Evening Lecture on Haiku

On the evening of 20^th February, the Mission of Japan to the EU hosted an evening lecture on Haiku at Ambassador Aikawa’s Official Residence, as part of our celebrations of the 50^th anniversary of Japan-EU Friendship.

The lecture was given by H.E. Mr Herman Van Rompuy, Haiku Ambassador for Japan-EU Friendship, and Ms Kazuko Nishimura, a renowned haiku poet from Japan. Professor Willy Vande Walle, Emeritus Professor of Japanese Studies at KU Leuven, interpreted and moderated the Q&A session.

The lecture was attended by haiku practitioners and enthusiasts as well as academics and teachers from across Belgium and the Netherlands among others. It was a wonderful opportunity to express our appreciation for the enthusiasm shown by our guests for practicing and teaching haiku and to deepen the understanding toward the Japanese literature and culture. Haiku is a type of Japanese short form poetry most composed, in its English versions, of three lines of five, seven and five syllables. Haiku has been an important tool for people-to-people exchanges between Japan and the EU and has been featured in many language and literature syllabi in schools and colleges across Europe.

After the lectures, the guests enjoyed informal discussions over Japanese food and drinks prepared by Chef Arima, the official chef of the Residence of the Ambassador of Japan to the EU and Chef Ishii from the Residence of the Ambassador of Japan to Belgium.