Corsi di Studio del Dipartimento di Lingue e Letterature straniere e Culture moderne

4. What is Hyakunin Isshu ?
In Japan, wordplay in a style similar to that of tanka began around the 7th century.
Since then, the art of poetic composition has developed among the country's ruling class
and in court. During Japan's Middle Ages, from the Heian to Kamakura era (794-1333
CE), one hundred poems by noted authors were compiled into a collection called
Hyakunin Isshu (literal translation: "one hundred persons, one poem each"). 

 

Hyakunin Isshu still exists and is popular in today's Japan as a form of traditional culture, a wellknown collection being widely used in a New Year's card game.

 Modeling this anthology on the Hyakunin Isshu, Toyo University openly solicits tanka
poems from students and selects the best 100 entries that express their fresh sensibilities
and trends of the times.

5. What is Gendai Gakusei Hyakunin Isshu ?
Gendai Gakusei Hyakunin Isshu (Hundred Poems by Modern Students) Contest started
in 1987 as a commemorative event of the centenary of Toyo University. In 2023, this year's
37th edition will take place. The total number of tanka poems entered in previous contests,
expressing the perspectives of today's students on the world and their daily lives, reached
more than over 1.6 million.

6. What is tanka ?
Tanka is a fixed-form poem composed of 31 Japanese units of sound (31-mora) in total
that can be divided into phrases of 5-7-5-7-7 sounds to express one's feelings and
impressions in a daily situation. A unit of each sound corresponds to a kana character.
 For example, 「沖縄で 海にもぐって 魚とり あの海へびは おそろしかった」
(Okinawa-de umi-ni mogutte sakana tori ano umihebi-wa osoroshikatta – In Okinawa, I
dove into the sea and caught fish; that sea snake was scary) includes sentences of five
sounds (o-ki-na-wa-de), 7 sounds (u-mi-ni-mo-gu-t-te), 5 sounds (sa-ka-na-to-ri), 7 sounds
(a-no-u-mi-he-bi-wa), and 7 sounds (o-so-ro-shi-ka-t-ta). A good tanka poem makes
creative use of the characteristics of the Japanese language and enables the reader to
vividly imagine the scene depicted or sympathize with the author's feelings expressed.