Romanians became acquainted with haiku after diplomatic contacts had been initiated between Romania and Japan in 1902. A study of tanka and haiku by I. Cyprian appeared in 1904, followed in 1911 by poet Alexandru Vlahuță’s essay “Japanese poetry and painting,” featuring tanka and haiku translated from the French. The first haiku written in Romanian—four verses by Alexandru Macedonski—date from 1920, while twelve haiku by Alexandru T. Stamatiad appeared in 1935. Haiku flourished in Romania from 1989 onwards, after the fall of the totalitarian regime. The Romanian Haiku Society was founded in Bucharest in 1991, with a number of local groups and societies being established afterwards.

Radu Șerban (born Radu-Petru Șerban, December 17, 1951, Ungheni, Romania), poet, economist, and former Romanian ambassador to Japan; he served on the team that negotiated Romania’s entry to the EU. Şerban has published 29 books, including 6 volumes of haiku in Romanian, 3 in English, and 2 bilingual, as well as 8 volumes on European economic integration. Coauthor of the Haikupedia article “Haiku in Romania.” Resides in Bucharest.