WHCsenryu is created to experiment a possible path of freedom for senryu to be liberated from what looks like a non-starter or dead end argument over the differences between it and haiku, which only serves to confuse than clarify. We depart completely from this path and set forth a new path with a new definition and see if we can arrive at a new genre in its own right. We start off by separating senryu completely from haiku in the sense the two have nothing to do with each other, except for some historical developments in the past etc. We then build up certain characteristics which will make the new genre. Essentially, the main points of them are short form in witticism or ridicule, with all their shades and variations. I shall not go into details here because half the fun of this experimental list is to build up our own new definition of senryu as we go along. While everybody is welcome to apply, this list is really for those who really wish to explore a completely different and new approach to senryu without or outside the current muddled understanding of the genre. It is different therefore from "ko-senryu" (old Japanese senryu) where the demarcation between it and haiku was not that clear. It will not reflect either the contemporary Japanese situation where new fashions and imitations of one genre of the other have caused the convergence of the two genre, bringing in confusion once again. So much for words, let us begin our experiment. If we have to create a world senryu club in the end, we will have succeeded in our experiment.


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Yours sincerely,

Susumu Takiguchi
Chairman
The World Haiku Club