How to move through a broken world?

“copper-tinged waves” is an 8x10 mixed media collage made with paper, acrylic paint, colored pencil and glue on cradled wood. A greeting card version reads, “take heart.” © Annette Makino 2025

Although I try to stay connected with my readers, I haven’t written you in close to three months. The truth is, with all the upheaval in the world these days, it has been hard to know what to say.

On the one hand, I know I’m not obligated to say anything about the news—no one really expects artists and poets to analyze the political events of the day. Somehow the New York Times still hasn’t phoned for my take on the war in Iran! On the other hand, it seems oblivious at best to chatter about my creative projects and my happy little life while the regime is locking up children and murdering US citizens in broad daylight.

How to navigate these dystopian times? I know many of us attend protests.* We’ve got our reps on speed dial. We donate to help people in Gaza, Ukraine, Minnesota. We stay informed as best we can without drowning in the horrors of the day. Yet faced with the shocking cruelty and corruption of this administration, it never feels like enough.

Still, I take heart from these words by Rabbi Rami Shapiro, interpreting a part of the Talmud: “Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world's grief . . . You are not expected to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.”

Under an administration that stokes fear and hatred of “the other,” I believe that connection, creative expression, and celebration are all forms of this work. Whether it’s taking in a beach sunset, writing a poem or petting a stranger’s dog, joy is an act of resistance.

copper-tinged waves
trying to fit the ocean
into my camera

One spark of joy: I have been writing a children’s book about the 1885 expulsion of the Chinese community from the nearby town of Eureka, California. The story centers on a real nine-year old girl named Yung and her beloved tuxedo cat, Miu Miu, who are forced from their home in Eureka’s Chinatown and shipped to San Francisco.

To work out some book details, we toured the site of Eureka’s historic Chinatown.

I’m working closely with Humboldt Asians and Pacific Islanders in Solidarity (HAPI) under a grant from the California Coastal Commission. The book, as yet untitled, is due to be published this fall by The Press at Cal Poly Humboldt. Doubtless this will be one of their less scholarly works, but it will include about ten pages of background material with historical context. And how many academic tomes can offer a cute cat?

The book will be used in local schools, especially fourth grade classes, to teach about this dark chapter in California’s history. Yukari Mishima, a talented Japanese artist whose style reminds me of Hayao Miyazaki, is creating the beautiful illustrations. And the Humboldt County Office of Education is designing an accompanying curriculum.

I’ve spent a lifetime writing and editing, from three-line haiku to multimillion dollar grants. But I’ve never written historical fiction for children before, so this is all new territory for me—a sometimes challenging and ultimately rewarding process. It’s a gift to collaborate with goodhearted people on such a meaningful creative project. May the story of Yung and Miu Miu help shed light on the racism and injustice that is still so present today—and help us see our common humanity.

moth holes
the part of the world
I can mend

all the best, Annette

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Makino Studios News

15th anniversary sale: Makino Studios celebrates its 15th anniversary this month! When I launched my art biz in March 2011, I had no idea whether it would last. In thanks for your support, I’m offering 15% off all cards, prints, books and calendars in the shop till midnight this Sunday, March 8. Enter code 15YEARS at checkout.

Hanging out with haiku master Basho in Tokyo, October 2025.

In Basho’s Footsteps: This Saturday, March 7 at 11 a.m. Pacific, I’m giving a presentation to the Yuki Teikei Society on my recent walking tour in Japan of the 1689 journey by the famed haiku poet Basho. I’ll share photos, haiku and art. You are invited to attend and sign in as a guest (the first few minutes will include some organization business). This presentation will not be recorded. Click here to join the Zoom. Meeting ID: 818 4373 6721

Museum of Haiku Literature Award: I’m honored that the following poem was chosen as the best haiku of the Autumn 2025 issue of Frogpond, the journal of the Haiku Society of America:

milkweed leaf
a butterfly sheds
its deadname

Touchstone Awards: Since January I have served on the panel of five judges for this contest sponsored by The Haiku Foundation. The Touchstone Award for Individual Poems is considered a premier honor for English-language haiku, and the judging process is very thoughtfully designed. The winning poems will appear on The Haiku Foundation website starting April 3.

Art show at the library: The Arcata branch of the Humboldt County Library has invited me to show my art there in April and May. The show will feature a range of mixed media pieces including some haiga (art with haiku). And probably some cute cats!

*No Kings: The next nationwide protest is No Kings on March 28—it may well be the largest one-day protest in US history!

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Haiku publication credits:
“copper-tinged waves” - Kingfisher, Spring 2024
“moth holes” - The Heron’s Nest, March 2026

Three wayfarers in Japan

The trail to Jizogura shrine (shown left) outside Hijiori Onsen village in the Tohoku region of Japan.

Paul, Annette and Gabriel in Tohoku, Japan, October 2025

Konnichiwa! I’m back from a wonderful 18 days in Japan with my husband Paul and son Gabriel. On this, my fifth trip there, we toured Tokyo boulevards, mountain trails, rice paddies, rural villages and temples.

sacred shrine
worshippers raise
their selfie sticks

Paul has been studying Japanese intensively and was able to have brief exchanges and read some signs, which was very helpful. The Google Maps and Google Translate apps were also key companions.

We traveled by subway, bus, bullet train, boat and on foot, walking up to ten miles a day even when we weren’t hiking.

rice paddies blurring into the past bullet train

Annette sitting at the feet of the master, 17th century haiku poet Matsuo Basho, at Motsuji Temple, Hiraizumi.

The focus of the trip was a six-day self-guided walking tour in the northern region of Tohoku following the route that haiku poet Matsuo Basho took over five months in 1689. That resulted in his classic haiku-laced travelogue, Oku-no-hosomichi, or Narrow Road to the Deep North. Basho is considered Japan’s greatest poet, and it was moving to visit places that he wrote about almost 350 years ago and to see the many statues and monuments commemorating him.

Paul warns bears of our presence on the trail.

Some trails had clappers and at one trailhead, our driver set off firecrackers to warn away bears before we started our hike. Being used to California’s shy black bears, we weren’t terribly worried, but after our walking tour we learned that since April of this year, bears have killed 12 people in Japan and injured more than one hundred! Luckily, we didn’t encounter any bears nor any evil wild monkeys.

At one of our inns, a dish was grilled at the table on magnolia leaves.

Our tour company, Walk Japan, reserved traditional Japanese inns for us which each had on-site onsen, or hot springs—a real treat after hiking for miles over mountain passes or trudging up a thousand temple stairs. These inns served amazing breakfasts and dinners of 12 to 18 courses each, exquisitely presented on various types of pottery or lacquerware. Most of it was delicious, if sometimes mysterious. But I drew the line at tasting the raw horse meat on one sashimi platter!

Amida Buddha in Kamakura, completed in 1252.

We spent a total of six days in Tokyo, where we got to see my Japanese relatives. There we also caught the women’s qualifying rounds for the Tokyo Open, especially fun for Gabriel, a tennis player and coach. We took a day trip to see the Great Buddha of Kamakura, which has appeared in Paul’s dreams, reaching the massive, serene sculpture via a hike past five temples.

The iconic two-legged stone lantern at Kenroku-en in Kanazawa.

For four nights we based ourselves in Nagano, in the Japan Alps. We made a day trip to Kanazawa to see one of the most famous gardens in Japan, peaceful Kenroku-en, and to explore the evocative old samurai neighborhood. Wandering through rainy alleys that evening, we stumbled into a restaurant where we were ushered into a private tatami room. There, servers in kimonos brought us gorgeous platters of sashimi and sushi followed by dessert decorated with gold leaf—our favorite meal of the trip.

A special dinner in a private tatami room in Kanazawa.

sushi bar
through fish tank glass
they watch us feeding

We also traveled to the charming town of Obuse one day to visit the Hokusai Museum, which showed the intricate step-by-step process for printing his famous woodblock print, “The Great Wave of Kanagawa.” I was humbled to learn that Hokusai created more than 30,000 artworks in his lifetime!

We took a boat ride around Matsushima Bay, which Basho found so beautiful that he couldn't write a single haiku about it.

I could go on and on, but I’ll let my photos do the talking. This trip was covered by Makino Studios, so a deep bow of gratitude to all who have supported my art business. And thanks for your patience with orders while I was traveling; I’m all caught up on shipments and store deliveries, so feel free to order now (free shipping through Sunday). And thanks for coming along on this trip to Japan! As Basho wrote, “every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.”

warmly, Annette

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Makino Studios News

Free shipping this weekend: I’m offering free shipping on everything in the shop, no minimum order, through midnight this Sunday with code JAPAN2025.

2026 calendars: These mini-calendars of art and haiku are now for sale in most of my local stores and available here for $12. They make great gifts!

New cards and notecards: You can browse all new and ongoing designs here. Some of the newest designs are already almost sold out, but more are coming in a couple of weeks.

Made in Humboldt Fair: The holiday market at Pierson Garden Shop in Eureka, CA starts this Monday, Nov. 12 and runs through Dec. 24. It includes more than 250 local vendors. You can find my calendars, notecard sets, books and prints there.

Arcata Holiday Craft Market: Featuring food, music, and local vendors, this festive fair takes place Dec. 13-14 at the Arcata Community Center in Arcata, CA. Look for the Makino Studios booth on the lefthand side of the main room. This will be my only in-person event this season.

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Torii gates lead to Sasuke Inari Shrine in Kamakura.

Haiku credits:

“rice paddies” - Last Train Home: tanka, haiku, rengay; Ed. Jacqueline Pearce; Pondhawk Press; Vancouver, BC, Canada; 2021

“sacred shrine” - 3rd place, Gerald Brady Memorial Awards for Senryu, September 2016

“sushi bar” - Prune Juice, Issue 17, November 2015