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For All My Walking: Free-Verse Haiku of Taneda Santōka with Excerpts from His Diary
In April 1926, the Japanese poet Taneda Santoka (1882-1940) set off on the first of many walking trips, journeys in which he tramped thousands of miles through the Japanese countryside. These journeys were part of his religious training as a Buddhist monk as well as literary inspiration for his memorable and often painfully moving poems. The works he wrote during this time comprise a record of his quest for spiritual enlightenment.
Although Santoka was master of conventional-style haiku, which he wrote in his youth, the vast majority of his works, and those for which he is most admired, are in free-verse form. He also left a number of diaries in which he frequently recorded the circumstances that had led to the composition of a particular poem or group of poems. In "For All My Walking, " master translator Burton Watson makes Santoka's life story and literary journeys available to English-speaking readers and students of haiku and Zen Buddhism. He allows us to meet Santoka directly, not by withholding his own opinions but by leaving room for us to form our own. Watson's translations bring across not only the poetry but also the emotional force at the core of the poems.
This volume includes 245 of Santoka's poems and of excerpts from his prose diary, along with a chronology of his life and a compelling introduction that provides historical and biographical context to Taneda Santoka's work.
Although Santoka was master of conventional-style haiku, which he wrote in his youth, the vast majority of his works, and those for which he is most admired, are in free-verse form. He also left a number of diaries in which he frequently recorded the circumstances that had led to the composition of a particular poem or group of poems. In "For All My Walking, " master translator Burton Watson makes Santoka's life story and literary journeys available to English-speaking readers and students of haiku and Zen Buddhism. He allows us to meet Santoka directly, not by withholding his own opinions but by leaving room for us to form our own. Watson's translations bring across not only the poetry but also the emotional force at the core of the poems.
This volume includes 245 of Santoka's poems and of excerpts from his prose diary, along with a chronology of his life and a compelling introduction that provides historical and biographical context to Taneda Santoka's work.
128 pages, Paperback
First published September 15, 2002
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About the author
Santōka Taneda
141 books39 followersSantōka Taneda (種田 山頭火) was a Japanese writer and haiku poet, in his last years Zen monk. He is known for his free-verse haiku.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
August 20, 2017
wind from the sea
butterflies in embankment
weeds never resting
husband and wife quarreling
night
spiders dangle down
this body
still alive
scratching it
curt unfriendly woman
body big
in late pregnancy
sound of waves
far off close by
how much longer to live?
January 9,1932.... These days again I’ve been waking up every morning with a hard-on. I think of the well-known saying, “Never lend money to a man whose cock won’t stand up in the morning."
somewhere
inside my head
a crow is cawing
down the weedy path
I remember
to the graves
nothing else
but to die
mountains misted over
i sit
in the beauty
of grasses as they wither
hangover
and blossoms
scattering scattering
narrow path
deep into green leaves
a grave
bellybutton
it gathers up
all the sweat
waiting for what
each day each day
more fallen leaves pile up
butterflies in embankment
weeds never resting
husband and wife quarreling
night
spiders dangle down
this body
still alive
scratching it
curt unfriendly woman
body big
in late pregnancy
sound of waves
far off close by
how much longer to live?
January 9,1932.... These days again I’ve been waking up every morning with a hard-on. I think of the well-known saying, “Never lend money to a man whose cock won’t stand up in the morning."
somewhere
inside my head
a crow is cawing
down the weedy path
I remember
to the graves
nothing else
but to die
mountains misted over
i sit
in the beauty
of grasses as they wither
hangover
and blossoms
scattering scattering
narrow path
deep into green leaves
a grave
bellybutton
it gathers up
all the sweat
waiting for what
each day each day
more fallen leaves pile up
August 31, 2015
Taneda Santoka was a tragic figure - his mother and brother suicided, his father squandered the family fortune and Taneda himself battled an alcoholism that he knew had the better of him.
This tragic life, Burton Watson suggests, is part of the reason he is reserved a place in Japanese literary history (the Japanese apparently have an appreciation for those that mess up their lives completely) the other is his contribution to and continuing development of, Japanese Free Verse Haiku (Haiku without Kigo and syllable* restriction).
For All My Walking is a collection of Taneda’s daily diaries and the Haiku he wrote, including travels that he intended would echo Basho's own . The Haiku are presented in chronological order and when taken from published collections Watson notes this. Interspersed between the Haiku are diary entries which Watson has included to give some context to the poems and to give us a sense of the poet.
In that regard I find similarities with earlier works such as Basho’s Narrow Road to the Interior but perhaps this owes something to Watson’s arrangement rather than the intention of the poet ie Watson’s selections create a narrative whereas Basho creates his own.
Basho is more reserved and in the main directs his gaze outward. Taneda’s diaries seem to focus more heavily on himself, his battle with alcoholism and his struggle to maintain a living.
In presenting the Free Verse Haiku Watson has this to say:
My initial impression of the Haiku were that they felt a bit flat. By the end of the book, whether it was through sympathy with Taneda or familiarity, I did gain some appreciation. He reads at times like English Language Haiku (possibly because of the lack of Kigo or allusion) or perhaps I should say that some English language Haiku start to resemble Taneda’s work.
I can’t help but feel though that the change from Traditional to Free Verse Haiku would be more keenly felt in the original Japanese and that in translating, quite a lot is lost. Take for example the beautiful sound that the poem above makes in Japanese, which owing to its brevity can’t really be replicated in English.
Taneda can be extremely self involved at times and at others he captures what is going on around him in reverent detail:
Taneda is still popular in Japan today, so I think that in addition to suggesting he be read to improve a Haiku poet’s historical knowledge, there’s an argument to be had for studying the work of someone who must surely still have an effect on the writing of modern Haiku.
*Note I am using the term syllable loosely here to represent the Japanese symbol sounds
This tragic life, Burton Watson suggests, is part of the reason he is reserved a place in Japanese literary history (the Japanese apparently have an appreciation for those that mess up their lives completely) the other is his contribution to and continuing development of, Japanese Free Verse Haiku (Haiku without Kigo and syllable* restriction).
For All My Walking is a collection of Taneda’s daily diaries and the Haiku he wrote, including travels that he intended would echo Basho's own . The Haiku are presented in chronological order and when taken from published collections Watson notes this. Interspersed between the Haiku are diary entries which Watson has included to give some context to the poems and to give us a sense of the poet.
In that regard I find similarities with earlier works such as Basho’s Narrow Road to the Interior but perhaps this owes something to Watson’s arrangement rather than the intention of the poet ie Watson’s selections create a narrative whereas Basho creates his own.
Basho is more reserved and in the main directs his gaze outward. Taneda’s diaries seem to focus more heavily on himself, his battle with alcoholism and his struggle to maintain a living.
In presenting the Free Verse Haiku Watson has this to say:
My own interest in Santōka’s work centers more on the poetry itself, particularly the manner in which it experiments with different poem lengths and syntactic patterns, and the challenge that these present to the translator. Since free-style haiku do not adhere to the conventional 5–7–5 sound pattern, the translator is free to break them more or less wherever he or she wants or, like Hiroaki Sato in his translations of Ozaki Hōsai’s free-style haiku, to translate them as a single line in English. I have regularly broken my own translations into two or three lines in the hope that this division will help readers grasp the syntax of the poem and slow down the reading.
Modern Japanese in nearly all cases requires more syllables or sound symbols to express a given idea or image than does modern English, and so English translations of Japanese haiku, if not deliberately padded, will almost inevitably turn out to be briefer in wording than the originals. And when confronted with a poem such as Santōka’s haiku “oto wa shigure ka,” one comes out with something looking like this:
that sound
the rain?
My initial impression of the Haiku were that they felt a bit flat. By the end of the book, whether it was through sympathy with Taneda or familiarity, I did gain some appreciation. He reads at times like English Language Haiku (possibly because of the lack of Kigo or allusion) or perhaps I should say that some English language Haiku start to resemble Taneda’s work.
I can’t help but feel though that the change from Traditional to Free Verse Haiku would be more keenly felt in the original Japanese and that in translating, quite a lot is lost. Take for example the beautiful sound that the poem above makes in Japanese, which owing to its brevity can’t really be replicated in English.
Taneda can be extremely self involved at times and at others he captures what is going on around him in reverent detail:
July 11, 1938. Today is the day the ashes of the dead soldiers arrive. I caught the 10 o’clock bus to Yamaguchi…. At Yamaguchi Station, a guard of honor, families of the deceased, onlookers standing around under the glaring summer sky, waiting, myself among them. Hot, hot! Now and then, spatters of rain, like tears from the sky.
A little past twelve the train arrived. Ah—two hundred and thirty or forty some dead, a “triumphal return” with no hurrahs, a pitiful scene. Alongside the white boxes, two or three memorial bunches of bellflowers, two or three pigeons appearing, circling in the sky above. Sounds of muffled weeping, muted volley of rifles, sad notes of bugles, as the procession moves solemnly through the crowd, taking the dead men back to their home unit.
213
(“Home Front”)
valiantly—that too
pitifully—that too
white boxes
214
(“Home Front”)
drops of sweat
plop-plopping
on blank white boxes
215
(“Home Front”)
town festival
as bones
coming home for it?
216
(“Home Front”)
scarecrow too
bravely waving
the Rising Sun flag
Taneda is still popular in Japan today, so I think that in addition to suggesting he be read to improve a Haiku poet’s historical knowledge, there’s an argument to be had for studying the work of someone who must surely still have an effect on the writing of modern Haiku.
*Note I am using the term syllable loosely here to represent the Japanese symbol sounds
October 10, 2017
Another succinct but insightful entry in Colombia's Asian Studies series - I'm grateful for this small window into a world otherwise inaccessible due to language and cultural barriers.
Burton Watson is a skilled translator - he approaches Japanese with a musicality, lucidity, and inventiveness equal to that which he approaches Chinese (e.g. his rendition of the Lotus Sutra). His selection here emphasizes the humor and the sadness, the ambition and the humility of Santoka's work...the inclusion of key diary excerpts and the short but rich introduction do much to enliven the poetry as well. Finally, the timeline of major events in Santoka's life reveals how much it was marked by tragedy (yet he never dwells on his losses (of fortune, of family to multiple suicides, etc.)).
Despite his recurring depression, alcoholism, hunger, poverty, and failure, Santoka is a likeable figure whatever his status in literature (something I'm unqualified to evaluate anyway).
Certainly, he was well aware of his failings, atoning for minor infractions, often demonstrating a sort of imposter-syndrome as both an artist and a priest:
"To do takuhatsu and then not devote yourself to religious practice as a disciple of the Buddha should is to solicit aid by fraudulent means. To go on begging expeditions and then squander the resources you receive—this too is a species of fraud. If you claim to be a Buddhist but fail to
devote all your energies to the way of the Buddha, what is this but to engage in malpractice?"
At other times, he seems to give up on transcending his foibles, but manages to face his flawed nature with candor and humor:
"Sake is my koan. If I could understand sake—if I could learn the true way to enjoy sake, it would be my awakening, my breakthrough!"
While he met with despair, he seems rarely to have succumbed to it - instead he persevered with his walking, his begging, and his haiku composition - habits of an all-weather-tramp, maintained over several years that finally gave shape (if not authority) to his religious and artistic practice.
Burton Watson is a skilled translator - he approaches Japanese with a musicality, lucidity, and inventiveness equal to that which he approaches Chinese (e.g. his rendition of the Lotus Sutra). His selection here emphasizes the humor and the sadness, the ambition and the humility of Santoka's work...the inclusion of key diary excerpts and the short but rich introduction do much to enliven the poetry as well. Finally, the timeline of major events in Santoka's life reveals how much it was marked by tragedy (yet he never dwells on his losses (of fortune, of family to multiple suicides, etc.)).
Despite his recurring depression, alcoholism, hunger, poverty, and failure, Santoka is a likeable figure whatever his status in literature (something I'm unqualified to evaluate anyway).
Certainly, he was well aware of his failings, atoning for minor infractions, often demonstrating a sort of imposter-syndrome as both an artist and a priest:
"To do takuhatsu and then not devote yourself to religious practice as a disciple of the Buddha should is to solicit aid by fraudulent means. To go on begging expeditions and then squander the resources you receive—this too is a species of fraud. If you claim to be a Buddhist but fail to
devote all your energies to the way of the Buddha, what is this but to engage in malpractice?"
At other times, he seems to give up on transcending his foibles, but manages to face his flawed nature with candor and humor:
"Sake is my koan. If I could understand sake—if I could learn the true way to enjoy sake, it would be my awakening, my breakthrough!"
While he met with despair, he seems rarely to have succumbed to it - instead he persevered with his walking, his begging, and his haiku composition - habits of an all-weather-tramp, maintained over several years that finally gave shape (if not authority) to his religious and artistic practice.
April 26, 2024
“nothing else to do
spread fallen leaves sleep on them
the mountain’s beauty”
—
“If human beings are permitted no imaginings, no fancy, then there can be no art. The truths of art derive from the facts of daily life, but those truths are not necessarily facts themselves. The truths of the artist are what, in the artist’s mind, he wishes would be, what ought to be, what cannot help but be, and these constitute the content of his creation.”
—
“I sit
in the beauty
of grasses as they wither”
—
“Sometimes a life where I want to die, sometimes a life where I can’t die, sometimes close to the buddhas, sometimes one with the devils. Sorry to discover the animal in myself. Then at last the night is over, the morning sun good. . . . Today again, must get myself in shape, make preparations so I’m ready to die any time.”
spread fallen leaves sleep on them
the mountain’s beauty”
—
“If human beings are permitted no imaginings, no fancy, then there can be no art. The truths of art derive from the facts of daily life, but those truths are not necessarily facts themselves. The truths of the artist are what, in the artist’s mind, he wishes would be, what ought to be, what cannot help but be, and these constitute the content of his creation.”
—
“I sit
in the beauty
of grasses as they wither”
—
“Sometimes a life where I want to die, sometimes a life where I can’t die, sometimes close to the buddhas, sometimes one with the devils. Sorry to discover the animal in myself. Then at last the night is over, the morning sun good. . . . Today again, must get myself in shape, make preparations so I’m ready to die any time.”
July 20, 2019
Anyone who has ever hiked or walked for days at a time will really enjoy Santoka's poems. He is one of Japan's many renowned poet-wanderers (the most famous being Matsuo Basho) who hit the road for inspiration to write their Haiku. Santōka did many walks, including a 3-year journey and another in Shikoku. Ultimately, he settled in a hut in Matsuyama, Ehime-ken. In one of his few sanguine moments, he says, "I am poor, but I am at peace." Perhaps my favorite Santōka poem from this volume: the deeper I go/the deeper I go/green mountains.
February 19, 2025
I found the mini biography very interesting and the diary entries were a nice way of framing each section of the book. This gave a lot of context to the haikus.
I’m not sure if it was the poet or the translator but I often found these haiku inelegant or overly simple. Even understanding Santoka was exploring the haiku form, bending it, shaping it in new ways, very few of these landed with me.
I’m not sure if it was the poet or the translator but I often found these haiku inelegant or overly simple. Even understanding Santoka was exploring the haiku form, bending it, shaping it in new ways, very few of these landed with me.
November 10, 2024
I am inordinately fond of East Asian poetry, the older the better. This usually means I don’t dabble much in 20th century stuff, but I made this recent exception for a couple of reasons: the book was small and Santōka is the official poet of the Yamaguchi prefecture, with which I have personal ties. Also, Burton Watson is a very good translator whose work (from Chinese and Japanese) I have repeatedly enjoyed.
Taneda is an early 20th century Haiku poet. He led a pretty depressing but very literary life as a drunkard and a zen monk, taking long begging and walking trips around Japan and writing poetry. His style of haiku is pretty innovative, metrically and thematically: he employs a ‘free style’ that is brief but not restricted to the 7-5-7 pattern, and in his verse you have lovely depictions of nature but also very uncommon diction and images from time to time, like cocks and cunts in a hot water pool; he might sing of Autumn leaves, but they won’t be from the hackneyed maple trees.
Following a very old tradition, Taneda’s poetry has apparently objective depictions of nature which are meant to be read as psychological windows into the poetic persona’s soul. For this to be effective, you really have to know the background of the person, as the brevity and allusiveness of the haiku format gives you very little information to hook on to. In this collection, besides the biographical introduction, part of this background is given by translating and including excerpts of Santōka’s diaries.
I did not dislike the book: his poetry is very unadorned and unaffected, clear and transparent for the most part like water; some of the images have a power and charm all their own. In general, though, the style of poetry I tend to like is quite different, and Taneda can feel prosaic and anecdotal. Some of his snapshots, though, are haunting and evocative, like this one when he visits his no-longer-existent house and the close tombs of his dead relatives:
nothing left of the house
I was born in
fireflies
Or the following poignant , ambivalent note, when the the white boxes with the cremated remains of the soldiers who died fighting in China arrive:
valiantly - that too
pitifully - that too
white boxes
The sense of being lost, of endless striving, gets very well represented in this brief piece of his mountain walking, which is also significant for its iconoclastic use of repetition, something usually avoided in the already very compact haiku form:
the deeper I go
the deeper I go
green mountains
Some, like those depicting the poet’s drunken stupors or his mishaps, acquire an (intentional?) comic quality:
so drunk
I slept
with the crickets!
But the general tone is always usually sombre and dark, hinting at the poets loneliness and striving with hardship:
no help
for the likes of me
I go on walking
Sometimes, also in contravention of what you except from the haiku, images of modernity creep inside the poems:
nearly run over
by a car
cold cold road
And there are pieces that have some evocative, every day object (of nature of of human craft), that in a very modernist and imagistic way, just stands there, encapsulating the beauty and strangeness of the ordinary:
red mailbox
standing
in the morning mist
The pieces I like the most are those where the juxtaposition of nature and the poet’s feelings comes across most transparently, but also within the framework of a beautiful image:
water dragonflies
me too
all of us flow along
The book was a nice and easy read, and would probably benefit from a more paused and attentive reading than I displayed. As I said, if feels like drinking water - I really like the drink when I am thirsty and it is cold, but it can be rather bland as a standard fare.
Taneda is an early 20th century Haiku poet. He led a pretty depressing but very literary life as a drunkard and a zen monk, taking long begging and walking trips around Japan and writing poetry. His style of haiku is pretty innovative, metrically and thematically: he employs a ‘free style’ that is brief but not restricted to the 7-5-7 pattern, and in his verse you have lovely depictions of nature but also very uncommon diction and images from time to time, like cocks and cunts in a hot water pool; he might sing of Autumn leaves, but they won’t be from the hackneyed maple trees.
Following a very old tradition, Taneda’s poetry has apparently objective depictions of nature which are meant to be read as psychological windows into the poetic persona’s soul. For this to be effective, you really have to know the background of the person, as the brevity and allusiveness of the haiku format gives you very little information to hook on to. In this collection, besides the biographical introduction, part of this background is given by translating and including excerpts of Santōka’s diaries.
I did not dislike the book: his poetry is very unadorned and unaffected, clear and transparent for the most part like water; some of the images have a power and charm all their own. In general, though, the style of poetry I tend to like is quite different, and Taneda can feel prosaic and anecdotal. Some of his snapshots, though, are haunting and evocative, like this one when he visits his no-longer-existent house and the close tombs of his dead relatives:
nothing left of the house
I was born in
fireflies
Or the following poignant , ambivalent note, when the the white boxes with the cremated remains of the soldiers who died fighting in China arrive:
valiantly - that too
pitifully - that too
white boxes
The sense of being lost, of endless striving, gets very well represented in this brief piece of his mountain walking, which is also significant for its iconoclastic use of repetition, something usually avoided in the already very compact haiku form:
the deeper I go
the deeper I go
green mountains
Some, like those depicting the poet’s drunken stupors or his mishaps, acquire an (intentional?) comic quality:
so drunk
I slept
with the crickets!
But the general tone is always usually sombre and dark, hinting at the poets loneliness and striving with hardship:
no help
for the likes of me
I go on walking
Sometimes, also in contravention of what you except from the haiku, images of modernity creep inside the poems:
nearly run over
by a car
cold cold road
And there are pieces that have some evocative, every day object (of nature of of human craft), that in a very modernist and imagistic way, just stands there, encapsulating the beauty and strangeness of the ordinary:
red mailbox
standing
in the morning mist
The pieces I like the most are those where the juxtaposition of nature and the poet’s feelings comes across most transparently, but also within the framework of a beautiful image:
water dragonflies
me too
all of us flow along
The book was a nice and easy read, and would probably benefit from a more paused and attentive reading than I displayed. As I said, if feels like drinking water - I really like the drink when I am thirsty and it is cold, but it can be rather bland as a standard fare.
October 26, 2025
Enjoyed another work on Santōka. Tempted to give a five, yet enjoyed more Sumita Ōyama's, with William Scott Wilson, Intro. & Trans.
Santōka presents himself as very - very very - human. That is one thing that appeals to me from his diary entries and haiku, having been raised in a moralistic, prudish religious culture - which, of course, shapes an ugly shadow-globe to cast upon others. The somewhat messed up, yet honest, yet faithful to walking the ways and Way Santōka is a pleasant contrast to the puritanism so rampant.
Santōka invites us to see our own inner, even subtle, shadows and, yet, keep walking and enjoying the little pleasures, often unnoticed, that lay upon our way daily.
As a wandering, beggar Buddhist priest, his zazen takes the form of walking. He embodies Buddhism without getting intoxicated with Buddhism, even if he was regularly intoxicated with sake. He certainly lives the wisdom of Zen Buddhist teaching to avoid being too pure, or too sharp.
Santōka's world is alive, and he is not apart from it but part of it. He reminds us there is no escape from suffering, yet there need be no escape from pleasure, as well.
Santōka presents himself as very - very very - human. That is one thing that appeals to me from his diary entries and haiku, having been raised in a moralistic, prudish religious culture - which, of course, shapes an ugly shadow-globe to cast upon others. The somewhat messed up, yet honest, yet faithful to walking the ways and Way Santōka is a pleasant contrast to the puritanism so rampant.
Santōka invites us to see our own inner, even subtle, shadows and, yet, keep walking and enjoying the little pleasures, often unnoticed, that lay upon our way daily.
As a wandering, beggar Buddhist priest, his zazen takes the form of walking. He embodies Buddhism without getting intoxicated with Buddhism, even if he was regularly intoxicated with sake. He certainly lives the wisdom of Zen Buddhist teaching to avoid being too pure, or too sharp.
Santōka's world is alive, and he is not apart from it but part of it. He reminds us there is no escape from suffering, yet there need be no escape from pleasure, as well.
September 17, 2025
Ir fainos, ir drauge - vargingos bei skausmingos poeto, vienuolio klajonės po Japoniją. Užfiksuotos tiek dienoraštyje, tiek haiku. Ir geras oras, bet - ir lietus, šlapdriba, kruša: "even in / my iron begging bowl / hailstones". Šaltis, alkis, ligos: "this body / still alive / scratching it". O čia apie bemaž tą patį - dienoraštyje: "Burning with fever and much under the weather, I stretched out on the matting." Alkoholis: "so drunk / I slept / with the crickets!". O čia - iš dienoraščio: "Yesterday I had three drinks of sake, so today I intended to have nothing at all to drink. But it seems I can't get along without one drink at least." Vienatvė: "cook it alone / eat it alone / New Year's soup". Ak, kaip reikia moters! Štai dienoraštis: "These days again I've been waking up every morning with a hard-on." Ir - puikūs, puikūs trieiliai: "no desire to die / no desire to live / the wind blows over me"; "crossing water / to no one in particular / good-bye!"; "Heaven /doesn't kill me / it makes me write poems".
March 1, 2025
I found this translation to be very well done, the excerpts of the diary used give you a great insight into Taneda's life, and the expressive yet straight forward language the translator used does well to suck you into the reading and painting a picture of what was written while also providing important and necessary cultural context for the time period that a lot of, especially English readers, would most likely be unaware of.
September 1, 2020
A moving collection of diary entries and free verse haiku from Taneda Santoka, translated by Burton Watson in such a natural way I kept forgetting I was reading a translation. A beautiful introduction to the work by this troubled poet, who didn't have the easiest of lives. His voice will stay with you long after reading.
September 22, 2022
I found the simplicity of the poems very beautiful. The poems along with the diary entries create a meditative experience that is not limited to the spiritual realm only but creates a certain tension with the physical body. Both material and non-material find a perfect harmony and a unity that is very human at its core. A short and wonderful read.
June 4, 2018
I saw a high recommendation for this, found it on Hoopla, and figured that I'd give it a go. It gives a glimpse into part of Taneda's life as he wanders around as a Buddhist monk begging. The book contains haikus which describe things along with diary entries.
October 9, 2020
What a brilliant book and also what a sad book this was. The combination of sort diary entries with the haiku made it read like a travel log, but the loneliness and addiction to alcohol was so palpable from the get go that made you feel unease.
November 12, 2025
"November 13, 1934. Twenty years since I began writing haiku, and I realize more than ever: haiku writing is a practice that's easy to take up, but very difficult to really get anywhere in. It's like Buddhism in that respect."
May 14, 2019
Loved it. Read for ENGL 7.37 with Professor Huntington.
August 28, 2020
4.8 stars.
March 31, 2021
I'm turning into a kind of haiku factory. Watch out!
May 14, 2023
i really loved the poems, some captured isolation, and nature, some actually made me laugh lol. i dont know i really appreciate santoka's words.
September 10, 2023
the deeper I go
the deeper I go
green mountains
A book to return to; a translation of diary excerpts and haiku. Contemplative.
the deeper I go
green mountains
A book to return to; a translation of diary excerpts and haiku. Contemplative.
December 26, 2024
I cannot let myself turn out like this guy.
"No help for the likes of me
I go on walking.”
"No help for the likes of me
I go on walking.”
March 7, 2023
autumn wind
for all my walking -
for all my walking -
i want a physical copy of this someday. Santōka’s verses are beautiful, but he suffered from a lot of sadness that reading about it mellowed me out. the way he thinks reminds me so much of myself
if you’re looking for a light, serene read, give this a try^^
for all my walking -
for all my walking -
i want a physical copy of this someday. Santōka’s verses are beautiful, but he suffered from a lot of sadness that reading about it mellowed me out. the way he thinks reminds me so much of myself
if you’re looking for a light, serene read, give this a try^^
July 14, 2020
Taneda Santoka (1882-1940) was both haiku poet and mendicant priest, the last of Japan's priest-poets, a sort of Japanese Jack Kerouac, who in recent decades has becomes immensely popular. His haiku are in free verse form, in other words he doesn't obey the 5/7/5 structure nor does he use season words - this after his teacher, Ogiwara Seisensui (1884-1976), who started the "free-style school of haiku."
As a mendicant priest Santoka practiced walking meditation instead of zazen - it is estimated he walked about 28,000 miles, all over Japan, but mostly in Kyushu and other parts of southwestern japan (he was born in Hofu in Yamaguchi Pref.).
He was addicted to alcohol and spent the money he earned with his begging in the first place on booze.
Besides his poetry, his diaries are interesting, as they document his difficult life. In "For All My Walking" Burton Watson gives us a representative sampling of Santoka's free-verse haiku with excerpts from the diaries, which brings the poetry to life.
As always, Watson's translations are very reliable and include romaji transcriptions of the haiku. There is also an excellent introduction.
Also read my blog at https://adblankestijn.blogspot.com/.
As a mendicant priest Santoka practiced walking meditation instead of zazen - it is estimated he walked about 28,000 miles, all over Japan, but mostly in Kyushu and other parts of southwestern japan (he was born in Hofu in Yamaguchi Pref.).
He was addicted to alcohol and spent the money he earned with his begging in the first place on booze.
Besides his poetry, his diaries are interesting, as they document his difficult life. In "For All My Walking" Burton Watson gives us a representative sampling of Santoka's free-verse haiku with excerpts from the diaries, which brings the poetry to life.
As always, Watson's translations are very reliable and include romaji transcriptions of the haiku. There is also an excellent introduction.
Also read my blog at https://adblankestijn.blogspot.com/.
March 24, 2011
ini keren.
saya tidak mengira bahwa haiku ternyata ada beberapa lagi jenisnya. tidak melulu 5-7-5.
tidak mengira pula bahwa ada tokoh haiku selain matsuo basho, yang terkenal itu.
taneda santouka, lahir di peralihan abad XIX-XX, mewarisi kegelisahan dunia masa itu. kegelisahan antara mempertahankan yang ada dengan menerima hal-hal baru yang belum menjanjikan apa-apa.
rumah tangganya porak poranda, ditambah kebiasaannya minum, ia mengelana. mungkin lebih tepat menggelandang, karena ia hidup secara bebas. menjadi rahib dan berbusana seperti rahib pengelana, tapi meminta-minta tidak atas nama kuil atau biara tertentu...
dalam pengelanaannya itu ia melahirkan haiku bebas yang dikumpulkan dalam buku hariannya yang kemudian diterbitkan dalam buku ini.
mengelana, buatnya adalah suatu proses menuju dirinya sendiri.
dan haiku yang dilahirkannya merupakan penyaksian proses ini. haiku dia bukan sarana deskriptif mengenai hal-hal yang dia lihat, rasakan, tapi adalah penjelmaan hal-hal tadi.
oto wa
shigeru ka
bunyi itu
hujankah?
diterjemahkan dan diberi pengantar oleh burton watson dengan bagus dan bahasa yang jelas, saya terpesona oleh haiku-haiku taneda ini.
saya tidak mengira bahwa haiku ternyata ada beberapa lagi jenisnya. tidak melulu 5-7-5.
tidak mengira pula bahwa ada tokoh haiku selain matsuo basho, yang terkenal itu.
taneda santouka, lahir di peralihan abad XIX-XX, mewarisi kegelisahan dunia masa itu. kegelisahan antara mempertahankan yang ada dengan menerima hal-hal baru yang belum menjanjikan apa-apa.
rumah tangganya porak poranda, ditambah kebiasaannya minum, ia mengelana. mungkin lebih tepat menggelandang, karena ia hidup secara bebas. menjadi rahib dan berbusana seperti rahib pengelana, tapi meminta-minta tidak atas nama kuil atau biara tertentu...
dalam pengelanaannya itu ia melahirkan haiku bebas yang dikumpulkan dalam buku hariannya yang kemudian diterbitkan dalam buku ini.
mengelana, buatnya adalah suatu proses menuju dirinya sendiri.
dan haiku yang dilahirkannya merupakan penyaksian proses ini. haiku dia bukan sarana deskriptif mengenai hal-hal yang dia lihat, rasakan, tapi adalah penjelmaan hal-hal tadi.
oto wa
shigeru ka
bunyi itu
hujankah?
diterjemahkan dan diberi pengantar oleh burton watson dengan bagus dan bahasa yang jelas, saya terpesona oleh haiku-haiku taneda ini.
March 27, 2008
If I could be a wandering mendicant haiku poet, Santoka would be my model, even if he got to liking his sake a little too much and lived a life of occasionally great despair. His writing is pure genius. I wish his voluminous journals, which are represented here briefly, would be published in English. Burton Watson, as readers of Japanese and Chinese translation know, is a master himself.
August 22, 2021
Going back to write a review of this.
This is a great collection of Taneda Santōka's work. The haikus are well done, but I genuinely enjoyed the journal entries more—very human. The entries reveal an insightful man who recognizes his own shortcomings. He will make you enjoy the mundane in the world.
This is a great collection of Taneda Santōka's work. The haikus are well done, but I genuinely enjoyed the journal entries more—very human. The entries reveal an insightful man who recognizes his own shortcomings. He will make you enjoy the mundane in the world.
January 24, 2011
A wonderful collection. It is nice to see the daily life of a poet such as Santoka through his diary entries as well as his poetry. Unlike Ozsai, I think Santoka accepted his life, eventhough he wished for more. I would enjoy reading more of his work.
February 26, 2010
Great poems. I really like Taneda´s poetry!
July 24, 2014
Another recommendation in the world of Haiku. A monk who traveled, drank and wrote Haiku's.. sorta tragic and interesting at the same time.. good read.
May 28, 2015
That's me in the window
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