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On 9 June, the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations, together with the United Nations International School and the Northeast Council of Teachers of Japanese, held a student Haiku Contest for 2012 and an Awards Assembly at the United Nations International School (UNIS).
About 1500 poems in Japanese and English were submitted this year by students from elementary school to high school, as well as some teachers who participated in the teacher’s division. Of them, 140 were specially selected to be on display for 2 weeks at UNIS.
Ambassador Jun Yamazaki attended the Awards Assembly, which opened with a chorus by the Studio School students, and also gave a speech about Haiku and its cultural importance. Awards were given to the top 3 winners of each of the 8 divisions, and each winner received specific comments from one of the two judges.
＜Poems written in English：First Prize＞
○Elementary School Division
She walks through the
darkness of the tunnel
Leah Watson
○Middle School Division
public library
the shy boy
wipes dust off a book
Abby Shannon
○High School Division
black tie
black suit
cold father
Cruz Kaye Shinako
○Teacher Division
on mounds
of pearly hail
a hemlock cone
Mr. Geoff Van Kirk
＜Poems written in Japanese：First Prize (translation by Mr. Hiroaki Sato＞
○Elementary School Division
A firefly flies
glows on my palm
the color of the moon
Andrew Ammar
○Middle School Division
Burning forests
Irritable storms
Summer’s anger
Julien Kridelka
○High School Division
A bird flies
over a black field
at midnight
Raphael Barnes
○Teacher Division
The tsunami goes:
a small photo
with a nail scratch
Mr. Kazuo Tsuda
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