In Japanese poetry, kigo (季語) is the word or phrase used to indicate the season and it is often included in haiku to locate the poem in a particular time of the year.
In these uncertain times of lockdown and pandemic, we want to open our website to members and friends to embrace the creative power of haiku and express the feelings and experiences we all are living in this peculiar "season".
Our hope is to create an ongoing piece of collaborative poetry that brings together the UK and Japan and will serve as a documenting account of our community experiences.
How to Contribute
- We invite poets, writers and people of any age and expertise to send us their haiku by email, tag us or use the hashtag #JShaikucorner on social media. The weekly deadline is on Fridays at 12:00 noon (BST).
| Write your haiku and the hashtag #JShaikucorner: |
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- Every Monday we will select one haiku among those received the previous week and post it as the haiku of the week on this page and on our social media with the name or alias of the author.
- Haiku sent must be original and belong to their authors as copyright holders. The Japan Society will not accept any responsibility for the content published. By sending their haiku, authors agree to its publication in our website and social media.
- The Japan Society will not use any haiku published or received for commercial purposes and will follow the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions regarding the use of data and the website content.
Haiku of the Week
Week 3 ( 22-26 June 2020)
June rains
child counts buses
through the foggy window
Ceci Chui
Week 2 ( 15-19 June 2020)
forest walk
every tree branch
reaches out for hug
Asa Hanada
Week 1 ( 8-12 June 2020)
A cold, blue silence.
The young apples touched with dew,
Mirror our damp cheeks
Gemma Bartram
Week 0 (1-5 June 2020)
Hope always rises
writing a shopping list
will there be flour?
Jenny White
How to Haiku: Beyond 5 7 5
Find more about how to write a haiku in our video with haiku poet Paul Conneally who introduces the key elements of haiku, illuminating some of the common pitfalls and misunderstandings of what haiku is about. Watch this short 6 minute piece to stimulate ideas, and see what benefits haiku can have for you and your loved ones.
More Selected Haiku
Week 3
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人恋し小夜啼鳥の声澄みて A nightingale Yoko Dochi |
locked down for three months Annie Bachini |
Birds in my nowhere mind. Damon Rawnsley |
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夏のベリー Bean |
A murder of crows. DL |
Bonds of friendship bloom Gemma Bartram |
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Cherries, untasted. Vanessa |
Week 2
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yellow dahlia Annie Bachini |
Social distancing. Dominic Seymour |
Faces on a screen Gemma Bartram |
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Gliding silently. Chris Loughlan |
Oh scrawny carrot Chris Arning |
Our quiet rest. Simon Agar |
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hanami transcends hanami transforms Sue Henderson |
Week 1
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Summer light draws down Chris Francis |
Beauty is not seen Christoph Sills |
Rain sprinkles Thaisa Hopkins |
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as sunlight slants Alan Summers |
Another sunrise Jane Varnus |
I cannot see this. Chris Loughlan |
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the white butterfly Annie Bachini |
There is still one thing Rachna Chowla |
Carpet of bluebells Kate Lawrence |
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Shine on the same moon. Damon Rawnsley |
June, Mother’s birthday. Margaret Gordon |
散った花春無く私夏を待つ The fallen blossom Lizzie (Elizabeth) Parkes |
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the sweetness Ceci Chui |
bluebells Asa Hanada |
Autumnal dew Alicia S. Fernandez |
We would like to thank you to all participants for sharing their poems with us. Please keep sending your haiku every week so we all get together and strengthen the ties of our community through haiku.