Traditional Japanese poetry such as haiku and tanka follow specific syllable structures. A haiku has three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables focused on nature. Tanka are longer poems with a first stanza, called a hokku, matching haiku's structure, followed by a two line 7-7 conclusion. These forms originated as renga poetry where writers collaboratively added to each other's works.

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Traditional Japanese Renga Poetry
A haiku is a short poem traditionally inspired
by nature and made up of three lines. The poem
is often structured so that the first and third line
are made up of five syllables while the middle
line is made up of seven syllables. Rhyming is
not a typical feature of a haiku poem.
Below are examples of ancient Japanese haiku poems by Matsuo Bashō
None is travelling
Here along this way but I,
This autumn evening
Temple bells die out
The fragrant blossoms remain
A perfect evening!
None /is /tra/vell/ing (5)
Here /al/ong /this /way /but /I, (7)
This /aut/umn/ eve/ning (5)
Tem/ple /bells /die /out (5)
The /frag/rant /bloss/oms /re/main (7)
A /per/fect eve/ning! (5)
The haiku poem is derived from an ancient Japanese collaborative form of
poetry known as the tanka. The tanka is made up of two stanzas. The first
stanza is known as the hokku and is structured exactly like a haiku. The
second stanza is made up of two lines; seven syllables each. Traditionally
one person would write the starting verse (5-7-5) and pass the poem to
another writer to complete the poem with an ending verse (7-7). In ancient
Japan, this was a common practice between lovers. Collaborative poetry
such as the tanka is known as renga poetry in Japan.