For readers who love sushi, manga, anime, martial arts, Murakami, sake, or Japanese fashion, The Seed and the Heart offers a distinctive nearly five-hundred-page anthology. It welcomes newcomers to haiku while opening a broader doorway into the refined world of Japanese arts.
In mid-July, Herman Van Rompuy, a former Belgian prime minister and ex-president of the Council of Europe, spoke as the Japan-EU Friendship Haiku Ambassador in Tokyo. He expressed support for recognizing seventeen-syllable Japanese poetry as an UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, should Japan opt to pursue such status.
The digital era has boosted haiku’s profile, yet this poetry advances quietly. It charms without loud fanfare and invites the imagination to roam freely. That restraint—rather than spectacle—explains its enduring appeal, resonating with readers in Japan and around the world as haiku surged through the 20th century.
Juan F. Rivero contributes a foreword that situates haiku within a broader literary context and points readers to a thorough bibliography for deeper study. The book maps haiku from its earliest forms through 1945, making this anthology a thoughtful entry point for anyone approaching Japanese poetry for the first time.
The volume is organized into five sections—Roots; Classical Poetry: Nara and Heian; Medieval Times: Kamakura, Nambokuchō, Muromachi, and Azuchi-Momoyama; Edo poetry; and Meiji through 1945. This structure mirrors the major phases of Japanese poetry’s evolution, featuring a wide roster of authors and styles. It underscores the pivotal role of women in the development of poetry since the earliest lines were written, a shift driven by cultural exchanges, prestige languages, and evolving social norms.
a poetic revolution
Haiku, a brief verse of seventeen syllables spread across three lines of five, seven, and five, crystallized in form during the 17th century. The era’s signature poet, Matsuo Bashō, is often cited for elevating haiku beyond a simple observation of nature to a spiritual reflection on life and the human spirit. The idea that verses arise from present perception and inner feeling captures the essence of haiku: an everyday marvel expressed through seasonal imagery and concise craftsmanship.
Bashō, born in 1644, viewed poetic work as a path to personal insight and moral reflection. The best haiku convey a moment of surprise drawn from the world of living things, linking nature with the poet’s inner landscape. This is the heart of the art: a spontaneous, almost quiet illumination that invites readers to see anew.
From the earliest anonymous verses like Susanoo’s seven-line lattice of clouds and Izumo’s palace, to modern expressions such as Suzuki Shizuko’s meditation on the cosmos, The Seed and the Heart compiles a sweeping, 1,300-year panorama of poetry. The collection stands as a singular offering in the Spanish publishing scene, presenting a rich cross-section of voice, form, and mood.
The title plays on the heart-seed metaphor found in Japanese poetics. It is rooted in centuries-old prefaces that liken the country’s poetry to plant leaves whose seeds lie in the heart. This image links the people’s inner life with the outward voice of poetry, reflecting a shared memory and cultural will that defines Japanese literature.
Spring garments, the chorus of cicadas in summer, the blue of hydrangeas in autumn, and the austere cadence of winter—these seasonal signs are not just climate markers; they are the seeds of feeling that nourish aesthetic life in Japan.
Title: Seed and Heart
Translations include Japanese renditions, with Spanish versions curated by Rivero and a noted translation by Teresa Herrero. Alba Publisher presents this substantial collection in a single, cohesive volume, spanning 472 pages and inviting readers to explore a rich tradition of verse and the arts that surround it. [Attribution: Alba Editorial]