What are Haikus?

Simply put, haikus are a style of poetry developed in Japan that are based on syllables. But this is too narrow a definition. First of all, it is misleading. English speaking people learn that that a haiku has three lines of 5,7 and 5 syllables when really, the English idea of a syllable is not what is counted in the Japanese language. If you wrote haikus in Japanese, you would count mora, not syllables. Mora (or on) are not counted the say way as syllables are. One mora is counted for a short syllable, one for an elongated vowel, diphthong (two consonants that create one sound such as “th”), or doubled consonant, and one more for an "n" at the end of a syllable. Now, since there is no history of counting English wordsounds this way, English haikus are based on syllables rather than mora. The way to write an English haiku that would be the closest linguistically to Japanese haikus would be to write one with twelve syllables as the duration of speaking time of twelve English syllables is very close to seventeen Japanese mora.

Two other Japanese concepts that get lost when haikus are translated into English are kigo and kirenji. Kigo is a “season word” that tells the reader in which season the experience being written about occurs. It’s not surprise of course that many haikus, Japanese, English and indeed any other language, are about nature.

Also not present in non-Japanese haikus are kirenji. Translated “cutting word”, kirenji is a form of spoken pronunciation. In traditional Japanese poetry, there are eighteen kirenji used for emphasis. Of course, not many languages have spoken pronunciation so it is hard to transfer this concept when translating haikus.

Last, but not least when trying to understand what haikus are is the idea that although we are counting syllables and lines and trying to stay within the parameters of the style, haikus have to present something. A good haiku should, with very few words, be able to evoke specific and detailed images. When writing haiku the most important thing is not really counting syllables or mora but choosing the perfect words to best describe what you want the reader to see in his or her mind. When you’ve got that, then you can write a good haiku.

Works Cited: "Official Definitions of Haiku and Related Terms." Haiku Society of America. N.p., 18 SEP 2004. Web. 3 Jun 2010.