“Haiku” is a type of Japanese poetry. In Japan a haiku consists of three lines that contain a total of 17 kana letters; 5 in the first line, 7 in the second line, and 5 in the last line. As you can see, a haiku is very short. But in Japanese a haiku must also include a seasonal word, kigo (季語) and a cutting word, kireji (切れ字) that interrupts the poem or draws special attention to its ending. “Senryū (川柳)” is 5-7-5-letter poetry without kigo and kireji. If you are interested in haiku, but you think it is too difficult, you may want to try senryū.
