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, and 2020 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