Let haiku be on the UNESCO list!
On August 2, 1689, Matsuo Basho visited Kisakata, Akita, where he composed his haiku.
象潟や雨に西施がねぶの花
Here is the English translation by Keene Donald （鬼怒鳴門）.
Kisakata―
Seishi sleeping in the rain,
Wet mimosa blossoms.
Now in Kisakata, adonises and red camellias are in full bloom.
More than 300 years have passed since 松尾芭蕉 ( Matsuo Basho )(1644-1694) wrote 『奥の細道』(Oku no Hosomichi), ‘The Narrow Road to Oku’ , a major work of haibun by the Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō .
Basho could not have dreamed of how far and wide in the world haiku is loved.
According to THE Haiku FOUNDATION, there are contests held in 2014, or 2015 as follows.
http://thehaikufoundation.org/calendar/calendar_contests.htm
January : Haiku Poets of Northern California – Rengay
The British Haiku Awards
Genjuan International Haibun Contest 2015
The Haiku Canada Betty Drevniok Award
February: The With Words Summer Competition: Haiku Section
Haiku Society of America Lionel Einbond Renku Competition
Sharpening of the Green Pencil Haiku Contest 2015
ITO EN Oi Ocha Haiku Contest
March: The Snapshot Press eChapbook Awards
The Vladimir Devide Haiku Award
Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Haiku Invitational
European Quarterly Spring Kukai
Robert Spiess Memorial Haiku Award Competition
The 17th Apokalipsa Haiku Contest
Nicholas A. Virgilio Memorial Haiku Competition
Mildred Kanterman Memorial Merit Book Awards
Annual Hortensia Anderson Memorial Awards
Romanian Haiku Contest 2014
April: Kaji Aso Studio Annual Haiku Contest
The UHTS “aha” (Annual Hortensia Anderson Memorial Awards)
for haiku/senryu
May: The New Zealand Poetry Society’s Annual International Poetry Competition
Klostar Ivanić Haiku Contest, Croatia [for details: dvrozic (at)optinet (dot) hr]
Annual Yuki Teikei Haiku Society Kiyoshi & Kiyoko Tokutomi Memorial
Haiku Contest
June: The Peggy Willis Lyles Haiku Award
Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Haiku Invitational
European Quarterly Summer Kukai
Pumpkin Festival Haiku Competition, Ivanić Grad, Croatia 2015
The Third Japan-Russia Haiku Contest
Tanka Society of America International Tanka Contest
July: The Snapshot Press Book Awards
The Snapshot Press eChapbook Awards
Haiku Society of America Haibun Awards
Harold G. Henderson Awards for Haiku
Gerald Brady Memorial Awards for Senyru
August: The Francine Porad Award for Haiku 2015
UHTS “Fleeting Words” Tanka Contest
Penumbra Haiku Contest
September: Annual Mainichi Daily News Haiku Contest
European Quarterly Autumn Kukai
Janice M Bostok Haiku Prize
Haiku International Association (HIA) Annual Haiku Competition
October: Haiku Poets of Northern California – Haiku, Senryu, Tanka
Polish International Haiku Competition
Haiku Presence Award
November: The Heron’s Nest Illustration Contest
The Snapshot Press Book Awards
Irish Haiku Society International Haiku Competition 2014
December: Annual Jerry Kilbridge Memorial English-Language Haibun Contest
European Quarterly Winter Kukai
Golden Triangle Haiku Contest
Fujisan Haiku 2014 (Haiku on Mt. Fuji)
Iris Little Haiku Contest 2015
The Haiku Foundation’s Touchstone Awards for Individual Poems
The Haiku Foundation’s Touchstone Book Awards
On September 23, 2014, the Akita International Haiku Network published the yearly pamphlet “Akita－The Land of Poetry”, 『詩の国秋田－2014.9 vol.6』in the hope that haiku should be added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list.
Hidenori Hiruta, the Secretary General of the Akita International Haiku Network wrote the article “Let haiku be on the UNESCO list!”
Hiruta hopes that haiku will spread further worldwide if it is included in UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list.
In the article, Hiruta refers to the latest trend that senryu and tanka have been paid more attention to among haikuists or haiku lovers in the world.
Through the website of the Akita International Haiku Network, Hiruta has found that the fixed page “What are haiku, senryu and tanka?” has had more and more visitors recently, to 4,427 ones.
In addition, the article “What are haiku, senryu and tanka?” has appeared in the English version of “Senryu (川柳) Wikipedia, which you can see on the website below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senry%C5%AB
Hiruta sincerely hopes that senryu and tanka will become more familiar worldwide when haiku is added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list.
Lastly, let me show you an e-mail sent to Hiruta from Djurdja Vukelic Rozic, Principal editor of haiku magazine IRIS, Croatia, who is a haiku friend of mine.
On June 28, 2014, Djurdja wrote to Hiruta, wishing for “Haiku in the UNESCO list!”
Thank you, dear Hidenori-san,
I entirely forgot to send a note and did not even recognize your e-mail address.
Always hurrying, so please accept my apology.
Thank you for everything you’ve done for Croatian authors,
many of them being my old and even some new brothers and sisters in haiku.
Thank God for haiku for it enriched my life in a way I could not dream of long time ago,
once when we all were young…
I sincerely hope haiku will soon be on the UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity,
for it connects people in the most wonderful way I can think of.
With best regards from sunny Croatia,
sincerely
Djurdja
By Hidenori Hiruta
Akita International Haiku Network 