Akita International Haiku Network
Gray clouds trail across the sky. In the pale winter sun a flock of geese (Ben Grafström–Akita, Japan)
Let haiku be on the UNESCO list! On October 25, 2014, the 1st international haiku conference was held at the Akita International University in celebration of the 29th National Cultural Festival in Akita 2014. The next day, October 26, Dr. Akito Arima, an avid haikuist and former education minister, spoke on how to write … Continue reading Let haiku be on the UNESCO list ! (5)
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 … Continue reading Let haiku be on the UNESCO list ! (4)
Let haiku be on the UNESCO list! In May, 2014, the 3rd Japan -Russia Haiku Contest was held in celebration of the 29th National Cultural Festival in Akita 2014. Only one haiku was allowed to be submitted per haiku poet, and there were three sections of Japanese haiku, Russian haiku, and English haiku. One of … Continue reading Let haiku be on the UNESCO list ! (3)
Let haiku be on the UNESCO list! In May, 2013, the Akita International Haiku Network held the 2nd Japan - Russia Haiku Contest with the help of JAPAN CENTER IN VLADIVOSTOK, providing three language sections for haiku submission: the Japanese section, the Russian section, and the English section. This is because the 1st … Continue reading Let haiku be on the UNESCO list ! (2)
Let haiku be on the UNESCO list! In May, 2012, the Akita International Haiku Network launched the first Japan - Russia Haiku Contest with the help of JAPAN CENTER IN VLADIVOSTOK as one of the links with the cultural exchange between Japan and Russia, wishing to provide an opportunity to mutually share haiku related to … Continue reading Let haiku be on the UNESCO list ! (1)
Now in Japan we are in a cheerful mood, sharing the beauties and wonders of spring with each other. With the coming of spring, Amur adonis appeared in the fields and camellias opened their flowers, from white to pink and red ones. Plum and cherry blossoms are in full bloom here and there in Tokyo … Continue reading Haiku by Hidenori Hiruta in Japan
Here is a picture of a lotus flower bud. In 2003 I got a haiku book written by Sylvia Forges-Ryan and Edward Ryan. Its title is “Take a Deep Breath’” ‘The Haiku Way to Inner Peace’. Its jacket photo by Jana Leon has a flower of white and red or scarlet. Even … Continue reading Basho’s lotus flowers
紫陽花 (ajisai), hydrangea, is the deciduous shrub up to five feet high with ball-shaped clusters of bluish flowers in June and July. It has become a common ornamental throughout the world. In Japan both 額紫陽花(gaku ajisai), H. macrophylla and 沢紫陽花(sawa ajisai), H. serrata in particular have been cultivated for so many centuries that they … Continue reading Basho’s hydrangea
Akita International Haiku Network 