Many thanks for your haiku. Application is now closed.

Hello everyone! I am JAXA Astronaut Naoko Yamazaki. I came to the International Space Station (ISS) on the Space Shuttle Discovery. As this mission is my first space trip, most things are first experiences for me; thus I am moved by them every moment even though I am hectic with an extremely busy schedule calibrated down to the minute.
I am now looking at the Earth from the ISS, and I have composed a “haiku,” a Japanese poem of seventeen syllables, about Earth from space.

　　　　We are children of the universe,
so as the Earth of lapis lazuli
and cherry blossoms.

I would like you all to compose a “haiku,” thinking of the Earth and space. I think it would be wonderful to share our warm feelings for our home planet, Earth, through the composition of haiku.
I am looking forward to hearing your haiku.

Naoko Yamazaki
JAXA astronaut

1.　Haiku submission deadline: Your haiku must reach us by 5:30 p.m. April 30 (Fri.), 2010

2.　Number of poems per application: One haiku per applicant will be accepted.

3.　How to send your haiku:

　・In addition to the special format（https://ssl.tksc.jaxa.jp/iss/haiku.php）on the Web site, submission by postcard or facsimile transmission are also acceptable.

　・When you choose postcard or facsimile transmission, please write the following information in addition to your haiku and send it to the “Astronaut Yamazaki’s Haiku Secretariat” stated in “4. Contact Information.”

　　Required information:
Name, address, telephone no., e-mail address (if available), age, occupation. If you have a pen name that you would like to use, please specify that, too.

　・Submissions must be in either Japanese or English.

4.　Contact Information:

　　“Astronaut Yamazaki’s Haiku Secretariat”
Program Management and Integration Department
Human Space Systems and Utilization Mission Directorate
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

Address: 2-1-1, Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8505, Japan
Fax: +81-29-868-3950

5.　Applicants agree to the following conditions:

　1） Treatment of submissions
Applicants give all rights of the poems (including all rights included in Articles 27 and 28 of the Copyright Law of Japan) without condition to the organizers.
Applicants agree not to claim creator’s rights the submissions.
The submissions will not be returned to applicants.
The organizers shall have the right to use submitted works as necessary for the purpose of introducing this project and for records, space use, advertising, and space education, through TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, etc.
The organizers will not answer questions about each submission.
Any violation of the rules of submission will result in disqualification, even if the submission has already been selected for use.

　2）Responsibilities of applicants and exemption of responsibility of the organizers
All submissions must be previously unpublished works created by the applicants.
Applicants shall not submit work for which copyrights are owned by a third party.
Applicants must guarantee that the submissions do not violate any copyrights or other legal rights. If any legal problem arises with regard to a submitted work, the problem shall be resolved at the responsibility and expense of the applicant.
The organizers will make every effort to treat the submissions carefully, but will not bear responsibility if any accident occurs.

　3）Personal information
The personal information provided in the application shall be used only for notification and announcement of the selection results and events relating to the activities. In conjunction with the announcement of selection results, the organizer will announce name (or pen name), age, resident prefecture, and occupation. More information about treatment of personal information is available in the Web site’s privacy policy.

　4）Settlement of disputes
All applicants must agree with and accept JAXA’s policies on copyright and personal information, as well as other policies.