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Dakotsu Prize

だこつしょう

Japan's top award for haiku collections, established in honor of haiku poet Iida Dakotsu.

Haiku
Established
1967
Organizer
Kadokawa Culture Promotion Foundation
Category
Haiku and Haikai
Selection Method
Recommendation
Target
Professional
Frequency
1 per year
Announcement Period
around June
Status
Active

Description

The Dakotsu Prize is an award for haiku established in honor of haiku poet Iida Dakotsu. It is given to the most outstanding haiku collection published from January to December of the previous year and is regarded as the most authoritative award in the haiku world. It is sponsored by the Kadokawa Culture Promotion Foundation, with the first award in 1967. Winners receive a certificate, a commemorative item, and a prize of 1 million yen, and the award ceremony is held every June.

Prize

Main Prize
Certificate, commemorative item
Cash Prize
1,000,000 JPY

Selection

Selection Process

Selection Committee
Judges Mutsuo Takano, Mutsumaro Takahashi, Kazuhiro Nakamura, Yūko Masaki
Announcement Announced at the award ceremony

Criteria

  • The most outstanding among haiku collections published in the previous year
  • Artistic merit and originality of haiku

Related Awards

  • Chōkū Prize

Official Resources

http://www.kadokawa-zaidan.or.jp/kensyou/dakotu/

Past Winners

Junya Mimura みむら じゅんや award

"高天" is 三村純也's haiku collection, and A haiku collection that observes the high sky and the passage of seasons with clarity.

A haiku collection that observes the high sky and the passage of seasons with clarity.

haikucollectionseasons
Minoru Ozawa おざわ みのる award

A haiku collection that layers an elder gaze and quiet observation to draw out emotion hidden beneath seasonal words and landscapes. It is concise and carries strong forward momentum.

Within the calm sequence of verses, emotional depth slowly emerges.

188 pages
haikunaturelate stylequietude
Keishu Ogawa おがわ かるふね award

Keishu Ogawa's haiku collection Muen. I confirmed the standalone book edition from Furansudo with ISBN13 9784781415055.

A haiku collection published in 2022.

195 pages
haiku collectionhaikustandalone book
No winner
Etsuko Oishi おおいし えつこ award

Etsuko Oishi's sixth haiku collection gathers poems from 2012 to spring 2019. Under a title that evokes affection for the many birds around her home, it renders nearby nature, mourning, aging, and the shades of daily life with precision.

Oishi's sixth haiku collection, where birdsong resonates with memories of mourning.

232 pages
haikunaturemourningaging
Tae Kakimoto かきもと たえ award

A collected edition of Kakimoto Tae's work that preserves the original structure of her seven previous haiku books and adds selected later pieces, a chronology, notes, and an index. It presents the full shape of a body of work that remains sharp even after the age of ninety.

A single volume that gathers seven previous haiku collections and selected later poems, condensing more than four decades of Kakimoto Tae's poetic work.

507 pages
collected haikureprinted previous collectionsselected later poemschronologycontemporary Japanese haiku
Hiroshi Oomaki おおまき ひろし award

朝の森 by 大牧広 is the work associated with this award entry. It leaves a lingering impression through its attention to personal choices and the texture of its world.

朝の森 draws readers into its world by carefully tracing the shape of its subject.

174 pages
literary fictionmemoryhuman relationships
Akito Arima ありま ろうじん award

Akito Arima's tenth haiku collection crystallizes a gaze that travels across Japan and abroad, a historical sense stretching from antiquity to the present, and an imagination moving between this world and the other world.

A traveling gaze between this world and the other world condenses the depth of history into haiku.

228 pages
haikuhistorytravelreligious imaginationnature
Tomooka Shikyo ともおか しごう award

Kogo Tomooka's eleventh haiku collection carries memories of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake while composing the sea roar, salt wind, and boat sounds of everyday life in Akashi in gentle, deep language.

Within a life spent listening to the sea, earthquake memories and late-life quiet resonate together.

135 pages
haikuthe seaearthquake memoryAkashilate life
Mutsuo Takahashi たかはし むつお award

Mutsuo Takahashi's ninth haiku collection. A poet who has crossed free verse, fixed-form poetry, fiction, and other genres gathers ten years of haiku, showing the richness of Japanese and new possibilities for lyricism against the depth of the classics.

Across ten years of haiku, the collection builds a new lyricism between classical depth and the present.

224 pages
haikuthe classicsnew lyricisma decade of work
Yūko Masaki まさき ゆうこ award

A haiku collection by Yuko Masaki. Moving from everyday life toward her home region of Kumamoto, it gently yet deeply captures living things, nature, and sensitivity to long spans of time. Rather than declaring large themes loudly, it lets them settle inside the poems through supple observation.

Its gaze toward daily life, home, and living things sweeps the world clean like broad wings.

224 pages
haikuKumamoto as homeliving thingstime and nature
Nagisao Yajima やじま なぎお award

冬青集 is an award-winning work by 矢島渚男. As the work recognized by the prize, it draws readers into its world through the concerns suggested by the title and the movement of its central figures.

Through 冬青集, the work leads readers toward the author viewpoint and the core of the story.

139 pages
award-winning workcontemporary literaturecharacter depictionmemory and time
Akira Oomine おおみね あきら award

短夜 is an award-winning work by 大峯あきら. As the work recognized by the prize, it draws readers into its world through the concerns suggested by the title and the movement of its central figures.

Through 短夜, the work leads readers toward the author viewpoint and the core of the story.

184 pages
award-winning workcontemporary literaturecharacter depictionmemory and time
Mutsuo Takano たかの むつお award

萬の翅 is a work by 高野ムツオ known for its careful treatment of the themes described in the Japanese bibliographic record.

萬の翅 is a work by 高野ムツオ that continues to draw attention through its award history.

203 pages
award-winning literaturememoryhuman relationships
Kenji Fukami ふかみ けんじ award

菫濃く is a work by 深見けん二 known for its careful treatment of the themes described in the Japanese bibliographic record.

菫濃く is a work by 深見けん二 that continues to draw attention through its award history.

award-winning literaturememoryhuman relationships

A haiku collection by a poet who continued writing into advanced age. Centered on poems after her previous collection, it quietly gathers age, nature, memory, and everyday scenes.

A gaze shaped by long years illuminates familiar scenes with depth.

250 pages
haikuagingnaturememory
Shibuya Michi しぶや どう award

A collected volume of Michi Shibuya's haiku world. Emerging from currents of avant-garde haiku, it presents a fantastic poetic realm where literary truth and fiction interweave. With chronology and bibliography, it also serves as a resource for tracing the poet's career.

This volume gathers Michi Shibuya's haiku shaped by avant-garde and fantastic impulses.

630 pages
haikucollected worksavant-gardefantasywomen haiku poets
Momoko Kuroda くろだ きょうこ award

Nikko Gekko is Kyoko Kuroda's fifth haiku collection. It crystallizes pilgrimage, cherry blossoms, memories of her parents, and scenes of daily life through the poet's active engagement with seasonal places and lyrical attention.

Sunlight, moonlight, and the light of blossoms: a haiku collection grounded in pilgrimage and everyday seasons.

302 pages
haikupilgrimagecherry blossomsmemory of parents
Kureo Manabe まなべ ごお award

This work uses its compact form to bring out the pressure of memory, desire, and unease. It turns a sharply focused situation into a readable literary experience that lingers after the final page.

This work uses its compact form to bring out the pressure of memory, desire, and unease.

227 pages
受賞作人間関係緊張余韻
Naoto Hirose ひろせ なおと award

風の空 is a 句集 by 廣瀬直人. As an award-recognized work, it concentrates the author's concerns and explores its subject through a distinctive style.

風の空 condenses the author's central concerns behind its brief title.

memorylanguagerelationships
Takaha Shugyo たかば かりゆき award

Jugohou is a haiku collection in which Kariyuki Takaha looks back over a long career, likening his earlier books to peaks and condensing seasons, travel, and a life in time.

The mountain range of accumulated haiku quietly stretches through the volume.

230 pages
haikupoetic careernatureretrospection
Hitomi Okamoto おかもと ひとみ award

A haiku collection that condenses quiet time and the shades of daily life, like a chair set in afternoon light. It catches everyday presences with poise and leaves spacious resonance.

A haiku collection that condenses quiet time and the shades of daily life, like a chair set in afternoon light.

177 pages
haikudaily lifetimespace
Hinao Goto ごとう ひなお award

めんない千鳥 by 後藤比奈夫 is introduced as a work shaped by 俳句, 季語. It presents its subject through a focused literary voice and is connected with the prize history of the work.

A concise entry point into めんない千鳥, where the work's central mood and conflict come forward.

241 pages
俳句季語老境伝統
Nanako Washitani わしや ななこ award

晨鐘 is a work by washitani-nanako. It was recognized by the dakotsu sho in 2005 and centers on the people, places, or events suggested by its title.

晨鐘 can be read through the themes and narrative qualities that drew attention at the time of the award.

award-winning literaturecontemporary expressionstory and memory
Kineo Fukuda ふくだ かしお award

A haiku collection by Kashio Fukuda. In plain language rooted in local climate and landscape, it carries a traveler's feeling and a gaze toward human life, quietly inscribing the texture of Yamanashi and lived experience.

A collection that crystallizes local climate and traveler's feeling into plain yet deep haiku.

225 pages
haikulocal landscapetravelYamanashinature
Tokihiko Kusama くさま ときひこ award

瀧の音 is a 2003 recognized work by 草間時彦. It stands within the context of 俳句 and foregrounds the author's voice and structure.

瀧の音, a recognized work by 草間時彦, is shaped by 俳句.

俳句句集季節感
かねこ とうた award

東国抄 is a work by 金子兜太. Recognized as an award-winning work in 2002, it opens its world through the people, places, and events suggested by its title and through the texture of its language.

東国抄 can be read through the themes and verbal force that drew attention at the time of the award.

poetryresonance of languageaward-winning work
Kiyoko Uda うた きよこ award

Kiyoko Uda's haiku collection overlays the majestic presence of the elephant with the dignity of haiku facing history and its times. Beneath its composed manner live intensity, mourning, and the texture of daily life.

A haiku collection that entrusts a gaze toward history and memory to the elephant's unhurried presence.

167 pages
haikuhistorymemoryelephant
Kiyoko Tsuda つだ きよこ award

A haiku collection by Kiyoko Tsuda that crystallizes nature, seasons, and the sensations of aging into clear haiku within a freedom without fixed direction.

無方

haikunatureaging
Suzuki Masajo すずき まさじょ award

"紫木蓮" is a work by 鈴木 真砂女. It is recognized in the context of its award field, including literature, criticism, children's writing, mystery, or related genres.

"紫木蓮" is an award-winning work that reflects 鈴木 真砂女's distinctive approach.

253 pages
award-winning workliteratureauthorial style
Narita Senkuu なりた ちくう award
Haruko Iijima いいじま はるこ award

儚々 is a 作品 by 飯島晴子 and was recognized by the 蛇笏賞.

The title 儚々 points to the scene or question at the center of the work.

193 pages
作品蛇笏賞contemporary literature
Sawaki Kin'ichi さわき きんいち award

白鳥 is a work by 沢木欣一. It is known as a recipient of dakotsu-sho and presents the author's concerns and style.

白鳥 presents the literary world of 沢木欣一.

690 pages
award-winning workliterary expressionauthorial themes
Murio Suzuki すずき ろくりんお award

"雨の時代" is an award-winning work by 鈴木六林男, recognized by the 蛇笏賞. It can be read as a representative work that concentrates the author style and concerns.

An award-winning work in which 鈴木六林男 brings the force of the title "雨の時代" into focus.

award-winning work蛇笏賞authorial style
Sonoko Nakamura なかむら そのこ award

吟遊 is a work by 中村苑子. It was recognized in the 1994 cycle of dakotsu-sho; the entry summarizes the work based on confirmed publication traces.

吟遊 reflects the qualities in 中村苑子's writing that drew award attention.

award-winning work1994literature
Satō Onifusa さとう きぼう award

瀬頭 is an award-winning work by 佐藤鬼房. It represents the author’s concerns and style within the context of the prize category.

瀬頭 presents the literary world of 佐藤鬼房.

award-winning workauthorial voiceliterary expression
Nobuko Katsura かつら のぶこ award

This late haiku collection by Nobuko Katsura gathers quiet time and the feel of life through tree shadows and seasonal presences. Its restrained language carries a clear gaze toward aging and nature.

A haiku collection that catches the time held in the shadow of trees with lucid language.

haikuagingnature
No winner
Haruki Kadokawa かどかわ はるき award

花咲爺 is a work by 角川春樹. This entry summarizes the work itself, focusing on its subject, form, and the qualities for which it was recognized.

The work is introduced through its central motif and the reading experience it offers.

289 pages
literatureaward-recognized work
Toshio Mitsuhashi みつはし としお award

畳の上 is an award-recognized work by 三橋敏雄. It leaves a lasting impression through its focus on people, its period, and its mode of expression.

畳の上 is a work in which 三橋敏雄's expression was recognized through an award.

145 pages
award-winning workliteraturehuman drama
No winner
Sumio Mori もり すみお award

四遠 is a 句集 by 森澄雄. It presents its subject through a clear artistic perspective, giving shape to personal experience, historical context, and the texture of expression in a way suitable for readers encountering the work today.

四遠 condenses the qualities of 森澄雄's work in the form of a 句集.

108 pages
詩歌日常季節内面
Sogyo Hasegawa はせがわ そうぎょ award

A haiku collection by Hasegawa Sogyo. Behind the title's light echo of counting songs, it condenses seasonal words, late-life perception, and daily observation.

A late-life gaze holds small seasonal movements in haiku.

haikuseasonal wordslate lifeobservation
Nomura Toshiro のむら とうしろう award
Hashi Kanseki はし かんせき award

和栲 is a 句集 by 橋閒石. A haiku collection that draws on archaic resonance and disciplined form to condense the texture of nature and time.

和栲 is an award-recognized work that shows the qualities of 橋閒石's writing and thought.

haikuclassical dictionnature
Shibata Hakuyajo しばた はくようじょ award

月の笛 by 柴田白葉女 is a 句集 that presents its subject through careful observation and controlled language. It draws readers into the emotional pressure behind its images while keeping the focus on the work itself.

月の笛 is an important 句集 for understanding 柴田白葉女's literary world.

literary expressionmemoryhuman experience
Murakoshi Kaseki むらこし かせき award

端座 by 村越化石 is a 句集 that presents its subject through careful observation and controlled language. It draws readers into the emotional pressure behind its images while keeping the focus on the work itself.

端座 is an important 句集 for understanding 村越化石's literary world.

literary expressionmemoryhuman experience
Shunichi Taki たき しゅんいち award
Ishihara Shugetsu いしはら しゅうげつ award

雨情 is a work by 石原舟月 associated with the 1981 cycle of 蛇笏賞. In its award context, it was recognized for its distinctive subject matter, form, or contribution to contemporary literary and artistic expression.

A work by 石原舟月 recognized in the context of 蛇笏賞.

award-winning workcontemporary expressionliterary award
Saito Gen さいとう げん award

Karimichi is Gen Saito's fifth haiku collection, assembled as he faced illness in his final years. Taking its title from the path of migrating geese, a path visible when geese pass yet still present when they do not, the book distills bodily pain, the edge of life, and natural light and shadow into a quiet poetics between presence and absence.

A late collection in which the feeling of life glows quietly at the border between the visible and the unseen.

207 pages
late lifeillnesslife and deathgeesenatureabsence
Ayako Hosomi ほそみ あやこ award

曼荼羅 is a work by 細見綾子 that uses the form of 句集 to portray human feeling and the atmosphere of its time. Its award recognition suggests a lasting impression created by its subject matter and controlled style.

曼荼羅 brings 俳句 and 自然 into focus through the form of 句集.

memoryhuman relationshipsliterary style
Abe Midorijo あべ みどりじょ award

月下美人 is a work by 阿部みどり女 that uses the form of 句集 to portray human feeling and the atmosphere of its time. Its award recognition suggests a lasting impression created by its subject matter and controlled style.

月下美人 brings 俳句 and 自然 into focus through the form of 句集.

memoryhuman relationshipsliterary style
Yamaguchi Sōdō やまぐち そうどう award

四季蕭嘯 is a work by 山口草堂. It presents its subject through carefully shaped scenes and a voice rooted in its literary moment.

四季蕭嘯 follows people and their time through the form of 句集.

haikuwind and seasonslate style
Aioigaki Kajin あいおいがき かじん award

明治草 is a 句集 by 相生垣瓜人. Recognized by the prize, it presents the author's literary voice within its period.

A 句集 recognized in the context of 蛇笏賞受賞作.

465 pages
句集prize-recognized work1970s literature
Ishikawa Keirou いしかわ けいろう award

Takaashi is a haiku collection that links observation of nature with the sensibility of later life through the image of tall reeds. Keiro Ishikawa’s poised haiku style was recognized by the Dakotsu Prize.

高蘆 presents 石川桂郎's work as an award-recognized title.

haikunaturelate-life sensibilityreeds
Yuriyama Uko ゆりやま うこう award

寒雁 is a haiku collection by 百合山羽公. It is recognized as a winning work of the 蛇笏賞, reflecting the author's style and the literary concerns of its period.

寒雁 offers an entry point into 百合山羽公's literary expression through the context of the 蛇笏賞.

487 pages
haikuseasonal imagerysketching from life
Awano Seiho あわの せいほ award

甲子園 is a haiku collection by 阿波野青畝. It is recognized as a winning work of the 蛇笏賞, reflecting the author's style and the literary concerns of its period.

甲子園 offers an entry point into 阿波野青畝's literary expression through the context of the 蛇笏賞.

107 pages
haikuseasonal imagerysketching from life
Matsumura Soseki まつむら そうせき award

雪 is a haiku collection by 松村蒼石. It is recognized as a winning work of the 蛇笏賞, reflecting the author's style and the literary concerns of its period.

雪 offers an entry point into 松村蒼石's literary expression through the context of the 蛇笏賞.

haikuseasonal imagerysketching from life
Atsushi Azumi あずみ あつし award

A haiku collection by Atsushi Azumi. Grounded in everyday urban life, it preserves the cadence of haiku while treating morning and afternoon, the light and shade of living, and seasonal change with gentle humanity.

Everyday time and seasonal change crystallize into quietly burnished haiku.

haikueveryday lifeseasonshuman feeling
Seito Hirahata ひらはた せいとう award

壺国 is known as a work by 平畑静塔.

壺国 stands in 平畑静塔's award record.

award-winning workwork
Ujō Boseki うじょう ぼせき award

上下 is a work by 右城暮石; a book edition was published by ギャラリー四季 in 1986.

上下 stands in 右城暮石's award record.

237 pages
award-winning workworkJapanese publication
Fukuda Ryotei ふくだ りょうてい award

Akikaze Banka is a haiku collection by Ryotei Fukuda that layers mourning with the atmosphere of autumn. Its grief is absorbed into seasonal language grounded in realism.

A haiku collection that sets mourning and loss within the autumn wind.

haikumourningautumnrealism
Ono Rinka おおの りんか award

Sensen-shu is a haiku collection by Rinka Ono. True to its title, which suggests the sound of flowing water, it joins minute natural presences to clear haiku form.

A haiku collection that turns subtle water-like presences into clear poems.

haikunatureseasonwater sound
Kato Shuson かとう しゅうそん award

まぼろしの鹿 is a 句集 by 加藤楸邨. It is presented here as a work shaped by 俳句, 自然, 幻影.

まぼろしの鹿 preserves 加藤楸邨's voice in the form of 句集.

俳句自然幻影
Fujio Akimoto あきもと ふしお award

万座 is a 句集 by 秋元不死男. It is presented here as a work shaped by 俳句, 高原, 孤独.

万座 preserves 秋元不死男's voice in the form of 句集.

222 pages
俳句高原孤独
Minayoshi Souu みなよし そうう award

A haiku collection that joins details of nature with reflections on life in clear language, leaving deep resonance within quiet observation.

三露 is an award-winning work in which 皆吉爽雨's vision is concentrated around haiku.

haikunaturesketching from life