International Haiku Poetry Day

International Haiku Poetry Day is an international holiday dedicated to the Japanese haiku (or hokku) poems. It is distinguished by its brevity, brevity, and lyricism. The holiday is celebrated annually on April 17.

History

The history of Japanese poetry begins in the 14th century. However, hokku emerged as a separate genre of poetry in the 16th century. More than 250 years later, it was called haiku. This credit goes to a man named Masaoka Shiki. He wrote many poems in this style and is one of the most famous Japanese poets.

Classical Japanese haiku consists of 17 stanzas. There is often no logical connection between them, but they are united by rhythm and emotional coloring. The ancient Japanese poets argued that the minimum of words eliminated unnecessary descriptions that interfere with a clear perception of the picture that the poet describes in the work.

The West is credited with spreading haiku to a Dane named Hendrik Doeff, who lived in Japan for a long time and fell in love with the poetry of the East. When he returned to his homeland, he brought his poems with him. This happened in the 19th century. A few decades later, haiku began to appear in English.

Today we celebrate International Haiku Poetry Day to learn about Japanese classics and try to compose your own hokku by adhering to the basic rules!

Interesting facts

• Masaoka Shiki died at the age of 35, but in all that time he managed to create about 20,000 stanzas.
• The size requirement (17 stanzas) works only for Japanese; in other languages the poems are longer or shorter.

How to celebrate

Check out this day’s classic haiku examples! You can either translate them yourself from Japanese or find works already translated. Read poems composed in different languages for comparison. Try composing a haiku yourself!

Spread the word about the holiday on social media. Ask users if they like haiku poetry or prefer classic poems.

When International Haiku Poetry Day celebrated in 2024?

International Haiku Poetry Day is observed on April 17 each year.

Observations