Man’yōshū vs. Kokinshū and Their Significance

The Man’yōshū and the Kokinshū are perhaps among the most revered and earliest collections of Japanese poetry. The Man’yōshū, meaning “Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves (or Generations),” is believed to be compiled by the poet Ōtomo no Yakamochi sometime after AD 759 during the Nara Period. It contains over 4,000 poems, mostly tanka, that date before the end of the eighth century, and the writings are somewhat divided chronologically into four periods. Almost two centuries later, the Kokin waka shū or Kokinshū, meaning “Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern,” was compiled under the imperial command of Emperor Daigo in AD 905 during the Heian Period by several well-known poets like Ki no Tsurayuki. Unlike the Man’yōshū, the Kokinshū’s 1,111 poems are arranged by theme into 20 books, the majority of them dealing with the four seasons and love. Although the Man’yōshū and the Kokinshū differed in authors, poetic style, and writing style, both anthologies proved to be very significant in distinguishing the developing society of Japan from the powerful and influential nation of China.

Unlike the Kokinshū, the Man’yōshū contained the works of poets from a wide spectrum of social backgrounds¬–peasants, low and middle class citizens, stately court men, and even individuals from the royal family–even though the very aristocratic poet Ōtomo no Yakamochi supposedly compiled it. While the authors of nearly 2,000 poems remain anonymous, poets such as Princess Nukata, the low-ranking court member Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, and the well-known poet Yamanoue no Okura are but a few of the most important poets whose works are found in the Man’yōshū. The Kokinshū, however, was compiled by individuals of high statuses and only contained the poetry of t...

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...anthologies not only helped Japan to slowly break away from the dominating influence of the Chinese and allowed this developing nation to collect thousands of priceless ancient works of cultural art from the distant past, but also laid the foundations for the future centuries of brilliant and refined Japanese poetry that is still very much admired today.

Works Cited

Keene, Donald. Anthology of Japanese Literature, from the Earliest Era to the Mid-

nineteenth Century. New York: Grove, 1955.

McCullough, Helen C., and Tsurayuki Ki. Kokin Wakashū: the First Imperial

Anthology of Japanese Poetry: with Tosa Nikki and Shinsen Waka. Standford,

CA: Standford University, 1985.

Miner, Earl Roy. An Introduction to Japanese Court Poetry. Stanford, CA: Standford

University Press, 1968.

Varley, Paul H. Japanese Culture. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press, 2000.