Haiku is a special literary art born in Japan but since the 1970s it has been embraced by people the world over and has enjoyed remarkable international popularity. Now there are said to be about one million people in 50 countries writing and enjoying haiku in their own languages as well as English.

The first Westerner to discover the charms of haiku was Lafcadio Hearn (Koizumi Yakumo) at the end of the nineteenth century, The publication, by Paul Louis Kuche, of a collection entitled "Haiku" in the early twentieth century started a haiku boom. Thus, haiku's internationalization can be regarded as a natural development which has grown from a 100 year old history outside of Japan.

The Haiku International Association was established in December 1989 in order to respond to haiku's worldwide popularity and to promote friendship and exchanges with haiku lovers overseas. Since then, our association has been continuing its activities, concentrating on the introduction of haiku culture, exchanges with international societies and the publication of a magazine.

In today's world, political, economic and cultural walls are coming down everywhere. The world's people have joined hands in this. Now they must mutually remove certain walls in their hearts. I am convinced that the mutual understanding derived from the love that different peoples have for haiku will prove very helpful towards the attainment of this goal.

On July 01,2002, the Haiku International Association has opened its home page. It is my heartfelt wish that the internet will lead to increased exchanges and friendship between haiku lovers overseas and that it will provide a gateway to haiku for those of the general public with an interest in haiku.