Thursday, December 25, 2008

Christmas haikus Japan-style



Merry Christmas from Japan! Here are two Christmas-themed haikus featuring a Japanese twist.

ラブホテル
空き部屋はない
クリスマス

love hotel
no vacancy
Christmas

クリスマス
お腹がいっぱい
ケンタッキー

Christmas
full stomach
KFC

Notes: On Christmas Day, the "no vacancy" signs at love hotels are usually lit up. KFC is a popular Christmas dinner menu item in Japan.

Second note: Thirty minutes later it strikes me that the love hotel haiku works better flipped around as:

クリスマス
空き部屋はない
ラブホテル

Christmas
no vacancy
love hotel

3 comments:

  1. I like these very much. The first version of the "love hotel" grabbed my attention more than the second.

    Not only did these work as haiku, but I also learned a bit about your part of the world. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I launched my web-site about a week ago... Here I thought I was pretty original... Then today I'm out surfing to see what their is to offer and stumble onto your site! I'm very impressed! Not only is your site well done, your haiku are top not. I especially enjoy your Japanese translations... far better than mine I must say.

    I will certainly tag your site if you don't mind. If you would drop by and give mine a spin, I'd be honored.

    Thanks!

    Matthew

    www.poolofzen.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ken,

    Thanks again for your comment. With the second version of the love hotel haiku I thought I could allude to a certain "no room at the inn" story, but I'm probably trying to do too much with 17 syllables!

    ReplyDelete