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THE　FINAL REPORT

The 30th International “Kusamakura” Haiku Competition in Kumamoto

Kusamakura International Haiku Competition started in 1996 as a memory of the first centennial anniversary of Natsume Soseki’s arrival in Kumamoto as an English teacher of the Fifth High School. This Competition is one of very few international Haiku competitions in Japan and has been continued for thirty years.

We will have a new trial this year for the 30th anniversary. The grand prize winner of the foreign language section will be invited to Kumamoto within the limited amount of \500,000 with presenting Fukuda-Reiju Prize. Dr. Fukuda Reiju is an honorable citizen of Kumamoto, who studied at Edinburgh in 1893 at the age of 20 to gain the Degree of Medical Doctor. Later he did great social and medical contributions to Kumamoto, bridging the East and the West.

The comemorative ceremony of the 30th International “Kusamakura” Haiku Competition took place on November 15, 2025. Congratulations to the prize winners! We also thank you very much for all the participants and contributors to this Competition.

This year we had 637 applicants with the number of 1199 haikus from 67 countries. Precisely we had 511 applicants with 962 Haikus written in English, 113 applicants with 215 Haikus written in Spanish and 13 applicants with 22 Haikus written in Chinese. The number of haikus written in Chinese was relatively small in number.

The 30th Grand Prize winner Dr. Farah Ali is a mother and writer who lives in England. Although she got Fukuda-Reiju Prize and was invited to Kumamoto, she could not come to Kumamoto for family reasons. But she sent us a wonderful message for the ceremony and gave the audience a deep impression. For the next Competition in 2026, we will inform you of the 31th “Kusamakura” Haiku Competition at the end of May on this website. Fukuda-Reiju Prize will be continued to the next year and the Grand Prize winner will be invited to Kumamoto.

We are looking forward to having many applicants and wonderful haiku poems from all over the world.

 

Application Guidelines

Entries must be submitted via the homepage.
Each applicant can enter up to two haiku poems.
Entries are only possible in English, Chinese and Spanish.
Each applicant can enter in different language, but a haiku of the same content and meaning will not be accepted.
In case we can’t contact with the prize winner by e-mail or phone, the award will be cancelled.

Please enter from the button at the bottom of page 3.

 

KUSAMAKURA HAIKU COMPETITION : RULES FOR SUBMISSION

All submissions to the “Kusamakura” Haiku Competition must be original and must not have been previously published. Any plagiarized and imitative haiku shall not be accepted. Any submissions to this Haiku Competition must not be sent to any other publications including online ones. Also they must not appear in any published forms such as magazines, journals, blogs, personal websites, etc., before the end of the “Kusamakura” Haiku Competition Awarding Ceremony.

 

Last Updated January 16, 2026

Website　|　A Brief Background of Composing Haiku　|　Guidelines for Contributors ｜ Previous Winning Haiku