Celebrating the world's shortest poetry on Haiku Day

Today, and August 19th annually, is Haiku Day / Haiku Commemoration Day 俳句の日・俳句記念日 in Japan.  The date of the anniversary comes from the fact that August 19th, 8/19, can be read as "Ha (8) i (1) ku (9)". The day was first proposed by a haiku scholar Toshinori Tsubochi and later by Takako Ueno and her Haiku group. 

Haiku Day encourages people to rediscover the fun, depth, and seasonal awareness that define haiku, often through 句会 (haiku gatherings) and small events held around the country. These celebrations highlight haiku’s long history: from Matsuo Bashō, who emphasized the importance of the opening 5‑7‑5 verse in the Edo period, to Masaoka Shiki, who shaped modern haiku in the Meiji era and wrote more than 200,000 poems.

Though haiku is famously brief with just seventeen sounds arranged in 5‑7‑5 pattern, its ability to capture a moment, a season, or a feeling continues to resonate in the modern world.

Photo: Haiku as explained by a 10 year old; “Haiku is the world’s shortest form of poetry, expressed in seventeen sounds arranged in 5–7–5. Along with tanka, it is a traditional form of Japanese literature that has been loved by many people from the Edo period to the present.”