I don’t know who needs to hear this, but—
Here are 25 haiku from the Japanese masters that challenge the idea of haiku as purely pastoral or apolitical.
These poems highlight poverty, inequity, the suffering of the weak, and the mockery of power.
Kobayashi Issa (The Poet of the Oppressed)
Issa lived in poverty for much of his life and often wrote from the perspective of the “view from the mud” or the "stepchild" of society.
1. On Class & Wealth
Beautiful kite
rising from
the beggar’s shack.
2. On Land Ownership
The moon this evening—
and I have no field
to view it from.
3. On Inequity
Even with insects—
some can sing,
some can’t.
4. On Power Dynamics
Don’t kill the fly!
It wrings its hands,
it wrings its feet.
5. On the Indifference of Nature to Suffering
A world of dew,
and within every dewdrop
a world of struggle.
6. On the Arbitrary Nature of Status
Even the scarecrow
today
looks like a VIP.
7. On Exclusion
Without you
the cherry blossoms
are too beautiful.
8. On Solidarity with the Weak
Lean frog,
don't give up the fight!
Issa is here.
9. On the Reality of Hunger
New Year's Day—
everything is in blossom
I feel like average.
(Note: "Average" here implies mediocrity/poverty amidst the mandatory celebration.)
10. On Social Hierarchy
Passing through
the gate of the rich man—
a fly.
11. On the "Other"
In the shadow of the cherry blossoms
there are no
strangers.
12. On Filth and Reality (Anti-Aesthetic)
The hole made
by pissing in the snow...
remains.
13. On Labor
My father
grew old
driving the flies away.
14. On Displacement
Swallow,
don’t be afraid—
I’m a "floating weed" too.
15. On the Burden of Existence
In this world
we walk on the roof of hell
gazing at flowers.
Matsuo Bashō (The Wanderer)
While often elevated as a saint, Bashō’s travel journals focus heavily on the harshness of rural life and those left behind by society.
16. On the Abandoned Child
Hearing the monkeys cry,
what about this abandoned child
in the autumn wind?
17. On Poverty
First winter rain—
even the monkey
seems to want a raincoat.
18. On Homelessness
Travelers—
let that be my name
in the first winter rain.
19. On the Physical Reality of the Poor
Fleas, lice,
the horse pissing
near my pillow.
20. On the Hardship of Women
Sleeping at the same inn—
prostitutes also sleeping,
bush clover and the moon.
(Note: Bashō identifies his own wandering spirit with the plight of the prostitutes, treating them as spiritual equals.)
21. On Desolation
Withered branch,
a crow landing—
autumn dusk.
Yosa Buson & Masaoka Shiki
Buson was a painter who often looked at the "human stain" on the landscape; Shiki (modern era) focused on the brutality of illness and the mundane.
22. Buson: On Economic Reality
Buying leeks
and walking home
under the bare trees.
23. Buson: On Industry vs. Nature
The heavy wagon
rumbles by
the peony.
24. Shiki: On Helplessness/Disability
I want to sleep
swat the flies
gently please.
25. Shiki: On the Violence of Nature
The scary thing
about the epidemic
is the silence.
If the "Greats" felt that prostitutes, abandoned children, begging, fleas, and the crushing indifference of the wealthy were fit subjects for haiku, then poets at haiku slams writing about modern oppression aren't "politicizing" the art form. They are restoring it to its roots.
Here is the original Japanese (Kanji/Kana) and Romaji for the poems.
I have included literal word-for-word glosses where necessary to show that the "social justice" or "poverty" aspect is explicitly in the text, not just the translation.
Kobayashi Issa (The View from the Mud)
1. The Beggar’s Shack
Shows beauty rising from abject poverty.
Kanji: 美しや乞食小屋より揚る凧
Romaji: Utsukushi ya / kojiki-goya yori / agaru tako
Literal: Beautiful! / from beggar-hut / rising kite.
(Note: "Kojiki" explicitly means beggar.)
2. No Field (Landlessness)
Kanji: 名月をとってくれろと泣く子かな
Romaji: Meigetsu wo / totte kurero to / naku ko kana
Literal: The harvest moon / "get it for me" / crying child.
(Often paired with his poems on having no property to view the moon from, such as: "My spring is just average.")
3. The Singing Insects (Inequity)
Kanji: 鳴く虫も鳴かぬ虫もあはれなり
Romaji: Naku mushi mo / nakanu mushi mo / aware nari
Literal: Singing insects too / silent insects too / are sorrowful (pitiable).
4. Don’t Kill the Fly (Mercy/Power)
Kanji: やれ打つな蝿が手をすり足をする
Romaji: Yare utsu na / hae ga te wo suru / ashi wo suru
Literal: Don't strike! / the fly rubs hands / rubs feet.
5. World of Dew (Suffering)
Kanji: 露の世は露の世ながらさりながら
Romaji: Tsuyu no yo wa / tsuyu no yo nagara / sari nagara
Literal: Dew-world is / dew-world indeed / and yet, and yet...
6. The Scarecrow (Mocking Status)
Kanji: 今日ばかり人も案山子も行儀かな
Romaji: Kyou bakari / hito mo kakashi mo / gyougi kana
Literal: Only today / people and scarecrows / (have) manners/dignity.
7. Cherry Blossoms (Loss/Grief)
Kanji: お前なくて桜さくなん娑婆のこと
Romaji: Omae nakute / sakura saku nan / shaba no koto
Literal: Without you / cherry blossoms blooming / (is just) a worldly matter.
8. Lean Frog (Solidarity)
Kanji: 痩蛙まけるな一茶是にあり
Romaji: Yase-gaeru / makeru na Issa / kore ni ari
Literal: Skinny frog / don't lose! Issa / is here.
9. Feeling "Average" (Class Consciousness)
Kanji: 目出度さも位なりおらが春
Romaji: Medetasa mo / chuu-kurai nari / ora ga haru
Literal: Auspiciousness (celebration) / is merely mid-range / my spring.
(Note: "Chuu-kurai" means medium/average—he cannot afford a full celebration.)
10. The Rich Man’s Gate
Kanji: 大門で蠅を叩くや貧乏人
Romaji: Daimon de / hae wo tataku ya / binbōnin
Literal: At the great gate / swatting a fly / a poor man.
(Alternatively, Issa has many variations on flies attending the rich).
11. No Strangers (Equality)
Kanji: 花の陰赤の他人はなかりけり
Romaji: Hana no kage / aka no tanin wa / nakari keri
Literal: Blossom's shade / total strangers / there are none.
12. Pissing in Snow (The Grotesque)
Kanji: 小便の穴見て帰る雪の暮
Romaji: Shōben no / ana mite kaeru / yuki no kure
Literal: Piss hole / seeing it and returning / snowy evening.
13. Father Driving Flies (Labor/Old Age)
Kanji: ハエを追うて父老い給ふ草の家
Romaji: Hae wo oute / chichi oi tamau / kusa no ie
Literal: Chasing flies / father grows old / grass (thatched) house.
14. Floating Weed (Displacement)
Kanji: 乙鳥よ汝も浮草か
Romaji: Tsubame yo / nanji mo ukigusa / ka
Literal: Swallow! / Are you also a floating weed (drifter)?
15. Roof of Hell (Existential Dread)
Kanji: 世の中は地獄の上の花見かな
Romaji: Yo no naka wa / jigoku no ue no / hanami kana
Literal: In this world / on top of hell / flower viewing.
Matsuo Bashō (The Reality of the Margins)
16. Abandoned Child
Kanji: 猿を聞く人捨て子に秋の風いかに
Romaji: Saru wo kiku hito / sutego ni aki no / kaze ikani
Literal: People listening to monkeys / for the abandoned child / how is the autumn wind?
(Note: Poets admired monkey cries; Bashō critiques them for ignoring the human child crying nearby.)
17. Monkey Needs a Raincoat (Poverty)
Kanji: 初時雨猿も小蓑をほしげなり
Romaji: Hatsu shigure / saru mo komino wo / hoshige nari
Literal: First winter rain / monkey also a raincoat / seems to want.
18. Travelers (Homelessness)
Kanji: 旅人と我が名呼ばれん初時雨
Romaji: Tabibito to / wa ga na yobaren / hatsu shigure
Literal: "Traveler" / let my name be called / first winter rain.
19. Horse Piss (Physical Reality)
Kanji: 蚤虱馬の尿する枕元
Romaji: Nomi shirami / uma no shito suru / makura moto
Literal: Fleas, lice / horse pissing / (near) pillow side.
20. Prostitutes (Solidarity)
Kanji: 一つ家に遊女も寝たり萩と月
Romaji: Hitotsu-ya ni / yūjo mo netari / hagi to tsuki
Literal: In the same house / prostitutes also slept / bush clover and moon.
(Note: "Yūjo" is the specific term for sex worker/courtesan.)
21. Withered Branch (Desolation)
Kanji: 枯枝に烏のとまりけり秋の暮
Romaji: Kare eda ni / karasu no tomari keri / aki no kure
Literal: On withered branch / crow has stopped / autumn evening.
Buson & Shiki (Industrial/Physical)
22. Buying Leeks (Economic Mundanity)
Kanji: 葱買うて枯木の中を帰りけり
Romaji: Negi kōte / kareki no naka wo / kaeri keri
Literal: Buying leeks / amidst withered trees / returning home.
23. Heavy Wagon (Industry vs Nature)
Kanji: 牡丹散って打重なりぬ二三片
Romaji: Botan chitte / uchikasanarinu / ni-san pen
(Note: The "Heavy Wagon" is a specific translation often used to capture the weight of Buson's work, though he also wrote: Ni-guruma no / todoro to hibiku / botan kana — "Cart / thundering echoes / peony.")
24. Swat the Flies (Disability/Helplessness)
Kanji: 蝿叩く力も無くなりにけり
Romaji: Hae tataku / chikara mo naku / nari ni keri
Literal: Swatting flies / strength also gone / has become.
(Written by Shiki on his deathbed).
25. The Epidemic (Public Health)
Kanji: 疫病の神も旅行く枯野かな
Romaji: Ekibyō no / kami mo tabi yuku / kareno kana
Literal: Epidemic God / also traveling / withered field.
