April 2012 NaHaiWriMo Writing Prompts

1

April Fool’s 

This month’s focus is season words. Three online saijiki that I use regularly are Renku Home’s “500 Essential Japanese Season Words” on the Renku Home site, the Yuki Teikei list, and the World Kigo Database:

http://www.2hweb.net/haikai/renku/500ESWd.html

http://youngleaves.org/season-word-list/

http://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.com/

It’s also very enlightening to read Gabi’s page on season words: http://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.com/2006/12/kigo-use-in-haiku.html. For those who are new to working with a saijiki: For each season, the list of kigo (season words) is broken into categories: general season terms, the heavens and weather, human affairs/occupations/observances, animals and plants (the Yuki Teikei and Renku Home pages are the best place to see this). You’ll see April Fool/April Fool’s Day in the Yuki Teikei human affairs category. If you’re writing from the northern hemisphere, you’ll experience April Fool’s as a spring observance; if you’re in the southern hemisphere in a temperate zone, autumn. Writers in tropical and other zones, just write for the zone you’re in and tell us about it.

2

spring/autumn rain

3

spring blossoms/autumn leaves

4

spring, autumn, or something in the animal category

5

balloons, soap bubbles, kite, pinwheels

6

moon

7

religious observances

8

religious observances (again)

9

springs, fountains, waterfalls, rivers, floods, seas

10

birds in and out of season

11

mountains in any season

12

children’s swing

13

cat

14

summer heat

15

taxes or Jackie Robinson Day

16

summer coolness

17

cool, coolness, and cold in autumn (also National Haiku Poetry Day)

18

cold and warmth in spring

19

observation description

20

observation description (again)

21

observation description (again)

22

Earth Day

23

your local and regional season references (including Anzac Day)

24

your local and regional season references (including Anzac Day)

25

your local and regional season references (including Anzac Day)

26

double/triple kigo

27

Arbor Day or a particular kind of tree

28

one and only one kigo

29

Catsup Day

30

Catsup Day (again)