Cherry blossoms for Haiku Poetry Day

“spring fever” is 8x10, made with paper, acrylic paint, pen and glue on cradled wood panel. © Annette Makino 2025

Today, April 17, is Haiku Poetry Day! To celebrate, I’m sharing a piece on a classic haiku theme: cherry blossoms.

Last spring, on a visit to my sister Yoshi’s house, I noticed that her flowering cherry tree was absolutely humming with hundreds of honeybees.

That inspired a haiku:

spring fever
the whole tree
buzzing

At home later, I mixed acrylic paints in the colors I wanted. I then used a gel press to apply the paint to an old typewritten letter, an insurance statement, rice paper embedded with mango leaves, and other specialty papers from Asia.

Using reference photos, I carefully tore the pieces into the desired shapes, then laid them in place on the cradled wood panel.

Next I took a second panel, placed it on top of the first one, and flipped both together. Now the whole collage lay upside down on the spare panel, so that the background pieces—the first ones I needed to glue down—were on top. I then worked my way up to the foreground pieces.

Inspired by the Japanese tradition of haiga (art combined with haiku), I added the haiku to the collage digitally. It is the April art for my 2026 calendar, and I also made a birthday card version, above.

Every spring, I spend some time with a Yoshino cherry tree on our country road, soaking in the delicate beauty of the pale pink blossoms. The experience is joyful with a tinge of heartbreak, knowing how briefly this stage will last.

blossom season
earlier each year
this fleeting world

It’s the impermanence itself that makes these days of peak blossom so precious. The bees certainly seem to know they need to make the most of the moment! Happy spring and happy Haiku Poetry Day.

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Makino Studios News

Annette Makino hangs her “Paper Alchemy” show at the Arcata Library, running through May 2026.

“Paper Alchemy” art show at the library: Thirty of my mixed media collages are now on view at the Arcata Library in Arcata, CA, with an original haiku accompanying most of the pieces. The show runs through May. You’re invited to visit and check out some books, DVDs or a telescope while you’re at it! If you can’t make it, you can explore my online gallery.

“Our Art, Our Story” group show: I also have a piece in this exhibition showcasing Asian and Pacific Islander artists of Humboldt—as does my daughter, Maya Makino! Sponsored by Humboldt Asians and Pacific Islanders (HAPI), the show runs through May 12 at the Redwood Art Association Gallery in Eureka, CA. Join the artists for Arts Alive on Saturday May 2, 6-9 p.m.

Moms and grads: Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 10 and locally, Cal Poly Humboldt’s commencement is Saturday, May 16. I have several card designs for those occasions and dozens more besides, available in the Makino Studios shop and in select stores.

Chinatown book update: As I shared last month, working closely with HAPI under a grant from the California Coastal Commission, I am writing a children’s book about the 1885 expulsion of the Chinese community from Eureka, CA. The story centers on a real girl named Yung and her tuxedo cat, Miu Miu. I’m happy to share that the book has a title! It is Yung Stands Strong: A Story of Expulsion and Resilience. The illustrations by Yukari Mishima are coming along beautifully and the historical background section will be fascinating. We go to press this summer.

Touchstone Awards for Individual Poems: Today the Haiku Foundation announced the five awarded poems in this prestigious annual contest, which my husband has dubbed “the Nobel Prize of haiku.” Congratulations to the winners as well as the poets included in the short and long lists! Big thanks to coordinator Matthew Markworth and my fellow judges, Sarah Paris, Thomas Haynes, Dan Schwerin, and Mary Stevens, who sorted through 1500 poems from 35 countries.

In Basho’s Footsteps: I appreciate everyone who joined my Zoom talk for the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society about my walking tour in Japan last fall! It was fun to relive the trip and show some of my art to an enthusiastic crowd of sixty people. I plan to give a version of the Basho talk at the Seabeck Haiku Getaway in Seabeck, WA in October.

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CREDITS:

“spring fever” (haiga): Contemporary Haibun Online, Haiga Gallery, 21.3, 2025; Contemporary Haibun Volume 20, Red Moon Press, 2025

“blossom season” - Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival, Honourable Mention, United States, 2025 Haiku Invitational

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