbor live I wonder? – Matsuo Basho

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Kigo is a word or phrase associated with a particular season that is used in Japanese poetry. The words “persimmon,” “deep autumn” and “morning glory” incuded in the above three pieces of poetry are kigo for atumn. You have to have kigo in a haiku to provide the sense of season that is such an important element of haiku.

 

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