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.

Stephen Henry Gill (haigō Tito; born July 23, 1953, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, U.K.). Lecturer at Kyoto University, scriptwriter for the BBC, translator, and conservationist. He founded the Hailstone Haiku Circle, Kansai, in 2000 and launched the Circle’s website, Icebox, in 2008. With Nobuyuki Yuasa in 2012 he founded the Genjuan International Haibun Contest. article about the Genjuan contest.