Haibun + artwork: Kuniharu Shimizu

Haibun and artwork by myself.
Things changed since I made this haibun + artowrk.
My father is still alive, 93, but the switches in his brain go on and of. At times he does not recognize me so we do not "talk" over sake anymore. He only drinks milk now anyway.

Ever since I began to write haibun time to time, I became interested in writing itself. I am writing short stories, and longer ones, . One of such work is been translated into English and is available in PDF (check the "Kuni's links" on this blog). I think I am spending more time on writing than on haiga making.

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Haiga PDF book, "Narrow Road to the Deep North"

Send me $10 Amazon Kindle Gift Card. I will in return send you the complete PDF file with 53 haiga artoworks.

Haiga 662 Alenka Zorman haiku -Greece

Haiku by Alenka Zorman (Slovenia). Artwork by myself.
Lately, we hear so much about Greece, not about its ancient glory but about possible bankruptcy. A nation, be it big or small, going bankrupt means all the government workers, including police, will be without pay. Also it will seriously harm economy of other countries. A chaotic situation.

The cause of bankrupt is simple. The country is simply not producing anything substantial that can sell, that can bring in income. It is like a family of, say, five. Four members of the family are engaged in domestic works, like cooking, cleaning, repairing. One or two may not even participate in such works. And only one of five goes out to sea and catches fishes to sell, the only income source. How a family like this is to survice economically?

Greek gods and goddess are contributing to the tourism, and they know that is hardly enough to bring back healthy economy. They are getting angry at the slow-to-change situation.

Haibun + artwork: Kuniharu Shimizu

Haibun and artwork by myself.

Though I live a short distance from the city of kyoto, it is not often that I visit it. Almost every month, I transfer at the Kyoto train station on my way to Tokyo. Visiting Kyoto occurs once in a few years, and it usually the same place. The same quite place along the eastern side of the city, where some of the things I mention in this haibun can be experienced. I go mostly for a quite walk. I walk and walk, and have a bowl of noodle and come home. A simple visitation.
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Last night, my old friends got together for a BBQ party. September night is just perfect for such an occasion, cool but warm enough to go with light clothes. I brought my whole family, including grand kids. Some others did the same so the party was lively. A lot of laughters and chats. My son got to hear from my friends some of the bad things and a bit of good things I did when I was young.

Haibun+artwork: F.W.Owen haibun

Haibun by F.W.Owen. Artwork by myself.
Artwork for haiku, and so why not artwork for haibun?. That was how I figured, and made this.
This haibun reminds me of my college days, when I did some part time artworks for a small project of the State of Hawaii. The project was to develop an educational textbook for Honolulu Prison. I worked with a few other people for this project, including a young woman.

She was very enthusiastic about this project and always took initiative in our discussion. One day, we all visited the prison and held a discussion with the staffs of the prison. She was doing OK at first, but the prison staffs were not easy guys to talk to, and eventually she stopped talking. When we got out the place, she began to sob and rest of us consoled her all the way back home.
I do not remember now if she stayed with us till the end of the project.

Haiga 661 Romano Zeraschi haiku

Haiku by Romano Zeraschi (Italy). Artwork by myself.

I have been out of touch with computer for a few days so I could not update this blog.

Romano san live in Italy. I have made several haiga from his haiku. This time he sent me some haiku on homeless. I picked this one and turned into a haiga. The hairlines depict the couses of life this homeless man had taken in his life. The rectangular shape ends sharply, meaning his life is ending there soon. Though he is a homeless, I tried to represent him with some integrity.

Romano san has a small cabin that kind of clings to a cliff along the rocky coast of Tyrrhenian Sea. Island of Corsica or Sardinia maybe in view from there. If I have a chance to visit him, he is happy to share the cabin with me.

Haiga 660 Rade Dacic haiku

Haiku by Rade Dacic (Servia). Attwork by myself.

The tyhoon has gone. Faint sun shines through from the slits of still heavy clouds, and light drizzle remains. It is a quite morning today, trees are still, swaying slightly only occasionally.

I made this haiga quite some time ago for Rade san. He eventually used it for the cover of his haiku book.

Sept. 20 was my birthday, and I thank for many congratulatory words from the viewers of this blog. The date was also the deadline of the WHA Haiga Contest. Many submissions have arrived. Some quite good. The judging begins now. Will post the result at the end of this month on WHA site.

Haiga 659 Dakotsu Iida haiku

Haiku by Dakotsu Iida (Japan, 1885~1962). Artwork by myself.
September is the month to appreciate the moon in Japan. September moon is called Harvest moon in the west. I do not know if they hold special event for it. Here in Japan, the tradition is that we offer a dish of dumplings (round and white like a full moon), and add some silver grass for decoration.

This year, however, typhoons keep on bringing heavy cloud and a lot of rain. Even so, we were lucky to admire full moon in a few nights. Another typhoon is here again, pouring rain all over the place. It's nice to be blessed with water, but this year, since March 11, it has been too much and heavy for us to bear.

Haiga 658 Kohji Yasui haiku 2

Haiku by Kohji Yasui (Japan). Artwork by myself.
Not much is known about Yasui san, but I did find some reference on the web. Here is one

For this haiga, I used a photograph of water pattern that is created when something drops on its surface. The bird, too, I traced a bird in a photograph. The internet age makes it easy to find references, especially images of things. Otherwise, I would have to run to the library or bookstore each time.

Today, I am 62. A little party at night, and many cups of sake will celebrate me.

Haiga 657 Kohji Yasui haiku1

Haiku by Kohji Yasui (Japan). Artwork by myself.
This haiku reminds me of Basho's:

Beneath this same roof
prostitutes were sleeping too -
clover and the moon

Yasui san usually writes more stoic haiku like:

Consecration for
a revered spring sky,
just my palm

Yasui san lives in north-eastern region of Japan, where the recent disaster caused enormous damages. I am not sure exactly where he lves and if his life was affected by it. All I know is that he lives somewhere in the countryside like a hermit, never minding socializing with other haiku poets. His haiku book won a prize and through it, I came to know his haiku.

Haiga 656 Matsuo Basho, the last haiku

Haiku by Matsuo Basho. Artwork by myself.
I was in Osaka the other day. A friend mentioned about Basho's haiku stone, which was just a short walk from where we were having a meeting. The haiku is the last one Basho wrote and a famous one, so off we went. The stone is within a large Buddhist temple, surrounded by banana leaves.(Basho means banana)

Basho was sick, bedridden, but he had plans, like visiting Kyushu, southern part of Japan. He wrote this haiku then. Basho, however, did not recover and passed away there. The house was situated near this stone.

Haiga 655 Hakusen Watanabe haiku 3

Haiku by Hakusen Watanabe (Japan). Artwork by myself.
Years of war in China led to WW2. For many years Japan was under war mode, or riding on a train called the war express, and finally the Atomic bombs brought the train to the terminal. Watanabe wrote this haiku two years after the end of the wars.

What teachers taught to children, what people were made to believe, all these changed dramatically over night. Everything seemed to have just dissipated with enormous plume of Atomic smoke. What remained was a void in people's mind, suddenly there was no more rail to run on.

Haiga 654 Hakusen Watanabe haiku 2

Haiku by Hakusen Watanabe (Japan). Artwork by myself.
There are a lot of stories about how the war prisoners were mistreated. They are often exposed to human cruelty, treated as like slaves.
Reading a haiku like this, we see there are moments of humanity appear even in time war. It is like a little, warm light of cigarett in the darkness.

For this haiga, I drew with crayon three separate images: the human figure, the bars, and the cigarett. I scanned them, put them together and adjusted the colors.

Haiga 653 Hakusen Watanabe haiku 1

Haiku by Hakusen Watanabe (Japan). Artwork by myself.
Watanabe wrote many haiku relating to WW2. He wrote quite a few haiku that were viewed anti-war. Consequently, he was constantly under surveillance of the military police, and in fact imprisoned time to time.

I made this haiga for an anti-war haiku anthology that Dimitar Anakiev is putting together. I showed some on this blog in May, but somehow I fortgot to post this one. Since then, I made two more so I will post them this week.

In this haiku, "War" means the military police. It's an interpretation by a well known haijin, Tohta Kaneko.

Haiga 652 Janice Bostok haiku 3

Haiku by Janice Bostok (Australia). Artwork by myself.
In New Zealand, there is something called Haiku Pathway. It is a park with a pathway along which haiku-carved stones are placed. Japan is full of such stones, not only the ones with haiku but also with tanka. Idea of the pathway seemed to have come from that. Janice had something to do with this project, and had her haiku carved in one of the stones.

Haiga 651 Janice Bostok haiku 2

Haiku by Janice Bostok. Artwork by myself.
I woke up to loud cries. Not cowing of crows, Not at all chirping of sparrows. They were cries of wilderness. Some huge birds were announcing the beginning of my first morning in Australia.

I was at a house in a residencial area of Brisbane, and realized how close the wilderness and civilization exist in this country, where the land is populated mostly along the narrow strips of the coast lines. A bit unsettling situation for a guy from the islands of cozy nature.

Janice san lived in a farm for long. She probably heard the wild bird cries many mornings. Yet, she loved the life there, hence the gentle and peaceful haiku like this one here. I tried to put myself in her shoes and made this haiga.

Haiga 650 Janice Bostok haiku1

Haiku by Janice Bostok (Australia). Artwork by myself.
Just today, I learned the passing of Janice san. More than 10 years ago, Jim Kacian came to visit me in my town. He was in the middle of world haiku tour, and through him, I learned about haiku scene in Australia and New Zealand. Janice's name was mentioned in our conversation. I soon contacted her and started haiga collaboration, of which this haiga is one of them.

I had chances to visit Australia and New Zealand, but these were before I got to know her. As I look at this haiga, the cat somehow resembles Janice ( I only know her by photographs, though). Hope she is resting peacefully like this cat. I will be posting two more haiga.

Haiga 649 Michael Dylan Welch haiku

Haiku by Michael Dylan Welch. Artwork by myself.
September 11 passed without incident. Another peaceful day has begun. Even here where I live, the morning is so quite and bright, light blue color painting over the whole sky. Summer is ending, and perhaps leisurely stroll on the beach might be nice on a morning like this.

This is one of the haiga I had made before but resent to Michael a few days ago for his website. He is collecting all the haiga made from his haiku. Michael san's tanka prose on 9.11 here.

Alexis Rotella san wrote a nice essay about 9.11 on her blog. She shares her seemingly unusual reaction to the tragic incident.

Haiga 648 Kuniharu Shimizu haiku - 9.11

Haiku and photograph by myself.
As 9.11 approaches, there are news of new threats, and alterts issued mostly NYC and Washington areas.
A few years ago, I went to LA. Going though the custom was much tougher and more time consuming than before. While in LA, I saw this seagull at a pier. The seagull seemed so engrossed in staring at the horizon that it did not notice me taking its photograph.
Hope the watchful eyes will prevent any destructive attempts.

TPF2 and WHAC6 start today

The joint event of the 2nd Tokyo Poetry Festival and the 6th World Haiku Association begins from a welcome party tonight. The event continues through Sept. 11. This time, the event is able to get supports from big ones like, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and Shiseido, the largest cosmetic company in Japan.

Haiku events are usually organized among haijins (haiku poets) alone. For haiku to be a part of the mainstream poetry and literature, the joint event like this is very meaningful.

I am in charge of all the graphic works and website management of this event, and all being done well. I returned from Tokyo yesterday, for I have other things to attend to. Though I cannot participate in this event, I am happy that I have done everything I was expected to do. Just hoping the event will be successful.

Haiga 647 Kuniharu Shimizu haiku - hibiscus

Haiku and artwork by myself.
This haiga is based on an unforgettable memory of mine. A memory I still need more time to share with others. The season changes effortlessly, but certain things do not.

Today is the last day of my Basho haiga exhibition, a month and a half long event. Typhoon slowly moved near my place for the last couple days, and today, it has finally gone, only leaving rain clouds, but no wind. I will this afternoon drive to the site and pack up haiga as soon as the ending time comes. I will leave for Tokyo early tomorrow morning so I want to finish the packing early.

Since I am going away for a few days, I am posting one more haiga here. A haiga with a similar theme.

And yet one more haiga for the morrow.

Haiga 646 John J. Polozzolo haiku

Haiku by John J. Polozzolo (USA). Artwork by myself.

John Polozzolo, a.k.a. Zoro. He and I used to communicate often, for he himself is a haiga artist before I became one, and we together judged WHA monthly haiga contest for a while.

There is a tragic day for almost everyone, I think. Some incident remains in the mind of so many, and some does in a few. In this haiku, I assume that 9.11 was on Zolo san' mind. So in haiga, I depicted two poles, symbolizing the twin towers of WTC.

As for us Japanese and many others, 3.11 will be the tragic day forever. New Prime Minister has been elected and a new cabinet formed. Human efforts in reconstruction continues, but the process is not quite on schedule. The seasons, however, keep up with the regular pace, seasonal flowers bloom and little insects chirp under moonlit sky.

Next WHA conference - Medellin, Columbia, 2013

The 6th WHA conference will be held from Sept. 9 through 11. in Tokyo. And, already, a plan for the next conference, the 7th one has started. The 7th conference will be held in Medellin, Columbia, where the International Poetry Festival of Medellin is held annually.

Since the conference will be held in Spanish speaking country, WHA has decided to add Spanish translation of "World Haiku Association" to its logo-mark. I made a couple of designs and this one here is the final.

The venue of the conference will be at Belén Liberary

Haiga 645 Robert Spiess haiku

Haiku by Robert Spiess (USA). Artwork by myself.
Sometime ago, I had a chance to interview a Tokyo illustrator, Mizumaru Anzai, who is a good friend of novelist Haruki Murakami. Together, they have published a number of essay books with illustrations.

After the interview, I showed some of my haiga to Anzai san. While flipping through haiga printouts, he stopped and looked at one haiga long time, and finally said, "very good". It was this haiga he liked.