Ogura Hyakunin Isshu


Image:Hyakuninisshu 001.jpg|thumb|First poem card of the Hyakunin Isshu, featuring Emperor Tenji
[Image:Ogura Shikishi.jpg|thumb|Ogura by Teika]
Hyakunin Isshu is a classical Japanese anthology of one hundred Japanese waka by one hundred poets. Hyakunin Isshu can be translated to "one hundred people, one poem "; it can also refer to the card game of uta-garuta, which uses a deck composed of cards based on the Hyakunin Isshu.
The most famous and standard version was compiled by Fujiwara no Teika while he lived in the Ogura district of Kyoto. It is therefore also known as Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

Compilation

One of Teika's diaries, the Meigetsuki, says that his son Tameie asked him to arrange one hundred poems for Tameie's father-in-law, Utsunomiya Yoritsuna, who was furnishing a residence near Mount Ogura; hence the full name of Ogura Hyakunin Isshu. In order to decorate screens of the residence, Fujiwara no Teika produced the calligraphy poem sheets.
Hishikawa Moronobu provided woodblock portraits for each of the poets included in the anthology. Katsukawa Shunshō designed prints for a full-color edition published in 1775.
In his own lifetime, Teika was better known for other work. For example, in 1200, he prepared another anthology of one hundred poems for ex-Emperor Go-Toba, called the Shōji Hyakushu.

Poets

  1. Emperor Tenji
  2. Empress Jitō
  3. Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
  4. Yamabe no Akahito
  5. Sarumaru Dayū
  6. Chūnagon
  7. Abe no Nakamaro
  8. Priest Kisen
  9. Ono no Komachi
  10. Semimaru
  11. Councillor Ono no Takamura
  12. High priest
  13. Retired Emperor Yōzei
  14. Minamoto no Tōru
  15. Emperor Kōkō
  16. Middle Counselor Ariwara no Yukihira
  17. Ariwara no Narihira Ason
  18. Fujiwara no Toshiyuki Ason
  19. Lady Ise
  20. Prince Motoyoshi
  21. Priest Sosei
  22. Fun'ya no Yasuhide
  23. Ōe no Chisato
  24. Sugawara no Michizane
  25. Fujiwara no Sadakata
  26. Fujiwara no Tadahira
  27. Middle Counselor Fujiwara no Kanesuke
  28. Minamoto no Muneyuki Ason
  29. Ōshikōchi no Mitsune
  30. Mibu no Tadamine
  31. Sakanoue no Korenori
  32. Harumichi no Tsuraki
  33. Ki no Tomonori
  34. Fujiwara no Okikaze
  35. Ki no Tsurayuki
  36. Kiyohara no Fukayabu
  37. Fun'ya no Asayasu
  38. Ukon
  39. Councillor Minamoto no Hitoshi
  40. Taira no Kanemori
  41. Mibu no Tadami
  42. Kiyohara no Motosuke
  43. Acting Middle Counselor Fujiwara no Atsutada
  44. Middle Counselor Fujiwara no Asatada
  45. Fujiwara no Koretada
  46. Sone no Yoshitada
  47. Priest Egyō
  48. Minamoto no Shigeyuki
  49. Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobu Ason
  50. Fujiwara no Yoshitaka
  51. Fujiwara no Sanekata Ason
  52. Fujiwara no Michinobu Ason
  53. Michitsuna no Haha
  54. Takashina no Takako
  55. Dainagon
  56. Izumi Shikibu
  57. Murasaki Shikibu
  58. Daini no Sanmi
  59. Akazome Emon
  60. Koshikibu no Naishi
  61. Ise no Taifu
  62. Sei Shōnagon
  63. Master of the Left Capital Fujiwara no Michimasa
  64. Acting Middle Counselor Fujiwara no Sadayori
  65. Sagami
  66. Senior High Priest Gyōson
  67. Suō no Naishi
  68. Retired Emperor Sanjō
  69. Priest Nōin
  70. Priest Ryōzen
  71. Upper Counselor Minamoto no Tsunenobu
  72. Yūshi Naishinnō-ke no Kii
  73. Acting Middle Counselor Ōe no Masafusa
  74. Minamoto no Toshiyori Ason
  75. Fujiwara no Mototoshi
  76. Fujiwara no Tadamichi
  77. Retired Emperor Sutoku
  78. Minamoto no Kanemasa
  79. Master of the Left Capital Fujiwara no Akisuke
  80. Taikenmon'in no Horikawa
  81. Tokudaiji Sanesada
  82. Priest Dōin
  83. Master of the Empress Dowager's Household Fujiwara no Shunzei
  84. Fujiwara no Kiyosuke Ason
  85. Priest Shun'e
  86. Priest Saigyō
  87. Priest Jakuren
  88. Kōkamonin no Bettō
  89. Princess Shikishi
  90. Inpumon'in no Tayū
  91. Kujō Yoshitsune
  92. Nijōin no Sanuki
  93. Minamoto no Sanetomo
  94. Councillor Asukai no Masatsune
  95. Former Senior High Priest Jien
  96. Saionji Kintsune
  97. Acting Middle Counselor Fujiwara no Teika
  98. Ritsuryō#Establishment of court rank
  99. Retired Emperor Go-Toba
  100. Retired Emperor Juntoku

Poems

Poem number 1

A poem by Emperor Tenji about the hardships of farmers. Teika chose this poem from the Gosen Wakashū:

Poem number 2

A visually-descriptive poem attributed to Empress Jitō. Teika chose this poem from the Shin Kokin Wakashū:
The original was likely based from a poem of the Man'yōshū by the same poet.

Poem number 26

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. He 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 Teishin was Tadahira's posthumous name, and this is the name used in William Porter's translation of the poem which observes that "he maples of Mount Ogura / If they could understand / Would keep their brilliant leaves / until he Ruler of this land / Pass with his Royal band." 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 maple leaves.
Teika chose this poem from the Shūi Wakashū for the hundred poems collection:

Poem number 86

A poem by Saigyō about the pain of love. This poem was chosen from the Senzai Wakashū:

English translations

The Ogura Hyakunin Isshu has been translated into many languages and into English many times.
English translations include:
  • F. V. Dickins, Hyaku-Nin-Isshu, or Stanzas by a Century of Poets
  • Clay MacCauley, Hyakunin-isshu , TASJ, 27, 1–152
  • Yone Noguchi, '
  • William N. Porter, '
  • Tom Galt, The Little Treasury of One Hundred People, One Poem Each
  • Joshua S. Mostow, Pictures of the Heart: The Hyakunin Isshu in Word and Image
  • Peter MacMillan, One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each: A Treasury of Classical Japanese Verse
  • Emiko Miyashita and Michael Dylan Welch, 100 Poets: Passions of the Imperial Court
  • Hideaki Nakano, ''WAKA WAKA 100 - Hyakunin Isshu''

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, or One Hundred Patriotic Poems by One Hundred Poets. Also important is Kyōka Hyakunin Isshu, 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.
Many forms of playing games with Hyakunin Isshu exist in Japan, such as Uta-garuta, the basis for competitive karuta.