0The Eloquent World of Haiku in Confronting Cancer

Asia Cancer Forum, organized by UICC Headquarters, invites you to a special seminar on 31May 2023. The seminar, entitled 'Cancer Haiku', will focus on confronting cancer through haiku. The
fragility and beauty of life, conflict and reconciliation, fear and hope are delicately woven into succinct
poems that will deeply touch your heart. Through the power and delicacy of her poetry, Kika Hotta's
haiku shows us how to face the illness of cancer and make sense of it. They also give us hints on how toincorporate the experience into our lives. Asia Cancer Forum continues to look at the cultural dimensionof how the disease of cancer relates to human existence at Lilac Tree House. Join us for a time to think,feel, understand and gain a new perspective on the disease of cancer through the beauty of poetry. We
look forward to welcoming you to this event.

Norie KAWAHARA - Representative Director - Asia Cancer ForumKika HOTTA

Kika HOTTA, Japanese poet, writes in a variety of styles and languages, but is largely known
for haiku poems. Hotta has combined traditional aesthetics of haiku with numerous poetic devices of alltimes, as well as contemporary themes, such as warfare, terrorism, nuclear power, social injustice,
totalitarianism, surveillance society, feminism, gender identity, immigrants, refugees, and care. Hotta’s
haiku poems have been translated into more than ten languages and published in poetry journals
throughout the world. Hotta is winner of a number of awards in Japan, including the prestigious New
Face Award of Minister of Education Fine Arts Award for Literature (2021), one of the only two awardsof the Japanese government given to the best works of literature (the New Face Award generally goes torecipients up to the age of fifty; the other one goes to those over fifty) and the Modern Haiku AssociationAward (2022). Hotta is currently Director of Modern Haiku Association, Director of Haiku International
Association, Member of the Japan Writers' Association, and Founding Chair of “Rakuen” journal. Hotta
has published four solo poetry collections – “Wakuran (Bewilderment)”, “Arabia”, “Seibou (Faces)”,“Jinrui-no-gogo (The Afternoon of the Humankind)” – and one collection of criticisms “Haiku MeetsTanka” on top of many co-authored collections of poems, criticisms, and essays.

Cancer Haiku and UICC

Dr. Katsusaburo Yamagiwa, as evidenced by the prestigious UICC's YY Grant named in hishonor, is an individual who indeed unfurled the future of cancer research. Dr.Yamagiwa extensively
promoted cancer research in Japan. In 1907 Cancer Science, peer-reviewed medical journal coveringresearch in oncology, was first issued by him. In addition, he and his colleagues found the JapaneseFoundation for Cancer Research in 1908. In a series of experiments conducted in 1915, Yamagiwa and hisassistant Kōichi Ichikawa (1888–1948) induced squamous cell carcinomas on the ears of rabbits using
coal tar, demonstrating the latter's carcinogenic properties. This haiku of his was created during an
inspirational moment in the laboratory, upon his confident realization of successfully creating cancer. The
haiku reads, "Cancer complete, proudly I walk two, three steps within the room," likely expressing thethrilling exhilaration at this historical moment of scientific discovery.

References 「Ganken−Treasures of JFCR by Dr. Tomoyuki Kitagawa, the former Director of theUICC Japan Committee.」2021 No3.p16