Senryū

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Form of short, comedic, Japanese poetry

title: "Senryū" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["japanese-poetry", "japanese-literary-terminology", "haikai-forms", "articles-containing-japanese-poems", "japanese-words-and-phrases"] description: "Form of short, comedic, Japanese poetry" topic_path: "geography/japan" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senryū" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Form of short, comedic, Japanese poetry ::

is a Japanese form of short poetry similar to haiku in construction: three lines with 17 ja (or ja, often translated as syllables, but see the article on ja for distinctions). ja tend to be about human foibles while haiku tend to be about nature, and ja are often cynical or darkly humorous while haiku are more serious.

Like haiku, senryū originated as an opening part (hokku) of a larger Japanese poem called renga. Unlike haiku, ja do not include a ja (cutting word), and do not generally include a ja, or season word.

Form and content

ja is named after Edo period ja poet Karai Senryū. A typical example from the collection:

|lang=ja

|泥棒を 捕えてみれば 我が子なり

|dorobō o toraete mireba wagako nari

|When I catch, The robber, my own son}}

This ja, which can also be translated "Catching him / I see the robber / is my son," is not so much a personal experience of the author as an example of a type of situation (provided by a short comment called a ja or fore-verse, which usually prefaces a number of examples) and/or a brief or witty rendition of an incident from history or the arts (plays, songs, tales, poetry, etc.).

|lang=ja

|かくれんぼ 三つ数えて 冬になる

|kakurenbo mittsu kazoete fuyu ni naru

|Hide and seek Count to three Winter comes}}

Senryū in the United States

The first senryū circle in the United States was reportedly started by Japanese immigrants in Yakima, Washington, during the early 1900s. Over time, other senryū circles were established in Seattle and other Japanese communities in the Pacific Northwest. In 1938, the Los Angeles–based Kashu Mainichi Shimbun published its first senryū section.

During the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, ja was a popular activity in the camps.

English-language {{Transliteration|ja|senryū}} publications

In the 1970s, Michael McClintock edited Seer Ox: American Senryu Magazine. In 1993, Michael Dylan Welch edited and published Fig Newtons: ja to Go, the first anthology of English-language ja.

  • Prune Juice, a journal of ja and ja, is edited by Aaron Barry, Antoinette Cheung, and P. H. Fischer.
  • Failed Haiku is edited by Bryan Rickert and Hemapriya Chellappan.
  • Simply Haiku archives (final publication in 2009) contain a regular ja column edited by Alan Pizzarelli.

Additionally, one can regularly find ja and related articles in some haiku publications. For example, the World Haiku Review has regularly published ja. ja regularly appear or appeared in the pages of Modern Haiku, Frogpond, Bottle Rockets, Woodnotes, Tundra, Haiku Canada Review, Presence, Blithe Spirit, Kingfisher, and other haiku journals, often unsegregated from haiku.

American {{Transliteration|ja|Senryū}} awards

The Haiku Society of America holds the annual Gerald Brady Memorial Award for best unpublished ja.

Previous Winners of the Gerald Brady Memorial Award include:

  • 1988: Frederick Gasser
  • 1989: Brenda S. Duster
  • 1990: John Thompson
  • 1991: Leatrice Lifshitz
  • 1992: Christopher Herold
  • 1993: Tom Clausen
  • 1994: David Carmel Gershator
  • 1995: Michael Dylan Welch
  • 1996: Sandra Fuhringer
  • 1997: John Stevenson
  • 1998: Carl Patrick
  • 1999: Leatrice Lifshitz
  • 2000: Yvonnne Hardenbrook
  • 2001: Billie Wilson
  • 2002: w. f. owen
  • 2003: w. f. owen
  • 2004: John Stevenson
  • 2005: Emily Romano
  • 2006: Roberta Beary
  • 2007: Scott Mason
  • 2008: David P. Grayson
  • 2009: Barry George
  • 2010: Garry Gay
  • 2011: Ernest J. Berry
  • 2012: Julie Warther
  • 2013: Peter Newton
  • 2014: Neal Whitman
  • 2015: paul m.
  • 2016: Tom Painting
  • 2017: Sam Bateman
  • 2018: Joshua Gage
  • 2019: PMF Johnson
  • 2020: Tony Williams
  • 2021: Amy Losak
  • 2022: Joshua St. Claire
  • 2023: John Savoie
  • 2024: Brad Bennett
  • 2025: Matthew Markworth

Since about 1990, the Haiku Poets of Northern California has been running a ja contest, as part of its San Francisco International Haiku and Senryu Contest.

References

References

  1. "Senryū".
  2. Kumei, Teruko. (2006). ""A Record of Life and a Poem of Sentiments": Japanese Immigrant "Senryu," 1929-1945". Amerikastudien.
  3. Smith, Adrian. "Senryu {{!}} Definition".
  4. Anon. (25 April 2009). "What are Haiku, Senryu, and Tanaka?". Akita International Haiku Network.
  5. "Senryu {{!}} Japanese, Poem, Haiku, & Examples {{!}} Britannica".
  6. William J. Higginson, ''Frogpond'' XXV:1, Winter–Spring 1994, pages 103–105.
  7. [http://prunejuice.wordpress.com/ Prune Juice]
  8. [https://failedhaiku.com/ Failed Haiku]
  9. "Simply Haiku".
  10. [http://worldhaikureview.googlepages.com/ World Haiku Review]
  11. "Gerald Brady Memorial Award".
  12. "San Francisco International Competition, Haiku, Senryu, Tanka and Rengay".

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japanese-poetryjapanese-literary-terminologyhaikai-formsarticles-containing-japanese-poemsjapanese-words-and-phrases