Menu
Log in
Forgot password


Log in
Forgot password


International EJCA Spring Haiku Contest 2026 2026年度エドモントン日本文化協会　春の俳句大会

In 2025 we welcomed 209 authors from 42 countries submitting 417 wonderful, individual, inspiring Haiku - can we surpass this in 2026? 

looking for our 2025 Contest & winners?
-> follow this link


Update May 31st: We are only 3 weeks in
and have already over 50 poets responding from around the globe!
Well done, keep it up and enjoy being creative!

  


 　


蹴球の新しき靴に芝青む


Translated:

Playing soccer
In brand-new shoes
Grass is glistening in green



Setsuo Nakaya (Canada),
winner “Best overall - Japanese language Haiku” category
in our 2025 contest!


Spring has arrived and the cherry trees -and in the case of EJCA- the plum tree blossoming again, following the great successes of the 2022- 2025 editions of this contest, EJCA once again calls upon everyone's poetic talents.  EJCA invites you to get creative and submit a Haiku, suitably themed to celebrate the season.

Kids & Youth: We always love to see submissions from aspiring young poets!

Winners and a selection of poems are available after this contest on this page and in the September/October moshi moshi or our social media channels and websites. 

春がやっと訪れ、桜の木々が、そしてEJCAの場合は梅の木が再び花開く中、２０２２年、２０２３年、２０２４年の各回で大成功を収めたこのコンテストに続き、EJCAは再び皆様の詩的才能を呼び覚ましていました。EJCAは皆様にクリエイティブな才能を発揮していただき、季節をお祝いするのにふさわしいテーマの俳句をご投句いただくよう、ご招待いたしました。

毎年多くの皆様が再参加してくださる光景を目にする特権に恵まれ、また新しい参加者の方々もかなり増えたことを嬉しく思っており、皆様が思索を楽しまれたことを願っております！

お子様・青少年の皆様： 今年は将来有望な若い詩人の皆様からの投句が大幅に増えたことを大変嬉しく思っております！

入賞者と選抜作品は、このページおよび９月・１０月号のもしもし、ならびに当団体のソーシャルメディアチャンネルでご覧いただけます。

How to participate?

  • With closing date Saturday, 20st of June 2026, 23:59 MDT, you are being asked to submit your Haiku using this Google form 
  • Our jury is reviewing the submissions throughout June/July and will select the winners in our three categories

Rules / 応募要領

  • Everyone is invited (whether EJCA member or not) to participate
  • You can submit up to two unpublished Haiku that you have authored.
  • To be considered for prizes, your poem should follow the spirit of good Haiku form - see below, section "What is a Haiku?"
  • You should have made sure to give your Haiku a Spring theme by including a Spring seasonal word of your choice.


  • Our jury does evaluate all submissions to determine winners in the various categories

Jury: Shajin Watanabe, this year again supported by Kiki & Brooklin from STARK Poets, St. Albert. 

Shajin Watanabe sensei:

Watanabe sensei is a protege to Kusatao Nakamura and was awarded the Saitama Literature Award. After his retirement from teaching Japanese literature (kokugo) at Urawa Akenohoshi Girls' Senior High School, he taught haiku poetry at Saitama Police Academy for a number of years. Currently, he is the chair of Haiku Society, "Sumeraki, " while teaching haiku at numerous workshops.

-参加資格　－EJCA会員である必要はなく、どなたでも応募できます。

兼題（事前に課題として出された「季語」の意の語）を「日本語による俳句または英語による3行詩」に詠みこんだ未発表の作品を募集します。

　　　　・投句数：1季語に1作品、計2作品まで応募可。

兼題　－ご自分で選んだ春の季語

ご投稿いただいた全ての作品は選者により審査され、それぞれの部門の入賞作品が決められます。

応募部門・賞

俳句部門（日本語部門）優秀賞賞金３０ドル　準優秀賞　賞金２０ドル

三行詩部門（英語部門）優秀賞賞金３０ドル　準優秀賞　賞金２０ドル

１６歳以下の部門（英語もしくは日本語）優秀賞賞金３０ドル


選者：渡辺舎人 
（今年はセントアルバートのSTARK PoetsのKiki & Brooklin氏の支援を受けています。）

渡辺舎人先生：

渡辺先生は中村草田男の弟子であり、埼玉文芸賞の受賞者です。浦和明の星女子高等学校の現代国語の教諭から引退された後、埼玉警察学校にて俳句を長年教えておられました。現在は俳句結社すめらきの代表であり、また数々の講座・句会にて俳句指導をされています。

Award Winners per Category

These are the 2026 prize categories.
The current year’s jury consists of published haiku poet, Shajin Watanabe, and Kiki and Brooklin from STARK Poets, St. Albert.
We greatly appreciate their work and cooperation.

Best overall - Japanese language Haiku
Prize: 30$

Second best overall - Japanese language Haiku
Prize: 20$

Best Overall - English language Haiku
Prize: 30$

Second best overall - English language Haiku
Prize: 20$

Best overall - Young Poet (16 years of age and under)
Prize: 30$

Second best overall - Young Poet (16 years of age and under)
Prize: 20$


Deliberations by the jury, and presentation of the award winning poems:

(will follow here after the event)

What is a Haiku?

From wikipedia:

Haiku (俳句) is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a kireji, or "cutting word", 17 on (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, and a kigo, or seasonal reference. Similar poems that do not adhere to these rules are generally classified as senryū.

Haiku originated as an opening part of a larger Japanese poem called renga. These haiku written as an opening stanza were known as hokku and over time writers began to write them as stand-alone poems. Haiku was given its current name by the Japanese writer Masaoka Shiki at the end of the 19th century.


What you should keep in mind:

For haiku inspiration, look closely at everything around you in nature, at home, at school, and at work. Write your draft of a haiku, letting yourself be free and creative. Then ask the following questions about your haiku to help you improve them.

  1. How long is your haiku? It’s usually good to write in three lines of about 10 to 17 syllables. In Japanese, you will want to stay with 5-7-5 sounds ('mora'). In English, haiku don’t have to be in the pattern of 5-7-5 syllables.
    See this link if you want to know more.

    The following questions are much more important to observe:
  2. Does your haiku name or suggest one of the seasons—spring, summer, fall, or winter? In Japanese, a kigo or “season word” tells readers when the poem happens, such as saying “tulips” for spring or “snow” for winter. This is one of the most important things to do in haiku.
    For our contest this year, you want to give it a Spring theme!




What you should keep in mind (continued):

  1. Does your poem make a “leap,” by having two parts? In Japanese, a kireji or “cutting word” usually cuts the poem into two parts (never three). It’s not just having two parts that matters, though. Rather, it’s the implication in the relationship of the two parts that matters. Giving your poem two often fragmentary parts is also one of the most important goals in haiku.
  2. Is your haiku about common, everyday events in nature or human life? To help you do this, describe what you experience through your five senses.
  3. Does your poem give readers a feeling? It can do this by presenting what caused your feeling rather than the feeling itself. So others can feel what you felt, don’t explain or judge what you describe.
  4. Is your poem in the present tense? To make your haiku feel like it’s happening right now, use the present tense.
  5. Did you write from your own personal experience? When you write other kinds of poetry, you can make things up, but try not to do that with haiku. Memories are okay, though.
  6. How did you capitalize or punctuate your poem? Haiku are usually not sentences (they’re usually fragments), so they don’t need to start with a capital, or end with a period.
  7. Does your haiku avoid a title and rhyme? Haiku are not like other poems, which may have these features. Haiku don’t have titles and rarely rhyme.

(adapted from Michael Dylan Welch's excellent blog: https://www.graceguts.com/essays/haiku-checklist)

Another source worth reading, with some more historical and stylistic information is  HAIKU: A WHOLE LOT MORE THAN 5-7-5 

Questions? 

Please contact: haiku@ejca.org

Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software