Hyakunin Isshu

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hyakunin isshu (百人一首, Hyakunin isshu^?) is a traditional 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.

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.

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; hence the full name of "Ogura Hyakunin Isshu".

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, Aikoku Hyakunin Isshu^?), or One Hundred Patriotic Poems by One Hundred Poets. Also important is Kyōka Hyakunin Isshu (狂歌百人一首, Kyōka Hyakunin Isshu^?), a series of parodies of the original Ogura collection.

[edit] References

• Fujiwara no Sadaie, ed. (1982). The Little Treasury of One Hundred People, One Poem Each, translated by Tom Galt. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Mostow, Joshua S., ed. (1996). Pictures of the Heart: The Hyakunin Isshu in Word and Image. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.

[edit] External links

• Ogura Hyakunin Isshu - 100 Poems by 100 Poets at University of Virginia Library Japanese Text Initiative
• Modern translation and commentary -(work in progress by Mark Jewel, Waseda University professor, at his The Japanese Literature Home Page
• One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each: A Translation of the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, translated by Peter McMillan, Professor, Kyojin University, Tokyo.