1
Introduction to the Kokinshū
The Kokin wakashū, or Kokinshū, is a collection of 1,111 Japanese poems (waka),
that was compiled and presented to Emperor Daigo (r. 897-930) in the early 10th
century. Its main compiler was the famous poet Ki no Tsurayuki (872?-945?), who
also wrote the Kana Preface to the collection and included ninety-nine of his own
poems. Literally, Kokin wakashū means “Collection of Ancient and Modern Japanese
poems.” The Japanese poem, waka or uta, is a 31 syllable form in five measures in a
pattern of 5/7/5/7/7 syllables, and was so called to distinguish it from shi, Chinese
poetry, which was also commonly practiced by the Heian court.
One of the objectives of the Kokinshū was to bring waka to the forefront of the
cultural life of the imperial court. The collection is therefore an attempt to create a
normative source of poetic associations, motifs, and styles, which would become a
standard for composing poetry. It thus includes poems that are representative of a
particular topic (eg. “cherry blossoms,” “deer,” “moon”), and/or representative in style,
and/or composed by famous poets (both “ancient” and “modern”). The Kokinshū also
sets up narrative sequences that affect the meaning of each individual poem by
placing it in a particular context relative to other poems.
This is a brief selection of twenty-four poems, from Volumes 1-2 (Spring), 4-5
(Autumn) and 11-15 (Love).
2
Volumes 1-2 (Spring)
Composed on a day when spring arrived in the old year
Ariwara no Motokata
1 Spring has arrived
before the end of the year:
the year to date,
are we to call it “last year”?
or do we call it “this year” 1
1 The Heian court used a combination of a lunar calendar to count the months and a solar calendar to
mark the seasons. The solar calendar year was made up of 24 seasonal periods of 15 days to make a year
of 360 days (which was adjusted periodically to match the actual solar year of 365.2422 days). The lunar
calendar year was made up of 12 months of 29.5 days (alternating months of 29 and 30 days) to total 354
days. Because the two calendars are 6 days apart, every two or three years an extra intercalary month
would be added to the lunar calendar to adjust it to the solar year. This meant that in years with twelve
lunar months the lunar New Year would always arrive before the solar New Year, but in years when
intercalary months were used the first day of spring (the beginning of the solar year) would arrive—
somewhat paradoxically—before the end of the lunar year. This is the circumstance described in the poem.
While the paradox is the result of adjusting the calendar, it produces a (somewhat exaggerated, given that
it occurred every two or three years) disconcerting feeling of celebrating the beginning of spring before the
lunar new year (the first day of the f ...
1. 1
Introduction to the Kokinshū
The Kokin wakashū, or Kokinshū, is a collection of 1,111
Japanese poems (waka),
that was compiled and presented to Emperor Daigo (r. 897-930)
in the early 10th
century. Its main compiler was the famous poet Ki no Tsurayuki
(872?-945?), who
also wrote the Kana Preface to the collection and included
ninety-nine of his own
poems. Literally, Kokin wakashū means “Collection of Ancient
and Modern Japanese
poems.” The Japanese poem, waka or uta, is a 31 syllable form
in five measures in a
pattern of 5/7/5/7/7 syllables, and was so called to distinguish it
from shi, Chinese
poetry, which was also commonly practiced by the Heian court.
One of the objectives of the Kokinshū was to bring waka to the
forefront of the
cultural life of the imperial court. The collection is therefore an
attempt to create a
normative source of poetic associations, motifs, and styles,
which would become a
standard for composing poetry. It thus includes poems that are
representative of a
particular topic (eg. “cherry blossoms,” “deer,” “moon”), and/or
representative in style,
2. and/or composed by famous poets (both “ancient” and
“modern”). The Kokinshū also
sets up narrative sequences that affect the meaning of each
individual poem by
placing it in a particular context relative to other poems.
This is a brief selection of twenty-four poems, from Volumes
1-2 (Spring), 4-5
(Autumn) and 11-15 (Love).
2
Volumes 1-2 (Spring)
3. Composed on a day when spring arrived in the old year
Ariwara no Motokata
1 Spring has arrived
before the end of the year:
the year to date,
are we to call it “last year”?
or do we call it “this year” 1
1 The Heian court used a combination of a lunar calendar to
count the months and a solar calendar to
mark the seasons. The solar calendar year was made up of 24
seasonal periods of 15 days to make a year
of 360 days (which was adjusted periodically to match the
actual solar year of 365.2422 days). The lunar
calendar year was made up of 12 months of 29.5 days
(alternating months of 29 and 30 days) to total 354
days. Because the two calendars are 6 days apart, every two or
three years an extra intercalary month
4. would be added to the lunar calendar to adjust it to the solar
year. This meant that in years with twelve
lunar months the lunar New Year would always arrive before
the solar New Year, but in years when
intercalary months were used the first day of spring (the
beginning of the solar year) would arrive—
somewhat paradoxically—before the end of the lunar year. This
is the circumstance described in the poem.
While the paradox is the result of adjusting the calendar, it
produces a (somewhat exaggerated, given that
it occurred every two or three years) disconcerting feeling of
celebrating the beginning of spring before the
lunar new year (the first day of the first month).
Some commentators have suggested that the coincidence of the
old year with the new year in the poem
is an allusion to the title of the anthology, “Ancient and
Modern.” Even more broadly, it can perhaps be
interpreted both as a declaration of the imperial calendar’s
authority over the temporal realm and as the
anthology’s opening question about the temporal perspective
from which courtiers write poetry about the
passing of time.
3
A poem on the beginning of spring by the Nijō Empress
4 Spring has arrived
5. before the snow has gone;
perhaps now
the warbler’s frozen tears
will melt away at last?
Topic unknown
Author unknown
5 Though the warbler
cries to summon the spring
as it alights
on the branch of the plum tree
snow continues to fall
6. 4
Composed on fallen snow covering the trees
Dharma Master Sosei
6 Perhaps he thinks
they are blossoms because
spring has arrived?
White snow covers the branches
on which the warbler cries.
7. Topic unknown
Author unknown
7 So profoundly
has my mind become colored
by my hopes,
that the lingering snow
appears to me like blossoms.
According to some, this is a poem by the former Great Minister
of the Realm
5
At the height of the blossoms, composed looking down at the
capital
8. 56 In the distance,
willows and cherry blossoms
mingle and weave
so the capital is
covered in spring brocade
Topic unknown
Author unknown
71 I admire how
the cherry blossoms scatter
with no regrets:
Why remain in the world
9. until the bitter end?
6
Topic unknown
Ōtomo no Kuronushi
88 This soft rainfall
it must be made of tears:
for who is there
that does not feel regret
when cherry blossoms scatter?
10. Composed when he visited a mountain temple
Tsurayuki
117 In my lodgings
on the spring mountainside
asleep at night,
even within my dreams
the blossoms keep on scattering
7
Volumes 4-5 (Autumn)
11. Topic unknown
Author unknown
184 Seeing the light
of the moon as it seeps
through the branches,
the melancholy season
of autumn has arrived.
Topic unknown
Author unknown
205 In the evenings
when the cicadas cry,
12. no one visits
this hut up on the mountain
except for the autumn wind
8
Topic unknown
Author unknown
211 The night is cold
without a robe to borrow,
as wild geese cry
and the bush clover’s leaves
have begun to change color
According to some, this poem is by Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
13. Topic unknown
Author unknown
215 Deep in the hills
treading through scarlet leaves,
a deer cries out,
and in its voice I hear
all the sadness of autumn.
9
14. Topic unknown
Author unknown
221 Are they the tears
shed by the flying geese
that cross the sky,
the dewdrops on the clover
by this house where I languish?
Composed at the poetry contest held at Prince Koresada’s house
Toshiyuki no Ason
257 How can it be
that from the single color
of the white dew
15. the autumn leaves are dyed
into thousands of hues?2
2 The theory underlying this and the following poems is that
dew drops (together with
frost and raindrops of cold autumn showers) are the cause of the
coloration of the leaves.
"White dew" is often a near synonym for "dew" but the specific
association of autumn with the
color white (following Chinese theories of the "five elements")
is exploited here to underscore the
paradox.
10
Topic unknown
Author unknown
290 The blowing wind
takes the form of a robe
of many hues
that are the leaves of autumn
scattering from the trees
17. On the day when the Right Guards exhibited their archery and
horse racing, from the lower
blinds of the carriage that was standing across from him, for
just a moment he glimpsed the
face of a woman, composed this and sent it to her.
Ariwara no Narihira no Ason
476 Longing for someone
I neither did not see
nor truly saw,
confused I spent the day
gazing at the long rains
Response
18. Author unknown
477 Why be confused
by whether you knew me
or knew me not?
Surely it is your feelings
that should make it all clear.
12
Topic unknown
Ono no Komachi
552 Did I see him
because I fell asleep
thinking of him?
Had I known I was dreaming
19. I would not have awoken3
553 In a slumber
I saw the one I love,
and ever since
I have begun to trust
in these things they call dreams.
554 When my longing
is at its most intense
in the pitch dark
night I reverse my robes
and wear them inside out.
20. 3 According to superstition, dreaming of someone meant that
either they were thinking of you,
or you of them. All three poems on this page are by Komachi.
13
Topic unknown
Author unknown
633 Though I hide it,
when my longing becomes
too much to bear,
like the moon from the hills
I come out to see her.
21. Topic unknown
Author unknown
772 “Perhaps he’ll come?”
but I know he will not,
when the cicadas
are singing in the evening,
and I still stand here waiting
14
Topic unknown
Author unknown
820 Worse than the rain
22. and fallen leaves in autumn,
is the sadness
of listening to the words
of a heart that has changed4
(Introduction and Translations by Torquil Duthie)
4 There is a pun on aki (autumn) and aki (grow tired of)
due on october 7. 9:00am (300 words)
Q: What does Kokinshu and Pillow Book tell us about people,
about how they lived, what was important to them?
