This comprehensive introduction to Japan's best-loved haiku poets is the perfect book for anyone wanting to learn about haiku. Compiled and with commentary by renowned author and translator William Scott Wilson, the book features 26 poets and 550 haiku, exquisitely translated. Wilson takes the reader on a fascinating journey through the works of the major Japanese poets from the fifteenth century up to the present.

The poets include Basho, Shiki, Buson and Issa (the "Great Four") along with other well-known practitioners of the genre such as Ryokan, Kikaku and Chora. Wilson gives his own brand-new renditions of poems that are already known as classics, and also shares with us the delightful work of a number of poets who are rarely found in English translation, such as six female poets including Chiyojo and Hisajo, as well as novelist Natsume Soseki, who, unbeknown to many, also wrote haiku.

ウィリアム・スコット・ウィルソンによる俳句の入門書。日本の詩歌の歴史を詳述するイントロダクションから始まり、26の俳人の生涯と作品を解説し、550に及ぶ俳句を新訳でお届けします。松尾芭蕉・与謝蕪村・小林一茶・正岡子規の日本四大俳人に良寛・夏目漱石・高山虚子・種田山頭火・杉田久女そして松永貞徳・橋本多佳子・星野立子など欧米ではまだあまり知られていない俳人も紹介します。俳句は英語・日本語・ローマ字で表記してあり、俳句の意味のみならず、日本語の音も味わうことができます。500年も昔に誕生した俳句というシンプルな詩が現代においても衰えることなく、今もなお世界中で愛され続けているその魅力を存分に伝えます。