2026 Tokutomi Memorial Contest Results
Contest Results Announced by the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society
by Kathabela Wilson, 2026 Contest Chair, with Brochure Layout by Rick Wilson
The Yuki Teikei Haiku Society (YTHS) has announced the winners of the 2026 Kiyoshi and Kiyoko Tokutomi Haiku Contest.
The judges for the 2026 contest were Hiroyuki Murakami and Yuzo Ono. YTHS is deeply indebted to them for so graciously sharing their time and expertise.
- Hiroyuki Murakami is a Japanese haiku poet living in Tokyo. He was a dōjin of Yukuharu Haiku Society to 2019 and has been a YTHS dōjin since 2022. Member of the Japanese Association of Haiku Poets and translator for Haiku International, the Haiku International Association’s journal. Regularly contributes haiku and commentary to Geppo and YTHS members’ anthologies. He published Harvest Moon, his own English/Japanese haiku collection in 2023.
- Yuzo Ono is a haiku poet and writer based in Japan. He studied at the University of Tokyo (BA) and the Royal College of Art (MRes) in the UK. He won the Modern Haiku Association Award for Criticism in 2002 and the Modern Haiku Association New Talent Award (honorable mention) in 2005. He is a YTHS dōjin since 2026, a councilor of the Haiku International Association, and a member of the British Haiku Society. website: https://yuzo-ono.com/
In addition to the four prize-winning haiku, ten equally-ranked haiku were chosen by the judges for Honorable Mention.
1st Prize:
unexpectedly
scraping frost from the windshield
with a credit card
~ Barbara Mosbacher Anderson
2nd Prize (two haiku tied for 2nd Prize):
room enough to float
a single white camellia
. . . the vase she left me
~ Mimi Ahern
a white haired lady
sells the market’s sweetest corn
few teeth of her own
~ Jennifer Howse
3rd Prize:
barefoot in the dew
a child with end-stage cancer
on her final walk
~ Sandra Filippelli
An Honorable Mention was awarded to each of the following people:
Danny Blackwell, Edward Cody Huddleston, Keiko Izawa, Lisa A Johnson, Barrie Levine, Priscilla Lignori, Cristian Matei, Jesus Santos (2), and Jill Spealman.
Congratulations to all of these poets and great gratitude to the judges.
The illustrated brochure of all the haiku and the judges’ comments on the winners may be viewed by clicking on the brochure image at the top of this page, and/or downloaded here.