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THE WORLD HAIKU CLUB: 
Leys Farm
  Rousham,  Bicester
    Oxfordshire  OX25 4RA
   
                    England  Tel:  +44   (0) 1869 - 340261                   
  Fax: +44  (0) 1869 - 340619   
E-mail: WHC.takiguchi@susumu.freeserve.co.uk

Central  Website:   http://www.worldhaikuclub.org  

Important Announcement!


WORLD HAIKU FESTIVAL

WHF 2002 & Basho Journey

At Yuwa Town, Akita, Japan
September 2002!


Dear Kuyu,


The World Haiku Club is pleased to announce an exciting haiku event, the World Haiku Festival 2002 which will be taking place at Yuwa Town, Akita of Northern Japan for three days in late September this year. Please enter these dates into your diary now, book your flights and start saving!


FOLLOWING WHF2000

The WHF2002 will follow the very successful World Haiku Festival 2000 which was held in London and Oxford in August 2000, and various other subsequent events, most notably the Epilogue to WHF2000 & Advent of JAPAN2001 of May 2001. It is planned that WHF2002 will be dovetailed by another exciting event, the Main Basho Journey (for about seven days leading up to the Festival) with its two optional extensions (centring on Kamakura and Kyoto respectively).


WHC and Yuwa Town are the joint organisers of WHF2002, with the involvement of Akita Prefectural Government and local haiku and educational bodies. WHF2002 is supported by many organisations as well as by leading individual haiku poets.


GUEST OF HONOUR

James W. Hackett, Honorary President of WHC, will be the Guest of Honour, accompanied by Patricia, his wife, and he will deliver the key-note address. There are important and attractive speakers lined up, including some of your friends, such as Kiyoko Uda, Ikuyo Yoshimura, Professor Katsushi Wada, Bruce Ross and Professor Masahisa Fukuda. Overseas participation is by invitation and by application according to certain criteria pertaining to WHF2002 objectives (see application form) co-ordinated exclusively at the Headquarters of WHC, and will be limited at this moment to 25 people (but could be enlarged if needs be).


COMPETITIONS

There will be competitions of short verses, including haiku written in English or English translation open to everyone in the world. Japanese haiku will be judges by fourteen eminent haijin, including Tota Kaneko and Teiko Inahata. To commemorate the WHF2002, a new annual award has been created at WHC, called the "R. H. Blyth Award", and its first selections will be done to coincide with the Festival. Other awards are also being considered, one in particular in conjunction with another organisation.


OUTLINE SCHEDULE

Day One, Friday 20 September, will be the all-day Akita Yuwa International Haiku Conference on the theme of "In Honour of Rogetsu, Shiki, Basho & R. H. Blyth". This will be divided into the main English-speaking platform with translation, Japanese only auxiliary platform and last but not least the children's platform. The Conference will be followed in the evening by the special Mayor's Reception for Overseas Representatives (and non-Japanese residents in Japan) and Town's Guests. Ishii (surname) Rogetsu was born in Yuwa and devoted himself to the town's early development, as a doctor, haiku poet, educational leader and a benefactor. He was one of the most senior disciples of Shiki and WHF2002 will be devoted to the 130 anniversary of his birth as well as the centenary of the death of Shiki. Basho represents the entire history of haiku and Blyth will be formally celebrated at a world haiku conference for his great contribution to the dissemination and development of world haiku outside Japan.


Day Two, Saturday 21 September, will be all-day ginko excursions to Rogetsu's birth/work/final resting place, Takao-san Hills (a scenic place), Mount Chokai-san and Kisagata where Basho visited. In the evening, there will be a grand reception where overseas visitors, domestic participants and audience will mingle with local dignitaries, guests and families.


Day Three, Sunday 22 September, will be the Rogetsu Short Verses Competition (see detailed guidelines) and its award ceremony with important awards and prizes, including the first R. H. Blyth Award. The competition is divided into domestic and overseas parts and the latter will be administered by WHC. In both cases, judges are appointed from among top haijin, including (surnames first) Kaneko Tota, Yamazaki Hisao, Inahata Teiko and Okayasu Hitoyoshi, as well as internationally famous haijin. This will be followed by a haiku symposium conducted by Professor Katsushi Wada (expert on Shiki), Ms Kiyoko Uda (a renowned Japanese haiku poet) and Susumu Takiguchi (Chairman of the World Haiku Club).


PUBLICATIONS

Many other events are planned for local children and local communities either as part of WHF2002 or coinciding with it. Of especial interest is an exhibition of Ishii Rogetsu who was a Japanese calligrapher of high reputation (starting on Tuesday 17 September). Among other proposed projects, a book by Kazuhiro Kudo will be published on Rogetsu and a stone monument will be erected bearing Rogetsu's haiku. The WHF2000 & 2002 Anthology and Essays will also be published to commemorate both of these Festivals. At the same time, it is wished that a biographical book about Rogetsu will be published in English so that he will be widely introduced to the whole world, as part of the celebrations of WHF2002.


BASHO JOURNEY AND MORE

According to the current plan, the Main Basho Journey will start at Nikko and follow in the footsteps of Basho by "coach", visiting choicest places such as Shirakawa-no-Seki, Kasajima, Sendai, Tsubo-no-Ishibumi, Matsushima, Hiraizumi, Shitomae-no-Seki, Obanazawa, Ryushaku-ji, Haguro, Gassan, Yudono, Mogami River and Sakata, joining the WHF2002 at Yuwa. Not all of these places will necessarily be included or on the other hand it may be that some other places could be added. However, on the whole it will be along these basic ideas and theme.


One option, the Kamakura option, will be open-ended in the sense that participants will be able to join it as long or as short as their schedule will allow. This will be prior and leading up to the start of the Main Basho Journey at Nikko. The plans include ginko to places such as R. H. Blyth's burial temple, kukai, meeting with local haiku poets and/or excursion to Hakone, Fuji or Odawara. One day is planned in Tokyo to visit the Basho museum at Fukagawa. These are being worked out but will be flexible and participation will be on a voluntary and individual basis (i.e. not pre-organised or spoon-fed).


The other option, the Kyoto option, will be dovetailed straight after WHF2002. Those who choose to take this option will fly from Akita to Osaka and move to Kyoto, from where it will be open-ended and on the voluntary basis in the same sense as the Kamakura option. This will of course include visits to Kyoto temples/gardens and places where Basho stayed, such as Rakushi-sha. Excursions are possible to places such as Zeze, Otsu on the shore of Lake Biwa, where Basho is buried.


IN SHORT

All in all, WHF2002 and its dovetailed Main Basho Journey (with two options) will be a merry and exciting event and will be organised with the view to trying to make it an once-in-a-lifetime event for the participants with unforgettable memories.


Information on WHF2002/Basho Journey in more details, including an indication of fees and costs, will be announced during the coming days both on various international haiku mailing lists, as well as on websites of WHC and of Akita Yuwa. All the applications by overseas participants (irrespective of their nationalities) and non-Japanese residents in Japan as well as those main Japanese participants living in Japan (as opposed to general public) must be made to WHC as these will not be dealt with at Akita Yuwa.


MAY YOUR JOURNEY TO YUWA, AKITA BE A VERY HAPPY ONE, AND I LOOK FORWARD TO WELCOMING YOU IN THAT BEAUTIFUL PART OF THE WORLD!


Kengin,

Susumu


Susumu Takiguchi (Mr)
Chairman
The World Haiku Club
(World Haiku Festival)
Managing Editor
World Haiku Review

WHC.takiguchi@susumu.freeserve.co.uk (ST e-mail address for applications)

THE  WORLD  HAIKU  CLUB

Head  Office:  Leys Farm, Rousham, Bicester, Oxfordshire  OX25 4RA,  England

Tel: +44 (0)1869-340261
Fax: +44 (0)1869 340619
E-mail: WHC.takiguchi@susumu.freeserve.co.uk

For further information and/or invitation, please contact Head Office, The World Haiku Club (see letterhead.

THE WORLD HAIKU CLUB:
Honorary President, James W. Hackett; Chairman, Susumu Takiguchi

World Haiku Festival: Patrons, His Excellency Mr. Sadayuki Hayashi, Japanese Ambassador;   Sir Peter Parker, KBE LVO

Supporting Organisations:   Poetry Society, Global Haiku Festival, Haiku Society of America, Modern Haiku Association of Japan, Haiku North America, Oxford Brookes University, National Poetry Day, Ehime-Ken Matsuyama Declaration, Gunma Prefectural Museum of Literature,  Constantza Haiku Society-Romania,  Association of Croatian Haiku Poets,  Obayashi Seisakusho, Japan Festival Education Trust, Barbican Centre, British Library,  SOAS, Donnington Grove Society, Embassy  of Japan, BBC,

Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, Japan Foundation, Japan Society, Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation