【Update 2024-02-11: This is an outdated version of this article. For a more up to date version, please see: https://laspina.org/sleeping-boy-and-kite-flying/ 】

凧抱たなりですやすや寝たりけり
tako daita nari de suya-suya netari keri

holding his kite
sleeping
peacefully
—Issa

(Tr. David LaSpina)

(Print by Hiroshige)

This is actually a New Years haiku, flying kites being a traditional New Years activity in Japan. But I often think of this haiku when I put my oldest to sleep at night. He is almost 5, and he almost always goes to bed clinging to one favorite toy or another.

Some things never change, eh?

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Don't miss other great haiku in the Haiku of Japan series!

1. Traveling to the inn
2. Childless Woman
3. Old Dancing Butterfly
4. Seeing the Moon
5. Checking the Scarecrow
6. Skill of Insects
7. The Spider Lilies
8. A Thousand Green Mountains
9. Falling Lead Enlightenment
10. Lonely Night
11. Her Day Off
12. Autumn Crow
13. Faint Footprints
14. Alone on the Road
15. Autumn Begins
16. Early Morning Moon Viewing
17. Mistaken for a Scarecrow
18. The Galactic River
19. The Love of Cats
20. Autumn Waterfall
21. The Thief and the Moon
22. My Frozen Balls
23. Saké Waves
24. Friends with the Moon
25. Falling Flower
26. Winter Rain and No Hat

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David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Twitter or Mastodon.