Hyakunin Isshu

Poem Card No.1

Ogura shikisi by Teika

Hyakunin isshu (百人一首^?) is a traditional anthology style of compiling Japanese waka poetry where each contributor writes one poem for the anthology. Literally, it translates to "one hundred people, one poem [each]". It also refers to the card game of uta-garuta, which uses a deck composed of poems from one such anthology.

Ogura Hyakunin Isshu

The most famous hyakunin isshu, often referred to as "the" Hyakunin Isshu because no other one compares to its notability, is the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, compiled by Fujiwara no Teika (or Sadaie, 1162 – 1241) while he lived in the Ogura district of Kyoto, Japan.^[1]

One of Teika's diaries, the Meigetsuki, says that his son, Fujiwara no Tame'ie, asked him to arrange one hundred poems for Tame'ie's father-in-law, who was furnishing a residence near Mount Ogura;^[2] hence the full name of "Ogura Hyakunin Isshu". In order to decorate screens of the residence, Fujiwara no Teika produced the calligraphy poem sheets.^[3]

In his own lifetime, Teika was well known for other work. For example, in 1200 (Shōji 2), Teika prepared another anthology of one hundred poems for ex-Emperor Go-Toba. This was called the Shōji Hyakushu.^[4]

Poems

Poem number 2^[5]
One of the poems attributed to Empress Jitō was selected by Fujiwara no Teika for inclusion in the popular anthology Hyakunin Isshu. The text is visually descriptive.

The spring has passed And the summer come again For the silk-white robes So they say, are spread to dry On the Mount of Heaven's perfume

春過ぎて (Haru sugite?) 夏来にけらし (Natsu ki ni kerashi?) 白妙の (Shirotae no?) 衣ほすてふ (Koromo hosu cho?) 天の香具山 (Ama no Kaguyama?)[5]

Poem number 26^[6]
A quite different poem is attributed to Sadaijin Fujiwara no Tadahira in the context of a very specific incident. After abdicating, former Emperor Uda, visited Mount Ogura in Yamashiro province; and Uda 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 to visit the same area. Prince Tenshin or Prince Teishin (貞信公, Teishin Ko^?) was Tadahira's posthumous name, and this is the name commonly associated with a poem which observes that "[t]The maples of Mount Ogura, If they could understand, Would keep their brilliant leaves, until [t]he Ruler of this land Pass with his Royal band."^[7] 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 maples.^[8]

If the maple leaves On Ogura mountain Could only have hearts, They would longingly await The emperor's pilgrimage.

小倉山 (Ogurayama?) 峰のもみじ葉 (Mine no momijiba?) 心あらば (Kokoro araba?) 今ひとたびの (Ima hitotabi no?) みゆきまたなむ (Miyuki matanamu?)[5]

Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, Arashiyama

In November 2003, the Kyoto Chamber of Commerce and Industry founded the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu Cultural Foundation to promote this work of literature and poetic appreciation.^[9]

In January 2006, The Ogura Hyakunin Isshu Hall of Fame Shigure-den was completed in Arashiyama.^[9] This museum introduces visitors to Hyakunin Isshu using the latest digital technology.^[10]

During the following years, 100 monuments inscribed with the 100 poems from the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu are planned for installation in the nearby vicinity.^[9]

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.^[11] Other translators include William N. Porter, A Hundred Verses from Old Japan (1909), Clay MacCauley, Hyakunin-isshu (Single Songs of a Hundred Poets) (1917), Kenneth Rexroth, One Hundred Poems from the Japanese (1955), 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 McMillan, One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each (2008), and 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-era Aikoku Hyakunin Isshu (愛国百人一首^?), or One Hundred Patriotic Poems by One Hundred Poets. Also important is Kyōka Hyakunin Isshu (狂歌百人一首^?), a series of parodies of the original Ogura collection.

Card game

Teika's anthology is the basis for the card game of karuta, which has been popular since the Edo period.^[12]

Many forms of playing game with Hyakunin Isshu exist in Japan.

Main article: Uta-garuta

Also Competitive Karuta (Kyogi Karuta) are played.

Main article: Competitive Karuta

Notes

1. ^ Mostow, Joshua. (1996). Pictures of the Heart: The Hyakunin Isshu in Word and Image, p.25.
2. ^ Ogurayama: Latitude: 34° 53' 60 N, Longitude: 135° 46' 60 E; Kyoto Prefecture web site: northwest of Arashiyama Park.
3. ^ Mostow, p.94.
4. ^ Brower, Robert H. "Fujiwara Teika's Hundred-Poem Sequence of the 'Shoji Era'." Monumenta Nipponica. Vol. 31, No. 3 (Autumn, 1976), pp. 223-249.
5. ^ ^{a b c} University of Virginia, Hyakunin Isshu on-line
6. ^ Fujiwara no Sadaiie, Clay MacCauley. (1917). Ogura Hyakunin Isshu from Hyakunin-Isshu. Yokohama: Kelly and Walsh, Ltd.
7. ^ Fujiwara no Tadahira. "Prince Teishin" (貞信公 Teishin Ko), A Hundred Verses from Old Japan, Being a Translation of the Hyakunin Isshu, p. 26.
8. ^ Fujiwara no Tadahira, p. 25.
9. ^ ^{a b c} Kyoto Chamber of Commerce and Industry: Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, Arashiyama
10. ^ Kyoto City Tourism and Culture Information Site: Shigure-den
11. ^ Yone Noguchi, Hyaku Nin Isshu in English, Waseda Bungaku (1907)
12. ^ Honan, William H. "Why Millions in Japan Read All About Poetry," New York Times. March 6, 2000.

See also

• Nisonin, Kyoto

References

• Fujiwara no Sadaie, Thomas Galt. (1982). The Little Treasury of One Hundred People, One Poem Each. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 10-ISBN 0-691-06514-4; 13-ISBN 978-0-691-06514-4
• 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. 10-ISBN 4-8053-0853-2; 13-ISBN 978-4-8053-0853-0
• Mostow, Joshua S., ed. (1996). Pictures of the Heart: The Hyakunin Isshu in Word and Image. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. 10-ISBN 0 824817052; 13-ISBN 9780824817053; OCLC 645187818

Further reading

• One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each: A Translation of the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, Peter McMillan, foreword by Donald Keene. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-231-14398-1
• 100 Poets: Passions of the Imperial Court, Emiko Miyashita and Michael Dylan Welch, translators. Tokyo: PIE Books, 2008. ISBN 978-4-89444-757-8 This book is also available as an iPad/iPhone application.

External links

• Ogura Hyakunin Isshu - 100 Poems by 100 Poets at University of Virginia Library Japanese Text Initiative
• One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each: A Translation of the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, translated by Peter McMillan, Professor, Kyojin University, Tokyo.
• "The Timeless 100" -(Time magazine; review of Peter McMillan's translation)