Pak-Japan : Verses that strengthen friendship

ISLAMABAD: The embassy of Japan held a Haiku poetry recital at Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) on Tuesday. The event was titled “Basho Evening - Recital of Haiku Poetry” and started with screening of a Japanese video on Hiraizumi (home city of Matsuo Basho, considered the father of Haiku).

Speaking on the occasion, Cultural Officer at the Embassy of Japan Mayumi Tsubakimoto said that “Haiku Mushaira” is being held in Islamabad after five years. Haiku is a Japanese traditional form of poetry and Mushairais is a Pakistani traditional way of reciting poems, he explained. He said the Haiku Mushaira is an amalgamation of both the cultures and is a symbol of Japan-Pakistan friendship. Although Haiku poetry is quite difficult to compose even for the Japanese people, “but the Haiku poems presented today by the Pakistani poets were great and took us to the beautiful poetic world,” he said.

The event was co-organised by Pakistan Haiku Society, National Art Gallery, National University of Modern Languages and Pakistan Japan Cultural Association.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 1^st, 2010.