British schoolgirl named first non-Japanese winner of haiku contest

Gracie Starkey collects prize in Tokyo after her grass poem is chosen from more than 18,000 English-language entries

A British schoolgirl inspired by an autumnal stroll across a newly mown lawn has become the first non-Japanese person to win a prestigious haiku competition.

Gracie Starkey, 14, from Gloucestershire, beat more than 18,000 entries to take the prize in the English-language section of the contest organised annually by a Japanese tea company.