The Haiku Apprentice: Memoirs of Writing Poetry in Japan

I have loved all kinds of poetry for most of my life but my favorite poetry forms include the Japanese Haiku, Senryu and Tanka. I have read numerous books on haiku, senryu and tanka over the years; however, this is the first volume I have read on an American who learned to write haiku while living in Japan as a U.S. diplomat. I purchased this 235 page soft cover book (The Haiku apprentice: Memoirs of writing poetry in Japan by Abigail Friedman) on Amazon for a bargain price. I found this to be one of the best books I have read lately on the art of writing Japanese haiku.This excellent book is organized into three parts. The author is fluent in the Japanese language which makes this a very interesting and informative book on the experiences she had joining a haiku group where she learned from haiku masters. I found this book hard to put down once I began reading it. Abigail Friedman weaves the story in such a way you can’t wait to turn the pages. The three parts cover an enormous amount of material in her adventure in learning how to write good haiku poetry. Besides the three parts her end notes are important for anyone desiring to write haiku in English. It also has suggestions on how to start your own haiku group, furthering reading on haiku and questions for reading groups.This is a book for anyone who is interested in Haiku. I found the book a pure delight to read and learn some of the finer points of writing good Haiku poems. As someone who has written a few Haiku and Senryu books I found this book very helpful. I was in Japan while in the U.S. Navy but my passion then was Japanese martial arts (Judo, Jujitsu, and Karate-Do) rather than the cultural and poetic arts at that time in my youth.Rating: 5 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Martial Art and Warrior Haiku and Senryu)

Less applause for Abigail Friedman. Fortunately she decided to write to find her way into Japan via Haiku and calligraphy. In doing so she shares excellent insights into the Japanese character. She seems a bright and adventurous person but not especially someone that I would like to know. Her self absorption became annoying as she shared meaningful insights into these art and life forms. She does a respectful job of helping the reader better understand and appreciate Haiku. The inner focus and its connection to one's existence is fundamental to the way of Haiku. My favorite phrase is: Haiku is the literature of silence. That alone made the book worth reading.

For someone like me who knows nothing of the subtleties of haiku, this book offers a pleasant way to read about the basics of the form.The author, an American diplomat in Japan, joins a haiku group in the foothills of Mount Fuji. Already engaged in calligraphy lessons, she is charmingly willing to leap into the unknown to gain a better understanding of Japanese culture.Reporting on her conversations with various haiku practitioners, Abigail Friedman does a good job of answering the question "why do people write haiku?" She also gives us a wonderful portrait of how happily and successfully the highly socialized Japanese engage in group activities.It seems that in Japan seven to ten million people write haiku every month. Some take up the practice after a spiritual crisis. Many start writing haiku when they turn 70, an age that makes you think. People with serious illnesses engage in "illness writing," and aging poets are working in advance on their death poem.I'm still not convinced, however, that anyone can write haiku. There are instructions in the back of the book for starting your own haiku group. But I dread to think what kind of poetry this might engender, without a qualified leader.

BEWARE BEFORE YOU DOWNLOAD THE FILEI loved this book, which was lent to me some time ago by a friend in paperback. I thought I would download it to my kindle. It didn't appear when I searched from my kindle, so I searched from the kindle reader on my PC. I managed to download it to my Kindle for PC, but it will not open on Kindle. The only way I can open the file is using my smartphone, which is working on aN android system. I did notice that the android tag came up when I searched under the entry, but as I am not familiar with all the options, I assumed that if it downloaded to a kindle reader on my PC I would be able to open it. I am at a loss why Amazon is selling this non-kindle book from its kindle store. Perhaps someone can enlighten me?BEWARE BEFORE YOU DOWNLOAD THE FILE

The sheer loveliness of the prose in The Haiku Apprentice makes this such a delight. Side by side, we stroll through Japan with Friedman, as she (we) realise that haiku is not just poetry but "a way". Other reviewers have supplied details, however, a few quotes struck me and made me relax in my own endeavours; from Momoko, her Master: "Why would you expect your first haiku about your stone lantern to succeed...After you write a hundred haiku about your lantern, maybe then a good one will emerge." Or Mr. Furuhata -"So maybe the seasons speak to us more than any spiritual concept could." (importance of kigo) Finally, the purpose of haiku explained by "Traveling Tree Man" - " He explained how devoting himself to haiku had led him to change the way he approached life - now he took all the small corners of the world that presented themselves to him on their own terms." Whatever your involvement with haiku, The Haiku Apprentice is an excellent read. Highly recommended!

I love memoirs, so this was interesting to me. What I did not expect, was to learn so much about writing haiku. It was a very satisfying book. I highly recommend it.

Not everyone who wants to write haiku can go to Japan and study under a haiku master. Abigail Friedman did and her account of it provides many useful insights for the rest of us. In particular, her explanation of haiku circles seems something we might all profit from.

Loved the book not only because of the subject matter but it was for me going on a journey.