Kanrai (Midwinter Thunder)

Kanrai is a haiku group started before the war by KATOH Shuson when he broke away from the teachings of MIZUHARA Shuoshi. Shuoshi's sensei was TAKAHAMA Kyoshi who was instructed by MASAOKA Shiki, the father of modern haiku. Shuson's school was termed "the faction searching for humanity". Some of its first members include TAGAWA Hiroshi, KANEKO Tohta (very abstract, extremely involved in International haiku), MORI Sumio, KAWASAKI Tenko, YAJIMA Nagisao and other big names in Japanese haiku. The magazine "Fuyoh" (Rose Mallow) run by SUGAWA Yoko sprang out of the Kanrai melting pot. Shuson passed away in 1993 and now the group is run by a committee. It is a fairly traditional haiku school involved with searching for truths using nature as a theme.Kanrai magazine has monthly meetings on the third Sunday of the month and is also published monthly.

 I've been a member of Kanrai since 1991 when I submitted haiku under a Japanese pen-name. I now submit my haiku (in Japanese) under my own name and appear (towards the back) every month.