WHCessay - WHCjapan: Yasuomi Koganei

 

On a Möbius Strip’s Rims
Page 1

Yasuomi Koganei
Tokyo, Japan

 

Summary

Though English haiku was defined by the Haiku Society of America in 1973, it seems a good time to review the definition in the light of recent developments in research on the human brain, current world haiku activities and haiku trends in Japan.

When composing haiku, working-memories start in the brain of the haiku composer. Short-term memories, long-term memories, evaluation criteria, etc. in the brain of the composer are work together in the working-memories to compose haiku.

These memories reside in the neuron circuits of the brain. The neuron circuits are affected by education, environments, etc., forming personality. Writing haiku is equivalent to exposing the composer’s personality. Therefore, world haiku should have a form by which people all over the world can express a wide variety of personalities.  

With the above mentioned points in mind, as a new definition of world haiku will be proposed here, and such technical tools for haiku composition as season words, bipolar structure, four-dimensional configuration, visual haiku and abstract haiku are discussed to develop new fronts.

The newly proposed world haiku has, in principle, three phrase-lines; a threshold of 9 words or 13 syllables is proposed, if necessary. The scope of world haiku covers poetry from season word haiku with 5-7-5 syllabic structure (Japanese traditional type) to critical haiku (senryu). Season words will be for local use and form an important cluster of key words. Bipolar structure connecting two extreme images is recommended to provide wide space between the lines, and four-dimensional configuration connecting past and present things or present and future, or past and future things is also recommended to provide much wider space between the lines.

 

English visual haiku and Japanese haiku written by mixing kana and kanji are discussed to show that these are appreciated by the cartoon-enjoying neuron-circuits in the reader’s brain. Progress in computer graphics is good for their demonstration e.g. the Internet. Where abstract haiku is concerned, the possibility of visual and auditory haiku having an analogy with abstract painting are proposed to make the definition of abstract haiku clear. The third approach to abstract haiku is to find new thoughts that do not exist in the current real world, but reside unconsciously in our brains. More than conventional haiku, abstract haiku composition has the potential to find new thoughts which might contribute to the world peace.

Is haiku a product of a single thought at a single moment (haiku moment)?

Haiku is believed to indicate a single thought that appears on the surface of the conscious at a particular instant (a haiku moment).

One day in the autumn of 1999, when I just got out of the hospital, the humid heat of late summer had vanished, and in its stead there was a refreshing autumn atmosphere in Tokyo, Japan. My deep breath of the refreshing autumn breeze brought me haiku in both Japanese and English. 

The Japanese version is a 5-7-5 syllabic structure of 8 words including one season word (autumn breeze: aki no kaze), while the English version has a 5-2-3 syllabic structure of 6 words. The Japanese version is consistent with the technical requirements of Japanese traditional haiku. But I wasn't satisfied with it. I had shared one ward with several patients when I was at the hospital. Before leaving the ward, I thanked my doctor for his excellent treatment and the nurses for their attentive care. To the patients, I expressed my hope of their rapid recoveries. This haiku about leaving the hospital should suggest this gratitude to some extent to express my feeling at leaving the hospital.

The Japanese version has no room to add words to express gratitude, but the English version may allow another 7-syllable phrase totalling 17 syllables, in all. There might be many ways of expressing gratitude, but I selected a bouquet of flowers left in the ward to cheer up the remaining patients. Consequently:

Leaving hospital
with lungs full of autumn breeze -
flowers in the ward.

“Hospital” and “ward” suggest same image of illness. To avoid this duplication, the English haiku was modified as below.

Now, the haiku about leaving the hospital has been shortened to a 4-3-6 syllabic structure of 13 syllables and 10 words. It includes the feeling of thanks that arose upon leaving the hospital. Readers of this haiku may be able to trace the flow of time and feelings from the leaving of flowers in the ward to breathing fresh air just outside the hospital. Literally translated, the Japanese version of this haiku (shown in parentheses) has a 4-5-11 syllabic structure of 20 syllables and 10 words. The above-mentioned haiku's composing process suggests that English haiku are capable of indicating more thoughts, including experiences before the haiku moment, or more specific thoughts than Japanese haiku, and probably in plainer language.

What happens in the brain during the haiku composing process?

Haiku are written not only at an emotional instant (called a haiku moment) but also with a desire to compose haiku, e.g. at the time trying to make haiku for a haiku competition or a haiku meeting.

Though much remains to be known about the functions of the brain, current knowledge of brain functions suggest the following about the haiku composing process in the brain:

Haiku are made in the working-memories [i] of the frontal lobe association area of the cerebral cortex of the haiku composer with the assistance of the cerebellum controlling latent memories.  Visual, auditory, olfactory or somatesthetic perceptions "at the moment" awaken short-term memories unconsciously in the hippocampus, organic memories in the cerebellum and long-term memories in other parts of the brain. These memories are mobilized to compose haiku under the control of haiku evaluation circuits residing in the frontal lobe, the limbic system of the cerebral cortex and probably many other areas in the brain. One function of the frontal lobe is as a thinking center; the limbic system controls feelings of joy and anger. The hypothalamus in the brain stem controls sex drive, hunger, thirst, etc.  

Desire to compose haiku, itself, works also as an inductor to stimulate the working-memories -- childhood memories, one scene in an old film, emotions experienced when reading novels, one line of unfinished haiku or a sight-seeing spot, etc. These unconsciously emerge to the working areas as well. Verbal confirmation of haiku is carried out to refine the haiku by mobilizing an audition (in the temporal lobe) -motor (cortical motor area) -evaluation circuit in the brain. The appearance of haiku is also evaluated with a sight (in the occipital lobe) -evaluation-motor (writing) circuit. Thus, haiku composition is synthetic brain activity. The main functions of the brain for haiku composition are summarized in the references. [ii]

Sex differences of brain function

Women’s corpus callossa (which connect the right and left cerebral hemispheres) are thicker than those of men. This makes it possible to transmit visual, auditory and linguistic information quickly and efficiently between the hemispheres and generally makes women excellent at understanding delicate feelings.  

Harusame ya............... tsuchi no kaori ni......... kimi ga iru................... Catherine Urquhart

Spring rain a lover lost lingers in the earth’s aroma.

On the other hand, many kinds of tests reveal that men over 12 years are generally excellent in space recognition, which takes place in the right cerebrum[iii]. One of Basho’s haiku is visualized in Figure 1 in page 5 of this essay.

What is expressed in haiku?

Neuron circuits in the brain are forming to build up the personality from birth, being affected by education, culture, environment and the DNA they inherit. Composing haiku is almost equivalent to expressing the personality.

Long term haiku composing activities provide a record of the haiku composer’s life, or the history of his philosophy-forming process. Many phenomena and  information are memorized unconsciously in the appropriate area of the brain and some of these emerge in the working-memory during haiku composition. It follows that world haiku should be a genre which accommodates the wide variety of self-expression expected of people living the world over.

Scope of world Haiku

Firstly, let us review the situation of Japanese short form poetry. Japanese short form poetry consists of traditional haiku, modern (contemporary) haiku, senryu and free style haiku (Table 1). The first three poems have a 5-7-5 syllabic structure. Traditional haiku require a season word but in modern haiku the season word is not obligatory and colloquial expressions are permitted. Most senryu deal with current events and quite often exclude season words. Free style haiku are free with regard to length and wording. Haiku and senryu have a common origin, namely renga (linked poetry). The hokku (starting verse) of renga developed into haiku, while the other portion of renga produced senryu. In its strictest form, haiku should be composed with a 5-7-5 syllabic structure, including one season word and the kireji (cutting word). The kireji is used to link two different things in one haiku and provide the space between the lines. If two extremes are linked, these provide a bipolar structure in haiku. 

 Table 1. Categories of short poems in Japan

Traditional haiku	Contemporary haiku	Senryu	Free style haiku
5-7-5 syllabic structure	5-7-5 syllabic structure	5-7-5 syllabic structure	Free style
With season word	With or without season word	With or without season word	With or without season word
Cutting word is one  important element	Cutting word is one  important element	-	-

Some newspapers insert a senryu column four times a week to reflect readers’ reactions to current topics, while haiku is, e.g. in the Sunday edition only. In some cases, the border line between senryu and haiku is vague.

Ochiba haku natsu no kokage o arigato

Grateful for the shade
of tree –
sweeping leaves.

Toshio Tonezawa
Asahi Shimbun, December 3, 1999

Since the history of world haiku is shorter than that of Japanese haiku, world haiku should include all categories of short poem, such as Japanese traditional haiku, modern haiku, senryu and free style haiku. Unlike Japanese haiku, world haiku should, in principle, satisfy a comprehensive variety of desires of expression to reach a satisfactory communication level. Some thoughts, from reaction to such sensory stimuli as sight - to criticism of such artificial systems as social system, are difficult to state completely in one short poem, but it may be possible to state the essence of them briefly by world haiku. However, some techniques of expression might be needed. For people who desire to express their thoughts more, renku, a set of haiku, offers another possibility to demonstrate comprehensive thoughts. Compared to long poems, novels, or essays, the haiku's basic point of difference is that it is short. Of course, haiku readers also appreciate haiku with their brains or their personalities, but the possibility of showing thoughts in world haiku should be examined firstly because the possibility hasn't been examined thoroughly enough yet.

A haiku is read by the reader's brain, which is affected by education, culture and DNA. When people read haiku, their brain circuits are actively trying to understand the composers' thoughts. If the work of the composer is beyond the knowledge of the reader, the reader may skip over it; but they may recall the haiku when they have learned enough. Comments on local cultural matters are favorable for haiku readers in another culture. Readers’ curiosity is needed to appreciate haiku including very local words. That is, curiosity is needed for communication between different cultures to improve mutual understanding.

The brain compares present events with past ones and, may speculate about future ones from the present, either consciously or unconsciously.

 

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