With more than 6000 haiku translated
Thank you for visiting and sharing.
Fay Aoyagi
January 2026
San Francisco, CA
Posted in Uncategorized
In January 2009, I started translating tanka from “Gendai Tanka no Kansho 101” (Apreciation of Modern Tanka 101), an anthology written and edited by Ken Kodaka. It took longer than I thought, but I am happy to announce that the mission was completed at last!
Since I do not write tanka and some poets use classic Japanese, I found tanka translation more difficult than haiku translation. From now on (at least for a while), this blog will concentrate on haiku.
I appreciate your support and encouragement in the past 3 years!
Fay Aoyagi
November 30, 2011, San Francisco
枯草の線沈黙の骨空の耳 対馬康子
karekusa no sen chinmoku no hone sora no mimi
a line of withered grass
a bone of silence
an ear of the sky
Yasuko Tsushima
from Gendai Haiku, #728, January 2026 Issue, Gendai Haiku Kyokai, Tokyo, Japan
日本の夜霧の中の懐手 髙柳重信
nippon no yogiri no naka no futokorode
inside the night fog
in Japan
with my arms folded
Jushin Takayanagi
from Gendai Haiku, #728, January 2026 Issue, Gendai Haiku Kyokai, Tokyo, Japan
Fay’s Note: Jushin Takayanagi (1923-1983) “futokorode” (folding one’s arms inside bosom), meaning “doing nothing” is a winter kigo.
一歩踏む音の愉快や霜柱 堀本 吟
ippo fumu oto no yukai ya shimobashira
a step on it
with a pleasant sound−
hoarfrosts
Gin Horimoto
from Haiku Shiki (Haiku Four Seasons), March 2023 Issue, Tokyo Shiki Shuppan, Tokyo
降る雪の薄きところと濃きところ 宮野しゆん
furu yuki no usuki tokoro to koki tokoro
falling snow
somewhere shallow
somewhere deep
Shun Miyano
from Haiku Shiki (Haiku Four Seasons), April 2021 Issue, Tokyo Shiki Shuppan, Tokyo
暖房の机に置いてある手紙 阪西敦子
danbō no tsukue ni oitearu tegami
heated room
a letter left
on the desk
Atsuko Sakanishi
from Kingyo (Goldfish), a haiku collection of Atsuko Sakanishi, Furansu-do, Tokyo, 2024
Blue Willow Haiku World (by Fay Aoyagi) 