Winter wind lashes my cheeks, lump comes to my throat. Mizuta was motivated to compose and share her first-ever haiku in English with us after running across the Haikuist Network Web site. I guess they had been too astringent to be eaten by crows, and are inedible now, but for me, they somehow seem to glow red proudly. The rich amber and red glow from ripe persimmons caught Takahashi's attention. Combined with the shiny surface of the lacquerware, the austerely elegant color paints a comfortably warm image and haiku.
New Year is a full haiku season in Japan.
It begins with visits to one's temple, the sound of 88 temple bells, first dreams and the first light of dawn and continues through a few days of special activities including the receiving of greeting cards and the Coming of Age Day on Jan. 8. Ito is a student at Sapporo International University and her haiku was chosen as one of the best in a contest held there during a cultural festival. A cultural projects adviser in Riga, he has been composing haiku for more than 10 years and is co-editor of Avanporti, a magazine about contemporary culture. His debut haiku to our column is dedicated to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty. Venus was the Roman goddess of love and beauty and is the brightest planet in the solar system.