The Nature of Haiku

“The movement of the mind that goes and then returns” - with this quotation Makoto Ueda describes the “leap” technique of Matsuo Basho¯, the poet 'par excellence’ of the haiku. He also mentions that Basho¯ “always encouraged his students to cultivate their individual talents rather than to follow him with blind faith. Several months before his death he wrote a haiku and gave it to one of his students:”

Ware ni nina Do not resemble me
Futatsu ni wareshi Never be like a muskmelon
Makuwauri Cut in two identical halves

Matsuo Basho¯, The Master Haiku Poet by Makoto Ueda, Kodansha International, Tokyo • New York • London 1982, p.183

My haiku are Japanese in form, inspired by a journey into the depth of Japanese culture, and personal in meaning, perceiving Japan through European eyes.

Fons Elders