The Genjuan International Haibun Contest was established in 2012 by Nobuyuki Yuasa and Stephen Henry Gill, who had been running and judging its predecessor, the Kikakuza International Haibun Contest, since 2009. The organization of the Genjuan Contest and publication of winning pieces in anthologies was soon taken over by the Hailstone Haiku Circle in Kansai and continues through 2021.

Japan Air Lines sponsored a haiku contest for poets in the United States in 1964. This was the first and by far the largest competition outside Japan; some 41,000 entries were received in 17 contests arranged by local radio stations. Prominent Zen specialist Alan Watts was the contest judge. Watts selected one National Winner and eighty-three semifinalists, whose winning haiku were published by JAL in a booklet, Haiku ’64. The 1964 JAL contest is commonly believed to have been the catalytic event in American haiku.