MITSUAKI KOJIMA

The first issue of the Asahi Haikuist Network appeared April 5, 1995 in the Asahi Evening News.

Over 10,000 haiku have been printed since; many of the contributors becoming well-known haikuists.

One of the earliest contributors, Roberta Beary wrote about an unlit church in Maryland on May 18.

Thirteen years later, the talented writer continues to share fine haiku in this column and has gone on to win many prizes. She recently collected second prize for a poem about pure white Easter lilies in the 12th International Kusamakura Haiku Competition held in Kumamoto.

The contest judge Richard Gilbert encourages "students and teachers involved in haiku classes to research some of the newer haiku anthologies to consider those qualities which make for excellent examples."

Old church
no one to light
the candles

Daybreak
lilies light
the light

Satoru Kanematsu sends his congratulations to his fellow writers in the form of a haiku.

His best submissions have been printed in just about every issue of the Asahi Haikuist Network, including this winning entry to the International Haiku Poetry Festival contest at Aichi Expo held in Nagoya in 2005.

Haikuists' tree
flooded with birdsongs
thirteenth spring

Why not snail
take a load off your back?
Sunday morning

Mickey Nasu has been sharing poems with the network of haikuists reading this column since it began. His haiku about waiting for plums appeared in the Feb. 24, 1996 issue, and a different version of "Side by side" appeared two weeks ago.

Waiting since Christmas
plums in a bamboo vase
blossom

Side by side
red, white plum blossoms
synergy

Koju Fujieda wrote about attending a class reunion in Fukui on Jan. 20, 1996. Now he teaches culture classes to children at his own school in Echizen, Fukui Prefecture, remarking, "Kids really enjoy the cards and shows in spite of the cold."

Whistling wind
immersed deep in spa's steam
old class reunion

Away from stove
kids' circle waves and cries
for cards left

John Martone is a regular contributor who often has poems picked up for this column. He won first prize in the Poems for Mother Earth contest held in Kita-Kyushu in 2007.

Picked up
a stray glove
put it on

All those pinecones
up near
the moon

Wolfgang Beutke submits his first haiku, a debut that wonderfully sums up our 13th anniversary issue.

First sunrise--
the sparkling river chases
its past

Want to try composing haiku ?

Back numbers

The next issue of the Asahi Haikuist Network appears in a new format on April 4. Readers are invited to mail haiku about cherry blossoms to David McMurray at the International University of Kagoshima, Sakanoue 8-34-1, Kagoshima 891-0197 or e-mail <mcmurray@fka.att.ne.jp>.