Reading an Evening Breeze: Buson’s Hokku in Translation

This chapter extends Shirane’s discussion of the myths surrounding the composition of haiku and echoes Sato’s attention to haiku translation practices in English. By examining the life and work of Yosa Buson (1716–1783), one of Japan’s major haiku poets, the chapter also considers various characteristics of haiku aesthetics, including the nature of the kireji, or “cut,” which separates a haiku (or hokku) into two parts and which Japanese scholar Fukumoto Ichir? claims is the form’s defining feature. Through a comparative analysis of multiple translations of the same haiku by Buson, coupled with English and Japanese-language commentary, the chapter brings Japanese critical modes of interpretation to bear on the English translation and editorial presentation of Buson’s work, thereby bridging Anglo-American and Japanese reading practices.