"[With] new translations of more than 50 haiku accompanied by sympathetic landscape photographs, woodcut prints and calligraphy ... [t]he book traces the evolution of haiku from courtly accomplishments in Kyoto during the Heian period (9th century to 12th centuries) to the work of the great haiku poets of the 17th and 19th centuries, Bashō, Buson, Issa and Shiki, whose life stories are briefly told. Also explored thoroughly in the book is the cultural background of haiku - everything from Zen Buddhism and Shinto shrines to the samurai warrior code, tea ceremonies, and Noh and Kabuki theater."--Jacket.