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context: poetry > haiku > form
The Structure of Haiku
The one thing everyone knows about haiku is the 5/7/5 syllable count. Note that a long vowel counts as an extra syllable, and an 'n' at the end is read as if it had one (think in terms of the slightest 'u' sound), so 'Nippon' is three. The standard form will have a pause at the end of one of the first two lines, often defined by a kireji, 'cutting word', which often has no very specific meaning, rather like an ejaculation or exclamation: 'kana' = 'ah', for instance (this one is mostly used at the end of the poem, in fact). It's also worth mentioning that quite a few poems considered haiku depart from the syllable count in small ways.