The Results of the twelfth HIA Haiku Contest

The Award ceremony for the twelfth HIA Haiku Contest was held at Tokyo Kaikan from 11:00 till 14:00, on friday November 26th, 2010. The six prizes were presented to the winners by representatives of the four Japanese haiku organizations and the two companies sponsoring the prizes. A lecture on haibun by Nobuyuki Yuasa and the reception party followed.

The twelfth HIA Haiku Contest

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

The announcement and comments on the winning haiku

The announcement and the comments on the non-Japanese haiku were given by Kiuchi Toru, a director of HIA
 
the 12th : 2010

Haiku in Japanese
Translations by Miyashita Emiko and Michael Dylan Welch

Judges :
Inahata Teiko, Uda Kiyoko, Arima Akito, Hoshino Tsunehiko, Bôjô Nakako, Kurahashi Yôson, Nagata Ryûtarô, Ôkubo Hakuson, Yamazaki Satoshi ,Tanayama Harô, Anzai Atsushi, Katô Kôko, Ôtaka Mukai, Kashiwabara Min'u


The Haiku International Association Award

dono ie no ko to naku tsudoi mizuasobi
Hasegawa Asako
children gather to play
from houses here and there
in river water

yamanoha ni hoshi no desorou kiriko kana
Okuda Kôgaku
stars out
at the mountain ridgeline−
cut-glassware

The Association of Haiku Poets Award

atataka ya ikyôto no haka tonariai
Sakai Mikio
spring warmth−
gravestones of different religions
side by side

The Modern Haiku Association Award

fuyu no kumo ittetsu nari wo kaenu mama
Watanabe Minako
not changing shape
stubborn
winter cloud

The Association of Japanese Classical Haiku Award

hanayageba sabishisa no mashi e-tôrô
Kikkawa Umeko
the gaudier the picture
the greater the loneliness
lanterns for the deceased

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun Award

bon no tsuki mura kasanarite nemurikeri
Ôsumi Tokuho
Obon moon−
village upon village
all asleep

The Japan Times Award

shûrei no aka no hiroba ni tachitsukusu
Kinoshita Naoko
autumn chill
I stand still
in Red Square

Haiku in non-Japanese

Judges :
Kiuchi Toru, Kimura Toshio

Prize Winners

Selected by Toru Kiuchi
autumn dusk…
I stir my coffee
anticlockwise
Chen-ou Liu （Canada）

the winter sun
stretches your shadow
as far as a seagull's call
Kevin O'Donnell （New Zealand）

Selected by Toshio Kimura
gondola
emerges from the mist
the end of the canto
Urszula Wielanowska （Poland）

Leaving behind
a sad lotus in bloom
an alone rower
Florentina Loredana Dalian （Romania）

Honorable Mentions

Selected by Kiuchi
the first snowflakes
hold down a bowed back of
the scarecrow
Dubravko Korbus （Croatia）

 outside the asylum
the vertigo
of flowers
Darrell Lindsey （U.S.A.）
night owl
the forest grows
between calls
Lyle Rumpel （Canada）


 cherry blossoms
the incessant sound
of mother's cough
Roberta Beary （U.S.A.）

Selected by Kimura
the town clock
chimes three-regretting
my words
M Fazio （Australia）


 cold marble
on St. John's lips
the unspoken word
Valeria Simonova-Cec （Italy）
idle morning−
passing magpie
steals my thought
Robert Naczas （Ireland）


 With only two notes
the cuckoo says more than the
blackbird ever can
Malcolm Creese （UK）