Renku Reckoner
A General Introduction

Renku is the contemporary name for haikai-no-renga. Specifically, it is the name given to that kind of collaborative linked verse composed after the style, or in the school, of Matuso Basho. The term renku does not embrace the high style of medieval linked verse for which the term renga is best reserved. Nor does it cover the plethora of loosely related forms of collaborative verse that have recently arisen in the English speaking world and which rely largely on thematic progression. Renku does not rely on any form of topical or narrative extension. It is never thematic.

It would be a mistake to suppose that renku is a static genre in thrall to historic practice. Though the aesthetic principles and techniques discussed herein are directly drawn on those advanced by Matsuo Basho and his school, the majority of the compositional patterns described in Renku Reckoner have arisen in the last fifty years. Nor do they come exclusively from Japan.

This site is not intended to be an exhaustive or academic exposition of all facets of the genre. Instead it focuses on those aspects most conducive to an understanding sufficient to engage in successful composition for persons who are of, or familiar with, English-language cultures.

The title is an ironic reference to Ready Reckoners, those pocket volumes of mathematical computation and material equivalence that were popular before the advent of silicon chips. To use a Ready Reckoner it was not necessary to grasp the nature of a calculation, merely to locate the correct column of values.

The Schematic Guides that feature elsewhere in Renku Reckoner are indeed intended to give instant access to suitable patterns for composition, but the accompanying articles aim to allow the reader to understand the interlocking principles which power renku, and thus to arrive at an integrated appreciation of the range of possible outcomes for any given type of composition.

I have practical experience of many collaborative forms other than renku, and have experimented extensively with solo sequences influenced by renku, but which could not properly be described as such. I have also sought to examine in some depth the potential for fixed form prosody in English language haikai.

As a poem leader (sabaki) I have facilitated or directed something in the order of fifty formal renku sequences, many of which have been published in more than one language. I have also had the pleasure of co-translating a number of classic Basho Kasen. Whether the sum of this experience amounts to anything is for the reader to decide.

Renku was effectively unknown outside Japan until the 1980's. A decade later, aided immensely by the mushrooming internet, a number of determined Japanese renkujin and their American friends were actively engaged in attempts to spread interest in the genre amongst English language poets who were to some degree expert in haiku.

Unfortunately renku immediately fell victim to what have since been termed the haiku wars - a sometimes vicious debate as to whether the American Haiku ever could, or should, be considered coequal with, an extension of, or no longer talking to its Japanese parent.

Now that all parties have bored themselves into submission English language renku finds itself claimed by opposing camps who agree on one thing only - that renku is beset by extremely difficult rules. One way to negotiate this alleged difficulty is to propose that interested persons become honourary Japanese so that all might follow the same rules. Their opponents would rather free renku from Oriental authoritarianism yet relegate it to the status of amusing pastime.

This is absolute nonsense. There is no monolithic Japanese practice; there are tendencies and trends as in any literature. The rules are conventions. Renku is an art form not a parlour game. It is only difficult to understand because Japanese exponents seeking to popularise renku have not always been successful in distinguishing which elements are culturally specific, and too many Occidentals have pretended an expertise they do not possess.

Renku Reckoner aims to show that renku is not a Japanese art form, but rather a literary genre that has arisen in Japan. The aesthetic considerations and poetic techniques that inform renku are not limited to any particular place or time. Matsuo Basho, being a truly great artist, dealt in universals.

The man himself remarked that in any artistic endeavour one must be prepared to learn the rules and then break them. Because of the amount of misinformation surrounding renku it is probably advisable for the English language poet to first learn the reason for 'the rules'.