is a classical Japanese anthology of one hundred Japanese ''waka'' by one hundred poets. ''Hyakunin isshu'' can be translated to "one hundred people, one poem ach; it can also refer to the card game of ''

uta-garuta is a type of a deck of ''karuta'', Japanese traditional playing cards. A set of ''uta-garuta'' contains 100 cards, with a ''waka (poetry), waka'' poem written on each. ''Uta-garuta'' is also the name of the game in which the deck is used. The st ...

'', which uses a deck composed of cards based on the ''Hyakunin Isshu''. The most famous and standard version was compiled by

Fujiwara no Teika , better-known as Fujiwara no Teika"Sadaie" and "Teika" are both possible readings of ; "...there is the further problem, the rendition of the name in romanized form. Teika probably referred to himself as Sadaie, and his father probably called ...

(1162–1241) while he lived in the Ogura district of

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the c ...

. It is therefore also known as .

Compilation

One of Teika's diaries, the ''Meigetsuki'' (明月記), says that his son Tameie asked him to arrange one hundred poems for Tameie's father-in-law, Utsunomiya Yoritsuna, who was furnishing a residence near Mount Ogura; hence the full name of ''Ogura Hyakunin Isshu''. In order to decorate screens of the residence,

produced the calligraphy poem sheets.

Hishikawa Moronobu Hishikawa Moronobu ( ja, 菱川師宣; 1618 – 25 July 1694) was a Japanese artist known for popularizing the ukiyo-e genre of woodblock prints and paintings in the late 17th century. He consolidated the works of scattered Japanese art s ...

(1618–1694) provided woodblock portraits for each of the poets included in the anthology.

Katsukawa Shunshō Shunshō Katsukawa ( ja, 勝川春章; 1726 – 19 January 1793) was a Japanese painter and printmaker in the '' ukiyo-e'' style, and the leading artist of the Katsukawa school. Shunshō studied under Miyagawa Shunsui, son and student of ...

(1726–1793) designed prints for a full-color edition published in 1775. In his own lifetime, Teika was better known for other work. For example, in 1200 (''Shōji 2''), Teika prepared another anthology of one hundred poems for ex-

Emperor Go-Toba was the 82nd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1183 through 1198. This 12th-century sovereign was named after Emperor Toba, and ''go-'' (後), translates literally as "later"; a ...

. This was called the ''Shōji Hyakushu''.

Poets

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Poems

Poem number 1

A poem by

Emperor Tenji , also known as Emperor Tenchi, was the 38th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')天智天皇 (38)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession.Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). ''The Imperial House of Japan'', p. 52 ...

about the hardships of farmers. Teika chose this poem from the '' Gosen Wakashū'':

Poem number 2

A visually-descriptive poem attributed to Empress Jitō. Teika chose this poem from the '' Shin Kokin Wakashū'': The original was likely based from a poem of the ''

Man'yōshū The is the oldest extant collection of Japanese (poetry in Classical Japanese), compiled sometime after AD 759 during the Nara period. The anthology is one of the most revered of Japan's poetic compilations. The compiler, or the last in ...

'' (book 1, poem 28) by the same poet.

Poem number 26

A quite different poem is attributed to ''

Sadaijin The ''Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary'', Kenkyusha Limited, was a government position in Japan in the late Nara and Heian periods. The position was consolidated in the Taihō Code of 702. The Asuka Kiyomihara Code of 689 marks the in ...

'' Fujiwara no Tadahira in the context of a very specific incident. After abdicating, former

Emperor Uda was the 59th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 宇多天皇 (59)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Uda's reign spanned the years from 887 through 897. Traditional narrative Name and legacy Befor ...

visited Mount Ogura in

Yamashiro Province was a province of Japan, located in Kinai. It overlaps the southern part of modern Kyoto Prefecture on Honshū. Aliases include , the rare , and . It is classified as an upper province in the '' Engishiki''. Yamashiro Province included Kyot ...

. He was so greatly impressed by the beauty of autumn colours of the maples that he ordered Fujiwara no Tadahira to encourage Uda's son and heir,

Emperor Daigo was the 60th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 醍醐天皇 (60)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Daigo's reign spanned the years from 897 through 930. He is named after his place of burial. G ...

, to visit the same area. was Tadahira's posthumous name, and this is the name used in William Porter's translation of the poem which observes that " e maples of Mount Ogura / If they could understand / Would keep their brilliant leaves / until e Ruler of this land / Pass with his Royal band." The accompanying 18th century illustration shows a person of consequence riding an ox in a procession with attendants on foot. The group is passing through an area of maple leaves. Teika chose this poem from the '' Shūi Wakashū'' for the hundred poems collection:

Poem number 86

A poem by

Saigyō was a famous Japanese poet of the late Heian and early Kamakura period. Biography Born in Kyoto to a noble family, he lived during the traumatic transition of power between the old court nobles and the new samurai warriors. After the start ...

about the pain of love. This poem was chosen from the '' Senzai Wakashū'':

English translations

The ''Ogura Hyakunin Isshu'' has been translated into many languages and into English many times, beginning with Yone Noguchi's ''Hyaku Nin Isshu in English'' in 1907. Other translations include: * William N. Porter, ''A Hundred Verses from Old Japan'' (1909) * Clay MacCauley, ''Hyakunin-isshu (Single Songs of a Hundred Poets)'' (1917) * Tom Galt, ''The Little Treasury of One Hundred People, One Poem Each'' (1982) * Joshua S. Mostow, ''Pictures of the Heart: The Hyakunin Isshu in Word and Image'' (1996) * Peter MacMillan, ''One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each: A Treasury of Classical Japanese Verse'' (2008;

Penguin Classics Penguin Classics is an imprint of Penguin Books under which classic works of literature are published in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean among other languages. Literary critics see books in this series as important members of the West ...

, revised edition 2018) * Emiko Miyashita and Michael Dylan Welch, ''100 Poets: Passions of the Imperial Court'' (2008)

Other Hyakunin Isshu anthologies

Many other anthologies compiled along the same criteria—one hundred poems by one hundred poets—include the words ''hyakunin isshu'', notably the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

-era , or ''One Hundred Patriotic Poems by One Hundred Poets''. Also important is , a series of parodies of the original ''Ogura'' collection.

Card game

Teika's anthology is the basis for the card game of ''

karuta are Japanese playing cards. Playing cards were introduced to Japan by Portuguese traders during the mid-16th century. These early decks were used for trick-taking games. The earliest indigenous ''karuta'' was invented in the town of Miike in ...

'', which has been popular since the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

. Honan, William H.br> "Why Millions in Japan Read All About Poetry,"
''New York Times.'' March 6, 2000. Many forms of playing games with ''Hyakunin Isshu'' exist in Japan, such as ''

Uta-garuta is a type of a deck of ''karuta'', Japanese traditional playing cards. A set of ''uta-garuta'' contains 100 cards, with a ''waka (poetry), waka'' poem written on each. ''Uta-garuta'' is also the name of the game in which the deck is used. The st ...

'', the basis for competitive karuta (''kyōgi karuta'').

Notes

References

* Fujiwara no Sadaie, Thomas Galt. (1982)
''The Little Treasury of One Hundred People, One Poem Each.''
Princeton:

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial ...

. * Fujiwara no Sadaie, Yoritsuna Utsunomiya, William Ninnis Porter. (1979
''A Hundred Verses from Old Japan, Being a Translation of the Hyaku-nin-isshiu: Being a Translation of the Hyaku-nin-isshiu.''
Tokyo:

Tuttle Publishing Tuttle Publishing, originally the Charles E. Tuttle Company, is a book publishing company that includes Tuttle, Periplus Editions, and Journey Editions.

. * Mostow, Joshua S., ed. (1996)
''Pictures of the Heart: The Hyakunin Isshu in Word and Image.''
Honolulu:

University of Hawaii Press A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

.
OCLC 645187818
* 新総合図説国語新訂版, 東京書籍株式会社, (2016), 池内輝雄・三角洋一・吉原英夫, SINSOUGOU ZUSETSUKOKUGO revised edition, TOKYO SHOSEKI CO., LTD.(2016), Teruo Ikeuchi・Youichi Misumi・Hideo Yosiwara. * 古語辞典第十版, 旺文社, (2008), 松村明・山口明穂・和田利政, KOGOZITEN 10th edition, OBUNSHA(2008), Akari Matsumura・Akiho Yamaguchi・Toshimasa Wada. * 全訳古語辞典第四版, 旺文社, (2011), 宮腰賢・石井正己・小田勝, ZENYAKU KOGOZITEN 4th edition, OBUNSYA(2011), Masaru Miyakoshi・Masami Ishii・Masaru Oda

External links

Ogura Hyakunin Isshu
at

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

Library Japanese Text Initiative * {{Authority control Japanese literature Japanese poetry anthologies Articles containing Japanese poems Fujiwara no Teika