see haiku here

Haiga 757 -Toy Haiku 10

2012-02-01T08:36:00.006+09:00

Haiku by Michael Dylan Welch (USA). Artwork by myself.
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Thanks to you blog visitors, January page view count went up to the highest ever, 5956. For a small niche world of haiga, this is an encouraging figure, I think. Hope this little endeavor of mine will contribute to promote the art of haiga.
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One of my younger brothers is visiting us with his wife. They live in Madrid for many years. My wife and I invited them to a dinner last night at a newly opened restaurant in my town. An old farm house has been converted to a restaurant, outside is Japanese and inside is western. Nice place and food was good, too.
Old things are good as they are, but if added new elements with style, they would become even better, and so is the art of haiga.

Haiga 756 -Toy Haiku 9

2012-01-31T13:30:00.003+09:00

Haiku by Mark Brager. Artwork by myself.
The second haiga for Mark san. For this haiga, I used crayon. First drew in red the outline of a conch in rather free form, then added blue. I did a number of digital manipulations to get this final image. I think I am able to convery the sense of "releasing the ocean", which is the catch of this haiku.

Haiga 755 -Toy Haiku 8

2012-01-30T08:40:00.003+09:00

Haiku by Mark Brager. Artwork by myself.
Mark san sent to me a batch of haiku about toy. Two of them caught my eyes and this is one of them.
I always remembered the toy as "seesaw" because that is what we use in Japanese, too. "teeter-totter" is a new word to me. It is nice that I can learn new words through working with English haiku.

Japanese people like to say that Japanese language has many words that tells delicate states of the nature. As I read more and more of English haiku, I began to feel differently. English language has words that we do not have.

Haiga 754 -Toy Haiku 7

2012-01-29T10:49:00.002+09:00

Haiku by Kent Dorsey (USA). Artwork by myself.
The haiku does not say what kind of toy, so it was up to me to decided. I picked kite because the haiku mentions clouds drifting away, which leads to wind. With the tail of the kite I was able to show the wind.

Haiga 753 -Toy Haiku 6

2012-01-28T08:19:00.004+09:00

Haiku by Dorothee Lang (Germany). Artwork by myself.
Dorothee san sent to me this verse the other day. I am not sure if its senryu or simply a statement, but I feel that there is a "cutting" between the second line and the third line, which make it more than a statement, closer to senryu. In any case, I let you blog visitors to decide.

This is a rather challenging senryu to visuallze. My solution, as you can see, is to employ abstract art forms. I think it came out rather nice.

Haiga 752 -Toy Haiku 5

2012-01-27T09:50:00.003+09:00

Haiku by Arizona Zipper (USA). Artwork by myself.
The Kewpie doll is almost universal. Here in Japan, too, there is a big food company called "Kwepie Mayonnaise". I wonder who created this little adorable figure.
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Yesterday was very cold, and finally, we had snowfall in my town. However, it just pasted and did not remain on the ground. The first thing I did when I woke up this morning was to open the curtain and see if the world was cover with snow. No. Not a trace of it. I was disappointed. I prone to act like a kid when it comes to snow.

Haiga 751 -Toy Haiku 4

2012-01-26T06:54:00.002+09:00

Haiku by Svetomir Djurbabic. Artwork by myself.

Haiga 750 -Toy Haiku 3

2012-01-25T11:05:00.002+09:00

Haiku by Max Verhart (Holland). Artwork by myself.
War related theme seems to inspire artists, for it involves all the dark side of humanity. Interesting thing is that sometimes artists find certain beauty in weapons. Fernand Léger, a French painter of early 20th century, once said that while he was on the battle ground, he was enchanted by the shape of cannons, found them beautiful. The aesthetic is probably a neutral thing, no good and evil aspect in it.

Haiga 749 -Toy Haiku 2

2012-01-24T09:34:00.005+09:00

Haiku by H.F. Noyes (USA). Artwork by myself.
Noyes san is a psychiatrist, practiced in NYC, and then moved to Greece for retirement. With all the economic turmoil raging the country, I wonder how he is faring there.
This haiku captures a nice scene. Had I seen it myself, I would have taken photographs.
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Speaking of children haiku, I forgot to mention about a haiku booklet called "A Dozen Tongues 2000", Children in Haiku from Around the World. It was printed in paper version by Red Moon Press. With permission from Jim Kacian, the editor, I converted it into PDF format so you can download it and enjoy on your PC or Mac.

I did illustration for its cover and inside pages. This project marks my first association with haiku. Shortly after the project, I began to make haiga and write my own haiku.

Haiga 748 -Toy Haiku 1

2012-01-23T18:04:00.007+09:00

Haiku by Yu Chung (USA). Artwork by myself.
As promised, I am starting "toy" themed haiga series. This haiku by Yu san allows a smooth transition for child theme to that of toy. This haiga is one of the really early ones I made.

Children's interest changes fast, almost like moments to moments,and they cannot be absorbed in something for long time like us grown-ups. This bucket here will likely to be left on beach for a while...
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A copy of "Jelly Bucket" arrived today. My haiga, eight of them, are reproduced in fine color print. I am quite satisfied. More copies come later. I will then send a copy to each of those haijin who contributed tsunami haiku last March.

Haiga 747 Children Haiku 16

2012-01-22T10:05:00.005+09:00

Haiku by Alenka Zorman (Slovenia). Artwork by myself.
Here is another exaggerated artwork, like in haiga 740. In this case, I did not receive any question from Alenka san. She understands.
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Last evening, I attended a dinner party of an art show group. The oldest member is a 85-year-old painter, who sat next to me. He wanted to discuss the realism, which we did. We agreed on a point that things would look more real when handled with some deliberate manipulation. Just to depict what you see is often not enough.
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Today is the last day of my haiga show in Osaka. I go to the site in the late afternoon to pack up. Despite the rainy days, the show is having good numbers of visitors.
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I am thinking of posting haiga on the theme of "toy". I think it is the natural move from "children". Haiku about toys are welcome now.

Haiga 746 Children Haiku 15

2012-01-21T09:59:00.005+09:00

Haiku by Mirsad Denjo (Bosnia). Artwork by myself.
I am off to Osaka today, to my exhibition site, hold a workshop if people show up, and come back home town to give a short speech for a opening of a art show. It's going to be a busy day.

Haiga 745 Children Tanka 14

2012-01-20T09:56:00.004+09:00

Tanka by David Caruso. Artwork by myself.
David san sent me haiku and tanka about children. I thought it might be interesting to pick a tanka for a change, and made this haiga, or tanka-ga.

I have done some artwork for tanka before, namely one of Saigyo. Tanka can convey poetic content with more words than haiku. Often times, tanka is self-sufficient, words can tell everything. To add artwork to such poem is a rather challenging thing.
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One of my haiga ebooks "Narrow Road to the Deep North" has been accepted by a digital art contest. Just a notification email of acceptance for now.
This ebook is in PDF format, it includes 52 haiga, plus English and Japanese text of the Basho's famous travel journal.

Haiga 744 Children haiku 13

2012-01-19T09:05:00.003+09:00

Haiku by Rose Hunter. Artwork by myself.
This is a rather challenging haiku to make a haiga from. I try to represent the spiritedness of the boy with new socks.

Haiga 743 Children haiku 12

2012-01-18T08:29:00.010+09:00

Haiku by Tzetzka Ilieva. Artwork by myself.
Tzetzka san sent to me a few haiku about chiidren. One of them became haiga.
I am not sure which martial arts this haiku is about. Judo is familiar with me so I drew a boy with a Judo uniform and belt.

My uncle is a Judo man, he led Tenri Highschool Judo team and won national championship once. Tenri, my town, is well known internationally as a mecca of Judo. Athlete like Tadahiro Nomura, four time Olympic gold medalist, is from Tenri. Many children take up Judo lesson here and their objective is always to attain the black belt.

The sense of accomplishment, however small it is, like to tie the belt, is important for children: one thing leads to another, and they grow little by little to be a sound beings.

Haiga 742 Children haiku 11

2012-01-17T08:27:00.006+09:00

Haiku by Ruth Yellow (USA). Artwork by myself.
This haiku comes only from women, something we men have no experience at all. Women have more things to write haiku about, I guess.
Challenge in this haiga was to make "unseen" visible.
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First snowfall here. It snowed during the night, which got frozen by morning so I had to melt the ice on the car window with hot water.

Haiga 741 Children haiku 10

2012-01-16T09:20:00.006+09:00

Haiku and artwork by myself.
I made this haiga when my haiga reached 1000 several years ago. Since then, I have kept production, but not counting anymore. Probably around 1300 by now. The haiga I am showing on this blog include old ones as well as the new ones.
It was more than 14 years ago when I started making haiga. By now, haiga making has become like a habit, and I think it is a good one.
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My haiga exhibition starts from tomorrow, and I go to Osaka to do preparation this afternoon. All haiga are in A1 size and in a scroll format so I just roll them up and carry them to the site by train.
The flyer of the exhibition is this, but only in Japanese.
On coming Saturday, we will hold a little session where I talk about my haiga and English haiku, and my singer friend will do some singing. Maybe a little kukai, too.

Haiga 740 Children haiku 9

2012-01-15T13:08:00.003+09:00

Haiku by Ernest J. Berry (Australia). Artwork by myself.
Exaggeration is one technique in artwork. When I made this haiga, Ernest san protested saying that his daughter was not that chubby. I said it was just a technique. I said I would add a ribbon on her hair so she would look cute. In the end Ernest san was happy.

Haiga 739 Children haiku 8

2012-01-14T12:42:00.004+09:00

Haiku by Andre Duhaime (Canada). Artwork by myself.
Andre san is active in haiku scene in French. This haiku here is his English work. Very nice haiku, indeed. The repetition of "hello" is so effective in conveying the inherent nature of the young.
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Only three days absence accumulates many papers on my office desk. I had to stamp my hanko (Instead of signature, we use hanko, a name stamp, for approvals) many times before I was able to check my email, and do browsing. Other than business thing, we use hanko for artworks, too.
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A literary magazine called "Jelly Bucket 2012" has been published. Eight of my haiga are included in it in color. These haiga include haiku written by those affected by 3.11 earthquake and tsunami disaster. I am now waiting for the magazine to arrive.

Haiga 738 Children haiku 7

2012-01-13T21:57:00.005+09:00

Haiku by Mehdi laqunanbi (France). Artwork by myself.
I am not sure but I think this haiku by a child named Mehdi won in a haiku contest in France some time ago. Very interesting observation for a child.
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I just returned from 4-hour trip from Tokyo (2hrs and 30mins to Kyoto, and from Kyoto, 1hr and a half, taking Kintetsu Rail and walking to the door step of my house.During my stay in Tokyo, there was one earthquake. It seems the aftershock of 3/11 still remains.

Haiga 737 Children haiku 6

2012-01-10T15:06:00.003+09:00

Haiku by John Hawk (USA). Artwork by myself.
John san sent me a batch, and I liked this one liner haiku. To make it fitting to the brevity of the haiku, I did a lot of subtracting before arriving at this image. I chose the font so that it looked like the child's hair.
From the batch of haiku, I can see that John is a good father.
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I am off to Tokyo for a few days. I will resume this children haiga series after I return home so stay turned.

Haiga 736 Children haiku 5

2012-01-10T10:32:00.004+09:00

Haiku by @OldeHippi (Karen). Artwork by myself.
@OldeHippi san and I exchanged emails to discuss this haiku; I suggested some idea, and she made some changes. Now that I read it, I kind of like to change the last line to "snowy field" because snow is what excites children. They would play with them, laughing. Then again "winter field" is OK, too. No matter how cold and windy the place is, the field is where kids play.
Other than the haiku, I really enjoyed drawing this image. I picked bare-branch-like font for the haiku.

Haiga 735 Children haiku 4

2012-01-09T11:13:00.002+09:00

Haiku by Christine L. Villa (USA). Artwork by myself.
According to Wikipedia, the leaf I used here is "Acer palmatum, called Japanese Maple or Smooth Japanese Maple (Japanese: irohamomiji) is a species of woody plant native to Japan, North Korea, South Korea, China, eastern Mongolia, and southeast Russia.

Momiji leaves change color; from Green to orange and to red. Spacious canopy they provide is what I like the most. Each leaf is small and always reminds me of child's hand, hence I used it in this haiga.

Haiga 734 Children haiku 3

2012-01-08T12:59:00.006+09:00

Haiku by Melissa Allen (USA). Artwork by myself.
Melissa san sent me some haiku. One of them became haiku this morning so I am posting it now.
The shape of the star is almost universal, five-pointed or sometimes six pointed. It is actually the abstraction of the star light rather than the star itself. The stars are round like the sun, earth, and moon. The pointed shape of stars are so familiar that I am sure there are some small children who believe that the stars are all in pointed shape.

Whatever the shape is, the star is like a symbol of hope. Considering the gloomy states of the world, we grown ups need to make sure there are enough stars left for the children.

Haiga 733 Children haiku 2

2012-01-08T09:22:00.004+09:00

Haiku by Hohsaku Shinohara (Japan). Artwork & Eng. translation by myself.
I think this is a great haiku based on a simple ordinary scene. I, too, noticed the baby's grasped palm when i saw a baby, but haiku like this never came to me.

Babies grasp palm all the time, seems as though they are afraid to shake hand with the world to which they are born to. For the babies, the first instrument of survival is the mouth, to suck milk and to cry to get attentions. The need of the hands come later. My 5-year grand kid is often grasping palm, holding five yen or ten yen coins. I guess monetary system of this world is dawning on him.

Haiga 732 Children haiku 1

2012-01-07T10:15:00.013+09:00

Haiku by John Bird (Australia). Artwork by myself.
I thoroughly enjoyed making snowman haiga series. As you have noticed by now, I make haiga in different styles each time. This is because I value the poetic content of each haiku. I try to find suitable style that is fitting to the content. Some people tell me that though style differs, there is always "essencial me" in every one of them. Probably so, and that is a good thing.

Now that the snowman series is over for now, I would like to start a new series, haiga about child, children, kids. I mentioned this on twitter and have received a few response. I will work on them, but meanwhile, I shall post a few of works I have done before.

Inspired by this haiku, I wrote the following story:

On a cold, but sunny winter day, while taking a walk, I spotted a boy sitting on a bench. He caught my eyes because he was bare-footed, and they were rested on the belly of a dog. I sat besides him and asked:
“What happened? Not wise to walk around bare-footed on the day like this"
The boy kept bending his head, saying nothing.
“You’re lucky to be with a faithful friend” said I, rubbing gently the side of the dog.
“John hit me with a broom…” the boy mumbled.
“John?”
“Yeah, my brother. He’s mean, bullies me all the time.”
“And hit you with a broom?”
“Right, real hard, and he doesn’t stop so I fled.”
We were silent for moments.
I took off my shoes and then my socks.
“Here, put them on” I offered him my socks.
“Wow, thanks. Sure you don’t mind?”
“No. I still have my shoes”
Just as I said so, something hit my head. Splash! That statled me and the boy. I touched my head and felt something waterly on my fingers. It was the bird’s dropping. I took out handkerchief and cleaned my head and finger, and said to the boy:
“Here we are, two mierable souls siting on a bench in a winter park” said I, smiling.
“That’s what we are all right” said the boy, smiling back.

Haiga 731 Snowman haiku 16

2012-01-06T08:28:00.011+09:00

Haiku by Steve Wing (USA) & Dorothee Lang (Germany). Artwork by myself.
As a haiku, this one may need a little more pondering, but I wanted to use the photo of this famous guy in Aloha shirts so here it is, him singing some snowman song.

I lived many years in Hawaii. There were Santas at local shopping malls, and plastic snowmen that glowed from inside and elaborate illuminations on the front lawn of some residential homes. We had fun cruising around such places. I know how people in warm climate feel about winter season and anything else that associated with it. I thought back then that the main thing was to feel jolly when the season comes. Better yet if you had someone sitting by you while cruising. The temp, I guess, does not really matter.
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I plan on doing a series of haiga about child, children, kids. Haiku submissions are welcome.

Haiga 730 Snowman haiku 15

2012-01-05T08:23:00.003+09:00

Haiku by Christine L. Villa. Artwork by myself.
Christtine wrote to me "I love snowmen myself except that we don't have snow in California and I haven't experienced snow anywhere else. I was born and raised in the Philippines and I've been here in California since 2003"
Having read this email, an image of souvenir glass ball with snowman in it came to my mind. I made up an imaginary glass ball, a souvenir of NYC or maybe Chicago.

Haiga 729 Margarita Engle

2012-01-04T11:41:00.002+09:00

Haiku by Margarita Engle (Cuba-USA). Artwork by myself.
Margarita Engle is a Cuban-American author of books about the island. She writes tanka and haiku as well.
The day 4 of the new year. I have a slight stuffy nose, I might have caught a cold. It's sunny but quite windy here. I think I will just stay home and rest today. Working day begins from tomorrow.

Haiga 728 Snowman haiku 14

2012-01-03T10:50:00.003+09:00

Haiku by Carre Etter (USA). Artwork by myself.
Today's snowman haiga is something like one in a picture book for children, hence I depicted it as such. Some might say that this is more like an illustration than a haiga, but I do not mind. I always make what I want to make.

This is the last haiga of the snowman series. Yet, it is still in the middle of winter. If anyone come up with good snowman haiku during this season, please share it with me. Snowman is a good theme for haiku, and I love to make more haiga from it.

At this time, I would like to thank all those who shared snowman haikus.

Haiga 727 Snowman haiku 13

2012-01-02T12:19:00.004+09:00

Haiku by anonymus (USA). Artwork by myself.
Such a quiet and peaceful New Year here. Sunny and not much wind. Great two days so far.

It is a little early for Valentine Day, but here is a haiku of snowman on the Day. I just have one more snowman haiga to post, which I will post tomorrow, and that seems to be the end of the series.

A Happy New Year

2012-01-01T08:44:00.006+09:00

Thank you for having visited my blog in the past year. Looking forward to having you this year, too.

In the past year, many of you visited my blog at the time around when the big natural disaster hit Japan in last March. My blog had highest access count then. And at the end of the year 2011, the snowman haiga series attracted many visiters again, and renewed the highest count. Thank you all, and may this year be filled with more good things than not so good things.

Haiga 726 Snowman haiku 12

2011-12-31T08:33:00.003+09:00

Haiku by Peter Newton (USA). Artwork by myself.
Peter san sent me a nice haiku book the other day. Its cover design is by myself. Its layout and overall desgin are very good. A handsome publication indeed.

The last day of 2011 here. My son and his wife have some last minute errande to attend to in the morning so I am baby-sitting two grand kids. There is no snow to play with. We would go to the park nearby and catch some minnows.

Haiga 725 Snowman haiku 11

2011-12-30T11:42:00.003+09:00

Haiku by Dorothee Lang (Germany). Artwork by myself.
From olden days in Japan, children were called "Kaze no ko", meaning children of wind. No matter how cold and windy outside, they go out and play, often with snow. Dogs follow the children. Older folks and cats, however, are the ones who stay warm indoor.

No snow fall yet in my area hence no snowman, except on my blog.

Haiga 724 Snowman haiku 10

2011-12-29T07:04:00.002+09:00

Haiku by Kent Dorsey (USA). Artwork by myself.
Kent san learned about this snowman haiga series through Mena san, and sent me this environment-conscious haiku.

Haiga 723 Snowman haiku 9

2011-12-28T10:34:00.004+09:00

Haiku by Paul David Mena (USA). Artwork by myself.
This haiga has already circulated on the web a few days back, like on Facebook. When I received this haiku from Paul san, a guy's face flashed in my mind, Daisuke Matsusaka, a great pitcher of Red Sox. Though his accomplishments have been wonderful, for the season of 2011, he was in the disabled list due to Tommy John Surgery. He is probably like the snowman in this haiga now. Hope he will be back in good shape for the next season.
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Going to Osaka this afternoon to have a meeting with my friends about the coming haiga exhibition there. The flyer is already done. All the works to be exhibited have been printed out already. We are going to check the video today.

Haiga 722 Snowman haiku 8

2011-12-27T09:44:00.005+09:00

Haiku by @JGCheseney (Canada), and by @OldeHippi. Artwork by myself.
I received these haiku via Twitter almost at the same time, and thought both could share similar image so I made this haiga. That is the thing about image, it has broader interpretation.

Children have wonderful imagination. They can see life in almost anything and talk to them. Some even talk to stones. I guess the animism comes naturally to children.

Haiga 721 Snowman haiku 7

2011-12-26T11:58:00.006+09:00

Haiku by Akito Arima (Japan). Artwork by myself.
Snowman lives short time in winter. When snow falls, children eagerly go out and make snowman, who receives much attention then, but soon gets forgotten.That is Arima san's observation, and it is rather sad. However, there's more to the story. When the next winter comes, snowman pops up everywhere, making children happy again.

We are like snowmen. We are born into this world, live the life, and pass away. Some belief thinks it is the end of the story. Some other belief thinks that one will reborn, born into this world again, just like snowman. I am one who believes the later blief.

Haiga 720 Snowman haiku 6

2011-12-25T09:09:00.006+09:00

Haiku and artwork by myself.
Ever since I started the snowman haiga series, I am getting good response from people on the net. This prompted me to write my own snowman haiku.
In Japanese, snowman is Yuki-Daruma, and also from olden days, snowman is often called Yuki-botoke (snow-Buddha). Kobayashi Issa and other masters wrote haiku about Yuki-botoke.

ashamed--
even a child has made
a snow Buddha
(Issa)

One characteristic of Buddha's statue is ushnisha, the protruding thing on top of his head. So, in this haiku and haiga, I portrayed just that. Interestingly, ordinary snowman suddenly assume the aura of some sacred being.

And it is the Christmas time, hence this haiga below. This morning (already 25th here), my grand kids woke up to find what they wanted from Santa san.

Haiga 719 Snowman haiku 5

2011-12-24T09:02:00.011+09:00

Haiku by Stella Plerides (Germany & UK). Artwork by myself.
When I was making this haiga, I imagined what the snowman was thinking.
Snowman seems to be saying:
"So things happened between he and you, and eventually he left leaving only his hat, which ended up on my head. You did not want to keep something that reminded him and all the quarrel between you two. I do not mind wearing the hat. When the spring thaw comes, though, I will be gone, but not the hat. I just hate to see the hat rot on the ground.
I know you keep glancing at me and the hat every time you pass by the window. I am sure he keeps on thinking about the hat he had left behind. The winter chill cools your heads little by little.
I am just hoping he will return, maybe on the Christmas Day, with a nice present for you. On the way, he would pick up the hat, put it on his head again, and just pop up at your door. So, let's keep the fingers crossed.

Haiga 718 Snowman haiku 4

2011-12-22T10:47:00.004+09:00

Haiku by Alexis Rotella (USA). Artwork by myself.
Alexis san sent me this haiku. I wonder what the eyes are made of...something that fit into pocket. Anyway, haiku is always a starting point in making a haiga. I came up with a scene of image that may have followed the scene of haiku.

I exaggerated the size of the snowman, but I have been to a place in Japan, where snowfall often goes more than 4m deep, and there, snowman of this size is certainly possible. Only people there are too tired fighting with snow to enjoy it.

Haiga 717 Snowman haiku 3

2011-12-21T09:45:00.006+09:00

Haiku by Winona Baker (Canada). Artwork by myself.
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I went to a Japanese calligraphy show at a museum by the Todaiji Temple, where big Buddha statue is enshrined. The large calligaraphies were done by a 26-year-old lady with Down's syndrome. Very powerful works. Her mother is a calligraphy master and taught her challenged daughter the skill. Both of them were at the show, and we chatted a little.

The calligraher's name is Shoko Kanazawa.The kanji on the screen is "Hope".

Haiga 716 Snowman haiku 2

2011-12-20T08:23:00.010+09:00

Haiku by Vladmir Devide (Croatia). Artwork by myself.
I just noticed that there is only snowMAN, no snowWOMAN in the western world. Here in Japan though, we have snow-woman, who is not as jolly as the snowman. She is more like a ghost, supposedly very beautiful, but vicious and does some harm to people. Superstition has it that people who get lost in the winter mountains are said to be caused by snow-woman's doing.
No wonder that snowman is always alone and there is no married couple of snowman and snow-woman.
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A man in the north passed away. A new man is plump, and looks like a snowman. Will he melt as a new season comes? Time will tell.
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I wrote that I was looking for good snowman haiku, and already I received a batch, from which I made a haiga. I will post it on this blog soon.

Haiga 716 Snowman haiku 1

2011-12-19T08:21:00.006+09:00

Haiku by Dimitar Anekiev (Slovenia). Artwork by myself.
The snowman is something of a special treat for me in the winter time ever since my child days. Here where I live, it does not snow much though the temperature goes down quite low. The snow falls occasionally but not enough to make a good clean snowman.

Last year was different, we had days with heavy snow. Kids and adults (me included) were out in the field, eagerly making snowmen. We were all happy to have great winter friends, the snowmen
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I will be posting snowman haiga for a while. I am looking for good snowman haiku. Anybody?
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New year is approaching, and everybody's busy writing Nenga-jyo (New Year postcard). For my mother-in-law, I made this postcard, printed it out on 20 Nenga-jyo cards, and sent them to her.

Haiga 715 Andres Ehin haiku

2011-12-18T10:10:00.004+09:00

Haiku by Andres Ehin (Estonia). Artwork by myself.
Andres san recently passed away. He was born in Estonia in 1940. He has been awarded many prizes for his poetry, including the Estonian National Prize 2001 for his poetry collection Subconsciousness is always jolly. He has travelled extensively and read his poetry at many international festivals.

I met him several times at World Haiku Association Conferences. He was a large man, but always had quiet and gentle manner. His soul is probably whiter than the swans, and will return to this earth in the future as a baby to resume walking on his haiku path.

Haiga 714 Peter Yovu haiku 2

2011-12-17T09:41:00.002+09:00

Haiku by Peter Yovu (USA). Artwork by myself.

Last night was one of several year-end parties for me. After finishing long editorial meeting for a magazine, we moved to a nearby Nomiya (eat and drink place). Good party last night, and no so good hangover today. I know what she is smiling at.

Haiga 713 Peter Yovu haiku 1

2011-12-16T08:28:00.007+09:00

Haiku by Peter Yovu (USA). Artwork by myself.
Actually, as you can see, the painting is by some master in Europe. I know it is a famous painting, but I forgot the painter's name. I think some Flemish painter.

I used a part of the painting, manipulated digitally one arm of the lady so it looks as if she is waving to someone. I do not think she is pregnant, just holding her skirt, but she does look like pregnant, doesn't she?

My mother who bore 12 kids, of whom I am No.2, had in the end big belly and when twins were in her, she used to put both arms on her plump belly and swaggered in the house. Two years later she bore another twins.

Haiga 712 Mikajo Yagi haiku

2011-12-15T08:10:00.003+09:00

Haiku by Mikajo Yagi (1924~, Japan). Artwork by myself.
Dr. Yagi lives in Sakai, Osaka, and is an eye doctor. She is quite well known in haiku circle, which includes Kaneko Tohta. She writes avant-garde haiku, but this haiku here is an easy one. I think it is befitting for this season.

Haiga 711 Vincent Tripi haiku 3

2011-12-14T09:19:00.003+09:00

Haiku by Vincent Tripi (USA). Artwork by myself.
Since Christmas is approaching, I am posting this haiga.

Thinking back, I am amazed that it is already the end of this year, which started with the death of someone I really liked, and then the big 3.11. My mother-in-law decided to move into a nursing home, leaving her own home unattended. This necessitated getting our second car back (580km drive). I had a two-month long haiga exhibition in the summer, and am in the process of planning another one for coming January. I just hope there will be more of good things happening in the next year.

Haiga 710 Vincent Tripi haiku 2

2011-12-13T10:13:00.009+09:00

Haiku by Vincent Tripi (USA). Artwork by myself.
When I started living in Honolulu, I lost my Seiko watch. I had to get another one but I did not have money. Then I found a Timex at a drug store and the price was affordable. The Timex did not look as good as my lost Seiko, but I was happy to have time on my wrist again.

In college days, I drifted into a stage where I no longer care about keeping time. I was an art student and time was simply irrelevant. And besides, I was living in a paradise island of Hawaii.

At about the time I got married more than 35 years ago, I became in need of a watch to be on time for dates with my fiance. I bought a Seiko watch, which according to the store owner, had been sitting around more than 5 years in the showcase. I got discount on it. I still use the watch time to time, and it ticks fine. Good watch really lasts.

Haiga 709 Vincent Tripi haiku 1

2011-12-12T09:46:00.002+09:00

Haiku by Vincent Tripi (USA). Artwork by myself.
When I was making haiga for Vincent's haiku, I received several chap books he compiled. Quite handsome ones. Many of his haiku inspired me to do many haiga. It works that way for some collaboration.

Autumn here is quickly moving away, more and more trees are becoming without leaves. Chilly wind has taken the color of leaves away. And warm spring wind will bring back new colors to the leaves.

Haiga 708 Ron Riddell haiku 2

2011-12-11T10:07:00.003+09:00

Haiku by Ron Riddell (NZ). Artwork by myself.

Haiga 707 Ron Riddell haiku 1

2011-12-10T11:56:00.003+09:00

Haiku by Ron Riddell (New Zealand). Artwork by myself.
Ron is one of New Zealand’s most widely published poets. Also, a painter, a musician and the author of a number of plays and novels, he has published 15 collections of verse. At present, he lives in Wellington, where he is Director of The Wellington International Poetry Festival.
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Final trip to Tokyo this year is done. It was cold and snowed in some area. My stay in Tokyo in March ended with the big earthquakes on 3.11, which made me like a strayed dog in a big city. I am grateful that nothing unsafe happened in the subsequent trips. Hope it will remain so for the coming year.

Haiga 706 Kanon Sakaishi haiku

2011-12-06T11:18:00.002+09:00

Haiku by Kanon Sakaishi (Japan). Artwork by myself.

Kanon san lives in the same area as I do, only her place a bit into the mountain, and closer to Iga Uneno, where Basho was born. Though she is an ordinary housewife, she has won some big haiku awards and is a dedicated haijin.

I watched a YouTube document last night. Interesting story about the money, about government issued money and bank issued money. The economy worldwide is waning like the setting sun in the haiga now. The answer to the problem may rest on who issue the money.

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I am off to Tokyo again for several days. Will resume posting when I am back so please stay turned.

Haiga 705 Kikko Yokoyama haiku

2011-12-05T12:46:00.003+09:00

Haiku by Kikko Yokoyama (Japan). Artwork by myself.

Here and there on the web, there were mentioning of roadside haiku traffic sign. It is a nice collaboration of haiku-like message and artwork.
I sent an email of praise to the NY artist, John Morse, and informed him that there is a genre called haiga. I got reply back from him.

Pictographs for direction and loacation are ubiquitous in our life, namely the toilet sign. They are simple and convey message visually so everybody can understand. If haiku is put together with them, they may make a haiga.

This haiga here is using pictograph for emergency exit, which you find everywhere in Japan.

Haiga 704 R.K.Singh haiku 3

2011-12-03T08:21:00.003+09:00

Haiku by R.K. Singh (India). Artwork by myself.

Now, this is a challenging haiku. The more challenging, I get more inspired, letting my imagination work in full force. The resulted haiga is the representation of my own interpretation.

Challenging haiku often contains layers of meaning, resulting in many interpretations depending on the readers. Just as anything in this world has multiple sides, haiku does the same. One needs to have clear and calm mind to appreciate many sides of the things.

Haiga 703 R.K.Singh haiku 2

2011-12-02T08:46:00.004+09:00

Haiku by R.K. Singh (India). Artwork by myself.
The first thing that came to my mind when I read this haiku was sensuous figures carved on temple walls in India. From that imagination, I made this haiga.

The first time I visited India was more than 30 years ago. I stayed in Kolkata (then called Calcatta, typo?) for about a month. My firends and I were there to do some missionary work. We visited many homes, and time to time, played games with children too. Later in the stay, we had chance to visit Varanasi, New Delhi, and amazing Taj Mahal. Fond memory.

The second time was about 17 years ago. I made short stop over at Kolkata and Mumbal (then called Bambay) to give Tenrikyo lectures. Each time, India made strong impressions on me. Recently, I even wrote a short story (in Japanese) based on what I had seen in India.

Haiga 703 R.K.Singh haiku 1

2011-12-01T08:12:00.006+09:00

Haiku by Prof. R. K. Singh (India). Artwork by myself.
Dr. Ram Krishna Singh is a professor and a head of Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian School of Mine. He tweeted me some haiku the other day, and I suggested haiga collaboration. He then sent me a batch of haiku and I made several haiga from them. This is one of them. A few more coming later.

Poetry has been a big thing in India from before, and now there are more and more haiku writers appearing there. This is a good thing for world haiku.
My blog is been visited from many countries around the world: Rumania, Greece, Italy, Russia, Poland, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Ukraine, France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Sweden, Norway, England, UAE, South Africa, India, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, China, Vietnam, Laos, Mexico, Brasil, Australia, USA, Canada, Netherlands Antilles, Trinidad & Tobago.
Haiku population is steady increasing indeed.

Matsumoto san again

2011-11-30T08:25:00.005+09:00

I made this picture story board in January in memory of my friend,Matsumoto san. He was a Tenrikyo minister and also a talented singer and song writer. The mountain man in the picture story board is him. He and I organized a series of concert over the past several years, and in the beginning of this year he passed away suddenly. The tiny momiji tree is still growing though, more leaves are on it now and turning color.

Matsumoto san's son has succeeded the concert, which was held the other day. I had written a poem in memory of Matsumoto san and had sent it to the son with a letter after the passing. He later added tune to the poem and sang at the concert.
The Yoki Hall, where the concert was held, was packed with people. It turned out to be a very moving and successful concert.

Haiga 702 Jun Ohsato haiku

2011-11-29T13:43:00.002+09:00

Haiku by Jun Ohsato (Japan). Artowrk by myself.

Haiga 701 Lars Vargo haiku

2011-11-27T09:10:00.004+09:00

Haiku by Lars Vargo (Sweden). Artwork by myself.
Vargo san is the ambassador of Sweden to Japan since this year. The other night, Ban'ya and he did lectures on haiku at the embassy in Tokyo. Vargo san is a poet and a haijin as well. He has published books of haiku. Kamakura san, Ban'ya's wife, sent me a number of haiku by Vargo san, so I made this haiga.

Vargo san also edits haiku website.

Basho passed away around here

2011-11-26T11:40:00.008+09:00

The other day, my friends and I were in Osaka for a meeting. We discussed about the upcoming haiga exhibition to be held at a place right on the Mido-suji Ave, busiest street in Osaka. Also on the avenue, a bit away to the north, is a place where Matsuo Basho passed away. The photo here is the stone monument which says just that, "Basho passed away around here".

One of my friends, Kitahara san, who had taken this photo, shared a remark made by some young. "Did Basho die in traffic accident?" We just had to laugh at it. That is the extent of appriciation of Basho among ordinary young Japanese.

Mido-suji Ave. was a narrow street back in Basho's time. It was lined with small stores, and Basho was staying one of them, which sold cut flowers. It was Basho's second visit to Osaka. He was there to settle some dispute between two of his old disciples. He became ill, and though he never expected death, he passed away. In his sick bed, he wrote the following haiku:

Falling sick on a journey -
my dream goes wandering
over a field of withered grass

Haiga 700 Antoaneta Nikolova haiku 2

2011-11-25T08:22:00.003+09:00

Haiku by Antoaneta Nikolova. Artwork by myself.

Haiga 699 Antoaneta Nikolova haiku 1

2011-11-24T08:46:00.006+09:00

Haiku by Antoaneta Nikolova (Bulgaria). Artwork by myself.
Antoaneta teaches philosophy of the East at the South-West University in Bulgaria.

The subjects I did not do well at college are religion and philosophy. That could have been so because I was studying them in the second language. I was then too preoccupied with producing more and more paintings. That probably was the main reason for my poor achievement in the subjects.

Interestingly, I am now a church minister, in a position to teach religion, giving lectures and conducting classes.

Senryu on toilet peper

2011-11-23T18:23:00.002+09:00

My friend gave me this roll of toilt paper. Printed on it are senryu about toilet. TOTO, a toilet company in japan held a contest of toilet senryu, and the winners' senryu are printed on the roll. It costs about $4 a roll, and is sold at a bookstore. When you are in toilet, you read it and supposed to giggle on the senryu. I did read them but not really funny. It is just an expensive joke.

Haiga 698 J.D. Heskin haiku 2

2011-11-22T08:57:00.006+09:00

Haiku by J.D. Heskin (USA). Artwork by myself.
The kanji in the haiga are the first four kanji from a poem by a prominet Chinese poet, Du Fu ( 杜甫 ), (712–770). They mean, a country was defeated, but moutains and rivers still remained. One kanji is missing but still the meaning is obvious.

This is a famous poem that anyone who attended high school in Japan know it. The poem came to my mind when I read the haiku by Heskin so I added it to this haiga. I think the complex images of the kanji contrast well with the minimally simple image of the rest of the haiga.

Haiga 697 J.D. Heskin haiku

2011-11-21T08:51:00.002+09:00

Haiku by J.D. Heskin (USA). Artwork by myself.

One line drawing is what I do sometimes. It looks pretty easy, but often times it is the result of many trial and error. In this haiga, I tried to draw two shapes of ears, and a bird. Though it is time consuming, the process itself is fun. And I feel its lightness in appearance fits well with haiku.

Haiga 696 Sonia C. Corman haiku 2

2011-11-20T10:21:00.003+09:00

Haiku by Sonia C. Corman (Rumania). Artwork by myself.
This is a good example of "Shasei" haiku. For this haiga, the earth came to dominate in my mind first. How do I make the ground of soil visually interesting?

I first drew layers of ground and painted them in different shades of reddish earth color, and background in greenish color. The interaction of the complementary colors itself makes the haiga eye-catching. Then I added at a far corner a horse and a farmer in silhouette because it plays secondary role in this haiga. Dark silhouette also give good weight to the haiga. Finally I added fog-like thing between the layers of the ground.

Haiga 695 Sonia C. Corman haiku 1

2011-11-19T11:37:00.002+09:00

Haiku by Sonia C. Corman (Rumania). Artwork by myself.
Sonia was very young, like in her early teens, when she wrote this haiku. I have seen many stained glass in Europe so I can visualize the scene of this haiku. This haiga is more like an illustration than a haiga. I wanted to include stained glass in it for it is so beautiful. And I enjoyed illustrating a stained glass image.
There are set of rules I maintain in making haiga but I get fuzzy sometimes.

Haiga 694 George Swede haiku 4

2011-11-18T08:17:00.007+09:00

Haiku by George Swede. Artwork by myself.
Another short haiku by George. He is really good at the short ones.
Reading the haiku, I felt something sensual in it so I depicted it in this way.

As autumn progresses, night time gets longer. Good season for quite reading. On my bedside are several books I am reading now. My reading habit is like, I start off with Japanese and later switch to English, or vise versa. Now, I am switching two books, "Steve Jobs" by Walter Isaacson, and a Japanese novel by Kiyoko Murata, an extraordinary and inventive woman novelist I recently found. Haruki Murakami is well known thoughout the world, but there are other great writers in Japan, and I think she is one of them.

Haiga 693 George Swede haiku 3

2011-11-17T08:40:00.005+09:00

Haiku by George Swede. Artwork by myself.
Outside of my office window is a line of ginko trees. Leaves crowded together have turned yellow now. Soon they will fall one by one, leaving the branches and carpeting the ground. I can hear one of the remaining leaves on the branch mumbling this haiku in the haiga.

I feel lucky that the seasons go around me. I know my body says, "Can't bear the muggy summer, and stinging icy cold wind", but my mind say the otherwise. "Each season is inspirational for a haiku and art mind"

Haiga 692 George Swede haiku 2

2011-11-16T08:25:00.005+09:00

Haiku by George Swede (Canada). Artwork by myself.
This is one of "So, what?" haiku, but it somehow makes you stop and think for a while. I did think for a while and came up with this haiga.

George probably was writing haiku then and realized that he was holding a pencil that was scribbling his thought. Come to think about it, there is an amazing nerve system that connects the brain to the tips of our fingers. We take it for granted but it is amazing.

Those who cannot use hands, they use foot to write. In both cases, it is the end of oneself that express what is in one's mind, which is located at the another end.

Haiga 691 George Swede haiku 1

2011-11-15T09:27:00.004+09:00

Haiku by George Swede (Canada). Artwork by myself.
Like any kids, I did my share of fishing when I was small. In the area where I was born, there were many ponds. Because there was no big rivers in the area, farmers made the ponds for irrigation purpose. For kids, the ponds provided perfect fishing spots.

Thinking back those days, I just do not see how I spent so much time just sitting on the bank and waiting for fishes to bite. I think I was probably doing some philosophy-ing, not about big themes like the life, the existence, and such, but just maybe comparing the world we live and the one where fishes live. I felt superior to fish in small pond because I lived in wider world. It was many year later that I was in the middle of Pacific Ocean, being awed by the endless expanse of the sea. I felt so small.

Haiga 690 Nicholas Virgilio haiku 3

2011-11-14T08:12:00.006+09:00

Haiku by Nicholas Virgillio. Artwork by myself.
I was reading Nick's haiku again, and found this haiku. It seems that this haiku comes before the one on haiga 688, the mother one. I made this haiga yesterday.

I have started reading Kindle version of "Steve Jobs" by Walter Isaacson. Steve had strong background in counterculture that flourished during and after the Viet Nam War, in which Nick's brother died. All the energy of the political dissent and hippie culture of the young went into the digital world of computer thereafter. Truly interesting era. I, on the other hand, was heavily into the fine art then.

Haiga 689 Nicholas Virgilio haiku 2

2011-11-12T09:15:00.005+09:00

Haiku by Nicholas Virgillio (1928-1989). Artwork by myself.
This is Nick's most well-known haiku. I think it is carved on his gravestone or his memorial in Camden, NJ.

Lily looks out of itself when taken out of water. Indeed, there are things in this world that have the place where they shine the most. In this haiga, I went a bit beyond. "itself" refers to lily's appearance, its mood, and its existence. Even after those outward conditions are gone, there yet remains lily's spirit, which I depicted as small faint circle in the upper portion of the haiga.

Haiga 688 Nicholas Virgilio haiku 1

2011-11-11T10:22:00.009+09:00

Haiku by Nicholas (Nick) Virgilio (1928-1989). Artwork by myself.
This is more an illustration than a haiga, but I somehow felt that I wanted to illustrate the scene. It is purely from my imagination. Nicholas wrote a series of haiku about his brother who died in Viet Nam War. I first found the haiku in Cor's haiku anthology, and one of them became a haiga.

When the war was raging, I was in Hawaii, attending high school with little knowledge of the war for I was too preoccupied with my own little war (assimilation) to see what was happening in the world. Fortunately I survived my war and here I am, writing a blog.

Long car trip

2011-11-10T12:21:00.005+09:00

My wife and I made a long car trip, distance of about 500 miles. The map shows the route.
The reason for the drive was to bring a small car from my wife's mom's home to my home. I purchased the car five years ago so that when my wife visited mom, she could take care of her old mom, now 86. Just recently, however, mom has decided to sell her house and move to an old folks home nearby. The car is five years old, but hardly used so we decided to bring it back.

We considered using professional mover but the cost is expensive. With less expense, we could pay travel expenses, gas and highway tolls, and staying a night at a nice hotel in Hakone, a resort near Mt. Fuji. Thus we set out on the road. The car was fine and we were fine. Turned out to be a good autumn trip.

Haiga 687 A.C. Missias #haiku

2011-11-04T08:43:00.005+09:00

Haiku by A.C. Missias (USA). Artwork by myself.
Greece's case might become the heavy stone in the world financial situation. Watching it closely.

Foggy morning here. Grey sumi painting world.
Tradition of sumi painting originally came from China via Korea. I used to admire Chinese landscape painting with all the rugged towering mountains. I thought those mountains were from imagination because there had been no such mountain in Japan. But, later, when I saw some documentary film of China, I saw those mountains. They really exist. The paintings were actually a realistic ones. It was some finding to me then. Any artform seems to start with the direct observation.
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I am off to Tokyo again starting tomorrow. Won't be able to update this blog for a while, but stay turned.

Haiga 686 Ban'ya Natsuishi haiku 4

2011-11-03T09:01:00.004+09:00

Haiku by Ban'ya Natsuishi. Artwork by myself.
Ban'ya san wrote several interesting haiku when he was invited to a poetry festival held in Genoa, Italy a few years back. Some people who are used to reading usual type of haiku might find this one perplexing. It is indeed perplexing so I guess the interpretation is up to the readers. You need not to "understand" it, but just "feel" it. That is what I did and came up with this image, which in turn perplexed Ban'ya san. It is a kind of creative game. Besides, how else would I have included Japanese haiku and three translations in a single image?

Haiga 685 Ban'ya Natsuishi haiku 3

2011-11-02T09:22:00.003+09:00

Haiku by Ban'ya Natsuishi. Artwork by myself.
Again, Ban'ya's haiku from Wellington, New Zealand.
Usually, I use sumi brush to draw shapes of clouds in such ways that they show the presence of wind. Here, I use abstract shapes to show the flow of wind. I am experimenting a new way to depict something invisible.
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I moved my office yesterday. I think of myself a tidy guy, yet, I found there were so many things, including hundres of paper backs, to move. Things simply accumulate I guess. The haiga, which I hit 1000 a few years ago, is still accumulating. I stopped counting, I think there are around 1300 now. Unlike the paper books, haiga is all in digital data, they can fit in a small USB flash stick.

Haiga 684 Ban'ya Natsuishi haiku

2011-11-01T07:50:00.003+09:00

Haiku by Ban'ya Natsuishi (Japan). Artwork by myself.
Ban'ya san wrote this haiku when he visited Wellington, New Zealand. A city noted for contant wind. Unlike Tokyo, where he lives, the windy city must have offered a crisp clear night sky.

I like to play with sumi brush. It gives me freedom in drawing. I do not need to follow the traditional use of brush (because I am not writing calligraphy). I do not need to get too much into the details (details are produced automatically as you move the brush).
Though I like the medium, I just have a few brushes (good ones get pretty expensive).

My father, though not much of a calligrapher, owns a good collection of brushes, from really big ones to skinny ones. He has a special hanger stand for them in his room. I am looking forward to hear him say, "They are all yours, go ahead and take them"

Haiga 683 Ban'ya Natsuishi haiku

2011-10-31T08:46:00.002+09:00

Haiku by Ban'ya Natsuishi (Japan). Artwork by myself.
This is one of the earliest haiga I made, when I was playing with Photoshop. One thing about the Photoshop is that it has many effects that you can apply to the original photograph. So, for a while you are fascinated with the fancy features. Then you find the other people are doing the same, and suddenly it gets uninteresting. I see some works of similar nature submitted to the WHA haiga contest. Digital manipulation is done too carelessly in those works. It should be applied only when it is really necessary for the haiga. Now I used the software only for limited uses.

Haiga 682 Elezabeth S. Lamb haiku

2011-10-30T09:40:00.003+09:00

Haiku by Elezabeth S. Lamb (USA). Artwork by myself.
Morning glories are summer flower here in Japan, but it seems that the flower blooms in autumn in some other parts of the world. The latter may be a different type than Japan one, and maybe the color and shape differ, too. This is one difficulty of sharing the same Kigo list internationally.

In a short form like haiku, effective use of Kigo becomes indeed effective. But we cannot always depend on Kigo if we are writing to the international readers. Some people propose "key words". Sounds like a good idea but it will be long before being accepted world wide.

Haiga 681 Minato, Keishi haiku

2011-10-29T09:20:00.003+09:00

Haiku by Minato, Keishi (Japan). Artwork by myself.
Minato san is a professor of English literature at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto. Besides haiku, he write waka and longer poetry. He is active in on-line haiku also, so if you search under his name, you will find many links pointing to his activities.
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Leaves are really turning now each morning. Great season.

Haiga 680 Nagata, Koi haiku

2011-10-28T07:59:00.002+09:00

Haiku by Nagata,Koi (Japan). Artwork by myself.
Not many haijin write haiku like this. Nagata is an unique haijin. He was an engineer all his life. Has left quite influences on the younger generation of Japanese haijin. He happened to be living near a place I go almost every month, Suma district of Kobe city. I could have visited him if I had known, but I came to know his haiku much later after his death. He is also a good haiga painter. Once I went all the way to Himiji city, to a literary museum to see his haiga collections.
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Beautiful autumn days here now. I had a full day service at the church, and just came back home this morning. Going to Kyoto later today.

Haiga 679 Natalia Rudychev haiku

2011-10-26T08:27:00.003+09:00

Haiku by Natalia Rudychev (USA-Russia). Artwork by myself.
Natalia san is a mysterious woman. We exchanged emails. I made some haiga. She sent me cards and presents. And she's just gone. I never heard from her since.

She is completely off-line, but occasionally her haiku quoted on some haiku blogs appear. Yesterday, I found one, and I decided to quote her here on my blog, too. I picked her haiku that was rather mysterious, and made the haiga accordingly.

Basho backgammon game

2011-10-25T08:13:00.003+09:00

My Osaka friend sent to me this image of Japanese backgammon based on Basho's haiku journey in Oku, northeast Japan. The stops with manga are representative places Basho visited and wrote haiku. Interesting thing is that this game is printed on the back of a little pamphlet made by a tax office.

If you could name and come up with the related haiku just by looking at the manga, you are certainly well informed about "Oku no Hosomichi" or "Narrow Road to the Deep North". Right bottom manga is the beginning. The last one, which is in the center, is Iga Uneno, Basho' birth place.

Haiga 678 Miyazaki, Hisashi haiku

2011-10-24T08:13:00.004+09:00

Haiku by Miyazaki, Hisashi (Japan). Artwork by myself.

Past two days were like back to summer, humid and hot. Now, it's back to normal autumn morning here. Leaves began to turn. I woke up a bit earlier than usual, and came to office. The ending part of October is always busy because of the church event, to which a lot of followers attend, including those from overseas. Already met a few from US last evening. This afternoon, I am giving a lecture in English.

It seems like one work attracts more works. Other than the church duties, several things must be handled within a couple weeks. Plus that, my office is moving soon. I hope things will be like the haiku here, hop, step and jump to the destination.

FROM 5 LANDS (CINQUETERRE)

2011-10-22T09:07:00.007+09:00

Romano san from Italy sent me these photos. Such refleshing images.They show his cabin and the magnificent view around it. The cabin seems small but I think it is just perfect for writing haiku or engaging in other creative activities. This is the kind of place where you need to stay at least a week or so to really appreciate the environment, and come up with creative things.

I dream: I open any doors in my house and come out to find the other side of the door is the blue one like in the photo. The sea, light, wind, all mine to enjoy.
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I was in Osaka yesterday with my friends. We talked about the exhibition done in the summer, and about the coming exhibition to be held in January. This time, we will hold exhibition in the heart of Osaka city. Since Osaka is where Basho passed away, we will treat the fact as the main theme of the exhibition.

Haiga 677 Yamaguchi, Seishi haiku

2011-10-21T12:45:00.002+09:00

Haiku by Yamaguchi, Seishi (Japan). Artwork by myself.
Going to Osaka this afternoon for a little get-together. We will discuss the next exhibition to be held within the heart of Osaka.

Haiga 676 Yamaguchi, Seishi haiku

2011-10-20T11:12:00.002+09:00

Haiku by Yamaguchi, Seishi (Japan). Artwork by myself.
The season has changed. It is now in the middle of autumn. Portable electric fans around the house have been cleaned and are ready to be taken into the attic.

This year, because of energy shortage, I think many households restrained from using air conditioning and instead, brought out old electric fans during the summer. In my house, too, we used six fans. As the cold season approaches, we need to come up with something to compensate the air conditioning. Thus, the effect of 3.11 disaster lingers.

Fukushima now

2011-10-19T08:36:00.003+09:00

The prefecture of Fukushima is where the Fukushima Nuclear Power plant situate. At the present, not many photos of the damaged plants are in public view. but there are some from the vicinities of the plants. Cities and towns near the plants are under compulsory evacuation measure. The photo here shows one of the cities. It has become a town with no inhabitant except dogs, cats, cows and the like. Everything about the city looks normal except the radiation, which is intangible, no smell, just quietly mingled in the air.

I added an astronaut to the photo to show this normal town is now like the moon. The air is there but human cannot breath it. Sunshine, water, breeze, all these things that provide comfortable environment to us are there, but we cannot appreciate them because of the radiation alone. That is just so nonsense.

Energy is a must for our modern life, and nuke provides it, but once the nuke gets out of hand, the result is wider areas like moon on this life-friendly earth. Thorough safety measures for the existing nuke plants all over the world is essential to out future.

Matsushima now

2011-10-18T12:23:00.003+09:00

It has been almost 8 months since the 3.11 disaster devastated the northeast Japan, including the beautiful Matsushima bay and the islands. The first photo shows the bay from distance. It looks just as beautiful as before. The islands are more or less intact. The sightseeing businesses have resumed their operation, souvenir shops are open and sightseeing ferries are in operation. JR train needs more time to recover, but buses are available.

Because of the magnitude of the tsunami, its damage still remains along the coasts and beaches. The second photo shows a debris filled beach of Matsushima Bay. It seems more time is necessary before the bay regains it former beauty.

Haiga 675 Jack Kerouac haiku

2011-10-17T11:17:00.005+09:00

Haiku by Jack Kerouac (USA). Artwork by myself.
Jack was a "Beat" poet and writer, and he wrote many haiku, too. It is not common that a major figure in the main stream literature write haiku. Or maybe I am misinformed and there are actually many who writes haiku, there is in fact someone like the guy who received the Nobel Prise this year. Anyway, I would like to see more people in the main stream start writing haiku so the haiku itself will be an integral part of world literature.

Haiga 674 Matsuo Allard haiku

2011-10-15T11:14:00.003+09:00

Haiku by Matsuo Allard (USA). Artwork by myself.
This haiga is one of my experimental one with typography. I treated it in such a way that the words themselves convey what they meant to convey.

Some people might feel that Japanese calligraphy is necessary in haiga. I do not think so. In olden days in Japan, sumi brush was the only writing tool so that is what hajin then used to write haiku and draw haiga. The types of font you can create with sumi brush are limited, many of them may not be suitable for contemporary haiku.

In Japan now, there are a lot of fonts to choose from. And plus that, in the world where alphabets are used, there are rich stock of fonts, and these are available to us Japanese too now. Why not used them for haiku, and play with them.
Make use of the treasure and treat them in the way that convey the content of haiku is what I am trying here.

Haiga 674 Svetomir Djurbabic haiku

2011-10-14T11:23:00.006+09:00

Haiku by Svetomir Djurbabic. Artwork by myself.

Svetomir Djurbabic lives in Nis, Serbia. A journalist in culture department of TV "Global". A member in editorialship of haiku magazine "Haiku novine". His haiku appeared in haiku magazines in Yugoslavia, Japan, USA, Germany, France, Italy, Holland, Norvegen, and Slovenia.
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I am teaching a Tenrikyo scripture class for the past three days. It will last till next Tuesday. Though the class is two hours long, I must speak in English. I write English almost everyday, like this blog, but hardly have chances to speak it. I am scraping rust as I go along, and that is a quite demanding and consuming activity.

Haiga 673 Tomas Tranströmer haiku 4

2011-10-13T11:29:00.003+09:00

Haiku by Tomas Tranströmer (Sweden). Artwork by myself.
This haiga is the last one of Tomas's haiku for now. I could not find many English translations. I might make some more in the future when I have some more haiku to work with.

Tomas's haiku is good to me because it gives me a lot of creative space so that I can let my imagination flying free. I just concentrate on the kind of images that share the spirit of the haiku.

For this series of haiga, I made drawings by hand first, then instead of scanning them, I just took digital photo and used automatic trace mode of my software. I found this way much simpler and the results were just as well.

Haiga 672 Tomas Tranströmer haiku 3

2011-10-12T11:17:00.002+09:00

Haiku by Tomas Tranströme (Sweden). Artwork by myself.

Yet, another haiga for the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature 2011.

Haiga 671 Tomas Tranströmer haiku 2

2011-10-10T09:57:00.003+09:00

Haiku by Tomas Tranströmer (Sweden). Artwork by myself.
Another haiku by the Nobel Prize winner. I used the bird again as a symbol of something that "get in". The verse says "I" can get in. But I do not think it is　the author himself, it is something abstract that nestles in his mind.

I used a toothbrush to draw the sough of rain. The bird was of course drawn with a regular sumi brush.

Haiga 670 Tomas Tranströmer haiku 1

2011-10-09T09:46:00.004+09:00

Haiku by Tomas Tranströmer (Sweden). Artwork by myself.
Nobel Prize for Literature 2011 went to Tomas Tranströmer of Sweden. Congratulation!