World Haiku Series 2020 : Guidelines

World Haiku Series 2020

 

 

Matsuo Bashō (松尾芭蕉)(1644-1694) arrived at Kisakata on the evening of August 1, 1689, when a misty rain started to fall, obscuring Mount Chōkai.

The next morning the weather cleared beautifully. When the morning sun rose in all its splendor, Bashō and his party took a boat out on the lagoon on Kisakata. They put in first Nōin-jima (能因島), or the Nōin Isle, where they called at the remains of the hut in which Nōin (能因)(988-1050, or 1051), a waka poet, lived in seclusion for three years.

In fact, there were 99 small isles and 88 lagoons in Kisakata in those days and the people enjoyed beautiful sceneries or fishing by boat around the islands.

However, on July 10, 1804, a big earthquake occurred in Kisakata about 115 years after Bashō’s visit there. The earthquake caused upheaval of ground by 2.4 meters. As a result, the lagoons were changed into dry land.

Now most of those lagoons have turned into rice fields or residential areas, but there are the remains of those days left there.

 

 

Tachibana no Nagayasu (橘永愷, 988-1050, or 1051), also known as Nōin, was a Japanese tanka poet and monk of the Mid-Heian period.

Nōin was such a great poet that he had a deep influence on Saigyō (西行)　(1118-1190) and Bashō.

 

 

Introduction

331 years have passed since Matsuo Bashō (松尾芭蕉, 1644–1694) visited Kisakata (象潟) on the evening of August 1, 1689. Now, the statue of Bashō is erected in the garden of Kammanji Temple (蚶満寺) in Kisakata, Nikaho City (にかほ市), Akita Prefecture (秋田県).

If Bashō were to be here, the greatest master of haiku would be greatly surprised to find that haiku is loved all over the world.

　In 2019, feeling very grateful to haiku friends in the world for having sent their haiku

to the Japan-Russia Haiku Contest from 2012 until 2018, the Akita International Haiku Network started a new project “World Haiku Series 2019”, celebrating the 330th anniversary of Bashō’s visit to Kisakata at the same time.

  As a result, 212 haiku friends willingly sent 2,120 haiku to this series from 45 countries. They also delightedly sent their bios, photos, photo haiku, or haiga to us.

  As a token of our gratitude for the great contribution of our haiku friends as well as for their love of haiku, we carry out the project of the World Haiku Series this year too.

We sincerely hope that haiku poets, or haiku lovers in the world, will share and appreciate haiku with each other and that they will deepen mutual understanding through each other’s literary works on this website.

Guidelines

Title: World Haiku Series 2020

Aims: To share haiku with haiku friends in the world, and to appreciate each other’s haiku

Theme: Free

Haiku:

(1)  10 of your favorite English haiku are sent, but only the haiku written in 2020.
(2)  Photo haiku are also OK.
(3)  It is no problem whether published or unpublished.  
(4)  Haiku appear with their Japanese translation on the website of the Akita International Haiku Network.

https://akitahaiku.com

Bio: Please add your brief bio, or your recent report, and your photo.

Photo: Please add your favorite photos of birds, flowers, or anything, if possible.

Deadline: November 30, 2020

E-mail: Please send your haiku to the address below.

shhiruta@nifty.com

Organizer: The Akita International Haiku Network

Sponsors: Akita Prefecture Government, Akita International University, Akita City, Akita Sakigake News, the Haiku International Association, and the Committee to Register Haiku as UNESCO World Heritage.

Akita Prefecture Government, Akita International University, Akita City, Akita Sakigake News, the Haiku International Association, and the Committee to Register Haiku as UNESCO World Heritage.

QUESTIONS ONLY:

Hidenori Hiruta:  shhiruta@nifty.com