100 Tanka Poems by 100 Poets

100 Tanka Poems by 100 Poets
Compiled by Teika Fujiwara
Commentary by Mutsuo Shukuya

The collection 100 Tanka Poems by 100 Poets is said to have been compiled by Teika Fujiwara (1162-1241 A.D.) in the year 1235. The original title, according to another authority, was "100 Excellent Tanka Poems by 100 Poets." Fujiwara compiled the poems to show to Sanetomo Minamoto, the third shogun of the Kamakura shogunate, as his tanka mentor.

I learned classical tanka theory from the Reizei Family in Kyoto, which has continued the concept created by Teika Fujiwara. That is, I learned it from my tanka mentor, Fumiko Reizei, who is the 26th descendant of Teika Fujiwara who formulated the method of composition of aesthetic tanka called in Japanese "Kokin-denjyu." In February 2010, I published my lecture, Classical Tanka composition in English on the Internet.

In this lecture I introduce about 20 tanka from 100 Tanka Poems by 100 Poets. The origin of this lecture was my previous "Classical Tanka Composition", which appeared serially in the monthly bilingual magazine, Plaza Plaza. But at that time, I commented on the English translations by James Kirkup.

In order to prepare this commentary, I translated the 20 tanka myself, and later I began translating the rest of the collection.

More than half of all Japanese are probably ignorant of the real meanings of the tanka in this collection. I myself had not been aware of their real or deep meanings before I finished translating them. But I must understand each tanka deeply in order to translate it into English. Therefore, I studied the meaning which each author wanted to express. After I finished examining all the tanka, I recognized the following significant point: there are some tanka which deviate from the standard concept of composing aesthetic tanka, which I discussed in my lecture, "Classical Tanka Composition” mentioned before.

And then, I could not help thinking why Teika Fujiwara had compiled this collection. First of all, one of the thinking points is: what was tanka originally. I noted in the chapter of Primer course in my lecture "Classical Tanka Composition” that this point may be summarized as follows: First an Emperor composed tanka in order to present messages he received from the gods to his people. While people who listened to tanka composed by the Emperor seemed, in reply, to compose tanka in which they admired the beauty of nature, and to convey their feelings about the seasons and their emotions.

Tanka composed by using some techniques, which I noted in chapter [III] Themes for tanka composition (1) (Junior course I) of in my lecture, "Classical Tanka Composition” will be very pleasing to people who receive them although it is difficult to compose tanka using them.

One of them, Oriku or 'acrostic', is to insert each syllable of a five syllable word into the head of each line of your five-line tanka. This reminds your readers of some image beyond the words themselves. This is called Uta-mushiro or 'other ways to compose tanka in order to enjoy it together with others.'

From this view point, tanka compiled in this collection, that is to say, classical tanka written in the traditional tanka form which was introduced in the Heian period (about 1000 years ago), is not fundamentally different from Modern Tanka…authors compose it in order to express whatever they choose.

There are several aspects of composition used in Fujiwara’s collection. One of them is to praise the most prosperous period of the Imperial Family both in name and reality. It is proven that the tanka in this Collection began with those of Emperor Tenchi and Jito. Emperor Tenchi established a regime in which the Emperor himself ruled everything through a revolution called "Taika no Kaishin", which occurred in 645. Before then, people who were naturalized as Japanese citizens had the real power in the government of Japan. The last two tanka in the Collection were composed by Emperor Gotobain, who schemed to overturn the government of the Kamakura Shogunate, and his third son, Jyuntokuin, who continued his father's scheme. Both of them were ordered to go into exile on Oki Island (Gotobain) and Sado Island (Jyuntokuin) as criminals.

Furthermore, a tanka by Sanjyoin, who was the 77th Emperor, is significant to understand the aspect which I discuss above. The author, who had been Emperor in name only, composed his poem in this collection when Michinaga Fujiwara, who already held actual political power, compelled him to yield his throne to another, who was under the influence of Michinaga. So, he regarded this world as harsh. Furthermore, he seemed to have suffered from a serious illness.

Originally, the Fujiwara Family had maintained their status by supporting each Emperor one after another. But Michinaga held actual political power and also broke the custom of the eldest son of each Family holding the right of succession. That is to say, this Collection is of poets who were alive during the Emperor's reign, which was prosperous. The first poet is Emperor Tenchi, who returned to political power from the Soga Family along with Kamatari Nakatomi. So, Emperor Tenchi offered to change his Family name from Nakatomi to Fujiwara. But the last poet, Emperor Jyuntoku-in had lost actual political power because the Kamakura Shogunate held it in place of each Emperor.

In other words, this Collection of 100 poems symbolizes several things. One of them is the totality of the universe. Another is the ups and downs of all things in this world. Another is the proper order of all lives in this world. And the last is all phenomena of all lives. Therefore, the compiler, Teika, is said to have chosen each tanka as a factor for fortune-telling by an expert.

To begin with, fortune-telling in Japan, called Futomani, is said to have been a tanka collection compiled by an ancestor of the Imperial Family, Amateru-Kami. Each tanka had been written with a character called Katakamuna, which was used in olden times before the Hotsuma-character was used.

Teika Fujiwara is said to have been inspired by the collection of Amateru-Kami to compile the Collection. There are only 64 factors of fortune-telling in China called Eki. So, fortune-telling in Japan called Futomani seems to be more detailed than that of China. When one considers the Collection by Teika from this viewpoint, it is not strange that there were some tanka which deviate from standard concepts of the composition of aesthetic tanka: In order to tell the fortune of a person, there must exist not only good things but also ill ones in fortune-telling.

Why has this Collection remained so popular in Japan, even though it contains ugly tanka in which authors express deep sadness or grumbling or cursing? Each of the tanka in it may be composed using various techniques such as Makura-Kotoba, to modify the other special words, Kake-Kotoba, which stands for a word that has two different meanings although it sounds the same when we read it, Engo or a related word, and Utamakura, to compose tanka by quoting the same place names which old poets often used in their tanka on the same themes.

Also, Honkadori, to compose tanka using some phrases from refined tanka which old poets composed to give their readers a spiritual aftertaste.

Tanka originally had a musical effect on its readers. This is used in a card game called Karuta and now most junior high school students enjoy playing this game in school as one of the popular events. Furthermore it is also used as a text to study olden Japanese. Therefore, most people around the world might enjoy reading this Collection. So in forthcoming Posts, I will comment on each tanka, explaining their special meanings and significance.