Small Worlds
The Japanese Art of Poetry
Wabi Sabi Life brings you creative explorations of the imperfect and unconventional from a Buddhist with a love of Japanese culture.
Kotodama is the Japanese belief that mystical, spiritual power dwells in words and names, capable of shaping reality. The notion is that spoken words can influence the environment, body, and mind and that language is not merely a vehicle for meaning, but is itself alive in someway.
Japan has given the world some of its most enduring literary forms. In this article I’m going to look at six poetic forms that I have used in my own writing practice.
Haiku, senryu, tanka, haiga, haibun and zuihitsu are six forms, each with its own character, together they constitute a poetry of presence.
I’ve spent over a year exploring and writing these forms with Alexdra Corrin Tachibana. Whose work and teaching I really admire. I thought it would be interesting to take a whistle stop tour through the forms and some well and lesser known poets.
Haiku: The Moment Before Thought
The haiku is the most recognised Japanese literary form in the West, but it is also the most misunderstood. We were taught it as a syllable exercise. 5-7-5. Three lines. But this misses the real focus of a haiku, because it’s far more than a counting game. I like to think of a haiku as three lines, one breath.
The form contains two images, held in tension by a kireji (a cutting word) that creates a juxtaposition between them. Traditional haiku also contains a kigo: a seasonal word that places the poem in time and in the natural world such as cherry blossom or the cry of the cicada.
The great haiku masters each brought something distinct. Bashō, writing in the seventeenth century, sought the quality he called sabi: a profound, quiet solitude, the beauty of things that exist alone. Buson, a painter as well as a poet, brought vivid visual precision. Issa, who lost several children in their infancy, wrote with tender attention to small, fragile creatures: flies, sparrows, snails. His haiku carry somehow carry his grief.
Let’s not forget the women haiku writers. Kaga no Chiyo was a renowned Buddhist nun and poet who broke through in a male-dominated field to become one of Japan’s most celebrated poets. She is famous for her nature-focused work, such as Morning Glory. Kawai Shigetsu a student of Matsuo Bashō also often wrote about finding beauty in solitary nature scenes.
The “4 Ts” (20th Century Modernists)
This group of women rejuvenated women’s haiku in the early to mid-20th century, largely within the Hototogisu school. Teijo Nakamura formed her own movement for women’s haiku. Tatsuko Hoshino a major figure known for her work in the Kamakura style. Takako Hashimoto was known for her intense and evocative poetry. And Takajo Mitsuhashi was recognized for her “pure haiku” style, often focusing on poignant themes.1
Holding the umbrella,
The mother is behind.
The autumn rain.
— Teijo Nakamura
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