Every year national AJET encourages poets from the JET community to exercise their creative talents with our annual AJET Haiku Competition. Listed below are this year’s winners.
2010 Winning Haiku
English Haiku: First Place
By Tesia Smith (Aomori-ken)
Wings of all colors
One hundred folds and creases
Twenty paper cranes
English Haiku: Second Place
Emily Lemmon (Hyogo-ken)
Mountainside glitters
in shades of emerald green
held in thrall of breeze.
Japanese Haiku: First Place
by Emma Nixon – pen name Emma Pierce (Nagano-ken)
毎日は
いつも新しい
外国で
まいにちは
いつもあたらしい
がいこくで
Everyday is
Always new
In a foreign country
Japanese Haiku: Second Place
By Jonathan Liang (Aomori-Ken)
春の風
冬の温泉
間違った
はるのかぜ
ふゆのおんせん
まちがった
a spring wind
the winter hot spring
I am mistaken.
2009 Winning Haiku’s
English Haiku: First Place
by Jennifer Wang (Miyagi Prefecture)
The silent loner,
Who never raises his hand,
One day speaks-’Hello.’
English Haiku: Second Place
by Terence Kitada (Wakayama Prefecture)
Warm steam rejoices,
crying out to eager ears.
The tea is ready.
Japanese Haiku: First Place
by Harshvardhan Gupta (Akita Prefecture)
愛しけり （いとしけり）
秋の葉変わる （あきのはかわる）
緑は黄 （みどりはき）
Falling In Love,
The Autumn Leaves Change,
To Yellow From Green
Japanese Haiku: Second Place
by Matthew Hafner (Fukui Prefecture)
赤青黄 （あかあおき）
運動会で （うんどうかいで）
顔真っ赤 （かおまっか）
Red, Blue and Yellow
School Sports Day Festival
All Faces Bright Red
2008 Winning Haiku’s
English Haiku: First Place
Morgan Keller’s “‘natto surprise’ haiku”
Today’s lunch menu—
stringy and strange on the tongue,
tastes just like English.
English Haiku: Second Place
Steven Lim
the black sea restless
tear drops flood the gym in waves
my students leave me
Japanese Haiku: First Place
Caleb DeMarais
梅雨の湿気
滞在のけり
ついた気が・・・
Sweltering, rainy
I feel as if my time here
Has come to an end
Japanese Haiku: Second Place
Nicole Nelson
晴れ夜空
虹色の雨
夏祭り
A clear night sky
And rainbow colored rain
Summer festivals