Genjuan International Haibun Contest 2020 Results

March 15, 2020 / sydneyinosaka / Leave a comment

Honorable Mention for Haibun Contest in Japan! I’m honored to receive this award and am grateful to the judges!

Amazing! The judges have finished their pow-wow early this year (completed on a long conference call between Tokyo, Kyoto and Tipperary), and we have already notified the awardees, so here now are the results of the 2020 Genjuan Contest:

グランプリ作品 Grand Prix
Snow in Advent…. David Cobb (UK)

庵賞 An (Cottage) Prizes
Whispers…. David McCullough (Japan/UK)
Key West Cat…. Joan Prefontaine (USA)

入選作 Honourable Mentions
Jamshedpur …. Kanchan Chatterjee (India)
Visiting John …. Paul Bregazzi (Ireland)
Fifteen Minute Limit …. Naomi Beth Wakan (Canada)
The Penultimate Mile …. Geethanjali Rajan (India)
Nagaranishi…. Sydney Solis (Japan/USA)
The Easter of the Blajin …. Cezar-Florin Ciobica (Romania)
Sunday Stopping Train to Salzburg …. Dick Pettit (Denmark)

審査委員 Judges – Akiko Takazawa, Stephen Henry Gill, Sean O’Connor

I don’t think Grand Prix-winning author David Cobb will mind me telling you that he has just turned 94 years old. Apparently he…

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Two Worlds at Tofukuji Station, Kyoto – Street Photography

February 9, 2020 / sydneyinosaka / 5 Comments

I was struck by the contrast of groups in this photo I took from the platform of Tofukuji Station in Kyoto. The Chinese tourists on the left dressed fashionably bright and looking at their cell phones; the Japanese school girls in somber uniforms on the right talking to each other. Two worlds!

Mukaishima POW Camp Memorial, Hiroshima – with Haiku and Photos

February 7, 2020February 7, 2020 / sydneyinosaka / Leave a comment

An American poet visits the Mukaishima POW Memorial in Onomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture Japan and meets with Japanese citizens committed to education and peace.

Love Thy Enemy: Meeting Atomic Bomb Survivors in Nagasaki and Hiroshima

February 6, 2020February 6, 2020 / sydneyinosaka / 1 Comment

With 88-year-old Hibakusha Mr. Inousuke Hayasaki in the Nagasaki Peace Park. I imagine my mother turning over in her grave at the thought of me socializing with Hibakushas, atomic bomb survivors, while living in Japan. They were after all, the mortal enemy in her mind, they killed my Dutch grandfather and imprisoned my father during … Continue reading Love Thy Enemy: Meeting Atomic Bomb Survivors in Nagasaki and Hiroshima

自然 Nature & the Sacred 木 Tree: Trees that Survived the Atomic Bombing at Hiroshima

January 27, 2020January 28, 2020 / sydneyinosaka / 1 Comment

Photograph of Kurogane holly trees that survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima during World War II, with commentary by Alan Watts about our relationship to nature.

Healing Waters & Haiku: Japanese Onsen at Kamiyusou, Totsukawa, Nara 神湯荘

January 26, 2020January 26, 2020 / sydneyinosaka / 8 Comments

The Healing Waters of Kamiyusou onsen in Totsukawa, Nara prefecture are a perfect stop to write haiku and rest your weary bones as you make your way as a pilgrim on the Kumano Kodo in Japan.