A HISTORY OF BRAZILIAN HAIKU

Rosa Clement

THE BEGINNING

As suggested by Paulo Franchetti (2008), the beginning of haiku in Brazil had three main
moments: the contribution of Afrânio Peixoto, the contribution of Guilherme de Almeida,
and the contribution of the Japanese immigration. There were other attempts to promote
haiku prior to these moments, but they had no resonance, or because of limited dissemination
on the part of the authors or because Brazilians readers had no curiosity to attempt to
understand this kind of poetry at the moment. Below, we discuss some of these pathfinders.
Wenceslau de Moraes (1854 – 1929) moved to Japan in 1898, where he became Consul-
general at Kobe. Moraes wrote extensively about the Orient, and published his experiences
in journals and books in Brazil and Lisbon. He was the first to translate Japanese haiku to
Portuguese, but was not successful in popularizing it. He published Dai Nippon (1897), Letters
from Japan (Cartas do Japão) (1904), The Cult of Tea (O Culto do Chá) (1905), The Good-Odori in
Tokushima (O Bom-Odori em Tokushima) (1916), O-Yoné and Kó-Haru (O-Yoné e Kó-Haru) (1923),
and Glimpse of Japanese Soul (Relance da Alma Japonesa) (1926). However, it was France, through
Afrânio Peixoto, that became the main route of introduction of haiku in Brazil.
Paulo Prado (1869-1943) prefaced the book by Oswald de Andrade (1890 – 1954), Pau-Brazil
Poetry (Poesia Pau-Brazil) (1924), where he includes a tercet which is actually the first stanza of
the poem “Poetic Art” (“Art Poetique”), by Joseph Seguin (1878 – 1954), which had been printed
in the magazine Knowledge (Connaissance), in 1921. According to Paulo Franchetti, “the first
significant appearance of haiku in Brazilian letters thus occurred via Europe.”
Monteiro Lobato (1882 – 1948) was another author who introduced haiku in Brazil, when
he translated and published in 1906 six haiku by Bashō in a student newspaper called Minaret
(Minarete).
An important event was the first Japanese haiku written on Brazilian soil by Shuei Uetsuka,
when the ship with Japanese immigrants arrived in Santos, in 1908. Upon observing the slope
of the mountains, Uetsuka wrote :
 Karetaki o miagete tsukinu iminsen

The immigrant ship

Arriving: Up there at the top we see
The dry waterfall.

Waldomiro Siqueira Jr. (1912 – ?), is supposed to be the first writer in Brazil to publish a book
containing only haiku. His first book containing 56 poems, Haikais, was published in 1933, in
São Paulo.

THE THREE KEY MOMENTS

Afrânio Peixoto

Afrânio Peixoto (1876 – 1947) was born in Lençois, Bahia. He was a physician, professor of
legal medicine, federal deputy from Bahia, writer and poet. He started in literature in 1900
and published more than 30 works, among them, drama, romance, biographies, and more.
It was Peixoto who made haiku known to readers when he published in 1919 his book
Popular Brazilian Trovas (Trovas Populares Brasileiras). This book contains a collection of 1000
Brazilian quatrain poems and a few haiku. Up to 1919 haiku was not as well known in Brazil,
even though a few had been published.
The trova was the closest Brazilian poetic form to haiku until then. It consists of four
verses with seven metric syllables each and a pair of ending rhymes in the second and fourth
verses. As Peixoto states in the Preface of his book, trova “is our most basic art form,” since it
contains “a fugitive state of the soul, a long hug of the heart, desire, complaints, satisfaction,
malice, judgment . . . reported to others with sincerity and simplicity.” It is also in the preface
that the term haikai is mentioned. According to the author, the Japanese also have their
elemental form of art: the haikai. For him, haiku is a lyric epigram, i.e, a small poetic form,
poignant or critical.
Between 1904 and 1906, Peixoto was in several European countries in order to acquire
new knowledge. By this time Paul-Louis Couchoud (1879 – 1959), a young medical student
and writer, and two friends were publishing Along the Path of Waters (Au fil de l’eau) (1905),
containing 72 Japanese poems. In 1904, Couchoud went to Japan to spend a year studying
Japanese language and culture, and a year later, he published his poems. Peixoto mentions
Couchoud in a footnote in the preface of his book of trovas, referencing Couchoud’s book
Asian Sages and Poets (Sages et Poets d’Asie), which republished the author’s haiku.
The mention of haiku in Peixoto’s book is brief, and offers four examples of haiku for
comparison with trova, from where the haiku below was extracted:

Esta corola de lírio

Quer continuamente
Me voltar as costas

This lily’s corolla

wants continuously
to turn its back to me
 In 1931, Peixoto again published haiku in his book Beads (Missangas). This book contains an
essay on haiku, “The Japanese haiku or Lyric Epigram” (“O Haikai Japonês ou Epígrama Lírico”)
followed by 52 haiku, almost all of them with a rigid metric of 5-7-5 syllables and a title in
capital letters:

SÓ OS OUSADOS SÃO FELIZES

Sem pedir, o vento

Derruba as flores do chão . . .
Eu nunca ousei.

ONLY THE BRAVE ARE HAPPY

Without asking, the wind

Sheds the flowers on the ground . . .
I never dared.

Guilherme de Almeida

Guilherme de Almeida (1890-1969) was a lawyer, journalist, film critic, poet, essayist and
translator. He was the first Modernist to join the Brazilian Academy of Letters and published
more than 50 works of poetry, prose, drama, children’s literature and translations. Almeida
made contact with haiku through French translations. He also founded the Brazil-Japan
Cultural Alliance (Aliança Cultural Brasil-Japão), becoming its first president.
In the years 1937 and 1947, haiku had significant visibility when Almeida published My
Haiku (Os Meus Haicais) in the newspaper O Estado de São Paulo, and his book Various Poetry
(Poesia Vária), respectively. In his concept haiku “is poetry reduced to its simplest expression.
A mere statement: logical, but unexplained. Only a pure emotion harvested during the stealthy
flight of passing seasons, as a flower is harvested in spring, a dead leaf in autumn, a snowflake
in winter. . . . Emotion concentrated in a thin synthesis . . .” The poet also makes a comparison
between haiku and trova and then gives his formula for haiku: three lines of 5-7-5 syllables, the
first rhyming with the third; the second rhyming between the second internal syllable and
the seventh syllable. Like Peixoto, Almeida provides titles for his haiku, also in capital letters.
About his haiku below, he explains: “The flower, which is shedding petals, is quite a moral
lesson for high charity: we could say that the flower sheds its belongings, that it offers itself to
the bare earth, so that the poor ground beneath the flower can think it’s also able to flourish.”

CARIDADE

Desfolha-se a rosa
parece até que floresce
o chão cor-de-rosa

CHARITY

The rose sheds its petals

it seems that there blooms
a pink colored ground
 Several other haiku books emerged soon after Guilherme de Almeida published his
collection in O Estado de São Paulo. Theirs authors are: Jorge Fonseca Jr. Lyrical Script (Roteiro
Lírico) (1939) and From Haiku and in its Praise (Do Haicai e em seu Louvor) (1940); Oldegar Vieira,
Tea Leaves (1st collection) (Folhas de Chá (1a. coletânea)) (1941); and Abel Pereira, My Book (Meu
Livro) (1941).
The poet Fanny Luíza Dupre (1911 – 1996) from São Paulo heard of haiku when she met
Jorge Fonseca Jr. and in 1949 she published Petals on the Wind (Pétalas ao Vento). She also
met Masuda Goga and later joined the Ipê Haiku Association (see later section). From her
authorship:

Sobre a laje fria

diz adeus à primavera
uma rosa murcha

On the cold slab

says goodbye to spring
a withered rose

The writer and poet from Curitiba, Helena Kolody (1912 – 2004), published Paisagem Interior
(Interior Landscape) in 1941, using a haiku style similar to Almeida’s:

Areia

Da estátua de areia
nada restará,
depois da maré cheia.

Sand

From the sandy statue

nothing will remain,
after high tide.

Masuda Goga and the Japanese Community

Parallel to Peixoto’s activities, the arrival of Japanese immigrants in Brazil, which started in
1908, contributed definitely for the acceptance of haiku in the country. An important figure
of this group of immigrants was Nempuko Sato (1898 – 1979), who was a disciple of Takahama
Kyoshi (1874 – 1959). He, in turn, was one of the main disciples of Masaoka Shiki (1867 – 1902),
one of the first four masters of Japanese haiku. A disciple of Nempuko Sato, the Japanese
immigrant Hidekazu Masuda Goga (1911 – 2008), decided to propagate haiku in Brazil for
Brazilians also, following the example of his master who had spread the art of Japanese haiku
among immigrants.
Goga came to Brazil in 1929, settling in Sao Paulo where he worked as a farmer and trader.
In 1935, Goga met Nempuko Sato, his master of Japanese haiku, and began to practice and
propagate the form among immigrants. But Goga wanted to expand beyond what he had
learned with the Japanese community and became the link for the continuation of the practice
of haiku in the Brazilian community in general. Goga met Brazilian poets Jorge Fonseca Jr.
and Guilherme de Almeda, with whom he exchanged ideas about haiku. The practice of
traditional haiku was Goga’s mission. Haiku with 5-7-5 syllables, containing a kigo, without
title or rhymes, including elements of nature, soon acquired fans.
After various activities related to haiku during the 1940s, Goga published his first haiku
in the journal Western Yearly (Anuário do Oeste) in 1943. In 1987, among other haiku activities,
Goga co-founded the Ipê Haiku Association (Grêmio de Haicai Ipê), first Brazilian group
dedicated to the practice of haiku. In 1988, he published Haiku in Brazil (Haicai no Brasil), a
book detailing the arrival of haiku in Brazil. In 1996, he published a Brazilian dictionary of
kigo, Nature — Cradle of Haiku (Natueza — Berço do Haikai), co-authored by Teruko Oda.

THE NEXT MOMENT

A new dynamic of haiku arrived with the writing of Brazilian poets known by their striking
styles, definitely popularizing the form. Here we include: Pedro Xisto (1901 – 1987), Millôr
Fernandes (1923 – 2012) , Olga Savary (1933 –), Paul Leminski (1944 – 1989), and Alice Ruiz
(1946 –), who flirted with concrete poetry, without giving up the verse. Concrete poetry was
launched in Brazil in 1956, and called attention because of its visual aspects. Its characteristics
were: the abolition of the verse, use of the paper’s blank space, use of graphic effects, the
idea of ideograms. According to Franchetti (2010) “the organizing principle of the poem
by significant juxtaposition, called the ‘ideogrammatic principle,’ will be a major point of
articulation of the concrete project, already in 1955.” As Franchetti (2010) reports, Haroldo
de Campos published two articles in the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo specifically dedicated
to the Japanese poem: “Haiku: Tribute to Synthesis” (Haicai: Homenagem à Síntese) (1958) and
“Visuality and Brevity in Japanese Poetry” (Visualidade e Concisão na Poesia Japonesa) (1964).
These articles, which were then incorporated into the volume The Art on the Horizon of the
Probable (A Arte no Horizonte do Provável) (1969), helped place haiku in the center of attention
of contemporary poetry.

Pedro Xisto

Pedro Xisto was a poet, essayist and teacher, born in Pernambuco. He published Haikai
and Concret (Haikais and Concretos) in Brazil and 8 Haikai in Japan, both in 1960; and Paths
(Caminhos) (1979). Pedro Xisto’s haiku had great influence of concrete poetry, and were also
quite sensitive to wordplay:

embalante alas
lento bailado a lembrança
enlaçando almas

rocking wings
slow ballet to memory
entwining souls
Olga Savary

Born in Belém, Olga Savary is a short-story writer, essayist, translator and poet, whose work
is associated with Modernism. She published Hai-kai in 1986. Despite the avant-garde touch,
her haiku included a title, as in Almeida’s haiku:

IDADE DA PEDRA

Querer quero agora

ritmo do existir da pedra
na paz das cavernas

STONE AGE

To want I want now

rhythm of stone’s existence
in the peace of the caves

Millôr Fernandes

Soon after Guilherme de Almeida, the famous cartoonist, humorist, journalist and writer,
born in Rio de Janeiro, Millôr Fernandes published in 1948 in the famous magazine The Cruise
(O Cruzeiro), now extinct, and in VEJA magazine, a collection of his haiku called Hai-Kai. In
1986, Millôr put all of his haiku together and published with the same title. They were a more
personalized kind of haiku, which could express more reflective and witty feelings, not seen
in traditional haiku known elsewhere. Millôr’s haiku consisted generally of a sentence, with
rhymes at the end of the first and third verses, and fewer than 17 syllables arranged in three lines:

é meu conforto
da vida só me tiram
morto

it is my comfort
from life I’ll only be taken
dead

The following version is only to demonstrate the kind of haiku that Millôr used to write.
Several of his followers present in this essay also write using this kind of rhyming.

it’s a relief instead

from life I’ll only leave
dead

Paulo Leminski

The writer, translator, teacher and poet Paulo Leminski, born in Curitiba, became known
for his style of writing poetry, especially haiku. In 1985, Leminski published Hai Tropical (Hai
Tropicais) with Alice Ruiz. Leminski’s haiku have a certain resemblance to those of Millôr. In
some of them, we also find irony, the same rhyme scheme, and reduction in the number of
syllables, and as Franchetti (2010) says “it is perceived to fit with more or less tension into
Bashō’s tradition.” Leminski was not only a big fan of concrete poetry, but also a big fan of
Reginald H. Blyth (1898 – 1964), which made him reflect on “the thought of haiku as a path, as
a way of enhancing the spirit through the practice of an art.”

pelos caminhos que ando

um dia vai ser
só não sei quando

in the paths where I walk

one day it will be
I just do not know when

Like Millôr, Leminski has many followers who write haiku using ending rhymes, as
demonstrated in the next version:

in the paths where I go

one day it will be
when I don’t know

Hoje à noite
Até as estrelas
Cheiram a flor de laranjeira

tonight
even the stars
smell of orange blossom

Alice Ruiz

The poet, composer and translator Alice Ruiz was born in Curitiba, and currently she is one
of the best known haiku writers. She has published several books with haiku and about haiku,
among other books of poetry. She was Paulo Leminski’s wife and published the book Hai
Tropical with him in 1985. Some of Ruiz’s haiku use an economic number of syllables and a
rhyming scheme similar to those of Leminski. Nonetheless, others seek to find the traditional
haiku moment, following her own style:

começo de outono
cheia de si
a primeira lua

early fall
full of herself
the first moon
 fim do dia
porta aberta
o sapo espia

end of the day

open door
the frog peeps

In reality, in these phases of modern poetry and concrete poetry, haiku was part of the life,
even though briefly, of several other well known poets, such as Manuel Bandeira (1886 – 1968),
Carlos Drummond de Andrade (1902 – 1987), Mario Quintana (1906 – 1994), Guimarães Rosa
(1908 – 1967), Decio Pignatari (1927 – 2012), Haroldo de Campos (1929 – 2003), Augusto de
Campos (1931 –) and many others.
There are many other poets who produced and published haiku in abundance in more
recent times. A partial list includes: Luis Antonio Pimentel, Tanka and Haiku (Tankas e Haicais)
(1953); Fernandes Soares, Unrevealed Rose (Rosa Irrelevada) (1960); Primo Vieira, Star Trails
(Estrelas de Rastros) (1964) and Fireflies (Pirilampos) (1978); Jacy Pacheco, Brief Muse — haiku and
trovas (Musa Breve — haicais e trovas) (1976); Oldegar Vieira, Tea Leaves (2nd collection)” (Folhas
de Chá — 2a. coletânea) (1976); Gil Nunesmaia, Interval (Intervalo) (1978); Martinho Bruning,
Leaf and Wild Flower (Folha e Flor do Campo) (1981) and New Poems & Other Hai-Kai (Novos Poemas
& Outros Hai-Kais) (1982); Álvaro Cardoso Gomes, Serene Crystal (O Sereno Cristal) (1981);
Waldomiro Siqueira Jr., Four Hundred and Twenty Haiku (Quatrocentos e Vinte Haicais) (1981)
and Haiku Collection vol. I (Haicais Reunidos vol. I) (1986); Dasso, First Sun & The Boro Darkness
(Primeiro Sol & As Trevas de Boro) (1982); Rodolfo Guttilla, Only (Apenas) (1986); Claudio Feldman,
Ship in the Bottle (Navio na Garrafa) (1986); Roberto Saito, Sparks (Faíscas) (1986); Deborah
Novaes de Castro, Blowing Sands (Soprar das Areias) (1987); Silvia Rocha, Haiku Season (Estação
Haicai) (1988); and José Carlos Capinan, It Sways But Hai-Kai (Balança mas Hai-Kai) (1995).1
It is worth mentioning that even in remote Amazonas in northern Brazil, the poet Luiz
Bacellar (1928 – 2012), the pioneer of haiku in the region, published One Hundred Chrysanthemum
Petals (Crisântemo de Cem Pétalas) (1985), along with Robert Evangelist. Even before publishing,
Bacellar managed to publicize his haiku widely. Another haiku poet in Amazonas was Anibal
Beça (1946 – 2009), who published Children from the Floodplain (Filhos da Várzea) (1984) and
Leaves from the Jungle (Folhas da Selva) (2006). Several other Amazonian writers wrote or still
write haiku: Zemaria Pinto (1957), who published Enigmatic Body (Corpo Enigma) (1994) and
Dabacuri (2004); Simão Pessoa (1955) with Killed Bashō and Went to the Movies (Matou Bashō e Foi
ao Cinema) (1992); Jorge Tufic (1930) with Paper Bells (Sinos de Papel) (1992); Rosa Clement (1954)
with “Full Canoe” (Canoa Cheia) (2001), among others.

THE PRESENT MOMENT

Currently, there are several writers of haiku throughout Brazil. Among these we can mention
several practitioners of the form, such as José Marins, Sérgio Pichorim, Álvaro Posselt, all from
1. The title “Balança mas Hai-Kai” is a reference to a popular song called “Balança mas Não Cai” (It Sways But Doesn’t Fall).
Because “Hai-Kai” sounds a little like “Não Cai”, the autor played with the similarity and “Balança mas Hai-Kai” was the result.
Curitiba, Paraná, who have published haiku books and currently administer internet sites on
the subject. We can also mention Rosa Clement, who first studied haiku in the United States,
and whose work follows trends among American haiku writers, has published in English on
the Internet. Although the name of Alice Ruiz is one of the best known in the actual haiku
community, we can say that Teruko Oda (1945), Paulo Franchetti (1954), Edson Iura (1962),
Francisco Handa (1955) and Ricardo Silvestrin (1963) are the most popular haiku poets today.

Teruko Oda

Teruko Oda is a poet and teacher, born in São Paulo, the daughter of Japanese immigrants
and Goga’s niece. Oda is the founder of the Haiku Association Trail of the Waters (Grêmio de
Haicai Caminho das Águas), in Santos, São Paulo, and a member of the Ipe Haiku Association.
Besides the above-mentioned publication, she has several other publications on haiku. She is
a sensitive follower of traditional haiku:

Couve-flor nas mãos

Uma adolescente ensaia
A marcha nupcial

Cauliflower in hand
A young girl rehearses
The wedding march

Paulo Franchetti

Paulo Franchetti, born in São Paulo, is a literary critic, writer and professor of literature at
the University of Campinas, São Paulo. Franchetti published several books, including some
haiku. He co-founded the Haikai-L with Edson Iura, a list for discussion of haiku. He was an
excellent critic of haiku posted on the list, but has moved on to other activities. Franchetti
writes haiku with his own style, i.e., not always following the number of syllables of traditional
haiku and does not always make use of kigo:

Quando me canso da paisagem

Do leste, viro a cadeira
Para o oeste.

When I get tired of the landscape

In east, I turn the chair
To the west.

Edson Iura

Edson Kenji Iura from São Paulo is dedicated to the art of haiku since the foundation of
Ipe Haiku Association in 1986. He is co-founder of the Haiku-L, and creator and editor of
Persimmon (Caqui and Kaki) list and website, respectively, dedicated to haiku. Iura’s haiku
follow the traditional style:
 Este álbum de fotos —
Também as traças se nutrem
De velhas lembranças

This photo album —

Bookworms are also nourished
With old memories

Francisco Handa

Francisco Handa is a Buddhist monk at the Busshinji temple in São Paulo, one of the founders
of the Ipe Haiku Association, and has a doctorate in Social History. Handa’s haiku also follow
the traditional style:

Por aqui passou

uma traça esfomeada:
livro de receitas

Here passed
a hungry bookworm:
cookbook

Ricardo Silvestrin

Ricardo Silvestrin is a poet, writer and musician from Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. He
has participated in several anthologies and published haiku in the journal “Frogpond”. In 1988
he published “Bashô a Saint in Me”.

velhinha na janela
todo mundo que passa
é visita pra ela

old lady in the window

everyone who passes
is visit for her

Today Brazilian haiku writing is quite extensive. Most haiku writers, especially members of
the Haiku-L, prefer to follow the traditional school. However, there are those who prefer to
follow Millôr and Leminski, and there are others who prefer to adopt a specific style. Here are
some haiku from randomly chosen books, followed by some from anthologies, representing
haiku practiced in Brazil today, extracted, except for that by Silvestrin, from the site Kakinet:

Ricardo Silvestrin, Bashō a Saint in Me (Bashō Um Santo em Mim) (1988):2

2. Bashô’s name has a pronunciation whose sound is similar to that of the Portuguese word “Baixou”, a reference to a popular
phrase, especially in Bahia, which in common usage is “Baixou um Santo em Mim”. It means that the person incorporated
somebody´s soul.
 banco da praça
os seios
e os receios da namorada

park bench
breasts
and fears of a girlfriend

Alice Ruiz and Maria Valeria Rezende, Small Bird Chatter (Conversas de Passarinhos) (2008):

pássaro sem nome

pergunta: quem é?
todos respondem

bird without a name

asks: who is it?
they all respond
(Alice S. Ruiz)

no lombo da vaca
pequena garça branca
pasta carrapatos

on the cow’s back

a small white heron
grazes ticks
(Maria Valeria Rezende)

Nilton Manuel, Magic Poetry (Poesia Mágica) (2008):

Tudo tem um fim!

No belo, por mais singelo,
há traça ou cupim!

Everything has an end!

In beauty, even when unique,
there is a bookworm or termite!

Dominic Pellegrini, Brazilgatô — Haicaipiras for the Brazil – Japan Centennial (Brasilgatô —
Haicaipiras no Centenário Brasil – Japão) (2008):

Que o mundo fique

longe do pedaço
onde faço piquenique

I want the world

away from the portion
where I picnic
Clicie Bridges, 5-7-5: Poetry of Japan and Its Kigos (5-7-5: Poesias do Japão e Seus Kigos) (2008):

Vidraça embaçada —
Um nome se dissolvendo
no frio da noite

Fogged glass pane —

A name dissolving
in the cold night

Carol Ribeiro, Other Clouds (Outras Nuvens) (2009):

dia de chuva —
o sapo cantador
se sente em casa

rainy day —
the singer frog
feels at home

Benedita Azevedo, Quiet Afternoon: haiku (Silêncio da Tarde: haicai) (2010):

Ao romper da aurora
o sabiá dobra seu canto —
Só isso me basta.

At the break of dawn

the thrush doubles its song —
This is enough for me.

Gustavo Felicissimo, Silences (Silêncios) (2010):

lemos mal o mundo —

temos sempre a impressão
de um sofrer profundo

we read the world poorly —

we always have the impression
it’s a deep suffering

Sergio Francisco Pichorim, April Moonlight (Luar de Abril) (2011):

Corticeiras floridas.
Os garis na praça
estão camuflados.

Flowering cork.
The street sweepers in the park
are camouflaged.
Nelson Savioli, Insistent Apprentice (Insistente Aprendiz) (2011):

Na ponta da bota
a manchete do jornal
Estação chuvosa

At the tip of the boot

the newspaper headline
rainy season

Regina Alonso, Haiku in the Bentô (Haicai no Bentô) (2013):

o canto se espalha
na região ribeirinha
plantio de arroz

the song spreads

in the countryside
planting rice

Álvaro Posselt, A Place Called Moment (Um Lugar Chamado Instante) (2013):

O céu se estremece
Por entre nuvens de incenso
lá vai uma prece

The sky shudders

Amid clouds of incense
there goes a prayer

Neide Rocha Portugal, So Many Seeds (Tantas Sementes) (2013):

Na altura do céu
garoto com pés no chão
deseja ser pipa

Sky high
boy with feet on the ground
wants to be a kite

Anthologies

Rodolfo Witzig Guttilla (ed.), Good Company: haiku (Boa companhia: haicais) (2009):

Num automóvel aberto

riem mascarados.
Só minha tristeza não se diverte.
 In an open car
masked laughter.
Only my sadness is not amused.
(Carlos Drummond de Andrade)

Benedita Azevedo (ed.), Anthology of Haiku and Workshops (Antologia de Haicais e Oficinas) (2010):

Noite de luar.
Brilham estrelas no céu
e um clarão nos mares.

Moonlit night.
Stars shine in the sky
and flash in the seas.
(Rachel S. S. Nascimento)

José Marins (ed.), The Lamp and the Stars (A Lâmpada e as Estrelas) (2012):

ouve-se de longe
o velho trator vermelho
começa a aração

it’s heard from afar

the old red tractor
plowing starts
(José Marins)

Associations

Ipê Haiku Association

Since 1987 the Ipê Haiku Association, headquartered in São Paulo, has been the main
center of discussion of haiku in Brazil. It was created as a result of the 1st Brazilian Haiku
Meeting in 1986, an initiative of the Journal Portal, which attracted important figures,
such as Olga Savary, Paulo Leminski and Alice Ruiz. The purpose of the meeting was
to attract practitioners of haiku and put them together to practice traditional ideas of
haiku. In the same year, Roberto Saito and Edson Iura met to discuss the creation of the
Association and its objectives. Masuda Goga joined Saito and Iura at the third meeting.
The group decided to follow the paths of traditional haiku, whose rules were disseminated
to members through lectures and workshops.
Before the creation of Ipê Haiku Association, Saito published Sparks (Faíscas), a book
containing only haiku. In the year following the creation of the Association, Goga published
Haiku in Brazil (O Haicai no Brasil), which has been an excellent source of information about
the origin of haiku in Brazil. In 1991, Ipê Haiku Association published the anthology The
Four Seasons (As Quatro Estações), which highlighted the importance of kigo. To further the
study of kigo, Goga and Teruko Oda published Nature — Cradle of Haiku (Natureza — Berço
do Haicai) (1996), a book that contains a set of seasonal terms from southeastern Brazil.
Path of Waters Haiku Association (Grêmio de Haicai Caminho das Águas)

Founded in 1995 in Santos, São Paulo, it is coordinated by Teruko Oda. It promotes

monthly meetings for study and writing of haiku.

Araucaria Haiku Association (Grêmio Haicai Araucária)

Founded in 1997 in Bandeirantes, Paraná, its leader, Neide Rocha Portugal, promotes
monthly meetings for teaching haiku to young people.

Kapok Haiku Association (Grêmio Sumaúma de Haicai)

Founded in 2000 in Manaus, Amazonas. This Association had as leaders the poets Anibal
Beça and Rosa Clement, but it had a very short existence given the lack of members in
Manaus.

Manacá Haiku Association (Grêmio Haicai Manacá)

Founded in 2005, in Curitiba, Paraná, it promotes the study and practice of haiku. It is
coordinated by José Marins with help of Sérgio Francisco Pichorim, Ignacio Dotto Neto
and Eumar Sicuro, and promotes the practice of haiku through weekly meetings.

Ground of Pine Trees Haiku Association (Grêmio Haicai Chão dos Pinheirais)

Founded in 2006 in Irati, Paraná, with the guidance of Dorotéia Lantas Miskalo, it brings
together teachers, students and community members in nine municipalities in the Regional
Center of Education of Irati for discussion and practice of haiku.

Thrush Haiku Association (Grêmio Haicai Sabiá)

Founded in 2006 in Magé, Rio de Janeiro, with the coordination of Benedita Azevedo,
the purpose of the Association is to spread the practice of haiku among children and
teenagers in local schools.

Waters of March Haiku Association (Grêmio Haicai Águas de Março)

Founded in 2008 in the city of Rio de Janeiro with the coordination of Benedita Azevedo,
the Association aims to discuss haiku and practice the form regularly.

Internet Lists

Haikai-L

In 1996, Edson Iura and Paulo Franchetti founded the Haiku-L, the first online discussion
about haiku in Portuguese. The Haiku-L has 233 members interested in haiku. This list has
 revealed several new haiku writers, as well as numerous writers already known to the haiku
community. Participation of members is low, but enough to keep the list active.

WHCportuguese

Founded in 2004 by Susumu Takiguchi, of the World Haiku Club, this list intended to
introduce Brazilian haiku to the international scene. If at first, its 23 members made the
effort to present their haiku in English also, the novelty did not last long. Today, the list
is inactive.

Haikai

In 2010, another list was created, under the leadership of Paulo Franchetti and Rosa
Clement, devoted to review and discussion of haiku. However, while its 33 members were
enthusiastic in the beginning, they were silent two years later, leaving the list without
activities.

Magazines and Newspapers

Nippak Journal

At www.portalnikkei.com.br this portal provides the Nikkei and Brazilian community

with news on economics, art and culture, and includes a section on haiku. Up to three
haiku, including a pre-defined kigo, are to be sent to Edson Kenji Iura, responsible for the
haiku Journal section. Publication is monthly.

Nikkei Bungaku Magazine

At www.nikkeibungaku.org.br this Nikkei community portal publishes cultural activities

in the area of literature and poetry in Japanese. It recently expanded these activities into
Portuguese for greater participation of Brazilian and Japanese-Brazilian society.

CONCLUSION

Brazil has more writers of haiku than we imagine. It is clear that haiku has come to stay. In
each region of Brazil, it adopted the appearance and accent of local people, becoming more
Brazilian as time goes by; it can be traditional or flexible depending on its writer; it may have
title or not. However, a noticeable trend of most current Brazilian writers is to follow the path
of traditional haiku, according to the teachings of Master Goga.
A country whose seasons differ from region to region requires a lot of understanding
to separate what belongs to the rainy season and the dry season — always with plenty of
sunshine — for those who have learned to live without autumns and springs. But for those
areas with traditional seasons, the proper terms may be more visible. However, in terms of
kigo many Brazilian writers of haiku are already tuned in.
 Anyway, Brazil is living the haiku moment through its many practitioners. Numerous
books have been published since the twentieth century, which adopt their own styles or follow
styles seen here with attempts to deliver a moment of reflection to the reader. Also there are
several associations, sites, lists and social networking spaces with interest in haiku. Even so, it
is still not enough. The continued expansion will make this a true country of haiku.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Franchetti, Paulo. 2008. “O Haicai no Brasil.” Alea: Estudos Neolatinos, Rio de Janeiro, v.10, n.
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