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Although Haiku was the first of its kind to find its way to the Western world, it's merely one of many Japanese variations of the 5-7 poetic form. Numerous variations have developed over the centuries, and a select few have recently begun to permeate contemporary Western literary culture. Tanka is becoming quite a well-known poetic form in today's literary world, with Senryu following dutifully behind. These poetic forms, of course, are preceded by many others…

According to researchers of ancient Japanese poetry, the Katauta is recognized as their "basic unit of poetry." It incorporates a 5-7-7 onji format, or a total of 19 syllables. It has a specific rhythm and takes the form of either posing a question or giving an answer.

An expanded version of Katauta is used in both the Mondo and the Sedoka, which duplicate the syllabic pattern with 5-7-7-5-7-7, a total of 38 onji. The Mondo has two distinct parts. First a question is posed, then a subsequent answer is written by a separate author. A distinct rhythm break occurs in the middle of this structure where the question and answer join. Sedoka is similar to a Mondo in that it also consists of two parts (one pair) of Katauta. The difference is that Sedoka were written by a single author and did not generally consist of a question and answer part.

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