Haiku Contest--deadline June

TO EN (North America), INC., the world's leading purveyor of green tea products and beverages, today announced its call-for-entries for"Haiku Project 2009." Inspired by the spirit of change in our country today, participants can enter a haiku around the themes of "Change," "Hope" and "Progress". The winning haiku will grace the bottles of ITO EN's award-winning tea line, TEAS' TEA, a naturally brewed ready-to-drink tea line that is rich in antioxidants and Vitamin C.

"The themes of change, hope and progress are spoken of daily in the news media, by our leaders and in our personal lives," said Rona Tison, senior vice present of corporate relations for ITO EN. "From the beginning of time, poetry, especially haiku, has been used to convey the most important of messages. This year, ITO EN invites you to express yourself -- your views and feelings -- about these themes through the time-honored medium of haiku."

To be eligible for the Haiku Project 2009, entrants must submit a haiku (a three lined poem in three metrical phrases with the number of syllables of 5 (first line), 7 (second line), and 5 (third or last line)) that reflects your vision of tomorrow based around Change, Hope and Progress, to (replace (at) with @)

Submissions will start on March 6, 2009 and run for a period of 4 months. ITO EN representatives will evaluate all submissions and select the winners of the 2009 Haiku Project. The winning contestants will be notified by ITO EN and may be required to sign and return a Submission Release Form before their haiku will be printed on the bottles of TEA'S TEA in 2010*.

For more information on Haiku Project 2009, please visit www.haikuproject.net