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.

Nobuyuki Yuasa (Japanese style Yuasa Nobuyuki 湯浅 信之; haigō Sosui; born February 10, 1932, Hiroshima, Japan). Professor Emeritus, Hiroshima University, and translator, principally of classical Japanese haikai. Yuasa judged the British Haiku Society Haibun Contest from 2002 to 2004, and co-judged (with Stephen Henry Gill) the Kikakuza Haibun Contest 2009–2011 and (with Gill) was co-founder and co-judge of the Genjuan Haibun Contest from 2012 to 2014.