Now running…
an exciting series of haiga created by Kuniharu Shimizu, featuring haiku from Basho’s Narrow Road to Oku.
DailyHaiga is thrilled to present its first feature series — 51 haiga that pair the haiku of Basho with the innovative art of Kuniharu Shimizu. The pieces will be published over the next several months, in sets of 5-6, interspersed with our open submissions.
Kuni san has created haiga for each of Basho’s haiku from Narrow Road to Oku, which was originally written as a travelogue in haibun and haiku. He recommends that you read Narrow Road to Oku along with his haiga to best appreciate their context. There are numerous translations of Basho’s work, all with subtle differences that enhance our ability to understand Basho’s intent. A collaboration between Kuni san and Dr. Donald Keene allow the haiku to appear in both Japanese and English.
When asked about this project, Kuni san has this to say:
“I have been making haiga for about ten years now, and this Narrow Road to Oku series is the culmination of what I have learned about the art of haiga and my own way of visually expressing the poetic content of haiku. One of Basho’s teaching is Hueki Ryuko, or permanence and change—synthesis between tradition and innovation. I tried to follow Basho’s teaching when I made the haiga for this series.
I use a computer software called Illustrator, a professional tool for graphic designers and illustrators. Some haiga were created entirely using this software, but in most cases, I created the artwork with various tools like brush, pencil, pen, crayon, then digitized and assembled the haiga.”
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About Donald Keene:
Donald Lawrence Keene (born June 6, 1922 in New York City) is a Japanologist, scholar, teacher, writer, translator and interpreter of Japanese literature and culture. Keene is currently University Professor Emeritus and Shincho Professor Emeritus of Japanese Literature at Columbia University, where he has taught for over fifty years.
Keene has published about 25 books in English on Japanese topics, including both studies of Japanese literature and culture and translations of Japanese classical and modern literature, including a four-volume history of Japanese literature. Keene has also published about 30 books in Japanese (some translated from English).
Keene is the president of the Donald Keene Foundation for Japanese Culture.
