100 Poems by 100 Poets

Posted: July 12, 2010 | Author: Doug | Filed under: Japan, Literature | Leave a comment »

On the lighter side of things, I’ve accumulated a new hobby of sorts. Usually when people think of Japanese poetry, they think of haiku. Haiku certainly are popular in Japan and among Westerners particularly those with a Zen/Samurai fascination.¹ But among Japanese an arguably more important genre of poetry still relevant today is the waka (和歌). Where haiku are more medieval, waka are more classical in origin and were deeply interwoven into life at the Court.

One of the most famous anthologies of Waka poetry is the hyakunin isshu (百人一首) compiled by Fujiwara no Teika in the early 13th century. This anthology features 100 poems by 100 famous people in the Heian Period and further in the past: emperors, empresses, priests, court nobles and ladies. Many other similar anthologies existed, but most have become obscure, whereas the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu (or just Hyakunin Isshu) above has endured the test of time. Even now, in Japan, schoolchildren study the poems in this anthology when learning about Classical literature and history. Indeed, my wife still fondly remembers studying the Hyakunin Isshu, and can still remember some of the poems contained therein. She’s told me before that she enjoys poem #77 the best:

瀬をはやみ se wo hayami
岩にせかるる iwa ni sekaruru
滝川の takigawa no
われても末に waretemo sue ni
あはむとぞ思ふ awantozo omou

The translation, according to this helpful website is:

Though a swift stream is
Divided by a boulder
In its headlong flow,
Though divided, on it rushes,
And at last unites again.

By the way, someone put up translations and analysis for the first 25 out of 100 poems in the anthology here. It’s very well done, so don’t hesitate to take a look.

For my part, I have been reading a book on the Hyakunin Isshu in Japanese, featuring the famous cartoon character Chibi Marukochan (same series as this book which I’ve read). This book is for younger audiences, especially girls (oops!), but I enjoy reading it nevertheless. Still, I put the book in a book cover as I don’t want people on the bus to think I am crazy.² My Japanese is not fluent, and the book is still a challenge for me to read, but the explanations of the poems in simpler, contemporary are very helpful, and the book serves as a good way to practice reading in Japanese. Because I am fascinated with the subject matter of Classical Japanese culture, I found myself unexpectedly motivated to read, even when my brain gets tired of reading in a foreign language. Something to bear in mind for all you language students out there.

Another way that the Hyakunin Isshu is popular in Japan is through a card-game called utagaruta (歌ガルタ), where the word karuta is originally derived from the Portuguese word carta or “card”. Karuta-based games are quite popular in Japan, where there are two decks, one for reading and one for grabbing if you know the answer. We have 4 different karuta decks for our little girl dealing with things like the Japanese kana letters, famous kotowaza (proverbs) and even one for the Hyakunin Isshu. She’s far too young for the latter game, but I plan to brush up and challenge my wife one of these days! She’s had it too good for too long.

But you can see in schools and competitions such games, where school-aged children huddle around a pile of cards. One reads the clues, and suddenly snap! someone snatches the card right away. Here’s a funny video I found on Youtube from a sketch comedy in Japan that shows the Court-era dress (even though it’s supposedly the later Muromachi Period), and what the game might look like in modern terms:

The joke here is that the reader was supposed to read the first line of the poem, but said “ji ga yomenai no” (I can’t read the handwriting), confusing the others into thinking that was the poem. Silly.

Also, when reading Waka poems, and the Hyakunin Isshu, there’s a certain ritualized style of reciting the poem. I had a hard time finding a legitimate video of someone reading such a poem out loud (most videos had too much background noise), but this home video is easier to hear:

This is also a nice example of playing at home with family and such. Yet another video in Japanese, which carefully explains the game is found and how to play like a professional is found here:

While haiku have captured the minds of Westerners for generations, I think the Hyakunin Isshu and Waka in general are an overlooked genre in Japanese poetry that deserves greater attention. I certainly enjoy reading about them, even if my Japanese is pretty sub-par.

P.S. Thanks to a burst of inspiration and some free time, moving back to M-W-F schedule again (Sundays as always have a post).

¹ I happen to not be one of them.

² While reading a little side-story about the famous poetess Izumi Shikibu, I was really embarrassed to read the little romance-comic in the book, so I tried to skim through that a little quicker. The things I do to learn Japanese. :p They do have male-comics at the local Kinokuniya bookstore in Seattle, but I don’t know any of the characters, so just stuck with Chibi Marukochan as I genuinely enjoy the comic.

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