Remarks by Ambassador Jun Yamazaki
On the Occasion of the 2013 Student Haiku Contest
8 June 2013

 

Mr. John Stevenson and Mr. Hiroaki Sato, judges of the haiku contest,

 

Mr. Kazuo Tsuda, President of Northeast Council of Teachers of Japanese, and Mr. Geoffrey Van Kirk, member of the United Nations International School faculty,

 

Ms. Masayo Ishigure, thank you for the beautiful koto performance,

 

Participants of the Haiku Contest,

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

I am delighted to be back again at the United Nations International School (UNIS) to greet all of you who are attending this award presentation ceremony for the 2013 Student Haiku Contest. 

 

I have been looking forward to this event.  This is because I know that haiku can convey very profound feelings and impressions, and I was truly impressed last year.  I wish to be impressed again this year. 

 

About 1000 student poems were received by the organizers this year from more than twenty schools worldwide.  I would like to thank everybody for their submissions.  I understand that some of the foreign entries are attributable to extra efforts by the organizers to publicize the contest and offer teacher training.  I commend such efforts by the organizers.  

 

I mentioned in my remarks last year that the increasing popularity of haiku is perhaps a testament to the power of its form—a very concise form using only a few syllables.  One practicing famous Japanese haijin expressed this as “the aesthetics of subtraction.”  This short form challenges the poet to express creatively using only the bare essence.  Many things are left unsaid, and it is the reader who has to fill in the gap.  That interaction and tension between the reader and the poet is perhaps what makes haiku such an attractive medium.

 

Another attractive aspect of haiku is the sense of closeness with nature.  A different way of saying that would be respect for nature and respect for the lives of many different beings. 

 

In closing, let me express my strong hope that this contest will continue to serve as a catalyst to generate further interest in haiku and to enhance appreciation for this wonderful form of poetry among all.

 

Thank you once again to all of you for your contributions to the 2013 Haiku Contest.