The Hyakunin Isshu
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As spring approaches, people eagerly anticipate when cherry blossoms (sakura in Japanese, 桜), but as I have learned recently in my book, the Hyakunin Isshu Daijiten, there are many types of sakura, some of them even referenced in the Hyakunin Isshu. Let’s explore a few and learn how to spot one versus another. If you’re curious…
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Hello readers, If you’ve been following this blog for a while, and gotten to know some of the authors of the Hyakunin Isshu, then you may have noticed some patterns with the names of the authors. The authors are rarely listed by their birth name, and instead are listed under a sobriquet, or just their…
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Hello Dear Readers, After a fun discussion with some fellow members of the Seattle Karuta Club, I decided it was time to go and make some much-needed updates to the Hyakunin Isshu poems in the blog. I did this for several reasons: So, as a “type-A” nerd, I’ve spent the last two weeks going poem by…
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One of my biggest challenges with learning to play karuta are penalties (otetsuki, お手付き). A penalty happens in one of there scenarios: In all three cases the result is the same: your opponent is allowed to send a card over to you. Their card count is reduced by one (advantage), and your card count also…
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Hello, The 2024 championships for 70th men’s Meijin (名人) and 68th women’s Queen (クイーン) titles, were streamed on YouTube this weekend! And sub-channel here: It seems that the Meijin-Queen championships are held every year shortly after Japanese New Year (oshōgatsu, January 1st through 3rd), and are played as “best of 3” (out of 5) battle.…
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Hello readers, Recently I mentioned an upcoming interview with the Karuta Peru Club via Steph, a fellow karuta player. I am happy to report that we finished our interview and it is available on YouTube! Also available on Spotify in podcast form: In this episode, Steph and I mostly discuss the history of the blog,…
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This is a great example of a poem that’s very beautiful and sincere, yet also carries a darker history. OriginalManyogana1 ModernJapanese Romanization RoughTranslation3 秋田之 秋の田の Aki no ta no Like the 穂上尒霧相 穂の上に霧らふ Ho no é ni kirau morning dew atop 朝霞 朝霞 Asakasumi rice plant buds, 何時渡邊乃方二 何処辺の方に Itsue no kata ni whenever will…
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Now that the year is winding down, I have had time to catch up on some personal projects, and that includes watching the anime Chihayafuru. I was surprised to see one of the characters recite a poem, not from the Hyakunin Isshu, but from the Manyoshu, so I wanted to share it here: OriginalManyogana1 ModernJapanese…
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Dear Readers, I am happy to report that I’ll be appearing in a podcast about the Hyakunin Isshu and Karuta coming up in a few weeks! It is exciting to collaborate with a fellow karuta player, “Steph”, who hosts the Karuta Chat podcast. I’ll have more details soon, but it will be a chance to…
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Having played Karuta now for three months and against a variety of opponents, including computer opponents, I realize that I get otetsuki (お手付き, “penalties”) a lot. Like, a lot. In one in-person game, I was nervous and got eight penalties which is simply painful. Even when playing against the computer on hard mode, I get…
The Hyakunin Isshu 