Mukai Farm & Garden’s fifth annual Haiku Festival will kick off on April 1.

Each year, the event draws hundreds of haiku submissions from Vashon residents and poets from abroad.

Poets are invited to submit their original haiku entries for the festival during the first two weeks of April. Submissions will close on April 14.

Haiku is an ancient style of Japanese poetry structured into three lines with a pattern of 5-7-5 syllables.

Categories for the contest are:

Heritage Award — for the most eloquent portrayal of the history or some other aspect of Mukai Farm & Garden.

Nature Award — for the most elegant and poignant depiction of some aspect of nature.

Social Justice Award — for a haiku shedding insight on social equity.

The Young Poet Awards — for the best haikus written by children in grades K-6, and young people in grades 7-12.

In 2023, Mukai received over 500 haiku submissions from Vashon residents as well as poets from 13 countries.

Kay Longhi, the Festival organizer, advised poets to limit their number of entries this year.

“So many people enjoy strolling the garden to read the haiku each spring and summer, but the large number of submissions has become overwhelming,” she said. “We are asking people to limit themselves to just one entry each this year so we can better display everyone’s creative work.”

Winners will be announced at the Haiku Festival finale on April 28. Visitors to the finale will hear famed poets Shin Yu Pai and Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma read from their work.

“The Haiku Festival is an expression of Mukai’s mission, to celebrate the contributions Japanese Americans have made for over one hundred years to Vashon’s economy and community,” said Mukai Executive Director Leah Mann.

Find out more about the festival and submit poems at mukaifarmandgarden.org. Donations are gratefully accepted.