What is the full name of the collaborative linked-verse form that included haiku?

The full name of the collaborative linked-verse form that included haiku was haikai no renga. The phrase can be translated as “comical linked verse” and describes a playful, less formal branch of renga that flourished in Japan, especially during the Edo period.

Renga was composed by multiple poets, who alternated stanzas linked in sequence. The opening stanza, called the hokku, followed a 5-7-5 mora pattern and established the season, setting, or occasion. Because the hokku could stand on its own, it eventually became the ancestor of modern haiku. The remaining verses commonly alternated 7-7 and 5-7-5 patterns.

Haikai no renga allowed more everyday language, humor, slang, and unconventional subjects than classical renga. Matsuo Bashō elevated it into a major literary art, combining collaborative composition with sophisticated imagery and emotional depth.

A common mix-up is treating haikai, renga, and haiku as exact synonyms. Renga is the broader linked-verse tradition; haikai no renga is its humorous popular style; and haiku developed from the opening hokku after Masaoka Shiki promoted it as an independent poetic form in the Meiji period.