The Results of 4th Japan – Russia Haiku Contest: English Section (1)

 

Results of 4th Japan — Russia Haiku Contest: English Section (1)

 

The Judging Committee for Haiku in English –Hidenori Hiruta (Akita Prefecture), Satoru Kanematsu (Aichi Prefecture), and David McMurray (Kagoshima Prefecture)– is pleased to announce the following results from the 4th Japan – Russia Haiku Contest.

 

Akita International University President’s Award

 

Ben Grafström（ＵＳＡ）

 

Full moon in summer—

ripples in the lake reach the shore

kissing our toes

 

 

Akita Chamber of Commerce and Industry President’s Award

 

Timothy RUSSELL（USA）

 

night flight

a thousand winter fires

outline the lake

 

 

David McMurray’s Favorite Haiku

 

Adjei Agyei-Baah（Ghana）

 

lonely

as I canoe by…

moon

 

 

10 Honorably Mentioned Haiku

 

Marietta McGregor（Australian）

 

a family of teals

breaches the lake ice

receding winter

 

 

Simon Hanson (Australia)

 

heading home

crossing the lake

the shadows of pines

 

 

Kala Ramesh（Indian）

 

A barn owl hoots

the stillness of the lake

before dawn

 

 

Rita Odeh（Palestinian）

 

lake lily—

landing on its shadow,

a honeybee

 

 

Danièle Duteil（FRANCE）　

 

calm waters of the lake

a swan contemplates

her reflection

 

 

Ramona Linke （Germany)

 

Lake Baikal—

the scent of smoked omul

is in the air

 

 

Kanchan Chatterjee（India）

 

Warm breeze…

the ruffled feathers of

a kingfisher

 

 

Izeta Radetinac  (Serbia)

 

A silvery lake

moonlight, wind and shadows

hockey on the ice

 

 

Silvia Kempen（German）

 

Painter’s pallet…

The sky sharing its blues

with the mountain lake

 

 

Tomislav Maretić（Croatia）　

 

through the mist

rising off a mountain lake—

morning birdsong

 

 

The haiku that made all the judges chuckle:

 

Vesna Stipcic（Croatia）

 

twitching fishing rod

on the lake shore

snoring angler

 

 

The judges congratulate all the haikuists who entered this year’s contest and commend the talents of those who went to a lake –whether it be located in Russia, Japan, or some other special place on Earth– to learn from that lake and actually experience the haiku they composed about.

 

In the opinion of the judges, 2014 and 2015 have been very memorable years because of the synergy rising up from Akita Prefecture and Kagoshima Prefecture, both of which held National Culture Festival haiku conferences which inspired many haikuists from around the world to enter the 3rd and 4th Japan – Russia Haiku Contests. The 2016 National Culture Festival will be held in Aichi Prefecture, and it is hoped another national haiku conference might be hosted there to support next year’s Japan – Russia Haiku Contest.

 

Postscript

 

DAVID MCMURRAY　（Canadian）

 

Ancient moon—

Light echoes across

Lake Baikal

 

 

Hidenori Hiruta (Akita Prefecture), Satoru Kanematsu (Aichi Prefecture), and David McMurray (Kagoshima Prefecture)