Best haiku & japanese poetry books according to redditors

I'll do classical works, since those are what I know best.

Classical works:

Kojiki. One of the recent translations is highly readable. It contains the major native myths and legends, which you will see referenced over and over again in your modern works.

Manyoshu: Earliest surviving collection of native poetry. A partial translation done in the 50s is the one I recommend, as the final English was worked over by an actual English language poet, making it by far the most accessible one around. Poets and topics range far and wide, especially when compared with later classical works.

Tales of Ise: Another one with a recent translation. Provides a good look at the noble aesthetic, romance in classical Japan, etc.

Kokin Wakashu: There are no easy to find translations of this, unfortunately. However, if you were to ask a Japanese scholar what the definitive Japanese classic is, this would be it. All later aesthetics, from literature to art, derive in large part from it in one way or another. It is a collection of poetry from 905 (approx) that epitomizes the new noble aesthetic of the age, and as I said, sets the tone for the next millennium and beyond.

Tale of Genji: The definitive prose classic. Courtly love and romance, political intrigues, all that. There are several full-length English translations (and a few that aren't full length). There are still many adherents to the Arthur Waley version, despite its age. The newer Royall Tyler translation is more thorough and scholarly accurate, however.

Tale of the Heike: Several translations exist, but the recent one by Royall Tyler does a good job of projecting the lyrical quality of the original while maintaining accuracy. Several others exist as well, but the Tyler is probably the easiest to both find and read. Tale of war and upheaval at the end of the 12th century, showing the decline of the nobility and rise of the new warrior class. Probably hard to go from cover to cover with, as there are many names/events/places that are hard to follow for most readers. Spot reading recommended.

Confessions of Lady Nijo: There are a few translations, but the one I have linked is probably the easiest to find. Discusses the life of a woman who served in the imperial courts of the late 13th/early 14th C. and all the trials and tribulations she faced by receiving the favors of the emperor.

Hope this is a good start for you all.

If you are not averse to having both English and Japanese, this version is lovely. It has translations in front, and the original Japanese in the back, as well as literal word-for-word translations. The Japanese print is small, however, and somewhat dominated by the English text visually, so if you are going for a "hey, look! this is is Japanese!" effect, you'll want to look elsewhere.

This is really cool of you :)

So, you say you like sci-fi... But do you like haiku? And more importantly, do you like both at the same time? Because if you don't, you'll hate this scifaiku book I published.

"If Not, Winter" ~by Sappho <3

"Basho's Haiku" by Matsuo Basho (and translated by David Landis Barnhill) I did my college thesis on Basho, and Barnhill is definitely the best translator, imho~ his other translated work,"Basho's Journey", is also wonderful if you're looking for a more diary-style, year in the life, work <3

The Three Cornered World: http://www.amazon.com/Three-Cornered-World-Natsume-Soseki/dp/0895267683

or. 草枕 if you can read J-GO

Ryokan was a poet, he has a book.

https://www.amazon.com/Dewdrops-Lotus-Leaf-Poems-Ryokan/dp/1590301080

But something you can just jump into can be found here.

http://thezenuniverse.org/anecdotes-poetry-zen-master-ryokan/

Took me a while to remember it exactly but here's the Amazon link to the love haiku book. There's a gazillion books of love haiku out there as well if you want more.

Jack Kerouac wrote Haiku! There's a book and here's a small sample. An example:

In my medicine cabinet,
the winter fly
has died of old age.

Natsume Soseki too. He wrote I am a Cat and Kokoro. I can't find any places that have stock but the book's called Zen Haiku. Here's an example:

On New Year's Day
I long to meet my parents
as they were before my birth.

If you want more Japanese Haiku authors: http://www.toyomasu.com/haiku/

I got this one, and found it for about $25

I think Asian poetry should be your go to for this.
Chinese:
[Hanshan] (https://www.amazon.com/Collected-Mountain-Mandarin-Chinese-English/dp/1556591403/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481519439&sr=8-1&keywords=hanshan)
[Libai and Dufu] (https://www.amazon.com/Li-Po-Tu-Translated-Introduction/dp/0140442723/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1481519506&sr=8-3&keywords=li+po)
[Tao Yuanming] (https://www.amazon.com/Selected-Poems-Tao-Chien/dp/1556590563/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481519544&sr=8-1&keywords=Tao+qian)
and Japanese:
[Saigyo] (https://www.amazon.com/Saigyo/dp/023107493X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481519595&sr=8-1&keywords=Saigyo)
[Basho] (https://www.amazon.com/Narrow-Road-Interior-Writings-Shambhala/dp/1570627169/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1481519621&sr=8-3&keywords=Basho)
[Ryokan] (https://www.amazon.com/Dewdrops-Lotus-Leaf-Poems-Ryokan/dp/1590301080/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1481519642&sr=8-4&keywords=Ryokan)

Try this, it'll last forever!

https://www.amazon.com/Popcorn-Haikus-Rachael-Schmitt/dp/1979799601/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1519330877&sr=8-1&keywords=popcorn+haikus

Good point, thanks! I don't actually know that much about Chinese and Japanese, sadly. Most of my knowledge is from my Japanese Linguistics book(let).

As for the poem: I saw it on a poster in the Japanology building on Campus in Vienna, actually! If I remember correctly, it was from Tawada Youko's Abenteuer der deutschen Grammatik, 2009 or 2010. The whole book's available on Amazon, but I'll see if I can find a picture of the poster somewhere.

edit: Found it

This is a really cool book of sci-fi haikus (I know, odd right?) that I really enjoyed. Written by a Redditor.

http://www.amazon.com/white-noise-haiku-space-ebook/dp/B004S7EP84/ref=cm_cr-mr-title

Five Seven Five

I decided to finally collect and write down various haiku written over the years:

https://www.amazon.com/Five-Seven-collection-haiku-poems-ebook/dp/B07VHKZ1QP