お〜いお茶新俳句大賞 > The 22nd

wind like an alley cat enjoys a free life

Haruki Kobayashi   Age: 15   Nationality: Japan

I wrote this haiku imagining that the wind blowing freely was like alley cats living freely.

The Japanese “noraneko” (stray cat) is referred to as “alley cats” in English (rojineko in Japanese). This word is very suitable to cats that live in the city’s intricate alleys. The way in which the wind pleasantly twists and turns between buildings and alleys before arriving at the people also living in such places were likened to the cats seen daily is magnificent. The persuasiveness and the element of surprise of the transformation from wind to cat. For a summer in which we are all trying to save electricity, this wind is much appreciated as a cool breeze. «Tsunehiko Hoshino»

I may be a seed Puny and worthless looking But wait till I grow

Kisaragi Iwamoto   Age: 13   Nationality: America

There are two suns at sunrise above and below the horizon

Fumikazu Murakami   Age: 16   Nationality: Japan

From an icicle a drop drips footsteps of spring

Yoko Asari   Age: 17   Nationality: Japan

Snowman Next day Only a bucket

Chiharu Omura   Age: 17    Nationality: Japan

dandelion puffs float over rush hour traffic also on their way home

Janet Tong   Age: 20   Nationality: Canada

Nuthatch rushing up and down the tree trunk ― binoculars nod

Daniel Gahnertz   Age: 34   Nationality: Sweden

the frog and I watching the same butterfly

Jeff Hoagland   Age: 50   Nationality: America

at the traffic lights a butterfly flits over my shoulder ― I wait

Lorraine Ward   Age: 59   Nationality: New Zealand

Cobwebs Cover the rusty plow・・・ Distant time

Irene Massumi Fuke   Age: 69   Nationality: Brasil

Philip D. Zitowitz

Breathing with mountains A traveller forgets the sound of ticking clocks

Miroki Tong   Age: 22   Nationality: Canada

People become as one with the natural environment in the mountains. Here in the mountains where machinery is futile beyond civilization, people experience the quiet beauty of nature. When they do, they become ultimately free. It becomes possible to forget the ticking - the sound of the clock that artificially marks off time outside the mountains.

Tsunehiko Hoshino

New Year・・・ The first announcement of snow is seen in your hair

Marela Marija Mimica   Age: 74   Nationality: Croatia

The new snow that started to fall first thing on New Year’s Day. I noticed this as soon as I greeted you when you came to see me; there were pure snowflakes on your hair. The lyrics of this haiku naturally infer the relationship of these two people. The snow is also no doubt a propitious omen.

Haiku International Association(H.I.A)

brass doorknob rounded by years of saying hello.

Amanda Tong   Age: 18   Nationality: Canada

Contestants may write about any subject they like. The poems do not have to include seasonal references or the other Haiku conventions. Contestants are encouraged to express themselves freely in the 5-7-5 form. Japanese Haiku divisions Sawako Agawa, Writer Shimpei Asai, Photographer Tota Kaneko, Haiku poet Yoson Kurahashi, Haiku poet Momoko Kuroda, Haiku poet Souun Takeda, Japanese calligrapher Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Actress English Haiku division Tsunehiko Hoshino, Haiku poet, Vice Chairman of Haiku International Association Philip D. Zitowitz, Professor at Meiji University ITO EN New Haiku Contest Executive Committee Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Gendai Haiku Association Japanese Students Haiku Association Haiku International Association (H.I.A) NHK Gakuen NHK Culture Center Asahi Culture Center Sankei Gakuen Mainichi Bunka Center Yomiuri Culture Japan Educational Exchanges and Services Japan Educational Press Co., Ltd.