Kiyoko
Tokutomi (19232002) passed away in her home among
the redwoods on Christmas morning, just as she closed a
book she was reading. In 1975 in San Jose, Calif., Kiyoko
and her husband, Kiyoshi (19231987), had established
the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society for the promotion of English-language
haiku in order to introduce the traditional Japanese haiku
culture based upon the use of kigo (season words). It is
easy to list a few key books that have contributed to the
foundations haiku in EnglishHaiku by R.H. Blyth,
The Haiku Handbook by William J. Higginson, and othersbut
influential teachers of haiku in America are rare. Kiyoko
was unique in the way she taught the writing of haiku and
guided appreciation of the art. Her methods included kukai
(haiku meetings) and ginkô (haiku outings, followed
by a kukai) that were the main activities of the Society
and she did this for twenty-seven years! Currently
the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society claims about 100 members in
the United States and abroad.
Kiyokos
Sky features Kiyokos Japanese-language haiku written
from 1992 through 2000 and published in Kari (Hunting),
a journal in Japan. Kiyoko was a dojin (senior member) of
the Kari Haiku Group led by Shugyô Takaha. Also included
are ten English-language haiku by Kiyoko written in 200001.
The haiku were selected and translated by Patricia J. Machmiller,
Kiyokos primary disciple, and Fay Aoyagi, who writes
haiku in both Japanese and English.
The
seeds of classical-form haiku that Kiyoko and Kiyoshi Tokutomi
planted a quarter-century ago have taken root, and, thanks
to her affectionate stewardship, are flourishing. Kiyokos
haiku in Japanese are plain and straightforward. She writes
about her family, about her mother across the Pacific, and
about her life in the California redwood forest she loved
so much.
Here
is a sampling of Kiyokos simple yet beautiful haiku.
furusato
no umi no koishiki sakuragai
How
I love it
the sea of my hometown . . .
cherry petal shell
iejyû
ni rajio hibikase haruurei
Filling
the whole house
the blast of the radio
spring melancholy
haha
no sumu atari ni takaku kumo no mine
Where
my mother lives
standing there
towering cumulus
akasugi
o sukku to tatete yama warau
With
its redwoods
springing to their height
the mountain laughs
mago
egaku mikkî mausu haru tachinu
My
grandchild drawing
Mickey Mouse
beginning of spring
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