Events

            On 8 June, the United Nations International School (UNIS) and the Northeast Council of Teachers of Japanese, together with the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations, held a student Haiku Contest  Awards Ceremony at UNIS.

            It was the seventh in a series of Haiku Contests, open to students from elementary school to high school, as well as teachers. About 1,000 poems in Japanese and English were submitted this year from more than twenty schools worldwide. Ninety-six poems were specially selected to be on display for six days at UNIS.

            The Awards Ceremony opened with a koto performance by Ms. Masayo Ishigure. Ambassador Jun Yamazaki then greeted the attendees with his remarks. (Ambassador’s remarks can be found here.) Awards were given to the top three winners from eight divisions and each winner received comments from the judges.

 ＜Poems written in English：First Prize＞
○Elementary School Division
a tall fire,
smoke,
darkness
by Robert Avram

○Middle School Division
in the ashes
embers
wink out
by Emma Jones

○High School Division
So leathery,
my wet palms
stick to the jacket
by Anjinie Seeram

○Teacher Division
corner deli
her finger appraises
pussy willow
by Geoffrey Van Kirk

＜Poems originally written in Japanese：First Prize＞
○Elementary School Division
Hiking:
seen by a deer
I’m embarrassed
by Victor Labrador

○Middle School Division
Gusty beach:
sand blasts, splatters:
the summer’s anger
by Joshua Shearouse

○High School Division
Sandy
left these trees fallen
every which way
by Wonsye Chong

○Teacher Division
On an infant’s hand
gripping a pencil
the down gleams
by Chie Helinski