2021 Traffic Culture Exhibition Winning Haiku
translations by Emiko Miyashita and Michael Dylan Welch
First published in the Traffic Culture Exhibition, held 27 October–1 November 2021 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, 2020 Haiku Winners, and 2022 Haiku Winners. + +
交通総合文化展2021 俳句入賞作品
Traffic Culture Exhibition 2021 Haiku Winners
Haiku Section | The Japanese Railways, the Fascination of Japan
協賛句 Judge’s Haiku
浅間山空のはるかへ秋の道 長谷川櫂
asamayama / sora no haruka e / aki no michi
Mt. Asama
far into the sky
the autumn road HASEGAWA Kai
公益財団法人日本交通文化協会理事長賞 Japan Traffic Culture Association Director General Award
線路まで静かな世界半夏生 徳永小雪
sento made / shizukana sekai / hangeshō
this quiet world
towards the train tracks
July 2nd TOKUNAGA Koyuki
目や耳の不自由な人に世界はどう映るだろうか。家を出て線路までの小さな旅。世界はしんと静まっているのだ。作者は聾学校に通う十七歳。百人いれば百の世界がある。
What would the world look like to someone who is blind or deaf? A small journey out of the house to the train tracks. The world lies in silence. The author is a seventeen-year-old student at a school for the deaf. There are a hundred different worlds for a hundred different people. —Hasegawa Kai
一席 First Place
列車いま夕焼まみれの大河越え 馬場博美
ressha ima / yuyake mamire no / taigagoe
the train now
has crossed the great river
soaked in sunset BABA Hiromi
夕焼けに染まる大河。「夕焼まみれ」が一句に命を与えた。この世の荘厳を目の前にしているのだ。
A great river colored with the sunset. The phrase “soaked in sunset” gives life to the haiku. The author is facing the sublimity of this world. —Hasegawa Kai
二席 Second Place
青春が降り立つ駅や夏休み 武田大輝
seishun ga / oritatsu eki ya / natsuyasumi
the station
where the youth gets off
summer vacation TAKEDA Daiki
三席 Third Place (tie)
遠ざかるホームの君は白きシャツ 服部弥生
tōzakaru / hōme no kimi wa / shiroki shatu
moving away
from the platform
you in a white shirt HATTORI Yayoi
秋麗の電車にかるく眠りたり 竹澤聡
shūrei no / densha ni karuku / nemuri tari
glorious autumn day
sleeping lightly
on the train TAKEZAWA Satoshi
駅を出て見知らぬ夏に紛れけり 長谷部俊夫
eki o dete / mishiranu natsu ni / maigre keri
leaving the station
I slip
into a strange summer HASEBE Toshio
入選 Selected Winners
車窓からあの夏見てた羊蹄山 渡邉富士夫
shasō kara / ano natsu miteta / yōteizan
from the train window
that summer
Mt. Yōtei WATANABE Fujio
この景もいつか思い出車窓夏 小野沢竹次
kono kei mo / itsuka omoide / shasou natsu
this scenery too
will someday be a memory
summer’s train window ONOZAWA Taketsugu
電車行く紀州路の花ちらほらと 堀川淳
densha yuku / kishūji no hana / chirahora to
the train
on the way to Kishū
flowers here and there HORIKAWA Atsushi (WAKAURA Ryo)
国鉄のころと変らぬ花の駅 斉藤浩美
kokutetsu no / koro to kawaranu / hana no eki
unchanged
since the time of National Railways
the flower station SAITŌ Hiromi
列車から花を愛でおり古希の旅 田村靖彦
shasō kara / hana o mede ori / koki no tabi
I cherish the flowers
seen from the train
my seventieth year’s journey TAMURA Yasuhiko
目覚めればどこかの駅や夏の月 三玉一郎
mezamereba / dokoka no eki ya / natsu no tuki
waking up
at a station somewhere
summer moon MITAMA Ichiro
移る季や次への切符は揚羽蝶 河野大和
utsuru ki ya / tugi e no kippu wa / agehachō
changing seasons—
a ticket to the next
is a swallowtail KŌNO Yamato
少年はひとり旅せよ夏休み 坂本恭子
shōnen wa / hitoritabi seyo / natsuyasumi
boys
should travel alone
summer vacation SAKAMOTO Kyōko
この夏が発車のベルでさようなら 木村弘治
kono natsu ga / hassha no beru de / sayounara
summer goes
with the departure bell
goodbye KIMURA Kōji
新幹線たてがみとなる夏の風 山田知明
shinkansen / tategami to naru / natsu no kaze
the Shinkansen
becomes a mane
summer wind YAMADA Tomoaki