Hina Oikawa Short Songs is a multidisciplinary project led by New York-based saxophonist, composer, and tanka poet Hina Oikawa. It brings together large-ensemble jazz, poetry, and visual art to explore what happens when a 1,300-year-old Japanese poetic form meets improvised music.
Tanka is a poem of just 31 syllables (5-7-5-7-7), the older tradition from which haiku ultimately emerged. Hina writes her own tanka and turns their rhythm and structure into original music for a 10-piece jazz ensemble, performed alongside projected visual art created for each piece. Every performance is presented bilingually, with English translations and readings, so that anyone can step into the world of the poems.
Since its premiere at Culture Lab LIC in 2025, the project has played to sold-out audiences at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, released its debut album Short Songs (2026), and toured Japan. In September 2026, with support from the Queens Arts Fund, we presented Voices of a Hundred Poets, new work inspired by the classical anthology Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, to a free, multigenerational audience of about 120 people in Queens.
Next, we are bringing this work into public libraries and community spaces through lecture-concerts and hands-on workshops, where participants of all ages and backgrounds write their own short poems in English or their native language.
Your tax-deductible contribution helps us pay musicians and artists fairly, keep our programs free and accessible, and share the beauty of tanka and jazz with new audiences. Thank you for being part of our story.
Learn More: https://hinaoikawa.com