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Masaoka Shiki was born in 1867 in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. He refined and popularized the poetry form Haiku. Haiku uses themes from nature such as seasonal change observations. The castle at Matsuyama is an important landmark that served as inspiration to Shiki.

Autumn is leaving

tugging each others' branches

two pine trees

Matsuyama –

Higher than the autumn sky

the castle tower

The first baseball game in Japan was played in Matsuyama in 1872. Shiki began playing baseball in 1885 and is said to have coined many of the Japanese baseball terms. At one point he was so enamored of baseball that he attempted a word play on his given name Noboru to use it as a pen name meaning "baseball. "

lush grass

the baseball path

is white

Spring breeze-

the green field

tempts me to play catch

Shiki at age 22

As a student in Matsuyama, Shiki won a Tokiwa-kai scholarship and attended a preparatory school for admission to the Imperial University (Tokyo University). In 1890, Shiki traveled from his home island Shikoku to Honshu, the main island of Japan to study at Tokyo University. Like many others he was drawn as a pilgram to Mount Fuji.

Mount Fuji

clearly seen-

this coldness

happily I climbed

Mt. Fuji and as my legs trembled
on its peak awoke

	Before leaving for China in 1895 to cover the Sino-Japanese War as a reporter, Shiki visited Ishiteji Temple, one of the 88 temples of Shikoku. Ishite Temple- Just old women here too in the lingering sun
a pilgrim goes off rubbing prayer beads early winter shower	While at Ishiteji temple, Shiki found a fortune paper on the ground that read "Bad luck- an extended illness, but it won't affect your life." my lot indeed as the fortune paper says- autumn wind

As a child Masaoka Shiki was named Noboru. He took the pen name Shiki for two main reasons. First, in Japanese Shiki can mean four seasons, the themes around which haiku are built. Second, Shiki is the name of Chinese cuckoo bird. According to legend the cuckoo has a red throat because it sings so hard it bleeds. Noboru Masaoka (the English order of names) contracted tuberculosis. When he began to cough up blood, he likened himself to the cuckoo bird. In spite of spa therapies and surgery, Shiki became weaker and eventually wrote most of his haiku from his sickbed.

so you've come

fo this unohana

little cuckoo

The Matsuyama Municipal Shiki-Kinen Museum in Matsuyama City houses paintings, original manuscripts, and memorabilia from Shiki and other famous artists and writers who were drawn to Matsuyama to study with Shiki. The museum draws visitors from around the world. Local school students compete in haiku and other poetry competitions sponsored by the museum.

	if someone asks say I am still alive autumn wind
JFMF Teachers from the United Statss visit the Matsuyama Municipal Shiki-Kinen Museum November 2006	Award-winning student poetry on display at the Shiki Museum	Shiki bronze sculpture at the entrance to the Matsuyama Muncipal Shiki-Kinen Museum after judging three thousand haiku two persimmons

passing autumn

no gods, no Buddha

for me

Shiki drew inspiration from nature. He wrote about his experiences in China and Japan as well as his final days as an invalid. His words captureed a feeling and wrapped it in images of spring, summer, autumn or winter.

To write haiku, first think of an idea or feeling that you want to express.

Then use this as a guide:

3 short lines

1 season word

line 3 ties line 1 to line 2

no rhyme or metaphor

5-7-5 syllable pattern

Translations of Japanese haiku into English are sometimes problematic. Japanese haiku authors are able to use puns and allegorical meanings attached to the characters or sounds of the words. These can be literally lost in translation. Often translations don't follow the 5-7-5 rule when they are converted to English because there are a variety of patterns of seventeen syllables used in haiku. Haiku can be very sophisticated with layers of meaning and variations in rhythm. The haiku used on this page are from If Someone Asks... Masaoka Shiki's Life and Haiku published by the Matsuyama Municipal Shiki-Kinen Museum. More translations can be found in the More to Explore links.

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