13th Annual Mainichi Haiku Contest
The Mainichi Newspapers is inviting participation in the 13th annual Mainichi Haiku Contest. We look forward to receiving original Japanese, English or French entries that will help add a touch of inspiration to the world of haiku.
Judges for the contest are haiku experts Akito Arima, Kiyoko Uda, Akira Ogushi, Akira Omine, Keisyu Ogawa, Yuko Kagiwada, Tota Kaneko, Kobun Kurata, Momoko Kuroda, Toru Haga, Kai Hasegawa, Naoto Hirose. Toru Haga, an internationally renowned expert on comparative literature, will judge international section entries.
The Mainichi Haiku Contest consists of three Sections:
1. General Section (for haiku in Japanese)
2. Children's Section (for haiku composed by those of junior high school age and under)
3. International Section (for haiku composed in English or French)
Applications are easy and can be posted or made over the Internet through the online form provided below. For the blind, applications can also be submitted in Braille.
Entries must be original haiku and must not have been published or submitted anywhere else. Double submissions will not be accepted. The release and publishing copyrights of any of the entries that are published in subsequent haiku collections will remain with the Mainichi Newspapers.
Those taking part in the International Section can submit a maximum of two haiku.
International Section entries, Children's Section entries, and entries in Braille are free. Refer to the notes below for details on the cost of entering the General Section.
Together with your haiku, please include your name, age, address, telephone number, and the name of any haiku organization to which you belong. Also indicate which Section you are applying for.
To apply over the Internet, simply fill out the online entry form: https://form.mainichi.jp/book/HaikuContest/english.html
(Note: Please use this provided form to submit entries online. E-mails sent directly to the Mainichi Haiku Contest Office will not be accepted.)
In the International Section, the Children's Section, and the organization and school categories, certificates of merit and mementos will be awarded. Please note that no monetary prizes will be awarded in any of these Sections or categories.
Results for the winners of the International Section will be announced on the Mainichi Daily News Web site: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/features/haiku/ in January 2010.
Other winners will be announced in the Mainichi Shimbun and Mainichi haiku publications, in January 2010.
The deadline for online entries is August 31, 2009
Entries in the general section cost 2,000 yen for each pair of haiku. Money for general section entries should be sent by postal transfer to the Mainichi Haiku Taisho Jimukyoku (Mainichi haiku contest head office), account No. 00140-0-404438.
Supporters
Among the supporters of the contest are the Modern Haiku Association, the Association of Haiku Poets, the Association of Japanese Classical Haiku, the Japan Children's Haiku Association, the Haiku International Association, the National Committee for the Welfare of the Blind in Japan, and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.