| Home | About YTHS | Events | Activities | Membership |
The purpose of the founders of the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society was to nourish and foster the art of writing haiku in English using the traditional guidelines developed by haiku poets in Japan, where haiku originated. As explained by Mrs. Tokutomi, in Japanese "Yu" means "having", "Ki" means "season", "Tei" means formal", and "Kei" means "pattern". Therefore, "yuki teikei" haiku have a season word and follow the 5-7-5 pattern of syllables. Mrs. Tokutomi often spoke to the Society about the value of kigo (season words) in haiku and one of her lessons is provided here.
One View of the Value of Traditional Haiku has recently been presented. For some time, in aid of traditional haiku writing, the Society has made available The Yuki Teikei Haiku Season Word List. Further development of season words appropriate the San Francisco Bay Area of California is going forward as the Haiku Season Word Project. An introduction to the importance of season words is available on the Shiki website. Discussion of haiku form and season words is provided on Dhugal J. Lindsay's Haiku Universe.