Yuki Teikei Haiku Society

About this Organization

The Yuki Teikei Haiku Society (YTHS) was founded in San Jose, California, in 1975 by Mr. Kiyoshi Tokutomi and Mrs. Kiyoko Tokutomi. The purpose of the founders was to nourish and foster the art of writing haiku in English using the traditional guidelines developed by haiku poets in Japan. As explained by Mrs. Tokutomi, in Japanese “Yu” means “having,” “Ki” means “season,” “Tei” means “formal,” and “Kei” means “pattern.” Therefore, in the founders’ view, “yuki teikei” haiku had a season word and utilized a the three-line structure with the 5-7-5 pattern of syllables. The Society encourages the study of haiku in this form and others that have evolved in English over the years.