Despite being ill for much of his life, Shiki wrote more than 24,000 haiku over the duration of his short lifetime. Many are archived on the Shiki Museum website. As some readers would already know, Shiki’s favourite fruit was persimmon and he wrote quite a few haiku about them. It is said that due to health issues he may not have been able to enjoy persimmons as much as he would have liked and for this reason they would often find themselves in Shiki’s haiku musings.

There are many different translations of the first verse so to avoid copyright issues, the first one is our version. You might enjoy reading this article on the World Haiku Review as it delves into the complications of haiku translation and offers an array of translations, thoughts on his trip to the ancient Hōryū Temple and this special haiku. Any suggestions on the translations would be appreciated.

Note: these poems are written in one line so you may need to turn your screen or switch to desktop to view them in a one-line format. Also, keep checking back in because there are more coming!

柿くへば鐘が鳴るなり法隆寺

eating a persimmon on the bell's ring - Hōryū temple


Here's another persimmon haiku:


柿の實や口ばし赤き鳥が來る

persimmons - and a red-beaked bird is coming



橘や南圓堂の香爐盤

the temple’s incense holder - a tangerine


* location could be the southern hall at Kofuku Temple in Nara


Shiki also loved apples:


林檎くふて又物寫す夜半哉

mid-night - I take an apple and write a story



林檎くふて牡丹の前に死なん哉

I may die eating apples in front of the peonies



火燵から見える処に梅の花

plum blossoms - still visible from the bonfire



薫風や千山の緑寺一つ

fragrant breeze - one temple amongst countless mountains



古池やさかさに浮かふ蝉のから

old pond - a cicada shell floats upon its surface


Shiki also liked to observe spiders:


古壁の隅に動かずはらみ蜘

in the corner of an old wall - a still and hungry spider



人ばらばら蜘の子を散らすごとくなり

a dispersing crowd - like scattered spiderlings



秋の蜘枕刀にかくれけり

autumn spider - hiding behind a sheathed sword



古家の槍長刀や孕蜘

ancestral spears, long swords and a pregnant spider



蜘蛛の子を散らすなかれと伏魔殿

spiderlings - don't scatter them or pandemonium


And butterflies:


秋の蝶長柄の傘に宿りけり

autumn butterfly snuggling under a long handled umbrella



同行ハ胡蝶たのんて二人哉

accompanying a butterfly - two people 



蝶々や人なき茶屋の十団子

just a butterfly in the teahouse with ten gyoza



秋風や蟷螂肥て蝶細し

autumn breeze - fat mantis and a thin butterfly


Some other haiku:


読む本を其まゝ顔に昼寝哉

with the book I'm reading on my face - nap time



梅雨晴やところところに蟻の道

rainy season - ant trails here and there



舟てくる友もありけり夏座敷

friends arriving by boat - summer tatami room



夏の夜の月くもらせる蚊遣哉

the summer night's moon clouded with mosquitoes



南瓜より茄子むつかしき写生哉

pumpkin more difficult than aubergine - sketching