Traditional
Haikus
Format
The haiku
from Japan is a nature poem usually has a kigo (a season word) and a kireji. This kireji is a ‘cutting word’, splitting the haiku into five and
twelve onji (see ‘Onji’ below). The second section is
usually a contrast, surprise or juxtaposition to the first section, though the
sections can’t be too conceptually distinct.
With nature as its overall category,
haikus have prominent themes. It is important to convey feelings, observations
and experiences rather than abstract ideas and concepts. Buddhist themes are
present, too, such as respect and appreciation for life.
There
are several types of similar poems that are often called ‘haiku’ in English. A senry follows the same format, though
the observations are about human foibles. Likewise in structure, zappai are a joke poem. Haikus
accompanied by something else are given various names: a haiga is a haiku with art and a haiban
is a haiku with prose. The genre of prose for the haiban is not restrictive, so it could be a journal, an
autobiography, a short story… it doesn’t matter.
Onji
This
traditional haiku has seventeen onji
(more commonly called ‘on’) which are
sound-units. These aren’t the same as syllables, as ten to fourteen English
syllables are equal to seventeen Japanese onji.
The separate sounds units aren’t necessarily the way that the word is said in
Japanese.
For
example, ‘Tokyo’ has four onji, even
though it is pronounced with two syllables: ‘toe-oh-kyo-oh’. Also, ‘haiku’ has
three onji when it is pronounced with
two syllables: ‘ha-i-ku’. Any ‘n’ is counted as its own sound, so the word ‘not’
has two onji: ‘n-ot’. ‘Nippon’, the onji for the Japanese name for ‘Japan’,
is ‘nip-p-on-n’ and an English word like ‘not’ is two onji as ‘n-ot’.
Issa
Issa was a
great Japanese haiku poet. ‘Issa’ was his pen name, meaning ‘Cup-of-tea’. This
shows how seemingly mundane objects and themes can be made impressive with a
haiku.
Japanese: ‘harusame ya // kuware-nokori
no // kamo ga naku.'
English Translation: ‘spring rain - // the
uneaten ducks // are quaking.’
As it is a plain description, it is the
meaning that is important. This is about life, survival, and the promise of
spring. Thus, this poem is evocating.
English
Haikus
It is
typical for ‘traditional haikus’ to be incorrectly taught in an English school as
a seventeen-syllable poem, split into three lines of five, seven and five. Neither
nature nor contrasting ideas are taught as a necessity. Many types of Japanese
poetry are included in the ‘haiku’ bracket (see above). But is this deviation
from the traditional and original haiku wrong?
I
would say not. As with anything that’s taken from one country and delivered to
another, especially from the social world, things change and these changes aren’t
wrong. If language didn’t change and
develop accents then dialects, there wouldn’t have been so many languages
(seeing as there are clear groups with a common ancestor). Word meanings change
all the time, such as ‘gay’, which went from ‘happy’ to ‘homosexual’. When
Chinese writing went to Japan, it changed. Religion changes when it spreads,
adapting to the new ethnic and intellectual groups (he most easily recognised
examples of this are Mahayana Buddhism and Christianity).
The
point is, change happens, and it’s not bad. Change gives life an interesting
variety of everything. Though, it’s imperative that these changes aren’t
claimed to be the original or traditional form of something. As long as the
‘English Haiku’ of five-seven-five syllables of three lines is defined as such,
there is neither offence nor incorrectness involved.
With this
in mind, haikus have clearly changed over time and between cultures. If more
people were aware of the differences between traditional Japanese haikus and
English haikus, they may take the time to learn about onji, kigo, kireji and
the description of the mundane and then incorporate these concepts into their
English haikus. It will be interesting to see, and to participate in, the
future development of haikus.
