In the posting this time, I take up AIU Festival 2010 held on October 10-11 at Akita International University（国際教養大学）and the haiku presentation by students at the AIU class of Japanese literature.
AIU Festival 2010 (Part 2)
The theme is shown in the following photos:
Here is a photo of those who enjoyed the festival.
Our network participated in the festival with the title:俳句とHAIKU （INTERNATIONAL HAIKU）.
We exhibited haiku poems and haiga paintings contributed to our website by AIU professors, students, and other haiku poets worldwide. We also gave live art of haiga painting and poetry recitation.
During the festival, we enjoyed haiku, haiga painting, and recitations with students, teachers and visitors.
Masuda Junko （桝田純子）, a haiku poet, gave a haiku recitation for audiences.
She also presented us with her travelogue on 2010 Bath Japanese Festival, in which she participated with her daughter Aika (愛佳) in May and they enjoyed home stay with Alan Summers, founder / tutor With Words (www.withwords.org.uk).
Here is a photo of audiences who enjoyed Junko’s presentation.
Haiku Presentaion (Part 2)
Professor Alexander Dolin teaches Japanese Literature and Civilization Studies at AIU. He also writes haiku.
Recently Professor Alexander Dolin took up haiku in his class of Japanese Literature, where I participated in the haiku presentation by students as a referee on November 15.
His students kindly contributed their haiku to our netwotk, which I post in the website, dividing them into three parts.
Shugo Takahashi （高橋宗吾）
教養大,季節の変わり目人の別れ
Kyouyoudai kisetsu no kawarime hito no wakare
AIU(Akita International University),
the term when season changes
the term when my friends leave
夏祭り花火見上げて友と飲む
Natsumatsuri hanabi miagete tomo to nomu
Summer festival
drinking with my friends
as looking up fireworks
秋の山緑の葉から衣がえ
Aki no yama midori no ha kara koromogae
A mountain in fall
has taken on a fresh new color cloth
from green leaves
年賀状２ケ月後れで送る友
Nengajou nikagetsu okure de okuru tomo
New years card
which arrived
two months later
夏休み久々に見る友の顔
Natsuyasumi hisabisa ni miru tomo no kao
In summer vacation,
seeing faces of my friends
which I haven’t seen for long.
紅葉踏む音に聞こえる森の声
Momiji fumu oto ni kikoeru mori no koe
The voice of forest
which I hear from
ｔhe sound of stepping on fallen leaves.
Emily Eisemann
The month’s at its end
look, all the stones lie silent
as I tread on bones.
月終わる石皆黙し骨を踏む
Tsuki owaru ishi mina mokushi hone wo fumu
It turns toward Spring
the sakura are blooming
there, smell something sweet
陽春や香り漂う桜花
Youshun ya kaori tadayou sakurabana
Morning is coming
the waves are silver
pounding on the sand
朝あけや波白銀に砂を打つ
Asaake ya nami shirogane ni suna wo utsu
Birds by the window
never stopping, all night
cannnot, cannnot sleep
よもすがら鳥窓で鳴き我起こす
Yomosugara tori mado de naki ware okosu
Fields stretch to the sky
waves of brown, rice in the wind
to the horizon
茶の波の地平に伸びる稲田かな
Cha no nami no chihei ni nobiru inada kana
Leonard V. David
Crows make their descent
on white sheets covering rooftops
I see its glory
輝きや屋根の白布にカラス降る
Kagayaki ya yane no hakufu ni karasu oru
Perched on a tree branch
under the bright, blue sky dome
the skylark sings
ドーム下えだで囀るヒバリかな
Doumu shita eda de saezuru hibari kana
On orange pathways
I walk with great confusion
Where are the pink trees?
オレンジの小道を歩き狼狽すピンクの木々はどこへ消えるや
Orennji no komichi wo aruki roubaisu pinku no kigi wa dokoe kieru ya
Tonight you shall rest
return to your dwelling place
‘til we meet again
また会おう今宵は休み家々で
Mata aou koyoi wa yasumi ieie de
Winds tossing the waves
green buds sprouting everywhere
what magic I see
風吹きて波を上げたり緑の芽四方に芽ばゆ魔術なりけり
Kaze fukite nami wo agetari midori no me shihou ni mebayu majutsu nari keri
Last of all, I refer to the “17 syllables” question.
You can read two English haiku below, which appeared in the blog Haiku Habits (http://haikuhabits.com/).
Snow floats
in puffs to the silent
soft white floor.
see the snowflakes fall
they are white and beautiful
with all the designs
The first haiku is made up of 2-6-3 syllable format.
The second is made up of 5-7-5 syllable format.
- The comment was given as follows:
Ang3lina
February 7, 2010 at 3:56 pm
I hope dat u people know that a haiku should have 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the second line, and 5 in the third.
- I answered the comment above as follows:
Hiruta
February 8, 2010 at 12:32 am
Many years ago I started English haiku by the 5-7-5 format.
At Mt. Tsukuba
burnishing study, ideas and thoughts
as chestnuts ripen
But some years after, I found it’s better to write haiku in English by the format 3-5-3.
This is more similar to Japanese haiku.
For example, 「少年や」is counted as 5 moras (sho-u-ne-n-ya) in Japanese and makes one phrase of the Japanese haiku.
In this English translation, it is ‘A boy ― ‘, and is counted as 3 syllables.
In this case, ‘A boy over there’ makes one line in the 5-7-5 format in English haiku, but it gives birth to quite a different image from ‘A boy ― ‘ .
This is because there is quite a difference between the two languages of Japanese and English.
Since then I’ve been trying to write haiku in English by the format of 3-5-3.
But sometimes it doesn’t go perfectly because the word used for each line is made up of varieties of syllables.
Now I think haiku is the shortest form of poetry, which is composed of three short lines.
The most important point is what we want to express by this short form.
Maybe this idea leads to the shortest form of poetry, which is composed of any free short three lines.
Please enjoy writing and reading haiku.
Thank you.
Best regards,
Hidenori Hiruta
・ Ken Wagner gave me the following comment:
Ken Wagner
Thanks for your insight, Hidenori.
I get the “17 syllables” question quite often, and it is both helpful – and interesting – to get another perspective on the issue.
I added links to your two sites on the Haiku Habits “Haiku on the Web” page.
Cheers.
The next posting ‘Haiku by Students at AIU (Part 7) appears on December 11.
― Hidenori Hiruta
Akita International Haiku Network 
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