the 9th : 2007 the 8th : 2006 the 7th : 2005
the 6th : 2004 the 5th : 2003 the 4th : 2002
the 3rd : 2001 the 2nd : 2000 the 1st : 1999

The Results of the Ninth HIA Haiku Contest

The Award ceremony for the Ninth HIA Haiku Contest was held at Tokyo Kaikan from 11:00 till 14:00, on monday November 19th, 2007. The six prizes were presented to the winners by representatives of the four Japanese haiku organizations and the two companies sponsoring the prizes. Lectures by Dhugal J.Lindsay and the reception party followed.

The Ninth HIA Haiku Contest

Sponsored by Haiku International Association,
Supported by Nihon Keizai Shimbun, The Japan Times

Number of submission

Japanese haiku 934
Non Japanese haiku 404
The announcement and comments on the winning haiku

The announcement of the winners of the Japanese haiku and comments were given by Yamazaki Hisao (Director of HIA).
The announcement and the comments on the non Japanease haiku were given by Kiuchi Toru (Director of HIA).

 
the 9th : 2007

Haiku in Japanese
Translations by Miyashita Emiko ＆ Lee Gurga

Judges :
Kaneko Tôta, Inahata Teiko, Takaha Shugyô, Kogure Gôhei, Arima Akito, Hoshino Tsunehiko, Bôjô Nakako, Kurahashi Yôson, Nagata Ryûtarô, Yamazaki Hisao, Miyazu Akihiko, Ôkubo Hakuson, Yamazaki Satoshi ,Yasuhara Yô, Katô Kôko, Yamada Hiroko, Ôtaka Mukai, Kashiwabara Min-u

The HIA Award

tsuki no kyaku ipponmichi o kaeri keri
Kato Chieko
the moon-viewing guest
has gone back home
along the unforked road

asshiji no ame no akaruki fukkatsusai
Imada Kiyono
it rains
brightly in Assisi
on Easter

The Association of Haiku Poets Award

hitorii no kagee no gotoku fuyugomori
Amaoka Utsuhiko
I live alone
as if in a shadow play
winter seclusion

The Modern Haiku Association Award

konoha chiru pantomaimu no shirozukume
Itô Tae
leaves falling－
a mime dressed
in all-white

The Association of Japanese Classical Haiku Award

ôkata wa shôwa no nioi sho o sarasu
Aoki Misako
mostly the smell
of the Showa Era
I air my books

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun Award

mizu sukuu yô ni hotaru o sukui keri
Watanabe Michiko
like scooping water
I've scooped up
a firefly

The Japan Times Award

hachigatsu wa omoshi shôwa o ikishi mi ni
Kunisawa Rinpû
August is heavy
for one who has lived through
the Shôwa Era

Haiku in non Japanese

Judges :
Kiuchi Toru, Kimura Toshio

Prize Winners

Selected by Kiuchi
a firefly
upon a crib:
baby's eyes twinkle
David Simmonds, Trinidado Tobago

above Danube
sea-gulls and clouds
hide-and-seek in the blue
Mihailovič Stevan, Serbia

Selected by Kimura
cut down forest －
behind the deer antlers
waxing moon
Verica Zivkovic, Serbia

at the waterfall
sometimes I feel an answer
sometimes . . . the wind
Patricia J. Machmiller, U.S.A.

Honorable Mentions

Selected by Kiuchi
At the waterfall
ignoring the babble;
a nightingale sings
Adina Enachescu, Romania

 I'll call him "Issa" . . .
the fly who sits on my hand
and says "Just resting . . . "
Erry ball, U.S.A.
winter walk
my sonny hands me
the mist of his breath
Dorota Pyra, Poland

 mending tattered nets
the fishermen pose
for the painter
Rosie Roumeliotis, Greece

Selected by Kimura
the fine evening mist
erases the lake's far shore
a bird's screech remains
Sam Yada Cannarozzi, France

 awakening
the rain from my dream
still falling
Grzegorz Sionkowski, Poland
Spring evening
dew in the lilies
the moon in the dew
Dubravko Korbus, Croatia

 day moon
dotting the snowy hillside
five black cows
Terry Ann Carter, Canada