Counting syllables

In Japanese... But in Japanese, it is time, perhaps equivalent to the musical beat, that is important, for a syllable can be be short or long. Thus a Japanese haiku is counted in terms of time or beats (onjii in Japanese), a standard beat being equivalent to a short vowel.

For example, the word  "Tokyo" seems to be composed of only two syllables,  to and kyo, but each of them is long, and the word thus counts four beats - to-o-kyo-o ..

- a short vowel counts for one beat.
- a long vowel for two beats,
- a double consonant counts for one beat.
- the nasal consonant n at the end of a syllable counts for a beat.

The reason why there are only 17 syllables lies in the duration of the utterance. A haiku is meant to be read aloud in a single breath. 

Transposition of this rule into other languages is attended with difficulty, though not to an extent, depending on the language; English is more concise, French and German more extensive. 

The rule of 17 syllables divided into 5-7-5 is not commonly accepted in languages other than Japanese.  This is because of considerations related to the specific language, making people think of this framework as an unnatural constraint that carries over awkwardly into the new language context.   English would seem to be happier with 5 syllables than French.

The haiku communauty is split by the question.

Various approaches can be adopted :

1° A variable meter that depends on the given language:  3-5-3 in English. It is an accepted fact that 17 Japanese beats are equivalent to  +/- 11 English syllables. 

2° A more flexible short-long-short form.

In my opinion, it is better to have some slight metrical inaccuracy than to insert an expletive or to distort an image.  A difference of a syllable or two can be tolerated if the short-long-short form is conserved AND if the images are attractive. 

In practice, even classic poets have sometimes exceeded the strict syllable count.  One can find 17,18 and even 20 beats. It is rare to find fewer. 
 

Personal note