< Take Advantage of Routine Season Words >

Let me introduce some works of haiku, still immature yetunrestricted, which were made by students new to the world of haiku:

school excursion children excited same train	breeze of wind enough to blow off heat of summer
spores of dandelion travelling on the wind unknown distance 　　　　　　　(Jiro)	children swallows happily excited virgin flight 　　　　　　　(Koichi)
hydrangea I wish I could store the color intact 　　　　　　(Hiroyasu)	year-end tolls of temple bell ushering me to sleep 　　　　　　　(Nobuo)
rice cake wrapped in oak leaf stored in stomach in few seconds 　　　　　　　(Hiroshi)	mosquitoes around repellent smokes hard on eyes patience 　 　　　　　　　(Masanusi)
summer hat blown off on the beach (Hideki)	moldy bread took a bite not knowing (Hiroshi)

Expressed in their own words, these haiku describe what they actually saw with their own eyes and what they really felt in their own heart. They are so free and unrestricted that they meet my sincer.e wish that young people should not copy how adults feel but be totally free to deliver their own feelings at the moment, for instance, in the agonizing heat of summer, peak of joy, or total boredom.

I hope that my dear readers cherish their feelings of beauty, surprise or curiosity at the vicissitudes of nature and express them by season word in 5-7-5 syllables of haiku.

As a close observer of nature, you oftentime come across discoverise, I think.

"Summer hat", "mold", "school excursion", "children swallow" are all everyday season words that characterize the student's haiku which I introduced now. They captured a fresh yet passing feeling for expression in haiku.

You do not have to look too far. In your neighborhood you can pick up seeds for haiku in abundance. Don't be too serious but take it easy and nature will send signals which you seize in haiku.

Each person is unique in his or her way of viewing or feeling things.A haiku that reflects your unique viewpoint or feelings belongs to your personality.

Issa(1763〜1827) is a well known poet for his routine themes of everyday life.
Born to a famine family in the deep country side of Shinshu(Nagano Prefecture) surrounded by totlgh climate. he lost his mother in childhood and lived an unhappy boyhood without love from his step-mother.

His forlorn loneliness presents itself in his affectionate feeling toward the small and weak in his haiklu.

ware to kite asobe ya oya no nai suzume	come to me and play motherless sparrow
yase gaeru makeruna Issa kore ni ari	thin frog hold on Issa behind you
negaeri o suruzo soho moke kirigirisu	am rolling in bed watch out grass hopper

Issa extended tender care for routine and small living things like "motherless sparrow", "thin frog", or "grass hopper" and tried to cure his own loneliness and cheer up both them and himself.

At age fifteen Issa left his native village for Edo(Tokyo).
After years of painstaking endeavour he established himself as a professional poet. He returned to Kashiwara, his native place, at age 52 for final settlement. With only brief moments of modest happiness, he closed a tough and lonely life at age 65.