Kigo for
This page outputs a random kigo suitable for each subseason that matches today's date. (Note: seasonality is based on traditional Japanese dates.) If you'd like to see a list of all kigo, you can take a look at the raw JSON file on Alexander Carusillo's saijiki.js GitHub page.
About this Site
Site created by Stewart C Baker. Kigo and associated metadata are from Alexander Carusillo's saijiki.js project. Stylesheet and layout are from pure.css.
About Haiku, Kigo, and Saijiki
What is a Haiku?
Haiku are short poems of roughly 17 syllables which typically contain references to nature and humanity and include a 'cut' between two distinct images. In English, haiku are usually written on three lines, with a short-long-short syllable count. However, there is no requirement to have a 5-syllable line, a 7-syllable line, and a 5-syllable line, or even to have three lines at all—in Japanese, haiku are actually written in a single vertical line. If you're new to haiku, I recommend reading Michael Dylan Welch's excellent series of short essays on learning to write haiku. If you prefer to learn by reading excellent poems, instead, I recommend The Heron's Nest, a respected English-language haiku journal. (Disclosure: I am its web editor.)
What is a Kigo?
Kigo (季語) is often translated as "season word." More generally, kigo are words that call to mind a specific season or circumstance. Not all haiku use kigo, and the use and selection of kigo today—when haiku are written around the world—is a little more complicated than for historical Japanese poets, who only had to concern themselves with alluding to typical seasonal markers in one region of Japan. The kigo on this site are all based on traditional Japanese definitions of the seasons and their markers.
What is a Saijiki?
A saijiki (歳時記) is a sort of kigo dictionary for haikuists. A typical saijiki is split into seasons, subseasons, and categories along traditional lines, with commentary and example haiku for each kigo. This website is not a true saijiki in the typical sense, but does meet some of the same needs: providing a list of relevant kigo for each season, along with associated sub-seasons, categories, commentary, and other information. The saijiki contained in saijiki.js are Nyūmon Saijiki and Nihon Dai Saijiki