Departed souls
white magnolias
The warming climate coaxed the arrival of a cherry blossom on March 26 in Kyoto. That is the earliest ever recorded since 1409. The date of the first Japanese cherry blossom to appear at Jisho Shrine, Kiyomizu Temple, in Kyoto has been tracked for 732 times since the year 812. This long and complete seasonal record serves as proxy evidence that phenologists use to study seasons and that haikuists can use to compare traditional and modern haiku. Subir Ningthouja awaited news of the cherry tree that is faithfully measured at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.
Yasukuni shrine.
blossom the season
Satoru Kanematsu received complimentary bus tickets in Nagoya. Enjoying her garden in Tokyo, Junko Saeki was nonplussed by the soaring number of private companies selling Starship tickets to the international space station or around the moon. Tsanka Shishkova was enticed by the new way to travel.
under the trees and bamboo
enough for the birds
Tsanka Shishkova’s uphill climb was fruitful, leading her to write this line: the scent of spring plums on the hill.
Stephen Toft wrote this one-liner about whispering to cattle in Lancaster, U.K.: spring blossom i sing to the bull.
Wade German made a pilgrimage in Delta, British Columbia.
spring snow.
to master’s shrine
Vladislav Hristov bowed under an old, bent evergreen in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Realizing that Jesus of Nazareth may have been crucified on a cross made from the yew tree, Mario Massimo Zontini counted his blessings in Parma, Italy. Francoise Maurice’s ears perked toward the treetops in Draguignan, France. Kanematsu swayed sacred tree leaves during prayers.
Professor receives national language teaching award | University of Hawaiʻi System News hawaii.edu - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from hawaii.edu Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Photo Credit: Jewish Press
Maximilian Berlitz (1852-1921) gave his name to the first Berlitz School of Languages founded in 1878 in Providence, Rhode Island and to the allegedly unique âBerlitz methodâ of language instruction, the essence of which is the rejection of rote language learning, tedious memorization exercises, and grammar drills in favor of a conversational, usage-driven approach.
One of his most famous students was Kaiser William II, to whom he taught English and who put him in charge of teaching French to cadets at Germanyâs military academy in Potsdam. He went on to create a company that made his name synonymous with foreign language instruction in the United States and worldwide.
The tree you climbed endlessly
And you disappeared -
Grow with http://www.asahi.com/ajw/special/haiku/. The next issue of the Asahi Haikuist Network appears Mar. 19. Readers are invited to send haiku about gales on a postcard to David McMurray at the International University of Kagoshima, Sakanoue 8-34-1, Kagoshima, 891-0197, Japan, or e-mail to (mcmurray@fka.att.ne.jp).
David McMurray has been writing the Asahi Haikuist Network column since April 1995, first for the Asahi Evening News. He is on the editorial board of the Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku, columnist for the Haiku International Association, and is editor of Teaching Assistance, a column featuring graduate students in The Language Teacher of the Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT).