The Yokai Senryu poetry contest has ended, primarily because organizers found it increasingly difficult to differentiate between submissions created by humans and those generated by artificial intelligence. Generative AI can easily produce poems in forms like haiku and senryu, making human authorship hard to verify, according to The Mainichi newspaper on 30/3.

Tsuyoshi Furuhashi, a senior manager at the Sakaiminato Tourism Association, the contest's organizing body, explained their decision. "We do not view AI as inherently bad, but society still lacks clear rules for its use," Furuhashi stated. "Marking the 20-year milestone of the contest, we decided this was an appropriate time to bring it to a close."

The Yokai Senryu contest began in 2006 with the goal of promoting Sakaiminato as a "town of yokai." Sakaiminato is the hometown of renowned manga artist Shigeru Mizuki. The competition invited authors to submit senryu, which are short satirical poems, about various folklore monsters. At its peak, the organizers received 8,335 entries from across Japan.

Manga characters on a street corner in Sakaiminato. Photo: Yasu-notebook.

Manga characters on a street corner in Sakaiminato. Photo: Yasu-notebook.

Artificial intelligence has significantly impacted many fields in recent years, including literature. Some writing and poetry competitions have introduced regulations prohibiting AI-generated works, though some cases are still accepted. In December 2023, an AI-created work titled "The Land of Machine Memories" surpassed nearly 200 competitors to win second prize at the fifth Jiangsu Science Fiction Novel Competition.

Looking ahead, the organizers are considering a future event where contestants would travel to Sakaiminato and compose their poems on-site. Furuhashi hopes to create an interactive gathering where yokai enthusiasts can meet and create together.