Category: Poetry
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Memorization Progress, February 2023
Hello dear readers, My progress in memorizing the Hyakunin Isshu poems, for the sake of learning to play karuta, continues, but since returning to the US, it has taken some twists and turns. When I got back home, it became clear how busy my day to day life is compared to Japan, where I didn’t…
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So You’ve Decided to Memorize the Hyakunin Isshu
I started this blog in 2011, and after a long lull, I have picked it up again and added a lot more to it. One thing I never did though was memorize the Hyakunin Isshu anthology. I had a poem or two (poems 24 and 33) that I kind of remembered, but never really put…
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My SECOND Karuta Set and More!
While here in Japan for a couple weeks, I picked up my first karuta set of the Hyakunin Isshu at the local bookstore when I realized that getting to the more famous store was harder than I expected, and I just won’t be here long enough for local delivery. However, my interest in the Hyakunin…
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Hyakunin Isshu Crackers, Redux!
In Japan, gift-giving (omiyagé お土産) among friends and relatives is a common tradition, and recently a friend returned from Japan and gave us some special crackers (senbei) featuring poems from the Hyakunin Isshu. The crackers come in different flavors, and the wrapper each has a random poem. I got a curry-flavored one: The first two…
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Getting a Much Needed Update
Hello Readers, I started this blog as far back as 2011, and it was only today that I noticed that the blog template is super old and doesn’t work well with WordPress features anymore. Further, a number of images and links are broken. Such is life on the Information Superhighway. I am working on updating…
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Hyakunin Isshu: Splatoon Style
Hello readers! It’s been a while (almost 10 years in fact) since I last posted to this blog. My interest in the Hyakunin Isshu has not diminished during that time, but I had reached the end of the initial project, and then focused on other things at the time. Now, things have somewhat come full-circle…
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Bozu Mekuri: Karuta for Beginners
Wow, it’s been a while. Recently, while playing with my wife and kids a game of karuta with our hyakunin isshu set, I learned about a simple, introductory way to enjoy the game without spending a lot of time learning the poems or mastering the rules of the competition. This simple game is called bōzu-mekuri…
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Mount Ogura
Hi Folks, Although I’ve finished all the poems in the Hyakunin Isshu, I wanted to share this cool photo I found on Twitter: This is Mount Ogura (小倉山) also called Arashiyama (嵐山) near the city of Kyoto. The place name “Ogura” is where the Hyakunin Isshu gets its full-name: Ogura Hyakunin Isshu. At that time,…
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Burning with Longing: Poem 97
At last, faithful readers, we come to the final poem of the Hyakunin Isshu, composed by the anthology’s compiler himself! Japanese Romanization Translation こぬ人を Konu hito wo For the man who doesn’t come まつほの浦の Matsuo no ura no I wait at the Bay of Matsuo— 夕なぎに Yunagi ni in the evening calm やくやもしほの Yaku ya…
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The Scattering Years of My Life: Poem 96
Something we all have to face in the end: Japanese Romanization Translation 花さそふ Hana sasou It entices the flowers— あらしの庭の Arashi no niwa no the storm—but through the garden’s white, 雪ならで Yuki nara de it is not snow, ふりゆくものは Furi yuku mono wa and what it is that’s scattering わが身なりけり Wa ga mi narikeri are,…
The Hyakunin Isshu 