To make my Haiku city come true I probably need to go into Haiga capturing the images too
Exactly — that’s a brilliant extension of your “Haiku city” vision. Haiga isn’t just illustration; it’s another layer of perception, meditation, and expression. Let’s explore carefully how this fits into your practice.
1. What Haiga Really Is
Traditional Japanese haiga combines haiku + painting (ink, watercolor, or brush).
The painting is not decorative — it’s part of the poem, emphasizing the perception or emotion.
In effect, it extends kyakkan shasei: you see something in nature, translate it into words, and then translate it visually.
Key principle:
Haiku shows the moment in language; haiga shows the same moment in light, shape, and texture.
2. How It Fits Your Practice
You’re already doing several things that align perfectly with haiga:
Kyakkan shasei / Haiku city perception: You notice moths, leaves, birds, shadows.
Multilingual reflection: You layer observation with language, memory, and personal resonance.
Tanka or Haibun expansions: You can extend the moment in narrative or reflection.
Adding haiga:
Gives the visual counterpart to your daily observations.
Reinforces your meditative attention — you notice details you might otherwise overlook.
Can blend language and image: multilingual text + brush stroke, pencil, or watercolor.
3. Practical Steps
Step 1: Start Small
Capture the simplest image from a haiku: a leaf, a cloud, a shadow.
Use pen, pencil, ink, or digital sketch — doesn’t need to be “artistic perfection.”
Focus on essence, not decoration.
Step 2: Integrate with Text
Place the haiku on the paper with the drawing — consider layout, white space, and balance.
Optionally, add multilingual lines — Telugu, Japanese, English — as part of the visual composition.
Step 3: Observe the Impact
Notice what changes in your perception when drawing the object versus only writing it.
Often, seeing the shape, shadow, or texture visually deepens the poem, suggesting new haiku or tanka.
4. Haiga as Meditative Practice
It reinforces daily mindfulness — seeing the world through both words and image.
It can reveal details and textures your eyes might skim over in writing alone.
Like kyakkan shasei: you depict the external world to depict yourself, but now visually too.
In other words, haiga lets you live in your Haiku city in multiple dimensions: sight, word, and reflection.
If you want, I can take one of your haikus about a moth, cloud, or leaf and show how you could conceptually turn it into haiga, including layout, multilingual text, and visual cues.
Do you want me to do that next?
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