When One Haiku Scene Stays With Us
Shiki’s persimmon and temple bell: taste, sound, and place meeting at once
Masaoka Shiki’s persimmon-and-bell haiku brings taste, sound, timing, and place together in a simple event. Eating a persimmon and hearing a temple bell make Hōryūji unforgettable as a moment rather than a description.
Today’s Question
Why does the poem leave such a strong sense of place without visually describing Hōryūji in detail?
Today’s Haiku
Original
柿くへば鐘が鳴るなり法隆寺
Translation / Display
eating a persimmon—
a temple bell rings
Hōryūji
Daily Haiku is the festival’s educational and archival series introducing haiku form, history, seasonal language, close reading, and global haiku culture for young and general readers.
Masaoka Shiki’s 柿くへば鐘が鳴るなり法隆寺 is a familiar poem in discussions of modern haiku. A festival rendering might be: “eating a persimmon— / a temple bell rings / Hōryūji.” Matsuyama City materials introduce an interpretation of the form kueba in which the bell happens to ring just as Shiki is eating the persimmon, emphasizing coincidence and timing.
Several senses meet in the poem: the mouth and taste of the persimmon, the distant sound of a bell, and the proper name Hōryūji. The architecture of the temple is not described in detail, yet sound and place name allow the reader to construct space. It is a powerful example of how haiku can create a strong sense of place with very little information.
Shiki is known for leading reform in haiku and tanka during the Meiji period and advocating shasei. But shasei should not be reduced to photographic copying. Observed fact becomes poetic scene through selection and arrangement. Here, the sequence persimmon—bell—Hōryūji helps make the moment memorable.
Today, recall one place and erase all adjectives you would use to describe it. Instead, write down something you tasted there and something you heard or touched. Test whether one place name plus two sensory details can make a scene stay in memory.
Several senses meet in the poem: the mouth and taste of the persimmon, the distant sound of a bell, and the proper name Hōryūji. The architecture of the temple is not described in detail, yet sound and place name allow the reader to construct space. It is a powerful example of how haiku can create a strong sense of place with very little information.
Shiki is known for leading reform in haiku and tanka during the Meiji period and advocating shasei. But shasei should not be reduced to photographic copying. Observed fact becomes poetic scene through selection and arrangement. Here, the sequence persimmon—bell—Hōryūji helps make the moment memorable.
Today, recall one place and erase all adjectives you would use to describe it. Instead, write down something you tasted there and something you heard or touched. Test whether one place name plus two sensory details can make a scene stay in memory.
Key Terms
Masaoka Shiki · persimmon · Hōryūji · bell · shasei · sense of place · sensory image
Period & Context
Late nineteenth-century Meiji period, Shiki’s haiku reform and shasei poetics
Sources & References
[Text and references]
1. Matsuyama City, Shiki/Sōseki 150th anniversary haiku program, quoting 柿くへば鐘が鳴るなり法隆寺 and discussing the temporal reading of kueba.
2. Matsuyama Shiki Memorial Museum educational materials on Shiki’s Nara visit and the poem.
3. National Diet Library, “Masaoka Shiki,” on his reform movement and shasei.
Korean and English versions are new festival translations.
1. Matsuyama City, Shiki/Sōseki 150th anniversary haiku program, quoting 柿くへば鐘が鳴るなり法隆寺 and discussing the temporal reading of kueba.
2. Matsuyama Shiki Memorial Museum educational materials on Shiki’s Nara visit and the poem.
3. National Diet Library, “Masaoka Shiki,” on his reform movement and shasei.
Korean and English versions are new festival translations.
Copyright & Use
Editorial compilation, commentary, and festival translations © 2026 Korea Haiku Federation / Korea Haiku World Youth Festival 2026. Classical originals are in the public domain; rights in cited materials remain with their respective authors and institutions.
Planning & Editorial Supervision: KIM SUSEONG