By Isamu Hashimoto

Mr. James Kirkup, a well-known haiku poet who is also a highly-esteemed English poet, once wrote about haijin in his haiku chapbook "Shooting Stars" (Hub Editions, 1992).

"He or she (the haijin) attempts to see things as they really are when no one is looking at them -- that is, ignoring them as too commonplace to be worthy of observation," he wrote.

Ms. Doris Kasson, the first-prize winner in the Mainichi Daily News' 2006 haiku selection, must be a faithful daily practitioner of this type of observation. She attempts to see things as they really are and knows that everything around her is worthy of observation. Accumulation of such day-to-day endeavors brought her to the top of the podium in the annual haiku selection:

dodging
a march wind
boomerang
-- Doris Kasson (Belleair Bluffs, FL, USA)

An excellent "minimal" haiku! Her extreme and skilful downsizing resulted in success.

Presumably there will be people who think the word "march" could be replaced with some other word -- what if the boomerang were dodging an august wind, or a september wind, or a november wind?

In spring it becomes warmer and warmer, and lots of people instinctively go and lay sports outdoors with cheerful hearts -- even if the early spring wind is a bit cold. In summer, it's too hot to play too enthusiatically outside in the park or on the green grass; in winter it's too cold for boomerang throwing. So we wouldn't have a mind to select words indicating summer or winter.

But if you chose "an autumn wind" instead of "a march wind," which I think is the best choice, some people would praise "autumn wind" just as much as the original.

Dodging/an autumn wind/boomerang

One could produce another wonderful haiku scene with a deep insight into nature and human beings.

Mrs. Kasson has been writing haiku for about 15 years, and she writes in a free-form three-line style.

"Sometimes a two-liner works well with photos ... the photo replacing a third line," she says. "I think 5-7-5 style is a bit cumbersome for English writers. I try to stick to some rules when writing haiku, e.g. present tense, insight, hopefully a tension within the lines, not telling a 'complete' story ... that is left for the reader to fill in."

Her comments point out the essential qualities of haiku.

Below are haiku of the second prize winners, starting with a haiku from Mr. K.P. Turner:

Cigarette smoke
drifts into another year
fireworks explode.
-- K.P. Turner (Coventry, UK)

Kyoshi Takahama (1874-1959), a contemporary of Shiki Masaoka (1867-1902) left great footprints in the field of modern haiku after Issa (1763-1827), Buson (1716-83), and Basho (1644-94). He composed the following New Year's haiku.

kozokotoshi tsuranukubouno gotokimono
piercing the darkness
into the New Year
a gigantic staff
-- Kyoshi Takahama (Translated by Isamu Hashimoto)

Kyoshi wrote about the year-end/New Year atmosphere in the style of "focusing" haiku -- what Basho would call "beaten gold" haiku. The content of Kyoshi's haiku is equivalent to the first two lines of Turner's masterpiece.

Mr. Turner's third line is very impressive. It awakens spectators' floating dreams suddenly with bangs of fireworks and brings them back to reality and finally into the New Year without noticing.

He skillfully uses a "juxtaposing" haiku method while Kyoshi employs a "focusing" one.

Ms. Rebecca Lilly, another second prize winner, composed the following haiku:

Mosquito netting
raise and falls --
the clarity of dusk
-- Rebecca Lilly (Charlottesville, VA, USA)

"I used to teach philosophy, but I decided not to enter academia in order to pursue my writing. ... I've always been attracted to forms that are short and intense ... concentrated ... perhaps because I feel that every world should be essential to the total effect," she says.

I especially like the third line, depicting the delicate summer night.

As third prize winners, I selected by pure chance writers who are famous in the haiku world. They are Mr. Jerry Ball; Mr. Bruce Ross; and Mr. George Swede. Their haiku are all excellent, indeed. If some other editor had handled the selection, Mr. Ball's "Sound" haiku may have taken first prize.