The purpose of this contest is to help stimulate children's creativity and to encourage international exchange through Haiku, the world's shortest form of poetry.

A subset of the competition will be open for Hawaii youth. Three Hawaii judges will select 50 outstanding entries, and each will receive a certificate of merit and a souvenir gift. From these 50 entries, one grand champion will be selected.

The winning Haiku and its illustration will be published in the World Children Haiku Book, Volume 10, which will be distributed worldwide. The grand prize will be two economy round trip tickets to Tokyo, Japan, for the winner and an escort.

The 10th World Children's Haiku Contest 2008 is organized by the JAL Foundation, and sponsored by Japan Airlines. It is supported by the Japan Committee to UNICEF.

Applicants must be elementary or junior high school students, 15 years old or younger by Feb. 29, 2008, living in Hawaii.

Entries should be in Haiku form, the traditional 3-line verse of 17 syllables divided into a 5-7-5 pattern.

The theme for this year is "winds." The poem can be any thought or feeling related to winds.

The Haiku and an illustration, in color or black and white, should be drawn by the author of the Haiku, on the same piece of letter-sized paper.

Name, Age, Grade, Teacher's Name and School, should be clearly written on the back of the Haiku entry.

Entries must be written in English.

The poem and illustration must be the student's original work.

One Haiku and Illustration entry per person.

The contest is open until Feb. 29, 2008.