“Treasures of Haiku”
Itsuki Natsui,Ambassador of Haiku Capitol Matsuyama

Matsuyama was declared a Haiku Capital in 2014.
We in Matsuyama are eager to share the treasuresof haiku with domestic and foreign haiku fans.
What are the treasures of haiku? First, to appreciate
the blessings of nature; second, to be healed by nature;and third, to develop imagination and sympathy. We haiku
poets of Matsuyama think that if all the peoples of the world
have these three treasures in hand, we will all be healthier,happier, and kinder to each other.
To know each season, to receive a blessing from theseasons, and to be thankful for nature was normal for ourancestors. Thanksgiving Day is evidence of this, but is it
enough to feel gratitude for nature only once a year? Please
explore and enjoy the natural world, make haiku, and heal
your mind and body.

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W

hen you compose haiku, observation is necessary,
but your own imagination is the most importantelement. If you imagine the close relationship between thenatural world and human beings, your haiku will teach yourheart to grow in love.
The effect of haiku is enormous, but the method isvery simple. Anyone can write good haiku easily with thisguidebook.
Haiku is like a gift box into which you put your seasonal
pleasures.

Let’s choose a season-word and enjoy
composing haiku.

Dogo Onsen Honkan
3Why is Matsuyama
a haiku capital?

M

atsuyama has produced great haiku poets such as
Shiki Masaoka, Kyoshi Takahama, and many others.

Matsuyama was the place where the wandering Zen Monkand master of free-verse haiku Santoka Taneda settled in hislate life. Haiku lovers visit Matsuyama just as music lovers
visit Vienna to trace the footsteps of Mozart, Schubert andBeethoven.

The Shiki Museum

The goals of this museum areto show the development of themodern Japanese short-form poetry
known to the world as haiku andtanka, and to study Matsuyama’s traditions and history throughthe life of the great Meiji-era
poet Shiki Masaoka.

4Who were Shiki Masaoka
and Kyoshi Takahama?

Shiki Masaoka reformed the modern

Shiki Masaoka

form of Japanese poetry - which is a fixed form ofseventeen syllables on the subject of nature - in the Meiji
period, naming it ”Haiku” (”Hai” means ”play”, ”ku”
means ”word”). He breathed new life into haiku by creating
literary sketches of real life subjects, derived from realistic
paintings in Western art. Sadly, Shiki spent much of his shortlife in the sickbed.

Kyoshi Takahama practiced Shiki’sreformation of haiku and promoted

it throughout Japan with his famous haiku
and His poetic philosophy.

Kyoshi Takahama

According to Kyoshi, Haiku is a 'kyakkan

shasei' (an objective portrayal) and a 'kacho fuei' (the beautiesof nature and the harmony between nature and man.)5

What is a haiku tourin Matsuyama?

Part 1. Ginko: composing haiku while strolling in nature.
Visiting the birthplace of famous haiku will help give you
the inspiration to compose one of your own.There are manymonumental stones with haiku of Santoka, Shiki and Kyoshi
in Matsuyama. Once you have written your haiku, you will
have the option to use the ”Haiku Post" (a mailbox only forhaiku) on the streetcar and many other places in town.

Wisteria of Koshin-an
Haiku PostMonument to Matsuyama highschool haiku championship at
Okaido street

6KukaiPart 2. Kukai: sharing haiku
In Matsuyama, there are some great places to sharehaiku, such as ”Isso-an”and ”Koshin-an”. The suffix ”-an"indicates a hermitage that is the dividing line between the
secular and the poetic world.
”Isso-an” is also known as the place of Santoka's
peaceful death.
How to share your haiku:(three or more participants are required)
1.Read all Haiku without naming the author
2.Choose your favorite haiku
3.Share the reason you chose it
4.Announce the author's name
5.Give each other a pat on the back7

How does one
compose a haiku? (1)1.
2.

Take a walk in nature withyour pen and guide book.

Find kigo (season word).
Observe the momentof meeting between kigo, yourimagination, and someone(including yourself) or something
you detect with your five senses.

8Text: Chizu Rosen
English translation: Adam Ali

3.

Sketch the scene as a painterwould and take notes withyour own words. (If you can phrasethem with five, seven, or twelve
syllables, it will be easier to shape
the haiku form later.)

4.

Compose your haiku using your notes. Haiku
is written in three lines, with five syllables in thefirst line, seven syllables in the second line, and fivesyllables in the third line. While the number of syllables
per line is standard, it does not need to be strictly
adhered to. Create a painting in the reader's mind.

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How does one
compose a haiku? (2)5.

Read some haiku
critically and with yourimagination.Picture the meeting
between kigo and someone orsomething in the haiku.
white peonya reddish tinge on a petal
nobody noticed
By Kyosi Takahama(peony: summer kigo)
how much snow?
again and again I asked
in my bed
By Shiki Masaoka(snow: winter kigo)

10silent dog
carrying a shoe in his mouth
Shiki's deathday
By Itsuki Natsui(Shiki's deathday: autumn kigo)

Three Major Kigo
snowmoonflower(cherry blossoms)

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A list of kigo for spring

pleasant tides of spring

spring day
be keenly cold
spring breeze
Spring clouds
hazy moon
spring rain
spring rainyellow sandspring mountainpleasant tides of spring

pleasant tides of spring

spring hat
Valentine's Day
pilgrimcherry-blossom viewing

12cherry-blossom
viewingnightingale

swallowswallowtweet
cat in heatfrog
butterfly

cherry blossoms
camellia
budding season
fresh grassspinachcamellia
cherry blossoms
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A list of kigo for summer

sunsetheathigh nooncool
rainy season
summer moonthundersunsetcumulonimbus, cloud ninesummer ocean
carp streamer

waterfallcarp streamer
fireworks
nap
beer
yacht
beer
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cherrysweat

little cuckoo
snake
lizardcicadaladybug
cicadasunflower
fresh green leaves
strawberry
lily
rose
sunflower
broad bean
tomatostrawberry

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A list of kigo for autumn

lingering summer heatfine autumn day

fine autumn day

moon
full moonshooting star; meteor
fog
typhoonfull moonlightning
dewdropclear autumn water
harvestnew rice
scarecrownew rice
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deer

deer
boar
migratory birds
sardinesalmondragonfly
cricket chirping
silver grass
autumn leaves
chrysanthemum
cosmosacorn
cosmossilver grass

autumn leaves

acorn
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A list of kigo for winterfreezefreezenew year's evesnow
drizzling rainorion
cold wintry windwithered fieldsnow
withered field

hot pot cooking
heating
hot sakemufflersweatermuffler, scarf
overcoat18

waterfowl
hibernation
yellow tailwild duckwaterfowl
bare wood

whale
fox
wolf
owl
bare wood
fallen leaves

fallen leaves

mandarin orange,tangerine

chinese cabbage
carrotmandarin orange, tangerine
narcissus
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A list of kigo for new year

sunrise on
new year's day

new year
new year's day
sunrise on new year's day

visiting a shrine of the new year
new year’s calligraphy
new year's foods( in nest of boxes)
first bath of the new year
new diary
toptoprice cakeseven spring herbs

rice cake20

L

et's combine photographs andhaikus, and decorate them!

Setouchi Matsuyama Photo Haiku Contest
Prize-winners
summer dusk
fishing boats set their nets
around the sun

Marietta Jane McGregor(Canberra, Australia)

Photo Haiku Contest Guidelines for Writing Haiku
1.On three lines
2.With or without a season word
3.No fixed number of syllables

Setouchi Matsuyama Photo Haiku Contest Web Site

http://matsuyamahaiku.jp/contest/
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MEMO22haiku 1haiku 2haiku 3haiku 423

MEMO24haiku 5

haiku 6haiku 7

haiku 825

MEMO26

haiku 9

haiku 10haiku 11haiku 1227

MEMO28haiku 13

haiku 14

haiku 15

haiku 16

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観光庁 2015 年度・地域資源を活用した観光地魅力創造事業「松山・俳句＝ＨＡＩＫＵ」ブランディングに関する企画および市場調査事業

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Tourism and International Exchange Division, Industrial Economy
Depertment, Matsuyama City
4-7-2 Nibancho, Matsuyama 790-8571
Phone +81-89-948-6556(089-948-6556)