The first major collection of native poetry, written with Chinese characters, was the “Man - yoshu “( “The Ten Thousand Leaves”), which contains verses, chiefly the 31-syllable “waka”, that were composed in large part between the mid-7th and mid-8th centuries. The translation of one poem reads: “I hope to see whitecaps lapping at the shore on a calm morning, but the wind doesn’t blow.” 680 found in Asuka in Nara contained a pair of “ anyoshu”poems. One 9.1-centimeter-long paddle-shaped strip dated to A.D. Poems in the 7th century were written on wooden strips known as mokkam. Links in this Website: JAPANESE CULTURE /Japan JAPANESE CULTURE AND HISTORY /Japan CLASSIC JAPANESE LITERATURE /Japan TALE OF GENJI /Japan BASHO, HAIKU AND JAPANESE POETRY /Japan CLASSIC 20TH CENTURY JAPANESE LITERATURE /Japan MODERN LITERATURE AND BOOKS IN JAPAN /Japan HARUKI MURAKAMI /Japan POPULAR WESTERN BOOKS AND WESTERN WRITERS IN JAPAN /Japan Early Japanese Poetry Haiku Haiku for People Haiku Home Page .uk Simply Haiku Quarterly Journal Association of Haiku Poets famille.ne.jp/~haiku Haiku of Kobayashi Issa Wikipedia article on Haiku Wikipediaīasho Basho Books and Links /gi_basho Basho’s Narrow Road to the Deep North 31 Translations of the Basho Frog Poem Basho’s Life Good Websites and Sources: Japanese Poetry Terms Classical Japan Poetry /Poetry Literature Sites Japanese Literature Home Page History of Japan’s Literature /jinfo Japanese Literatures Resources Page Sponsored by the Japan Reading Boxing Association, the event has individual and team divisions. The bouts consist of one round in which contestants are allowed three minutes to recite a poem. Poem boxing is a “sport” that was launched in 1999 and has developed an enthusiastic following over with an annual championship held at Nekkei Hall in Tokyo in October. In the Edo Period, artists, writers, actors and other creative people gathered at poetry parties and composed ribald poems known as “mad verse.” One verse found on an image of a courtesan created around 1800 by Hokusai and the poet Santo Kyoden went: “Sometimes I turn into a cloud/like smoke from tobacco I have lit,/ other times I turn into rain/ which makes a client linger a bit.” The paper was also carefully selected and often sent with a flower that was in bloom in the season when the letter was written. If it wasn’t the letter would be rejected without even being read. The handwriting was expected to be excellent. In the old days love letters were often written as waka poems. “Renku-kai” ('linked verse') is a collective composition in which a group of poets sit around taking turns improvising on what has come before, helped along with a bottle of sake.

In the 10th century, poetry contests scored by a panel of judges were popular. Iwata Predecture Poetry-writing is sometimes regarded as a social activity in Japan.

Basho Haiku Analysis