Renewal of International Haiku Ambassador for Japan-EU Friendship

On Monday 20 November 2023, Ambassador Masaki welcomed H.E. Mr. Herman Van Rompuy to his residence where Mr. Van Rompuy’s title of International Haiku Ambassador for Japan-EU Friendship was renewed until 2025. The Japanese government appointed Mr Van Rompuy as Haiku Ambassador in 2015 for the first time, and this is the fifth time that this Ambassadorship has been renewed for a period of 2 years. Mr. Van Rompuy continues to contribute to promoting cultural exchanges through haiku and to strengthening the ties between Japan and the EU. 

To mark the occasion, Mr. Van Rompuy recited two haiku he composed during his recent visit to Warsaw, Poland looking at the nature there as autumn deepens.

 
 Leaves fly
 by the wind to their last place,
 Far from their tree
 
 A mass grave
 of leaves on the grass
 Death becomes nice there