Judges for the contest are haiku experts: Kanta Ishi, Yasuaki Inoue, Kiyoko Uda, Akira Ogushi, Keishu Ogawa, Minoru Ozawa, Momoko Kuroda, Mutsuo Takano, Eriko Tsugawa, Itsuki Natsui, Yuko Masaki, and Seegan Mabesoone.

The Mainichi Haiku Contest consists of three sections:

Applications are easy and can be posted or made over the Internet through the online forms provided below. For the blind, applications can also be submitted in Braille.

Entries must be original haiku and must not have been published or submitted anywhere else. Double submissions will not be accepted. The release and publishing copyrights of any of the entries that are published in subsequent haiku collections will remain with The Mainichi Newspapers.

・ There is no limit to the number of submissions you may send.

・ Please apply from the online submission forms below.

・ Posted applications are available only within Japan, with the exception of entries in Braille. To apply by mail from
Japan or in Braille, please post your submission on any A4-sized piece of paper together with your address, name, telephone number, age, and gender to:

　Mainichi Haiku Contest Office, The Mainichi Newspapers, 1-1-1, Hitotsubashi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 100-8051, Japan.

・ Please submit your haiku in a single language only, either English or French.

・ The submission fee is US$10 per haiku, with the exception of Children's Section entries and up to two haiku in Braille, which may be submitted free of charge.

・ The payment method for online submissions will be limited to electronic payment by PayPal or credit card.

・ For those applying by mail, please transfer the fee using the transfer payment form (payment handling slip). All handling fees will be borne by the applicant.

・ First Prize (1 person): The equivalent of a 50,000 yen* cash prize and a digital award certificate.
　*The prize will be converted at the exchange rate at the time of remittance.

・ Second Prize (several people): A digital award certificate.

Entries in the General Section cost 1,200 yen per haiku. Money for General Section entries should be sent by postal transfer to the Mainichi Haiku Taisho Jimukyoku (Mainichi Haiku Contest Office),  Account No. 00170-9-605230. For further details see the information page (in Japanese).