Aki no Ku (Haiku of Autumn)

Aki  is here. Aki means Autumn. The Chinese character above right is Aki. It has two parts. The left part means "crop". The right part is "fire". Aki: new and old characters Aki ( Chinese pronunciation is "Shu") had originally three parts (right). The lost part was "bug". To burn the bad bugs on the crop was important for the next good harvest. Aki also means "harvest". Isn't it fun to look at a Chinese character very carefully and imagine what was the original meaning? It is also very important to understand the original meaning of a Chinese character which is used in a very short poem "Haiku". The Haiku poets select a letter among some letters of the same meaning, because the letter itself inspires and expands an image, and also puts some fragrance to the poem. The sound also is very important. Listening to a Haiku should please your ears.  Here are some Aki no Ku (Autumn Haikus) which I found in a very beautiful book "Haiku The poetic key to Japan", published on July 17, 2003, by P. I .E. Books in Tokyo. The author is Mutsuo Takahashi, a world renowned poet, and he is a good friend of ours for almost 20 years, and English translation is by the famous Mr. Lee Gurga, an extinguished American Haiku poet. The book has many fantastic photos by Hakudo Inoue, also an old friend of ours. You can buy the book and see those photos, please. I will not harm Hakudo's beauty of the photography by scanning them with my poor skill. So the photos are the ones I collected from here and there. I hope you will enjoy the invitation to Haiku World. Star Festival; with my hair wet I meet someone tanabata ya kami nureshi mama hito ni au by Takako one by one the stars become bright and clear myriad crickets dandanni hoshi akirakani mushi shigeshi by Tatsuko a diamond of dew one single drop on top of the stone kongo no tsuyu hitotsubu ya ishi no ue by Bosha sliding door paper design "grass and dew drops" photo by Hakudo Inoue moon at its zenith I have passed through a poor town tsuki tenshin mazushiki ,machi wo tori keri by Buson boundless field of flowers I come to it and pick a few manmoku no hanano yuki hana sukoshi tsumu by Toshiro grains of new rice each one blessed with a greenish tint shinmai no tsubutsubu aomi watari keri by Koji first at the rim of a large white chrysanthemum darkness falls tairin no shiragiku no he ga mazu kure nu bu Shuson Grandmother's Obi of Shiragiku design my journey's red leaves more and more a deeper red waga tabi no momiji iyoiyo kokari keri by Toshio How do you like Haiku? I know it is very popular all over the world. It is easy, I guess, to start Haiku, but it is very difficult to be a good Haiku Poet. I sometimes make Haikus, but I will never let you see them. They are in my secret notebook. So, good-bye, my Haiku friends.                                            Poetically yours,                                                 Harumi Okochi PS Please send your Haiku by e-mail. I will add them on this page. Here is a Haiku, sent to me by e-mail on November 3, 2003. Thank you, Dave-san. The color has fled From the grass near my cottage Fearing winter's wrath    Dave De Groot

Thank you very much for visiting this page. I hope you will return next month. Yours, Harumi Okochi Proprietress of Ryokan Yoyokaku   Mail to Harumi Okochi