Where Did Haiku Begin?
From the opening verse of linked poetry to a modern independent poem
Haiku did not appear fully formed at a single moment. Its history runs through the hokku of linked verse, the artistic development of haikai in the Edo period, and the modern redefinition associated with Masaoka Shiki in the Meiji era.
Today’s Question
Why was the short poem we now call haiku once understood within the traditions of hokku and haikai?
The first thing to remember about haiku history is that an independent genre called “haiku” did not exist from the beginning. From the medieval period onward, Japanese linked verse, renga (連歌), developed as a collaborative form in which poets added verses in sequence. Its opening verse was called the hokku (発句), an important beginning that established season, setting, and tone.
From the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, haikai no renga (俳諧の連歌) expanded the language and subjects of linked verse in freer and often humorous directions. In the Edo period, poets including Matsuo Bashō brought haikai to extraordinary artistic depth. Many poems we casually call “Bashō’s haiku” today were historically hokku composed within the world of haikai.
In the late nineteenth-century Meiji period, Masaoka Shiki vigorously used the term haiku (俳句) while rethinking the opening verse as an independent modern literary form. The history therefore cannot be reduced to “Bashō invented haiku” or “Shiki created an entirely new poem.” It is a history in which accumulated tradition and modern reclassification overlap.
Today haiku continues to travel into new languages and places. Knowing its roots is useful not because we must copy old rules unchanged, but because the history helps us understand why season, cutting, space, and relation became such powerful possibilities in a very short poem.
From the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, haikai no renga (俳諧の連歌) expanded the language and subjects of linked verse in freer and often humorous directions. In the Edo period, poets including Matsuo Bashō brought haikai to extraordinary artistic depth. Many poems we casually call “Bashō’s haiku” today were historically hokku composed within the world of haikai.
In the late nineteenth-century Meiji period, Masaoka Shiki vigorously used the term haiku (俳句) while rethinking the opening verse as an independent modern literary form. The history therefore cannot be reduced to “Bashō invented haiku” or “Shiki created an entirely new poem.” It is a history in which accumulated tradition and modern reclassification overlap.
Today haiku continues to travel into new languages and places. Knowing its roots is useful not because we must copy old rules unchanged, but because the history helps us understand why season, cutting, space, and relation became such powerful possibilities in a very short poem.
Key Terms
renga · hokku · haikai · Edo period · Masaoka Shiki · haiku
Period & Context
Medieval linked verse, Edo-period haikai, and the formation of modern haiku in the Meiji period
Sources & References
[Core references]
1. National Diet Library, Japan, “Masaoka Shiki,” Portraits of Modern Japanese Historical Figures.
2. Modern Haiku Association (Gendai Haiku Kyokai), “Introduction to Haiku.”
3. Bashō Memorial/Commemoration Association, Iga, official materials on Matsuo Bashō and his works.
1. National Diet Library, Japan, “Masaoka Shiki,” Portraits of Modern Japanese Historical Figures.
2. Modern Haiku Association (Gendai Haiku Kyokai), “Introduction to Haiku.”
3. Bashō Memorial/Commemoration Association, Iga, official materials on Matsuo Bashō and his works.
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