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Kafuu Saito

さいとう かふう

Saitō Kafū

Aliases: 斎藤安弘（本名）
Pen Names: Kafuu Saito（Pen name used as a haiku nom de plume）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1931-02-01 （Tokyo, Japan）
Died
2017-08-21 （Tokyo, Japan） age 86
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese

Career

Occupations
Haiku poet, Poet, Editor, Poetry judge
Active Years
1954-2017
Affiliations
Natsukusa (haiku group), Founder and editor of the haiku magazine 'Yane', Haiku Poets' Association (board member), Japan PEN Club (member), Japan Federation of Writers (member)
Memberships
Haiku Poets' Association, Japan PEN Club, Japan Federation of Writers
Influenced By
Seison Yamaguchi

Education

Waseda University
Faculty of Law
Period: 在学中に中退
Country: Japan
Dropped out while enrolled in the Faculty of Law

Awards

Natsukusa Newcomer Award
1962
Organization: Natsukusa (haiku magazine/group)
Result: winner
Natsukusa Prize
1986
Organization: Natsukusa (haiku magazine/group)
Result: winner
Haiku Poets' Association Award
2010
Work: Tsuji Haikai (6th haiku collection)
Organization: Haiku Poets' Association
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Umitatechi (Reclaimed Land) — haiku collection

1980 Haiku

An early haiku collection containing poems on urban and everyday scenes.

cityeveryday lifeseasons

Sakurabuta (Cherrywood Hearth) — haiku collection

1985 Haiku

A collection centered on nature and flowering trees.

flowersnatureseasonal sense

Collected Works of Kafuu Saito

1989 Haiku

A volume in the modern haiku series compiling representative poems with authorial notes.

recollectiontradition and modernity

Jirōgaki — haiku collection

1989 Haiku

A collection that approaches the seasons through fruits and familiar objects.

fruitsfamiliar landscapes

Saito Kafuu Haiku Collection

1994 Haiku

A haiku collection published by Furansudo, containing representative poems.

seasonseveryday life

River — haiku handbook

1996 Haiku (guidebook)

A guide to composing haiku, including discussion of techniques and themes.

poetic techniquediscourse on subject matter

Sea of Embers — haiku collection

1997 Haiku

A collection noted for its sensory landscape depictions.

sealight and shadow

Sansou Shunjū — essays/haiku

1999 Essays & Haiku

A work combining essays and haiku.

essaysseasonal sense

Inaho — haiku collection

2005 Haiku

A collection of mature-period poems.

rice earssense of abundance

Plants, Flowers, Spring to Winter — Practical Haiku (NHK Haiku)

2008 Haiku (guidebook)

An NHK-related practical guide to composing haiku using seasonal plants as subjects.

plantskigo (season words)composition

Tsuji Haikai — haiku collection

2010 Haiku

The sixth haiku collection which won the Haiku Poets' Association Award in 2010.

haikaitradition and critique

Master Kafuu's Haiku Dojo

2013 Haiku (instruction)

A practical instructional book on composing haiku, conveying hands-on teachings.

instructioneducation

Bibliography

  • Umitatechi (1980)
  • Sakurabuta (1985)
  • Collected Works of Kafuu Saito (1989)
  • Jirōgaki (1989)
  • Saito Kafuu Haiku Collection (1994)
  • River (1996)
  • Sea of Embers (1997)
  • Sansou Shunjū (1999)
  • Inaho (2005)
  • Plants, Flowers, Spring to Winter — Practical Haiku (2008)
  • Tsuji Haikai (2010)
  • Master Kafuu's Haiku Dojo (2013)
  • Complete Haiku Collection of Kafuu Saito (2020, compiled)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Concise, tightly-wrought phrasingFusion of traditional haiku form with modern sensibility
Recurring Motifs
seasons (the four seasons)plants and flowering treeseveryday domestic scenesrivers, sea, and light

Legacy

Kafuu Saito was an influential postwar haiku poet who contributed to nurturing later generations as a magazine editor and selector. He established his reputation through awards such as the Haiku Poets' Association Award and left a legacy in both practical composition and instructional/critical works.

Academic Societies

  • Haiku Poets' Association
  • Japan PEN Club
  • Japan Federation of Writers

Archives

  • National Diet Library (authority record)
  • VIAF (authority identifier)

Trivia

  • Real name: Saitō Yasuhiro.
  • Joined Seison Yamaguchi's 'Natsukusa' in 1954 and later served as a member and editor of the magazine (until 1991).
  • Founded and edited the haiku magazine 'Yane' in 1986.
  • Served as a selector for NHK Haidan from April 2001 to March 2003.
  • Received the 50th Haiku Poets' Association Award in 2010 for 'Tsuji Haikai'.