Visual Haiku

This extract has been adapted from the CD ROM, Voices & Visions from Japan, Texts for the Senior English Classroom.

Haiku

A form of poetry that became extremely popular from the 16th century was the 17-syllable verse known as hokku. This verse often formed part of a poetic sequence, as another poet would extend and modify the meaning of the first verse, the hokku, by adding another verse in 14 syllables. This kind of linked poetry, known as haikai or 'playful style' combined for the first time the language of the aristocratic classical poetry with the diction and imagery of daily life. It was only in the 19th century that hokku came to be known as haiku. The greatest poet associated with this verse form is Basho (1644-94).

Basho's life

Basho was born in 1644 in or near the town of Ueno in the Iga province, approximately 48 kilometres south-east of modern-day Kyoto. His grandfather had belonged to the warrior class, but the family's fortunes had gradually sunk and they had become farmers. As a young man, Basho served as a domestic employee in the household of one of the provincial warriors, keeping company with the son of the lord, who was a haiku-poet. In 1672, Basho went to Edo (modern-day Tokyo) to establish himself as a haiku-master. In 1680, he retreated to Fukagawa on the outskirts of Edo, where he lived in a hermitage and built up a large network of students and patrons. A large part of Basho's life was spent travelling in the provinces. His prose diaries and several of his poems were actually composed during his travels. In 1694, while on one of his journeys, he fell seriously ill and died.

From waka to haiku

Basho made the 17-syllable poem, haiku, very popular. Classical Japanese poetry, known as waka, was a verse form in 31 syllables. Only traditionally prescribed words, acknowledged as elegant and refined, could be used in this verse form. The subject matter of such poems was also confined to highly elegant topics, such as love and the seasons. Haiku marked an important break with this tradition: it drew freely on folk songs; introduced language that was earthy, vulgar and colloquial; and emphasised wit and humour.

Composers of haiku

Poets who composed haiku and haikai (linked verse) came from a broad spectrum of society. Some belonged to the high-ranking warrior class; others were merchants, doctors, priests and even farmers. Since composing linked verse involved poets sitting together, listening to each other's poetry and capping the verses that had come before, poets developed tight-knit bonds. These often overcame the barriers of class and status that otherwise separated them. In order to compose in the haiku style, poets needed a good grounding in the classical poetic tradition. Only when this was acquired could a poet begin breaking the traditional rules of poetic composition and introduce new elements.

The Edo period

Basho lived during the Edo period (1600-1868). This was a period of considerable political stability. After centuries of internal warfare between petty chieftains, Japan had become a unified state under a single military ruler (shogun). The shogun established his military capital in Edo, in eastern Honshu in 1600. The government pursued a policy of national seclusion and all intercourse with the Western world was terminated. Basho's poetry was virtually unknown to the rest of the world until the mid 19th century, when Japan once again opened its doors to the West.

The class system

During the Edo period, a rigid class system was established that divided society into four main classes: the warrior class, the aristocracy, the peasantry and the merchant class. Because of the peaceful conditions that existed during the Edo period, the warrior class, which topped the social pyramid, became a leisured class, its members receiving a fixed income from the government. The peasant class was widely praised by all classes for its productivity and usefulness, but in reality it was greatly exploited. The haiku-poet Basho was descended from a family of impoverished warriors who had gradually joined the ranks of the peasantry. Merchants were held in contempt and were located at the bottom of the social pyramid.

From Kyoto to Edo

From the 17th century, the political centre of gravity in Japan shifted from Kyoto in western Honshu to Edo in the east. Up until then, Edo had been a mere village, but it now emerged as a major metropolis. Kyoto continued to be the home of the aristocracy and the emperor. The western and eastern halves of Honshu were joined by a thriving commercial highway called the Tokaido. It brought together people of diverse cultures, languages and classes. This proved to be fertile ground for the emergence of haiku and other popular art forms. Basho's activities as a haiku-poet covered both western and eastern Honshu, and he drew freely upon the language and imagery of both regions.

Basho's travels

Basho was a socially marginal figure whose family had gradually fallen from the warrior class to the peasantry. Much of his life was spent travelling through different parts of Japan, meeting his disciples and patrons and composing many linked verses (haikai). He also wrote some long prose poems (haibun). One of the more famous of his collections of haibun is Narrow Road to the Interior, which he wrote while journeying to Michinoku in north-east Japan. The journey, begun in 1689, lasted over five months and covered more than 2,400 kilometres.

The advent of printing

One of the most significant technological developments of the Edo period, when Basho wrote his poetry, was the invention of printing. The technique of printing a whole page from a single woodblock hastened the production of printed matter. Works were soon mass produced. This led to an explosion in the consumption of popular literature. In the first half of the 17th century there were over a hundred publishers in Japan. Basho took advantage of the new market created by the print revolution and wrote and edited many linked-verse sequences for publication. Anthologies of haikai and other poems were the first widely distributed print literature in Japan.

Mass education

It was during the Edo period that education became available to all classes of society for the first time. This allowed men of impoverished birth, such as Basho, to learn how to write and, eventually, become poets. In former times, only a small group belonging to the aristocracy and priesthood could read and write, and, because woodblock printing had not then been developed, texts were painstakingly copied by hand. As a result, access to, and ownership of, literary texts was the preserve of the privileged few. However, in Basho's age, even peasant children were taught the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic in temple schools.

Basho's poetry as popular culture

The invention of printing, the spread of mass education and the flourishing economy of the Edo period allowed ordinary folk to consume cultural products for the first time. Haiku could be learned by commoners from teachers who earned a living teaching poetry. Basho himself established a school of haiku and lived in a hermitage in Fukagawa on the outskirts of Edo. He spent much of his time travelling, meeting his disciples who were scattered across the country. His pupils did much to promote and distribute his work. One of Basho's most famous poems is the old frog poem:

the old pond
a frog jumps in,
water's sound

It has been translated and interpreted by many writers. This brief poem carries a wealth of meaning and demonstrates the way in which Basho broke with the past, while at the same time incorporating elements from earlier poetry. The frog was generally associated with spring in the classical poetic tradition and was known for its sad voice. In Basho's poem, the frog leaps into a stagnant pond. The sudden movement of the frog, which suggests the awakening of life in spring, contrasts with the wintry stillness of the old pond.

Old Frog Poem by Basho
Translated by Makoto Ueda
Makoto Ueda,
Basho and His Interpreters: Selected Hokku with Commentary.
Copyright © 1991 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Jr University.