JAPAN Group 8

AND SELECTED Billones, Hazel Anne

HAIKU Caballero, Zandryl Diane

Contillo, Asherah Jam
Morales, Rona Bie

POETS
JAPAN
IS AN ISLAND COUNTRY LOCATED IN THE NORTHEAST
PACIFIC OCEAN. JAPAN HOLDS A GREAT POWER AND A
MEMBER OF NUMEROUS INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS,
INCLUDING THE UNITED
NATIONS (SINCE1956), OECD, G20 AND GROUP OF SEVEN.
SINCE THE 1950S, THE COUNTRY HAS ALSO EMERGED AS
ONE OF THE MOST ECONOMICALLY AND TECHNOLOGICALLY
ADVANCED SOCIETIES IN THE WORLD. THIS DEVELOPMENT
HAS OCCURRED ALONGSIDE THE CONTINUATION OF
INTRICATE AND LONGSTANDING CULTURAL TRADITIONS.
THERE ARE FIVE MAIN ISLAND GROUPS THAT FORM JAPAN:
HOKKAIDŌ, HONSHŪ, SHIKOKU, KYŪSHŪ AND OKINAWA
(ALSO KNOWN AS RYŪKYŪ ISLANDS). EACH REGION IS
GEOGRAPHICALLY, HISTORICALLY AND CULTURALLY
DISTINCT, PARTICULARLY THE NORTHERNMOST ISLAND OF
HOKKAIDŌ AND THE SOUTHERNMOST ISLAND CLUSTER OF
OKINAWA.
ARTISTRY AND LITERATURE HAVE ALSO PLAYED AN
IMPORTANT ROLE IN JAPANESE CULTURE FOR CENTURIES.
THE TYPES AND FORMS OF ART THAT ARE ENJOYED
THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY ARE ALL DIVERSE.
JAPAN
MUCH OF JAPAN’S CONTEMPORARY
ARTISTRY, ARE ESPECIALLY FILM AND
TELEVISION, LITERATURE AND MUSIC, HAVE
BEEN DEVELOPED FROM OLDER ARTISTIC
AND LITERARY TRADITIONAL ART FORMS. IN
PARTICULAR, JAPANESE ARTS AND ARTISTS
CONTINUALLY PLAY A MAJOR ROLE IN THE
DEVELOPMENT OF VIDEO GAMES AND
ANIMATION (ANIME), BOTH OF WHICH ARE
WIDELY ENJOYED IN JAPAN AND ABROAD.
READING IS ONE OF THE MOST CONSUMED
FORMS OF ENTERTAINMENT THROUGHOUT
THE COUNTRY. ANOTHER PARTICULARLY
POPULAR MEDIUM THAT HAS GAINED
WORLDWIDE POPULARITY ARE COMICS OR
GRAPHIC NOVELS (MANGA). IT IS PRODUCED
IN A VARIETY OF GENRES, AND ARE READ BY
PEOPLE OF ALL AGES IN JAPAN.
WHICH ARE HISTORIES WRITTEN IN CHINESE
CHARACTERS USED PHONETICALLY. THE EARLIEST
RECORDED JAPANESE POETRY IS IN
THE MANYOSHU (760), WHICH CONTAINS POEMS
DATING TO THE 4TH CENTURY.
THE HEIAN PERIOD (794–1185) IS NOTED FOR
THE KOKINSHU (905), AN ANTHOLOGY OF POETRY
COMMISSIONED BY THE EMPEROR, WHICH
PROVIDED A PATTERN FOR TANKA (SHORT POEMS).
CLASSICAL PROSE DEVELOPED DURING THIS
PERIOD AND ACCOUNTS OF COURT LIFE
FLOURISHED. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT WORK
WAS MURASAKI SHIKIBU'S GENJI
MONOGATARI (C.1010), THE FIRST TRUE NOVEL.
DURING THE MIDDLE AGES (1185–1603) NO
DRAMA WAS REFINED, AND ‘WAR TALES’, SUCH
AS HEIKE MONOGATARI, WERE DEVELOPED. IN
THE TOKUGAWA PERIOD (1603–1868) LITERATURE,
ONCE THE PRESERVE OF THE ARISTOCRACY,
BECAME THE FIELD OF THE
COMMONERS. HAIKU BECAME POPULAR; MATSUO
BASHO (1644–94) WAS THE GREATEST POET OF THIS
FORM. 
HAIKU, UNRHYMED POETIC FORM CONSISTING OF
17 SYLLABLES ARRANGED IN THREE LINES OF 5, 7,
AND 5 SYLLABLES RESPECTIVELY. THE HAIKU
FIRST EMERGED IN JAPANESE LITERATURE DURING
THE 17TH CENTURY, AS A TERSE REACTION TO
SYLLABLE COUNT. OFTEN FOCUSING ON IMAGES FROM
NATURE, HAIKU EMPHASIZES SIMPLICITY, INTENSITY,
AND DIRECTNESS OF EXPRESSION.
HAIKU BEGAN IN THIRTEENTH-CENTURY USED IN JAPAN
AS THE OPENING PHRASE OF RENGA, AN ORAL POEM,
GENERALLY A HUNDRED STANZAS LONG, WHICH WAS
ALSO COMPOSED SYLLABICALLY. THE MUCH SHORTER
HAIKU BROKE AWAY FROM RENGA IN THE SIXTEENTH
CENTURY AND WAS MASTERED A CENTURY LATER BY
MATSUO BASHO, WHO WROTE THIS CLASSIC HAIKU:
     AN OLD POND!
     A FROG JUMPS IN—
     THE SOUND OF WATER.
AND WAS GIVEN ITS CURRENT NAME BY THE JAPANESE
WRITER MASAOKA SHIKI AT THE END OF THE 19TH
CENTURY.
HAIKU IS ORIGINALLY FROM JAPAN, AND HAIKU TODAY
ARE WRITTEN BY AUTHORS WORLDWIDE. HAIKU IN
ENGLISH AND HAIKU IN OTHER LANGUAGES HAVE
DIFFERENT STYLES AND TRADITIONS WHILE STILL
INCORPORATING ASPECTS OF THE TRADITIONAL HAIKU
FORM. NON-JAPANESE HAIKU VARY WIDELY ON HOW
CLOSELY THEY FOLLOW TRADITIONAL ELEMENTS.
A MINORITY MOVEMENT WITHIN MODERN JAPANESE
HAIKU ( 現代俳句 , GENDAI-HAIKU), SUPPORTED
BY OGIWARA SEISENSUI AND HIS DISCIPLES, HAS VARIED
FROM THE TRADITION OF 17 ON AS WELL AS OF TAKING
NATURE AS THEIR SUBJECT.
IN JAPANESE, HAIKU ARE TRADITIONALLY PRINTED AS A
Matsuo Yosa Buson Kobayashi Issa Masaoka Shiki
Bashō

SELECTED HAIKU POETS

MASTER BASHO WAS BORN MATSUO
KINSAKU NEAR KYOTO, JAPAN, TO A
MINOR SAMURAI AND HIS WIFE. SOON
AFTER THE POET’S BIRTH, JAPAN
CLOSED ITS BORDERS, BEGINNING A
SECLUSION THAT ALLOWED ITS
NATIVE CULTURE TO FLOURISH. IT IS
BELIEVED THAT BASHO’S SIBLINGS
BECAME FARMERS, WHILE BASHO, AT
UENO CASTLE IN THE SERVICE OF THE
LOCAL LORD’S SON, GREW
INTERESTED IN LITERATURE. AFTER
THE YOUNG LORD’S EARLY DEATH,
BASHO LEFT THE CASTLE AND MOVED
TO KYOTO, WHERE HE STUDIED WITH
KIGIN, A DISTINGUISHED LOCAL POET.
DURING THESE EARLY YEARS BASHO
STUDIED CHINESE POETRY AND
TAOISM, AND SOON BEGAN
WRITING HAIKAI NO RENGA, A FORM
1644-1694
JOINED A RAPIDLY GROWING LITERARY
COMMUNITY. AFTER A GIFT OF BASHO TREES
FROM ONE STUDENT IN 1680, THE POET
BEGAN TO WRITE UNDER THE NAME BASHO.
HIS WORK, ROOTED IN OBSERVATION OF THE
NATURAL WORLD AS WELL AS IN
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY CONCERNS,
ENGAGES THEMES OF STILLNESS AND
MOVEMENT IN A VOICE THAT IS BY TURNS
SELF-QUESTIONING, WRY, AND ORACULAR.
SOON AFTER BASHO BEGAN TO STUDY ZEN
BUDDHISM, A FIRE THAT DESTROYED MUCH
OF HIS CITY ALSO TOOK HIS HOUSE.
AROUND 1682, BASHO BEGAN THE MONTHS
LONG JOURNEYS ON FOOT THAT WOULD
BECOME THE MATERIAL FOR A NEW POETIC
FORM HE CREATED, CALLED HAIBUN.
HAIBUN IS A HYBRID FORM ALTERNATING
FRAGMENTS OF PROSE AND HAIKU TO
TRACE A JOURNEY. HAIBUN IMAGERY
FOLLOWS TWO PATHS: THE EXTERNAL
IMAGES OBSERVED EN ROUTE, AND THE 1644-1694
AS WELL AS I CAN. WHERE I SHOW
WHO I REALLY AM IS IN LINKING
HAIKAI VERSES.“ BASHŌ WAS
INTRODUCED TO POETRY AT A YOUNG
AGE, AND AFTER INTEGRATING
HIMSELF INTO THE INTELLECTUAL
SCENE OF EDO (MODERN TOKYO) HE
QUICKLY BECAME WELL KNOWN
THROUGHOUT JAPAN.
HE MADE A LIVING AS A TEACHER;
BUT THEN RENOUNCED THE SOCIAL
URBAN LIFE OF THE LITERARY
CIRCLES AND WAS INCLINED TO
WANDER THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY,
HEADING WEST, EAST, AND FAR INTO
THE NORTHERN WILDERNESS TO GAIN
INSPIRATION FOR HIS WRITING. HIS
POEMS WERE INFLUENCED BY HIS
FIRSTHAND EXPERIENCE OF THE
1644-1694
行春や　鳥啼き魚の　目は泪
YUKU HARU YA/ TORI NAKI UWO NO/ ME
WA NAMIDA

SPRING IS PASSING.
THE BIRDS CRY, AND THE FISHES’
EYES ARE 
WITH TEARS.
*”SPRING IS PASSING” OFTEN MEANS AN ETERNAL
PARTING. THE BIRDS AND THE FISHES MEAN BASHO
AND HIS FRIENDS.

夏草や　兵どもが　夢の跡
NATSU KUSA YA/ TSUWAMONO DOMO GA/
YUME NO ATO

THE SUMMER GRASSES.

ALL THAT REMAINS
OF WARRIORS’ DREAMS.
*HIRAIZUMI PROSPERED AS THE INDEPENDENT
COUNTRY FROM JAPAN CENTERED ON
1644-1694
YOSA BUSON, ALSO KNOWN AS
TANIGUCHI BUSON WAS A
LEADING HAIKU POET OF THE
LATE 18TH CENTURY. HE WAS A
DISTINGUISHED BUNJINGA
(LITERATI-STYLE) PAINTER.
BUSON WAS BORN NEAR OSAKA,
AND APPARENTLY LOST BOTH
PARENTS WHILE HE WAS STILL
YOUNG. AS A YOUTH BUSON
WENT TO EDO (NOW TOKYO) TO
STUDY PAINTING AND HAIKU
POETRY. BUSON SETTLED IN
KYOTO IN THE LATE 1750S. LIKE
HIS LITERARY HERO, BASHO,
BUSON TRAVELED WIDELY
THROUGH JAPAN, PUBLISHING
1716-1784
MARRIED ABOUT 1760. DESPITE HIS
POETIC BRILLIANCE, BUSON WAS
REMEMBERED MORE AS A PAINTER
UNTIL ESSAYS BY MODERN JAPANESE
WRITERS MASAOKA SHIKI AND
HAGIWARA SAKUTARO REVIVED HIS
REPUTATION. BESIDES HAIKU, HE
WROTE LONGER VERSE INFLUENCED
BY BOTH CHINESE AND JAPANESE
CLASSICS.
HIS POEMS WERE, RICH IN IMAGERY,
CLEARLY DEPICTING FINE
MOVEMENTS AND SENSUAL
APPEARANCES OF THINGS, DYNAMIC
WITH WIDER LANDSCAPES, LYRICAL,
SENSITIVE TO HUMAN AFFAIRS,
ROMANTIC WITH HIDDEN STORIES,
GRACEFUL, AND LONGINGLY TIME- 1716-1784
CONSCIOUS. BUSON COMPLETED HIS
YOSA BUSON
 
EXAMPLE OF YOSA BUSON’S
HAIKU:
IN THE MOONLIGHT
IN PALE MOONLIGHT
THE WISTERIA’S SCENT
COMES FROM FAR AWAY.
 
LIGHTING ONE CANDLE
LIGHTING ONE CANDLE
WITH ANOTHER CANDLE—
SPRING EVENING.

1716-1784
FARMER, WAS BORN IN
KASHIWABARA, SHINANO PROVINCE
(NOW PART OF SHINANO TOWN,
NAGANO PREFECTURE), JAPAN. HIS
FATHER WAS WIDOWED A FEW YEARS
AFTER ISSA WAS BORN. ISSA WAS
RAISED BY HIS GRANDMOTHER UNTIL
HIS FATHER REMARRIED. DURING THIS
PERIOD, HE STARTED TO STUDY HAIKU
UNDER A LOCAL POET, SHIMPO. AT
THE AGE OF FOURTEEN, HIS FATHER
SENT HIM TO EDO (PRESENT-DAY
TOKYO) TO STUDY HAIKU UNDER THE
POETS MIZOGUCHI SOGAN AND
NOROKUAN CHIKUA. ISSA'S POETRY
CAUGHT THE ATTENTION OF SEIBI
NATSUME, WHO LATER BECAME HIS
PATRON. ALTHOUGH ISSA'S POEMS
BECAME MORE AND MORE KNOWN, HE
REMAINED EXTREMELY POOR AND
1763-1828
ISSA FACED PERSONAL AND
FINANCIAL TROUBLES FOR MUCH OF
HIS LIFE. HIS DIFFICULTIES WITH HIS
STEPMOTHER BEGAN WHEN SHE GAVE
BIRTH TO A SON AND JEALOUSLY
DESIRED THAT HER OWN CHILD
SHOULD RECEIVE MORE ATTENTION
THAN HER STEPSON. ISSA
COMPLAINED THAT HE WAS BEATEN
“A HUNDRED TIMES A DAY” AS A
YOUNG CHILD. WHEN HIS FATHER
DIED, ISSA FACED FURTHER
DIFFICULTIES WITH HIS STEPMOTHER,
WHO BLOCKED HIM FROM INHERITING
HIS FATHER'S PROPERTY. AT THE AGE
OF FIFTY, AFTER OVER A DECADE OF
DISPUTES WITH HIS STEPMOTHER AND
STEPBROTHER, ISSA FINALLY
INHERITED THE PROPERTY OF HIS
FATHER. THIS ALLOWED HIM TO 1763-1828
STRUGGLES DURING HIS
LIFETIME, HIS POETRY
CELEBRATED LIFE'S SERENE
MOMENTS AND EXTOLLED THE
JOYS OF SIMPLICITY. HIS POEMS
HAVE GIVEN CONSOLATION TO
GENERATIONS OF READERS DUE
TO THE CONFESSIONS OF DOUBTS
AND LONELINESS FOUND IN HIS
HIGHLY PERSONAL HAIKU. HE
ALSO BROUGHT HUMOR TO THE
TREATMENT OF HIS SUBJECTS,
AND HE EXCELLED AT GIVING
AFFECTIONATE PORTRAYALS OF
SUCH CREATURES AS FLEAS,
FROGS, AND SPARROWS. ISSA'S
POEMS ABOUT ANIMALS AND
INSECTS ARE STUDIED BY
1763-1828
KOBAYASHI ISSA
SAMPLE WORK OF KOBAYASHI
ISSA’S HAIKU:
 
WHAT A STRANGE THING
WHAT A STRANGE THING!
TO BE ALIVE
BENEATH CHERRY BLOSSOMS.
 
THE SNOW IS MELTING
THE SNOW IS MELTING
AND THE VILLAGE IS FLOODED
WITH CHILDREN.
  1763-1828
MASAOKA SHIKI WAS A JAPANESE
AUTHOR, POET, CRITIC,
JOURNALIST, ESSAYIST, AND
FOUNDER OF THE JAPANESE
LITERARY MAGAZINE
HOTOTOGISU AND PATRON TO
SEVERAL YOUNG POETS, WHO
PLAYED A LEADING ROLE IN THE
REVIVAL OF THE TRADITIONAL
WAKA AND HAIKU FORMS OF
JAPANESE POETRY. DURING HIS
SHORT LIFE, HE BECAME A
HIGHLY ESTEEMED CRITIC. HIS
ROLE AS A CHARISMATIC
LITERARY FIGURE HAS
SHADOWED HIS MERITS AS A 1867-1902
TUBERCULOSIS FOR MUCH OF
HIS LIFE. AROUND 1888, HE
BEGAN COUGHING UP BLOOD
AND HE ADOPTED THE
PENNAME SHIKI FROM THE
JAPANESE NAME FOR
CUCKOOS, WHICH WERE SAID
TO COUGH UP BLOOD AS THEY
SANG.
HAIKU IS A TRADITIONAL
JAPANESE UNRHYMED POETIC
FORM, CONSISTING OF
SEVENTEEN SYLLABLES
ARRANGED IN THREE LINES 1867-1902
MASAOKA SHIKI
EXAMPLES OF HIS WORKS:
REPEATEDLY,
HOW IS THE SNOW DEPTH?
I ASKED.
AFTER KILLING
A SPIDER, HOW LONELY I FEEL
IN THE COLD OF NIGHT!

1867-1902
MASAOKA SHIKI
(HOTOTOGISU MEANS LITTLE CUCKOO IN JAPANESE.
THE KANJI CHARACTERS OF MASAOKA SHIKI ARE 正
岡子規 AND 子規 HAS THE MEANING OF LITTLE
CUCKOO. IT WAS BECAUSE HE WAS SUFFERING
FROM TUBERCULOSIS.)

1867-1902
MASAOKA SHIKI
SHIKI IS REALISTICALLY PORTRAYED IN THE
HISTORICAL NOVEL CLOUDS ABOVE THE HILL BY
SHIBA RYOTARO. THERE ARE TWO MUSEUMS
DEDICATED TO HIM IN MATSUYAMA, AND THE CITY
IS DOTTED WITH ORNAMENTAL STONES CARVED
WITH HAIKU BY SHIKI AND OTHER POETS .

1867-1902
MASAOKA SHIKI

1867-1902
MASAOKA SHIKI

1867-1902
MASAOKA SHIKI

1867-1902
ASSESSMENT:

CHOOSE ONE HAIKU

EXAMPLE FROM THE
GIVEN DISCUSSION AND
EXPAND PERHAPS MAKE
REFLECTION OUT OF IT.
 THANK
YOU!
References:
https://japanpowered.com/media/images//Basho-253x300.jpg
https://mypoeticside.com/wp-content/uploads/gallery-images/
6138412.jpeg
https://mypoeticside.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/koba.png
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/
Masaoka_Shiki.jpg
https://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/japanese-culture/japanese-culture-
core-concepts
https://www.encyclopedia.com/literature-and-arts/literature-other-
modern-languages/asian-literature/japanese-
literature#:~:text=Japanese%20literature%20Earliest%20extant
%20works,dating%20to%20the%204th%20century.
https://www.britannica.com/art/haiku
https://poets.org/glossary/haiku
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiku