.


A friend has touched a topic that I wanted to discuss for some time:

<> right now I'm interested in why five and seven became
the "required" line length in Japanese poetry. I know lots of the
history ¨Ã but why those numbers?
I've heard some suggest the 5/7/5 of haiku onji is a breath line or
all that can be said in one breath. <>

ONJI Òô×Ö¡¢also called ONSETSU Òô, a phonogram

It is essential to know the Japanese language to understand the
natural flow of this pattern of 5 7 5. It is not so mysterious as
some want to make us believe, it is really quite a natural flow of
Japanese word beats and the <> one breath, onji <> is to some extend
the explanation of foreigners (non-Japanese, I should say) and
theoreticists which are non-native speakers, trying to grapple with
this. After 10 years in Japan, something like <> yamakaze no <> will
flow out of your mouth without even knowing a thing about haiku.

I will try to give you some examples.

In the Japanese alphabet, one hiragana letter comprises a sound like
a beat, a syllable, for example ka, ki, ku, ke, ko, sa, shi, su, se,
so and so on.
Many Japanese words are made of just two of these beats, like SORA
for sky, YAMA for mountain, KAWA for river, HIMA for time and so on,
you see the point.
Joining two of these words makes another word, like ARA KAWA, wild
river, YAMA KAZE wind in the mountain.
Now add a kireji and you got the first line of a Japanese haiku.
Ara kawa ya <> Oh, you wild river
yamakaze ya <> Oh, you wind of the mountains

You can also join two beat words with NO to make one new meaning.
For example, kiku no hana, the chrysanthemum <> ama no kawa, the
milky way,
And these can now go in the first or last line of a haiku with five
beats.
Voila, no mystery.

Next we have many words made up of three beats, like KAWAZU, frog <>
WARAJI, straw sandals.
Put these in the last line of a haiku and add the kireji KANA to get
the 5 beats of the last line. KANA is always used in the last line of
a haiku.

In the middle line we use three words with two beats each, using MARU
as an example word, you can have

Marumaru no maru
Maru no marumaru
Marumi no marumi
Marumi no maru ya
>>> And so on with seven natural beats

Are you now perplexed with so much MARU?
It is the sound we usually use if we can not pronounce a Chinese
character (and that is quite often !). That is another pleasure of
learning Japanese, you can with some effort understand the meaning of
a Chinese character, but you still cannot pronounce the word. Here,
MARU is handy.

All I am trying to say, in my experience, the flow of words with
short beats like the basic Japanese words brings forth the natural
flow of lines with five or seven beats. It is not such a big poetical
mystery. And the haiku poets make good use of this natural flow,
elevate the everyday talk to the poetry level, so to speak, with the
introduction of the kireji.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

This part I wrote a while ago for another friend.

My practical advise for the use of KIREJI in Japanese haiku.
But I suggest you only try your hand at writing in Japanese after 5
years living in Japan. :o)

Since kireji are not usually used in non-Japanese-language haiku
(what a definition!), I will give you a short review of my memo about
them.


As a beginner, use only one kireji in one haiku. Leave the exemptions
of the rule to the masters. (This is sound advise from many Japanese
Haiku Masters.)

Kireji serve the three purposes of : emphasis, cut or jump.


YA
Usually at the end of the first line. Feels like an exclamation mark:
Butterflies! separating strongly from the next two lines, like
stopping your breath for a moment, then say the next two lines about
a different topic.

Very seldom it can be used in the middle line. In that case the topic
is usually the same without a juxtaposition, so it does not CUT the
meaning, but connects it strongly.


Kiri saku ya..... will separate from the following lines

Kiri saite¡­..the meaning about paulownina will go on in the
following line.


<> My pattern (maru is the prototype of a word)

Marumaru ya
Maru maru maru no
Maru no maru


KANA
Usually only at the end of the last line. Feels like a sigh, Oh, yee
butterflies! Does not cut the meaning as strong as the YA, rather
connects the first to lines with the last one.

Marumaru no
Maru no maru maru
Marumi kana


KERI
Usually at the end of the last line, but sometimes in the middle
line. Cuts the meaning stronger than KANA.

Used in reference of something in the past, something unexpected or
very sudden.

Marumaru no
Maru no maru maru
Nari ni keri


My rule of thumb:

If you have a Japanese word with four beats, use <> marumaru ya <> in
the first line

If you have a Japanese word with three beats, use <> marumi kana <>
in the last line.

<>

To learn about Japanese-language haiku is quite a challenge, if you
seriously want to understand them, you have to study the Japanese
languagen first, and that will be your lifelong endeavor. For me,
that is the beauty of haiku, there is just NO END in sight of my
studies.
The WAY is the aim, not to reach the end of the way, as they say.


So I am still plodding on my Haiku way, which is my Haiku life !

Gabi san