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
Paul Conneally publication of "Parade of Life: Poems inspired by Japanese Prints" featuring Japanese woodblock prints alongside haiku written by children and visitors to the museum in workshop with Conneally and co-edited by former British Haiku Society Secretary and haiku poet Alan Summers. The book had launches in Bristol, UK and Akita, Japan. His work with school children to produce museum labels for artefacts on the SS Great Britain in the form of tanka, mesostic poems and riddles is featured on the Teachers' TV channel being used in a classroom by a teacher as an example of model practice in interpreting artefacts.