Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} From the Country of Eight Islands An Anthology of Japanese Poetry by Hiroaki Sato Honorary Curator Hiroaki Sato. The American Haiku Archives advisory board is pleased to announce the appointment of Hiroaki Sato as the 2006–2007 honorary curator of the American Haiku Archives at the California State Library in Sacramento. This honor is in recognition of Sato’s service to haiku and related poetry through his translations, books, and writings about haiku. Sato was born in Taiwan in 1942 and educated in Kyoto, but has lived in New York City since 1968. His seminal anthology, From the Country of Eight Islands: An Anthology of Japanese Poetry , cotranslated with Burton Watson, won the PEN American Center translation prize for 1982. Among his most notable books focusing on haiku are One Hundred Frogs: From Renga to Haiku to English (Weatherhill, 1983) and One Hundred Frogs (Weatherhill, 1995). The first of these two books describes how haiku evolved from hokku and thus from renga, and firmly grounds haiku in the linked-verse tradition. The same book also explores renga and haiku written in English, demonstrating his direct support (unlike many other translators) for haiku written outside Japan. The second of these two books is a much shorter version of the first, presenting numerous translations of Basho’s famous furuike ya poem. Sato has also translated Basho’s Oku no Hosomichi as well as many other books of haiku, tanka, and other Japanese poetry, and That First Time is a collection of his own poetry that includes longer poems as well as several solo renga. Other books he has published over four decades are too numerous to begin listing here, but they show that his wide knowledge of Japanese literature and culture extends far beyond just haiku, giving readers an oeuvre that puts haiku into a larger context. Sato has also demonstrated his support for English-language haiku by serving as president of the Haiku Society of America for three years, from 1979 to 1981, and he has also spoken at Haiku North America and numerous other academic conferences. Sato’s term as honorary curator of the archives began for a year starting from July 12, 2006, the tenth anniversary of the founding of the American Haiku Archives. Books by Hiroaki Sato. Takahashi, Mutsuo. Winter haiku: 25 haiku by Mutsuo Takahashi . Translated by Hiroaki Sato. Manchester, NH : First Haiku Press, 1980. From the country of eight islands: an anthology of Japanese poetry . Edited and translated by Hiroaki Sato and Burton Watson. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 1981. Sato, Hiroaki. Haiku in English: a poetic form expands . Tokyo, Japan: Simul Press, 1987. Sato, Hiroaki. That first time: six renga on love, and other poems . Laurinburg, NC: St. Andrews Press, 1988. Ozaki, Hosai. Right under the big sky, I don't wear a hat: the haiku and prose of Hosai Ozaki . Translated by Hiroaki Sato. Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press, 1993. Sato, Hiroaki. One hundred frogs . New York, NY: Weatherhill, 1995. Matsuo, Basho. Basho's Narrow road: spring & autumn passages . Translated from the Japanese, with annotations by Hiroaki Sato. Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press, 1996. Santoka (Sochi Taneda). Grass and Tree Cairn . Translated by Hiroaki Sato. Winchester, VA: Red Moon Press, 2002. Sato, Hiroaki. On Haiku . New York: New Directions Publishing, 2018. Selected Haiku Translation by Hiroaki Sato. Here is Sato’s translation of Basho’s most famous poem: An old pond: a frog jumps in—the sound of water. Web Site. An interview with Hiroaki Sato "The Longer Short of It" by Eve Luckring and Scott Metz: From the Country of Eight Islands: An Anthology of Japanese Poetry by Hiroaki Sato. 134 days until the 2021 Seabeck Haiku Getaway (our 14th annual retreat) 121 days until the 2021 Haiku North America conference via Zoom. 11 days since Poets in the Park happens via Zoom in 2021. Recommended Books on Haiku. Recommended Books on Haiku. Biographies of the Japanese Masters. Janine Beichman. Masaoka Shiki . Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1986. Important biography of the fourth of the four great haiku masters, Masaoka Shiki (1867–1902). Patricia Donegan and Yoshie Ishibashi. Chiyo-ni: Woman Haiku Master . Boston: Tuttle Publishing, 1998. Chiyo-ni is too often omitted when naming Japan’s great haiku masters (usually limited to Bashō, Buson, Issa, and Shiki), but Chiyo-ni deserves equal stature. This book is the definitive guide to the life and work of this under-appreciated haiku master. Lewis Mackenzie. The Autumn Wind: A Selection from the Poems of Issa . Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1957. A brief biography and extensive annotated anthology of haiku by the third of the four great haiku masters, Kobayashi Issa (1762–1826). + Yuki Sawa and Edith M. Shiffert. Haiku Master Buson . South San Francisco, California: Heian International, 1978. A brief biography and extensive anthology of haiku by the second of the four great haiku masters, Yosa Buson (1716–1784). Makoto Ueda. Matsuo Bashō: The Master Haiku Poet . Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1970. A comprehensive biography and anthology of haiku by the first and greatest of the four great haiku masters, Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694). Ueda has also written numerous other essential books on haiku, notably Bashō and His Interpreters (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1991). Makoto Ueda. Path of Flowering Thorn: The Life and Poetry of Yosa Buson. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1998. A sorely needed biography of Buson, this highly readable book presents 180 of the poet’s haiku in translation, and places the poetry in the context of his paintings and prose and the rich events of his life. Translations. R. H. Blyth. Haiku . Four volumes. Tokyo: Hokuseido Press, 1981, 1982. These four books on the history and development of Japanese haiku are essential to every haiku library. Originally published in 1949, 1950, and 1952, these four books introduce Eastern culture and present haiku by season. Blyth has written numerous other books on haiku and its history, senryu, and other facets of Japanese culture. This set is expensive and written from a Zen perspective (for which it has been criticized), but it is essential because it includes thousands of the best English translations of the Japanese masters. Harold G. Henderson. An Introduction to Haiku: An Anthology of Poems and Poets from Bashō to Shiki . Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle, 1958. One of the most important books ever written about haiku for an English-speaking audience. Although less influential today (many of its translations are burdened by rhyme and use the 5-7-5 pattern), for many decades this book probably influenced haiku in English more than any other. Hiroaki Sato and Burton Watson, eds. From the Country of Eight Islands: An Anthology of Japanese Poetry . New York: Columbia University Press, 1981. A monumental collection of Japanese poetry in English translation. Includes numerous tanka, renga, and haiku. Places haiku in the larger context of its poetic heritage. Anthologies. Bruce Ross, ed. Haiku Moment: An Anthology of Contemporary North American Haiku . Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle, 1993. Compiles 821 haiku by 185 North American poets. While mostly polarized toward nature poems (ignoring many other topics and approaches), this is still an essential reference for anyone wishing to see how haiku is being written in English today. ★ Cor van den Heuvel, ed. The Haiku Anthology . New York: W. W. Norton, 1999. Compiles more than 850 of the best English-language haiku ever written. A vibrant, liberating book that demonstrates rather than just discusses the possibilities of haiku in English. This edition also includes the forewords from the previous two editions. Other Books. Abigail Friedman. The Haiku Apprentice. Berkeley, California: Stone Bridge Press, 2006. An engaging memoir about an American diplomat who learns to write haiku in in Japan—in Japanese. Particularly useful is the chapter about Zen in haiku (haiku isn’t the Zen art that some people think it is) and the helpful suggestions for starting your own haiku group. [Read my introduction to this book.] Lee Gurga. Haiku: A Poet’s Guide. Lincoln, Illinois: Modern Haiku Press, 2003. The best alternative yet to William Higginson’s Haiku Handbook , first published in 1985. Gurga’s book is recommended for its more recent example poems, and its emphasis on haiku as an established Western genre of poetry. Haiku Society of America. A Haiku Path . New York: Haiku Society of America, 1994. An extensive, valuable, and engaging history of the Haiku Society of America in its first 20 years (1968 to 1988). Includes numerous articles and remembrances of major haiku figures, plus an anthology of all poems from the society’s contests. [I was one of the main editors for this book, and also did the layout and design. Read my afterword.] Harold G. Henderson. Haiku in English . Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle, 1967. A brief but fundamental book on haiku and its possibilities in English. Though now somewhat dated (as is Henderson’s An Introduction to Haiku ), this book offers a succinct overview of the haiku form and its possibilities in English. ★ William J. Higginson, with Penny Harter. The Haiku Handbook: How to Write, Share, and Teach Haiku . New York: McGraw-Hill, 1985 and Kodansha International, 1989 and 2010. Practically everything you need to know about haiku—its history, its major practitioners, its nature and form, and methods for reading, writing, understanding, enjoying, and teaching haiku. Refreshing and complete, this book is the best place to start for anyone wishing to learn haiku in English. In 1996, Higginson also published two other recommended haiku books: The Haiku Seasons and Haiku World (both from Kodansha), the latter an international saijiki , or almanac of poems arranged by season word.