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Basho's 360th Anniversary Web
Haiku Contest 2004
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by
The Mie Times, Ise Haiku Society,
Basho's 360th Anniversary Igabito Executive Committee
2004 |
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CONTEST RESULTS
Around Iga Ueno, various events took place from
May, 2004 to November to celebrate Basho's 360th
Anniversary. We had Haiku contest as one of them.
The results were announced on The Mie Times Website. |
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 Special
Awards |
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Autumn tone
of bamboo wind chimes
deeper
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by
Janice M. Bostok (Australia) |
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First star --
a seashell held
to my baby's ear
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by
Michael Dylan Welch (USA) |
| Awards |
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Drying the bare feet
that have carried me this far --
the chill of autumn
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by
Robert Major (USA) |
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Scent of wisteria
she finishes translating
the birth certificate
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by
Michael Dylan Welch (USA) |
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Hiroshima Day --
the sound of the bell
over the town
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by
Udo Wenzel (Germany) |
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Rustling of leaves
share the voices of
Indian summer
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by
Andrej Bizjak (Slovenia) |
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Winding road at dusk
the logger slows down
for a deer
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by
Darrell Lindsey (USA) |
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Remote farm
the unmowed hay higher
than the bale
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by
Bruce Ross (USA) |
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Equinox sunrise
the noises of our neighbor
building his house
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by
an'ya (USA) |
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Deer tracks
through the meadowsweet
first frost
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by
Billie Wilson (USA) |
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Evening wind --
scent of grass
from the other bank of the river
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by
Ludmila Balabanova (Bulgaria) |
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First light --
a fox carries something
through fresh snow
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by
Michael L. Evans (USA) |
| Student
Awards |
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A streak of sunlight
spills between the leaves on trees
I smell the summer
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by
Naomi Sundberg
(Japan, American School in Japan 9th Grade, 15 years
old) |
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Blinking in the dark
at a far distance
a shimmer of green
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by
Minami Hamamoto
(Japan, American School in Japan 9th Grade, 14 years
old) |
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Through my window glass
a statue of God's mother
shining white in green
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by
Aki Sakamoto
(Japan, Saint Joseph Joshigakuen Senior High School
1st Grade 16 years old) |
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| Comments |
Many thanks to everyone who entered our
contest. 400 entries were submitted from 144 entrants
in 22 countries including Algeria, Australia, Belgium,
Bosnia & Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, England,
Germany, India, Italy, Malaysia, New Zealand, Japan,
Mexico, Serbia & Montenegro, Slovenia, Bulgaria,
Romania, Russia, Taiwan and the USA.
We were impressed by the substantial entries and enjoyed
reviewing each Haiku. Each judge selected 2 special
award Haiku and 10 award Haiku. Then, two special award
Haiku and 10 award Haiku were selected from the judge's
initial selection. Many entries were submitted by students
aged eight to 18 years old. These student Haiku were
judged separately from the adults. Finally, three haiku
were selected from among the final selections.
Kato Koko, who selected the winners and translated them
from English to Japanese, commented that the entries
expressed adequately could be transformed into Japanese
easily.
We are happy to share the treasure of Haiku on the 360
anniversary of the Haiku Master Basho. |
| by Masako Ito |
The selection of haiku for this contest was of a high
standard, and many of them were very interesting. I
was especially intrigued at the wide range of countries
that the entries came from. It shows how much people
are in contact by means of the Internet. But for the
selectors, after enjoying the work submitted, there
is the difficulty of making specific choices.
Most of the students seemed to have made a good start
on writing haiku, but perhaps need to read more contemporary
work originally in English, or else translated into
English from Japanese. Many of the verses were more
or less imaginary scenes, while to make successful haiku
perhaps one of the things we need to do is learn to
observe the world, as well as making a pattern in syllables
and lines. |
| by David Burleigh |
| Judges |
| Koko
Kato |
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(Haiku poet, Editor of the monthly Haiku Magazine
"Ko", Director of the Haiku International
Association) |
| David
Burleigh |
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(Haiku poet, Associate professor of Ferris University,
Councilor of the Haiku International Association) |
| Martin
Lucas |
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(Haiku Poet, Editor of "Presence", President
of British Haiku Society) |
| Masako
Ito |
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(Editor of The Mie Times, Representative of Ise Haiku
Society) |
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