This blog is devoted to a famous poetry anthology in Japan called the Hyakunin Isshu (百人一首) which means “One Hundred Poems, One Poet Each”. The anthology features 100 poems by 100 famous poets from the ancient Nara Period to the early Kamakura Period, in rough chronological order. The anthology thus spans about 400 years of Japanese history. It is frequently studied in Japan by young and old, and even a part of primary school curriculum.
This blog started a side project of mine in 2011, while my main blog (the current iteration) can be read here, plus my other side blog. My goal for this blog had been simply:
- To post all 100 poems of the Hyakunin Isshu anthology. Project was 100% complete as of March 2014.
- To promote Japanese Waka poetry and its history, starting with the Hyakunin Isshu, but also other anthologies such as the Manyoshu and later collections.
- To celebrate the culture behind the Heian and Nara periods that helped shape the anthology and its poetry.
- As of 2022: Promote and explore the game of karuta for people outside of Japan: both casual and competitive.
In 2022, after being stuck at home with Covid for a week, I brushed off the old blog, greatly expanded the content, fixed broken links, and provided more updated and accurate information. That Covid incident probably saved the blog.
A trip to Japan in December 2022 gave me access to a lot more resources and information than I could find overseas, and I have been using that to further expand the blog.
I was also introduced to competitive karuta, and became fascinated by it, especially after meeting the local karuta club in summer of 2023. As of summer of 2024, I don’t play karuta much these days, but I still enjoy from time to time.
The Hyakunin Isshu 
this is very interesting i have always had a interest in japan .
Thank you so much for making this blog! I’ve been interested with waka poetry and Hyakunin Isshu for more than a year now, but my Japanese isn’t good enough to read books written in Japanese about these 100 poems. Hence, I rely on any English text that I can read, online or not.
Keep it up! I can’t wait until you finish all 100. 🙂
Hi Kat and welcome! Thanks very much for the input; it really means a lot.
I too can’t wait until I hit 100. 😉
I enjoy this blog so much, I have just nominated you for an Inspiring Blog Award.
Please don’t think of it as an additional burden (I know it’s not easy to respond to it on a site as yours), just as a sign of appreciation.
Hello and thank you for the kind mention. This is a quieter blog with only a few visitors so it’s greatly appreciated. 🙂
I’m so happy that I found this blog. I just started to translate the Hyakunin Isshu to Hungarian, so if I’ll have difficulties with the original Japanese version, I’ll take a look at your translations. 🙂
よろしくお願いいたします。 🙂
Hi Hosokawagracia and welcome. Happy to help. 🙂
The Porter translation is also available for e-book download at http://www.archive.org 🙂
Good to know, thank you!
Thank you so much for making this blog. I really love the contents:)
I like the meanings a lot, and the “story” you wrote after it. X)
And please do continue your work in this blog. I really love it:)
Hi Natasha and welcome. Thanks for the encouragement. I’ve been pretty busy with a new baby coming, but I do have some posts planned soon. Please stay tuned. 🙂
This blog is just really great. I was going to translate the poems to portuguese and I was wondering If there would be any complications If I used Professor’s translation as a base. His translations are full of meaning! Can’t wait to truly understand the poems in japanese.
I was yearning for a blog like this! Utakoi, the anime brought me here, Japanese poetry and stories are just wonderful.
Hi there, I’m NyNy! Just wanted to stop by and say I like your posts.
I hope when you have the time, you can check out some of mine and comment plus I’m still writing my travel entries when I went to Korea last year. I’d appreciate if you took a look 🙂
http://nynyonline.co.uk
This is just amazing..! I spent so long searching for a blog like this, I’ve always wanted to get to know the poems and a proper translation.. Thank you!
I am very late here but this is amazing! Thank you.
My interest in Japanese poetry began with haiku and senryu and grew to include haiga and tanka. (I’m also a big fan of Usagi Yojimbo!) This blog is perfect for a friendly examination of the Hyakunin Isshu. Thanks for the time you spent. 🙂
Thank you for this project (: It is very interesting and seems well written. I am sure it will be a pleasure to read.
Thank you sooo much for this! This is just what I was looking for!!: )
Hi! What a great blog! I’ve just stumbled on it, but I want to read it all! Thanks for all your efforts!
does all hyakunin isshu poems talks about love ?
Good question!
No, all Hyakunin Isshu poems are not about LOVE.
Many are about the seasons changing, or about famous places. In other collections of Japanese poetry, the editor separated poems based on categories (like, love, mourning, etc.), but poems in the Hyakunin Isshu are not divided into categories.
Good Haikus!
I tried to make a Haiku about Mount Fuji, Hope you like it too:https://youtu.be/54_Qc0IEHns