Concept
Waka (poetry)
Related concepts (22)
Fujiwara no Teika
, better-known as Fujiwara no Teika (1162 – September 26, 1241), was a Japanese anthologist, calligrapher, literary critic, novelist, poet, and scribe of the late Heian and early Kamakura periods. His influence was enormous, and he is counted as among the greatest of Japanese poets, and perhaps the greatest master of the waka form – an ancient poetic form consisting of five lines with a total of 31 syllables. Teika's critical ideas on composing poetry were extremely influential and studied until as late as the Meiji era.
Japanese literature
Japanese literature throughout most of its history has been influenced by cultural contact with neighboring Asian literatures, most notably China and its literature. Early texts were often written in pure Classical Chinese or Chinese writing, a Chinese-Japanese creole language. Indian literature also had an influence through the spread of Buddhism in Japan. During the Heian period, Japan's original kokufū culture (national culture) developed and literature also established its own style, with the significant usage and development of kana to write Japanese literature.
Ariwara no Narihira
was a Japanese courtier and waka poet of the early Heian period. He was named one of both the Six Poetic Geniuses and the Thirty-Six Poetic Geniuses, and one of his poems was included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu collection. He is also known as Zai Go-Chūjō, Zai Go, Zai Chūjō or Mukashi-Otoko. There are 87 poems attributed to Narihira in court anthologies, though some attributions are dubious. Narihira's poems are exceptionally ambiguous; the compilers of the 10th-century Kokin Wakashū thus treated them to relatively long headnotes.
Henjō
Yoshimine no Munesada, better known as Henjō, was Japanese waka poet and Buddhist priest. In the poetry anthology Kokin Wakashū, he is listed as one of the six notable waka poets and one of the thirty-six immortals of poetry. Munesada was the eighth son of Dainagon Yoshimine no Yasuyo, who was a son of Emperor Kanmu, relegated to civilian life. He began his career as a courtier, and was later appointed to the position of to Emperor Ninmyō. In 849 he was raised to the Head of Kurōdo.
Japanese aesthetics
Japanese aesthetics comprise a set of ancient ideals that include wabi (transient and stark beauty), sabi (the beauty of natural patina and aging), and yūgen (profound grace and subtlety). These ideals, and others, underpin much of Japanese cultural and aesthetic norms on what is considered tasteful or beautiful. Thus, while seen as a philosophy in Western societies, the concept of aesthetics in Japan is seen as an integral part of daily life.
Kokin Wakashū
The Kokin Wakashū, commonly abbreviated as Kokinshū, is an early anthology of the waka form of Japanese poetry, dating from the Heian period. An imperial anthology, it was conceived by Emperor Uda (887-897) and published by order of his son Emperor Daigo (897-930) in about 905. Its finished form dates to 920, though according to several historical accounts the last poem was added to the collection in 914. The compilers of the anthology were four court poets, led by Ki no Tsurayuki and also including Ki no Tomonori (who died before its completion), Ōshikōchi no Mitsune, and Mibu no Tadamine.
Fujiwara no Shunzei
was a Japanese poet, courtier, and Buddhist monk of the late Heian period. He was also known as Fujiwara no Toshinari or Shakua (釈阿) and when younger (1123–67) as Akihiro (顕広). He was noted for his innovations in the waka poetic form and compiling the Senzai Wakashū ("Collection of a Thousand Years"), the seventh imperial anthology of waka poetry. Fujiwara no Shunzei was born in 1114. He was a descendant of the statesman Fujiwara no Michinaga and son of Fujiwara no Toshitada of the Mikohidari branch of the influential aristocratic and poetic Fujiwara clan.
Renga
Renga (連歌, linked poem) is a genre of Japanese collaborative poetry in which alternating stanzas, or ku (句), of 5-7-5 and 7-7 mora (sound units, not to be confused with syllables) per line are linked in succession by multiple poets. Known as tsukuba no michi (筑波の道 The Way of Tsukuba) after the famous Tsukuba Mountain in the Kantō region, the form of poetry is said to have originated in a two-verse poetry exchange by Yamato Takeru and later gave birth to the genres haikai (俳諧) and haiku (俳句).
Utamakura
is a rhetorical concept in Japanese poetry. Utamakura is a category of poetic words, often involving place names, that allow for greater allusions and intertextuality across Japanese poems. Utamakura enables poets to express ideas and themes concisely—thus allowing them to stay in the confines of strict waka structures. Some scholars see the use of geographical allusion as the evidence for a restricted scope of poetry writing. Although the poets' "true" meaning was true because the essence was initially pre-established, the poems were written within fixed topics (dai).
Saigyō
was a famous Japanese poet of the late Heian and early Kamakura period. Born Satō Norikiyo in Kyoto to a noble family, he lived during the traumatic transition of power between the old court nobles and the new samurai warriors. After the start of the age of Mappō, Buddhism was considered to be in decline and no longer as effective a means of salvation. These cultural shifts during his lifetime led to a sense of melancholy in his poetry.