Press release

jAPANESE Embassy organized haiku mushaira (Haiku poetry recital) Rawalpindi

Islamabad: 19th March 2014

                       
The Embassy of Japan organized a recital of Haiku poetry ‘An Evening of Haiku’ at the Rawalpindi Arts Council here on Wednesday 19th March 2014. The Embassy of Japan organized this event in cooperation with the Rawalpindi Arts Council and Pakistan Haiku Society. Earlier this year, a Haiku poetry training workshop was also organized for the first time by the Embassy of Japan in collaboration with The City School Capital Campus and National University of Modern Languages respectively at their campuses. The young students who had participated in the training workshop were also given opportunity to recite their Haiku at this occasion.  

Mr. Hiroshi Inomata, Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan, who was the chief guest at the occasion, appreciated the Haiku poets for their efforts in promoting Haiku in Pakistan which is a Japanese form of poetry but practiced all over the world. He said art and literature are the two significant mediums that help us understand and co-relate between different cultures of the world.

            Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry that dates back to the 17th century. Haiku is the most precise, compact and condensed poetry originating in Japan. Haiku is defined as an unrhymed verse, written in 5-7-5 syllabic form, usually in three lines. Its subjects are predominantly nature and life experiences. Yosa Buson (1716-­1783), Matsuo Basho (1644-­1694) and Kobayashi Issa are among the most popular haiku masters. They are collectively known as the Three Pillars of Haiku, who lived during Japan's Edo-period (1600-1868). Haiku, one of the most important forms of traditional Japanese poetry, still remains popular in modern Japan, and in recent years its popularity has also spread to many countries including Pakistan. Many poets in Pakistan today practice this compact yet profound and evocative form of expression that leaves a lot of room for interpretation and subtlety. (End)