2024 Japan Fair Haiku Contest

First Place

philosopher’s path—

the maple leaves

every shade of wow

Sandra Simpson

Tauranga, New Zealand

Northeast Kyoto is famous for its philosopher’s path. It is lined with hundreds of cherry trees, so the path in this poem is presumably somewhere else, lined with maples. Wherever this path is, surely it must be autumn, with the leaves in brilliant shades of orange, yellow, and red. This poem’s last word is unexpected but carries all the buoyant wonder of autumn.

Second Place

sunflowers turning

the foster child switches

to first names

Edward Cody Huddleston

Baxley, Georgia

Not only are the sunflowers turning to face the sun, but the foster child is turning from formality to familiarity. We can imagine that the people now addressed by first names are adults (because other children would already be addressed by first names). This change suggests a growing comfort and perhaps even a sense of belonging. No wonder the sunflowers are turning.

Third Place

first snowdrop—

the remainder of the day

becomes bearable

Dan C. Iulian

Teleorman, Romania

Some species of snowdrop flower in winter, bringing a white brightness to the dreariness of the darkest season. The middle line also suggests Kazuo Ishiguro’s, The Remains of the Day, a novel about loyalty and moral dilemma. What’s left of the day, and perhaps also the season and of life, becomes more optimistic because of the flower.

Adult Honorable Mentions (in order)

pumpkin patch

the little one

picks the biggest one

Greg Schwartz

Sykesville, Maryland

Touches of humor can also occur in haiku (not just in senryu). Here a family’s smallest child can’t help but choose the largest pumpkin. Whether that pumpkin is purchased and taken home we cannot know, but for the moment we can join in the delight of such a selection.

wild raspberries . . .

eating them

like we’re wild too

Tony Williams

Scotland, United Kingdom

Such abandon. What pleasure to discover a patch of wild raspberries and to eat them ravenously. It’s also pleasing that this is a shared moment, experienced not just by one person but at least two, going wild together.

falling snow

I am still

earthbound

Vishal Prabhu

Pune, India

If you’ve ever been in a gentle snowfall, looking up can feel exuberant, whether in the dark (but with enough light) or in the daytime. It can feel like you’re flying upwards. This poem suggests that feeling of rising into the snow falling from above, but with the realization that the poet is indeed still earthbound. In this way, aspiration is balanced with reality.

Youth Honorable Mentions (in order)

turbulence . . .

holding tight the hand

of my imaginary friend

Andreea Lebaduca

Botosani, Romania

This poem’s first line shows us that we’re on an airplane. The second line presents realistic comfort against the stress of midair turbulence. And then the third line provides a twist—that this friend is not real but imaginary. This could be an adult as easily as we might picture a child. Although the held hand is imagined, the turbulence is real. But surely the comfort is also real.

no one attentive

to the round-up lesson

cherry blossoms

Gian-Luca Niculce

Botosani, Romania

Learning how to round up numbers is a common lesson in younger school grades. But no one is paying attention because of cherry blossoms outside the school window. They are beautiful and ephemeral, perhaps shimmering in a breeze. How could any student pay attention to their lesson? What each student may not yet realize is their own ephemerality. Perhaps the real lesson is the beauty of nature.

wind-brushed pond

a little dragonfly settles

in a paper boat

Antonia Chersan

Botosani, Romania

We may immediately wonder who made the boat. Surely the person who also witnesses the dragonfly alighting on their creation. That small boat serves as respite for the small dragonfly, surely just as making the paper boat is a kind of respite or joy for the person who made it. Perhaps both the person and the dragonfly are seeking calm in the face of challenge and change.

About the Judge

Michael Dylan Welch is the founder of National Haiku Writing Month (www.nahaiwrimo.com) and cofounder of the Seabeck Haiku Getaway, the Haiku North America conference, and the American Haiku Archives, webmaster for Haiku Northwest (www.haikunorthwest.org), and president of the Redmond Association of Spokenword. He was keynote speaker for the 2013 Haiku International Association conference in Tokyo and has been teaching haiku for thirty years. His haiku have won numerous prizes and have been translated into at least twenty languages, and he has published 75 books. Michael’s website, devoted mostly to haiku, is www.graceguts.com.