On October 9 and 10, 2011, AIU Festival was held at Akita International University（国際教養大学）in Akita prefecture（秋田県）, Northern Honshu, Japan.
The festival, whose theme is HOOP ～世界とハチあわせ！～, had 3 Philosophies : Academic（学問）, Culture（文化）, and Entertainment（楽しさ）.
The AIU students enjoyed the festival in their own ways.
They were excited at a variety of meetings, HOOP ～世界とハチあわせ！in the festival.
Here are some photos of those meetings.
Some of the students from overseas started preparing for the AIU festival in July for the purpose of making the Haiga postcard charity sale.
They visited the Kanmanji Temple （蚶満寺）in Kisakata, where they found mimosa blossoms in full bloom, about which Basho wrote in his haiku in 1689, and they got very inspired to write haiku in Japanese and paint haiga pictures.
象潟や雨に西施がねぶの花 芭蕉
Kisakata ya ame ni Seishi ga nebu no hana
Kisakata―
Seishi sleeping in the rain,
Wet mimosa blossoms. Basho
Translated by Donald Keene
Here is a photo of the mimosa blossoms.
They donated money to those who experienced the Great East Japan Earthquake.
Some Romanian haiku poets also donated their haiga or haiku to the AIU festival in order to show their condolences, prayers, or hopes through the exhibition to the Japanese people.
Mrs. Maria Tirenescu inRomania kindly sent her haiku through Ms. Patricia Lidia’s e-mail on August 30.
Let me post the former part of her hiaku.
Under the blossomed lime
tasting from the cup of tea –
alone in the night
(Honorable Mention Mainichi 2007)
花咲くライムの木の下で
お茶を一杯味わう ―
夜ひとり
Child’s cradle
hanging from a branch of lime –
the scent of flowers
(Honorable Mention Mainichi 2009)
子供の揺りかご
ライムの木の枝から下がっている ―
花の香り
Two petals
falling together—
evening wind
(Honorable Mention Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival 2010)
花びらが二つ
一緒に散っている ―
夕方の風
Rainy day –
in the spider’s cobweb
only a petal
雨の日 ―
クモの巣に
たった一つの花びら
Sunrise —
the dandelions flowering
among the ruins
日の出 ―
タンポポの花が咲いている
廃墟の中で
The old cemetery –
amidst ruined crosses
growing violas
古い共同墓地 ―
荒廃した十字架の間に
生えているスミレ
Snow on the mountains –
the white lilac blooming
in the valley
山には雪 ―
白いライラックの花が咲いている
谷間に
I sip the lime tea
listening for the crickets –
moonshine
ライムのお茶をちびちび飲む
コオロギの鳴き声の方へ耳を澄ましながら ―
月光
a butterfly
hovers about the tea cup –
serene day
(menţiune la concursul de haiku pe tema ceaiului organizat în parteneriat cu Cajin – Casa japoneză de ceai verde din Paris)
蝶が一匹
茶碗のまわりで飛び回っている ―
澄んだ日
evening wind –
like a small golden coin
a lime leaf
夕方の風 ―
小さい金貨のように
ライムの一葉
Autumn dusk –
the full moon watching
in the maple
“Poems for Mother Earth” din 14 octombrie 2007 la International Village Center din Kita-premia Mother Earth, Seinan Jo Gakuin University. (Asahi Shimbun)
秋の黄昏 ―
満月が見ている
カエデを
Translated into Japanese by Hidenori Hiruta
The next posting ‘Haiku from Romanian poets for AIU Festival 2011 (6)’ appears on December 24.
― Hidenori Hiruta
Akita International Haiku Network 