Senryū (川柳) is a Japanese form of short poetry similar to haiku in construction: three lines with 17 morae (or on, often translated as syllables, but see the article on onji for distinctions). Senryū tend to be about human foibles while haiku tend to be about nature, and senryū 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.^[1] Unlike haiku, senryū do not include a kireji (cutting word), and do not generally include a kigo, or season word.^[2][3]

Form and content

Senryū is named after Edo period haikai poet Karai Senryū (柄井川柳, 1718–1790),^[1] whose collection Haifūyanagidaru (誹風柳多留) launched the genre into the public consciousness. A typical example from the collection:

This senryū, 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 maeku 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.).

Senryū in America

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.^[1]

During the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, senryū was a popular activity in the camps.^[1]

See also

• Zappai

References

Bibliography and further reading

• J C Brown, Senryu: Poems of the People, Simon & Schuster Ltd, 1991, ISBN 978-0-8048-1664-9
• R. H. Blyth, translator, Senryu: Japanese Satirical Verses. 1949, The Hokuseido Press, ISBN 0-8371-2958-3. Includes black and white sketches and some colored plates
• R. H. Blyth, translator, Japanese Humour. 1957, Japan Travel Bureau
• R. H. Blyth, translator, Japanese Life and Character in Senryu. 1960, The Hokuseido Press
• R. H. Blyth, translator, Oriental Humour. 1960, The Hokuseido Press
• R. H. Blyth, translator, Edo Satirical Verse Anthologies. 1961, The Hokuseido Press
• Robin D. Gill, compiler and translator, Octopussy, Dry Kidney & Blue Spots – dirty themes from 18-19c Japanese poems, Paraverse Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-9742618-5-0. Chronicles 1,300 senryū – Blyth mentioned that he could only introduce what the censors allowed; these are the type of senryū that were not allowed.
• Lorraine Ellis Harr (tombo), Selected Senryu. 1976, J & C Transcripts. One of the earliest English-language senryū-only publications
• James Day Hodgson, American Senryu. 1992, The Japan Times, ISBN 4-7890-0661-1
• Howard S. Levy and Junko Ohsawa, One Hundred Senryu Selections. 1979, So. Pasadena, CA, Langstaff Publications, ISBN 0-686-37532-7
• Alan Pizzarelli, Senryu Magazine. 2001, River Willow. Although this book looks like a regular journal, it is the effort of Alan Pizzarelli only, done as a parody of haiku journals.
• Makoto Ueda, Light Verse from the Floating World: An Anthology of Premodern Japanese Senryu, Columbia University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-231-11550-4 cloth ISBN 0-231-11551-2
• Michael Dylan Welch, ed. Fig Newtons: Senryu to Go, Press Here, 1993 (the first anthology of English-language senryū)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Senryū.

• 'A Brief Survey of Senryû by Women' by Hiroaki Sato in Modern Haiku, Volume 34.1, Spring 2003