Haiku such as "kyo" () may look like two syllables to English speakers but are in fact a single "on" (as well as a single syllable) in Japanese. In 1973, the Haiku Society of America noted that the norm for writers of haiku in English was to use 17 syllables, but they also noted a trend toward shorter haiku. Shorter haiku are very much more common in 21st century English haiku writing. Some translators of Japanese poetry have noted that about 12 syllables in English approximate the duration of 17 Japanese "on". Also in translations four lines is more appropriate for
Haiku to what is now called "haiku". Bashō also used his "hokku" as torque points within his short prose sketches and longer travel diaries. This subgenre of "haikai" is known as "haibun". His best-known work, "Oku no Hosomichi", or "Narrow Roads to the Interior", is counted as one of the classics of Japanese literature and has been translated into English extensively. Bashō was deified by both the imperial government and Shinto religious headquarters one hundred years after his death because he raised the haikai genre from a playful game of wit to sublime poetry. He continues to be revered as a