Poetry Japanese formal poetry (which was generally referred to as "waka"), and was used more heavily to explore personal rather than public themes. By the tenth century, tanka had become the dominant form of Japanese poetry, to the point where the originally general term "waka" ("Japanese poetry") came to be used exclusively for tanka. Tanka are still widely written today. Haiku is a popular form of unrhymed Japanese poetry, which evolved in the 17th century from the "hokku", or opening verse of a renku. Generally written in a single vertical line, the haiku contains three sections totalling 17 "onji", structured in
Haiku in English Turtle Light Press. In the UK, the British Haiku Society publishes "Blithe Spirit", and the World Haiku Club publishes "The World Haiku Review". Another leading haiku magazine in the UK is "Presence" (formerly "Haiku Presence"), which was edited for many years by Martin Lucas (1962-2014). In Ireland, twenty issues of "Haiku Spirit" edited by Jim Norton were published between 1995 and 2000. "Shamrock", the online journal of the Irish Haiku Society edited by Anatoly Kudryavitsky, has been publishing international haiku in English since 2007. In Australia, twenty issues of "Yellow Moon", a literary magazine for writers of haiku and other