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Kai Hasegawa

はせがわ かい

Hasegawa Kai

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1954-02-20 （Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan）
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan → Tokyo, Japan → Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

Career

Occupations
haiku poet, haiku scholar, university professor, newspaper journalist
Active Years
1970-
Affiliations
Tokai University, Specially Appointed Professor, Department of Creative Writing, Kanagawa Museum of Modern Literature, Deputy Director, Yomiuri Shimbun (former reporter)
Memberships
Haiku society 'Koshi' (founder), Kasen no Kai (participant), Kigosai - Seasonal Words and Saijiki Association (representative)
Influenced By
Terutoshi Hirai, Minoru Ameyama, Shūson Katō, Matsuo Bashō, Kobayashi Issa, Masaoka Shiki, Takahama Kyoshi, Ryūta Iida
Influenced
Hiroshi Otani

Education

University of Tokyo
Faculty of Law / Department of Law
Degree: 学士
Country: Japan
Graduated from the Faculty of Law, University of Tokyo. Exact graduation year not specified in provided sources.

Awards

Suntory Academic Award
1990
Work: The Universe of Haiku
Organization: Suntory Academic Award
Result: 受賞
Yomiuri Literature Prize
2003
Work: Kokū (Void)
Organization: Yomiuri Shimbun
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Koshi

1985 Haiku (poetry collection)

First haiku collection. Gained attention for a traditional haiku style that emphasizes classical techniques.

natureseasonstraditioncaesura and pause

The Universe of Haiku

1990 Haiku criticism / literary criticism

A critical work on haiku form and expression, including discussions on caesura and the use of space in verse.

haiku theorypoeticsform and pause

Kokū (Void)

2002 Haiku (poetry collection)

A haiku collection that received the Yomiuri Literature Prize in 2003; one of his representative works.

natureexistence and voiddisaster and memory

Did the Frog Jump into the Old Pond?

2005 Haiku criticism / essays

An analytical essay on Bashō's 'old pond' haiku, discussing caesura and the notion of 'ma' (pause) in haiku.

Bashō studiestheory of expressionhistory of haiku

Bibliography

  • Koshi
  • Tenkyū
  • Kajitsu (Fruits)
  • Hōrai
  • Kokū (Void)
  • Matsushima
  • Hatsukari
  • Complete Haiku Collection of Kai Hasegawa (2008)
  • Shinnen (New Year)
  • Fuji
  • The Sea and the Harp
  • Uguisu (Bush Warbler)
  • Disaster Song Collection (2011)
  • Disaster Haiku Collection (2012)
  • Karatsu
  • Kashiwamochi
  • Yoshino
  • Okinawa
  • Disaster Song Collection / Disaster Haiku Collection (combined edition, 2017)
  • September (2018)
  • Gate of the Sun (2021)
  • Kai Hasegawa Selected 500 Haiku (2024)
  • A Drop of the Universe (Kasen collection, 2015; with Hirohiko Okano and Masashi Miura)
  • An Eternal Moment (Kasen collection, 2019)
  • Kasen is Amazing: The World of 'Za' that Words Open (2019)
  • An Introduction to Seasonal Words for 100 Million People
  • An Introduction to Haiku for 100 Million People
  • Introduction to Haiku Meetings
  • An Introduction to 'Kire' (Caesura) for 100 Million People
  • The Universe of Haiku
  • Did the Frog Jump into the Old Pond?
  • Reading 'Oku no Hosomichi'
  • Bashō's Elegance: On Void and Reality
  • The Universe of Shiki
  • The Birth of Haiku
  • One Hundred National Haiku Selections
  • Appreciation of Contemporary Haiku 101 (editor)
  • A New Issa (in the 'Japanese Literature Collection')
  • Thoughts on Wa (Japanese Harmony)
  • The Sea's Narrow Path (travelogue)
  • Reading the Japanese Constitution in the Faculty of Letters
  • The Japanese Calendar: This Week's Saijiki
  • Haiku Lifestyle
  • Songs of the Four Seasons (essays from his column)
  • Saijiki of Flowers
  • Haiku and Humanity
  • Mr. Bashō (picture book, 2017; selection commentary)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
traditional haiku styleemphasis on caesura and the use of pause ('ma')blend of formal beauty and nature-centered sensibility
Recurring Motifs
natureseasonal changethe 'old pond' imagedisaster and memory

Legacy

Kai Hasegawa, while valuing traditional haiku expression, broadened public understanding of contemporary haiku through primers and criticism. His studies of Bashō and Issa and his works addressing the Great East Japan Earthquake have earned him scholarly and social recognition.

In Popular Culture

  • NHK '100 Minutes of Masterpieces' episode on Matsuo Bashō's 'Oku no Hosomichi' (appearance, 2013)
  • NHK 'Extracurricular Class: Welcome, Seniors!' (appearance, 2014)

Quotes

  • Haiku reveals its true value through caesura and the space between words.
    Source: Haiku no Uchū (The Universe of Haiku) (1990)
  • Bashō's 'old pond' haiku contains layers of time within a single verse.
    Source: Did the Frog Jump into the Old Pond? (2005)

Trivia

  • Born in 1954 in Kumamoto Prefecture.
  • Graduated from the Faculty of Law, University of Tokyo.
  • Former reporter at the Yomiuri Shimbun, later devoted himself to haiku.
  • Gained attention with the haiku collection 'Koshi'; won the Suntory Academic Award (1990) for 'The Universe of Haiku' and the Yomiuri Literature Prize (2003) for 'Kokū'.
  • Representative of the online seasonal-word project 'Kigosai'.
  • Founder of the haiku society 'Koshi'.