2020 Traffic Culture Exhibition Winning Haiku

translations by Emiko Miyashita and Michael Dylan Welch


First published in the Traffic Culture Exhibition, held 21–26 October 2020 at Ueno Station in Tokyo, Japan, and in the associated results book and on the website (scroll down to see the haiku section). See also the 2018 Haiku Winners, 2019 Haiku Winners, 2021 Haiku Winners, and 2022 Haiku Winners.       +


交通総合文化展2020 俳句入賞作品

Traffic Culture Exhibition 2020 Haiku Winners

Haiku Section   |   The Japanese Railways, the Fascination of Japan


協賛句   Judge’s Haiku


旅ゆくやこの世の涯(はて)の天の川 長谷川櫂

tabiyuku ya kono yo no hate no ama no gawa


going on a trip—

the Milky Way

at the end of the world HASEGAWA Kai


公益財団法人日本交通文化協会理事長賞   Japan Traffic Culture Association Chairman Award


終電が通ったあとの冬銀河 大西 優菜(おおにし ゆうな)

shūden ga tōtta ato no fuyuginga


after the last train

is gone

the winter galaxy ŌNISHI Yūna


講評 長谷川櫂(俳人)

終電も行ってしまった未明の大都会。昼間の喧騒が去り、宵のにぎわいもさめた冬の夜空に天の川が白く浮かび上がる。明け方、始発が動き出すまで、この静寂がつづく。騒々しい昼のすぐ隣りに、こんな静かな夜が広がっているのだ。中学三年十四歳の俳句。


The last train has already gone, and dusk has come to the city. The daytime bustle is gone, and the nightlife too has cooled down. The Milky Way appears white in the winter night sky. At dawn, until the first train starts to move, this quietness lasts. Before the bustling daytime, the quiet night spreads itself. A haiku written by a fourteen-year-old junior high school student. —Hasegawa Kai


一席   First Place


レコードが波打つやうな夏、電車 志村 紀昭(しむら のりあき)

recōdo ga namiutsu yōna natsu, densha


like a wobbling record

this summer,

the train SHIMURA Noriaki


講評 長谷川櫂(俳人)

大きなLPレコードだろう。プレーヤーに載せて回りはじめると、かすかに波打つことがあった。ガタンゴトンという電車の響きがそれに似ているのだが、夏が波打つといった。唐突のもたらす驚きと快感。窓を流れる風景もリズムを奏でている。「、」の力、大。


I assume that this is a large LP record. When I play a record, it sometimes wobbles slightly. The sound of a train—gatan-goton—is similar to this, but here the author suggests that the summer is also rippling. The abruptness is a surprise and joy. The scenery passing outside the windows also plays its rhythm. The comma is used very effectively here. —Hasegawa Kai


二席   Second Place


窓につき天道虫も旅をする 吉田 純一(よしだ じゅんいち)

mado nit suki tantōmushi mo tabi o suru


at the window

a ladybug, too,

is on a trip YOSHIDA Jun’ichi


三席   Third Place (tie)


夏空のがたんごとんと揺れにけり 片山 仁一朗(かたやま じんいちろう)

natsuzora no gatangoton to yurenikeri


the summer sky

shaking with the sound

gatan-goton KATAYAMA Jinichirō



ひとり行く他国の空の夏祭 前田 重明(まえだ しげあき)

hitori yuku takoku no sora no natsumatsuri


traveling alone

under another country’s sky

summer festival MAEDA Shigeaki



祖母の待つ駅へ列車が躍る夏 古賀 由美子(こが ゆみこ)

sobo no matsu eki e ressha ga odoru natsu


my train lurches to the station

where grandmother waits

this summer KOGA Yumiko


入選   Selected Winners


駅降りてとぼとぼ歩く秋の浜 梶 政幸(かじ まさゆき)

eki orite tobotobo aruku aki no hama


getting off at the station

I trudge along

an autumn beach KAJI Masayuki



地図を手に若き日の夏北の旅 岡田 清(おかだ きよし)

chizu o te ni wakaki hi no natsu kita no tabi


map in hand

that summer in my youth

the trip north OKADA Kiyoshi



こいのぼりゆっくり抜いてゆく列車 中谷 ひとみ(なかたに ひとみ)

koinobori yukkuri nuiteyuku ressha


carp streamers

the train slowly

pulling away NAKATANI Hitomi



あのまちに置き忘れたる夏帽子 あい

anomachi ni okiwasuretaru natsubōshi


left behind

in that town

my summer hat Love



道問はれわれも旅人真夏空 内藤 保幸(ないとう やすゆき)

michi toware ware mo tabibito manatuzora


on being asked the way

I too am a traveler

midsummer sky NAITŌ Yasuyuki



夏列車まとう太平洋の風 堀 卓(ほり たく)

natsuressha matou taiheiyō no kaze


summer train

wearing the wind

from the Pacific Ocean HORI Taku



ゆっくりと停まれば故郷雲の峰 高橋 まりえ(たかはし まりえ)

yukkurito tomareba kokyō kumo no mine


when it stops slowly

in my hometown

a columns of clouds TAKAHASHI Marie



東京駅脈打ち始む夏の朝 矢吹 裕美(やぶき ひろみ)

tōkyōeki myaku uchihajimu natsu no asa


Tokyo Station

starts to pulse

summer morning YABUKI Hiromi



降り立てば少年となる夏の駅 加藤 宙(かとう ちゅう)

oritateba shōnen to naru natsu no eki


when I get off

I become a boy

a station in summer KATŌ Chū



この汽車は初夏の海まであと五分 増田 寿昭(ますだ としあき)

kono kisha wa shoka no umi made ato gofun


this train takes

just five minutes to reach

the early-summer sea MASUDA Toshiaki