The Shinkokinshū, the ‘New Collection of Ancient and Modern (Japanese Poetry)’, is the eighth imperial anthology, and generally reckoned to be the second in terms of quality after the Kokinshū. It was commissioned by Emperor Gotoba (1180-1239; r. 1183-1198), and compiled by a team of poets, of whom Fujiwara no Teika is the most renowned. Gotoba took a considerable interest in the compilation process, having a number of disagreements with Teika over it, and even going so far as to produce his own version of the collection later.
As its name suggests, the Shinkokinshū was envisaged as a successor to the Kokinshū, and follows its 20 book pattern, but also includes a substantial representation of older poets among the new. The anthology is the pinnacle of techniques of association and integration that had been developing in waka for some time, with each individual poem leading on to the next and integrated into increasingly larger sequences of poems, with the longest sequence, of course, being the entire collection. I will endeavour to present some sequences on WakaPoetry.net, but the full effect can only be seen in Laurel Rodd’s complete translation of the entire work.
| Book I Book II Book III Book IV Book V Book VI Book VII Book VIII Book IX Book X Book XI Book XII Book XIII Book XIV Book XV Book XVI Book XVII Book XVIII Book XIX Book XX |
Spring I Spring II Summer Autumn I Autumn II Winter Felicitations Laments Parting Travel Love I Love II Love III Love IV Love V Miscellaneous I Miscellaneous II Miscellaneous III Shintô Buddhism |
The principal poets of the collection (those with 10 poems or more included) are: The Monk Saigyō (94), Jien (92), Fujiwara no Yoshitsune (78), Fujiwara no Toshinari (Shunzei) (75), Princess Shokushi (49), Fujiwara no Sada’ie (Teika) (46), Fujiwara no Ietaka (42), The Monk Jakuren (35), Emperor Gotoba (35), Ki no Tsurayuki (33), The Daughter of Fujiwara no Toshinari (29), Izumi Shikibu (25), Kakinomoto no Hitomaro (23), Fujiwara no Masatsune (22), Minamoto no Tsunenobu (19), Fujiwara no Ari’ie (19), Minamoto no Michitomo (17), Fujiwara no Hideyoshi (Hidetô) (17), Sugawara no Michizane (15), Sone no Yoshitada (16), Fujiwara no Sanesada (16), Sanuki (16), Ise (15), Kunaikyō (15), Murasaki Shikibu (14), Ôe no Masafusa (14), The Monk Jakuzen (14), Minamoto no Michiteru (14), Ariwara no Narihira (12), Kishi (12), Fujiwara no Sanekata (12), Fujiwara no Kiyosuke (12), Fujiwara no Shun’e (12), Ōtomo no Yakamochi (12), Sagami (11), The Monk Gyōson (11), Minamoto no Toshiyori (Shunrai) (11), Fujiwara no Kanezane (11), Ōshikōchi no Mitsune (12), Emperor Murakami (10), Ônakatomi no Yoshinobu (11), Akazome Emon (11), The Monk Nôin (10), Tayu (10), Kamo no Chômei (10) and Fujiwara no Kintsune (10).
The following poems from Shinkokinshū are on WakaPoetry.net:
Book I: Spring 1
Book II: Spring 2
Book III: Summer
Book IV: Autumn 1
| SKKS IV: 325 SKKS IV: 326 SKKS IV: 343 SKKS IV: 358 SKKS IV: 359 SKKS IV: 360 SKKS IV: 361 SKKS IV: 362 SKKS IV: 363 SKKS IV: 371 |
SKKS IV: 420 SKKS IV: 422 SKKS IV: 423 |
Book V: Autumn 2
| SKKS V: 459 SKKS V: 472 SKKS V: 491 SKKS V: 495 SKKS V: 507 SKKS V: 522 SKKS V: 529 SKKS V: 532 SKKS V: 534 |
SKKS V: 535 SKKS V: 543 |
Book VI: Winter
Book VII: Felicitations
Book VIII: Laments
Book IX: Partings
Book X: Travel
Book XI: Love 1
Book XII: Love 2
Book XIII: Love 3
Book XIV: Love 4
Book XV: Love 5
Book XVI: Miscellaneous 1
Book XVII: Miscellaneous 2
Book XVIII: Miscellaneous 3
Book XIX: Shintō
Book XX: Buddhism
| SKKS XX: 1931 SKKS XX: 1932 SKKS XX: 1933 SKKS XX: 1949 |
SKKS XX: 1966 SKKS XX: 1967 SKKS XX: 1968 SKKS XX: 1969 |
SKKS XX: 1975 SKKS XX: 1976 SKKS XX: 1978 |