As a tourist destination, Kyoto has been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, the Kyoto x Haiku Project was established as a volunteer movement by Haiku poet Madoka Mayuzumi and her followers and supporters to encourage the people of Kyoto and help the city overcome this situation.
Haiku is a form of poetry that celebrates the small lifeforms that fill nature, such as flowers, birds, and insects.
With cherry blossoms in spring, fresh green leaves in summer, bright foliage in autumn, and light rains in winter, seasonal natural beauty and traditional events in Kyoto have always attracted many composers of haiku.
Places rich in poetical associations and often appear in classic poetry are called “Utamakura.” People visit these destinations to seek inspiration for composing their own thoughts in poetry and haiku.Kyoto is one such Utamakura.
This site was created so haiku lovers and Kyoto fans from all over the world can compose haiku about the seasonal scenery of Kyoto and form relationships through haiku.
In this era of pandemic, it is our hope that you will look at living through the small window of haiku and glorify it in seventeen syllables.
Wouldn’t you like to experience new encounters through haiku?
From Kyoto to the world, from the world to Kyoto – haiku can be the poetry that weaves our lives.