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.
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