Hailstone Haiku Circle was founded on 11.11.2000 at a meet in Shiga prefecture. That day, we visited Ukimido 浮御堂 and noticed a rainbow over the northern part of Lake Biwa. It had seemed to stay with us, there to the right of Mt. Hira, all afternoon long! 20 years on, I feel that rainbow is still with us now, shining on miraculously in the sun and rain.
So, we are 20 years old, and may be feeling in need of an anniversary collection? Well, it has just come out! I’ve called the book ‘I Wish’ … for reasons only hinted at in the foreword and in the ‘wish’ haiku that crop up here and there within the book. The cover was painted by Richard Steiner (Tosai). There is an afterword by Gerald (Duro Jaiye). Besides the individual author pages, the book also contains rensaku (haiku sequences) on earthquake, flood, heatwave, typhoon, wildfire, and, of course, on pandemic, too. There is also a short In Memoriam section, a Glossary and an Events List at the end. No haibun, though, as Hailstone will be issuing an anthology of Genjuan Awarded Pieces (2018-20) in a few more months – and that will be “haibun max”! Watch this space.
‘I Wish’ is A6 (pocket-size), 104pp, costs ￥1,200 for single copies, and contains 218 haiku by about 60 poets, both Japanese and foreigners, mainly living in Kansai, West Japan. It will be available at most Hailstone events from Dec. 24 onwards … till at least mid-spring next year and can be ordered through the avenues described at the bottom of our Publications page. The publications officer will then send you details of payment options, depending on where you are, as well as of postage and packing costs.
I hope you will enjoy our new book. Long live that Hailstone rainbow !
Icebox 
HOOOOOORAYYYYYYY
Congratulations, Stephen and all. Here’s to many more years.
Thank you, Matthew. Many more, hopefully, yes … Happy Christmas!
I wasn’t there at the very beginning, but pretty close to it. The Hailstone Haiku Circle has been a heartening and enlightening companion on my Japan journey for the last two decades. Tito, you have my utmost respect and gratitude for your tireless promotion of English haiku and the spirit of humanity it encapsulates. I wish us all the best for the years ahead!
Thanks for your appreciation, Richard. You, too, of course, are an important part of the Circle, which luckily has always seemed to attract talented but good-hearted folks, and not by membership but, rather, by casual association. As you point out, we gain a lot from the contact and hopefully grow as haiku poets. Inch by inch we go …
20 years is a real achievement, and, among other things, a testimony to Stephen’s passion and inclusiveness. I take it as an opportunity to commit to being a more regular presence here on the Hailstone blog. よろしく！