When I finally got my hands on this book I could hardly wait to open it. When I did open it, it was like biting into a rotten apple. The "translations" turned these beautiful poetic gems into cute little rhymes. The haiku paintings are quite lovely but the book is a tragic misunderstanding of haiku poetry. Please do yourself a favor and buy a copy of Issa's "The Spring Of My Life & Selected Haiku" translated by Sam Hamill.