For today's Haiku of Japan, an amusing haiku from Issa.

In this world
even among the insects...
some sing well, some don't
—Issa

世の中や 鳴虫にさへ 上づ下手
(yo no naka ya / naku mushi ni sa e / jouzu heta)

Credit where credit is due: I saw this haiku and image on my Twitter stream this morning—here.

I know the original Japanese of the haiku, so I offer my own translation of it above.

Issa is another one of the 4 great Haiku Masters of Japan (along with Basho and Buson, whose haiku poems I've posted before). He was by far the most prolific of all of them, writing over 20,000 haiku in his lifetime. His work contains a sense of humor and an innocence that has won him readers up to the present day and make him even more popular than the great Basho among many people.

(Woodblock print by Ohara Koson and titled Grasshoppers)

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Don't miss the 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

❦

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.