Tag Archives: capital

Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 38

29th September 2025 Thomas Leave a comment

Round Thirteen

Left

しぐれもるたびねのとこははなぞめのたもとぞさきにまづかへりける

shigure moru
tabine no toko wa
hanazome no
tamoto zo saki ni
mazu kaerikeru

A shower drips upon me
As I doze upon my journey-bed;
Blossom-dyed,
My sleeves, before me,
Have first returned to what they were!

Masahira
75

Right (Win)

はなれゆくみやこをおもふひとりねのなみだをさそふはつしぐれかな

hanareyuku
miyako o omou
hitorine no
namida o sasou
hatsushigure kana

Distant has grown
The capital, but it fills my thoughts,
Sleeping solo,
My tears invited by
The first shower!

Chikashige
76

The configuration of the Left’s poem appears charming, but it would have sounded more so had there been a reason why ‘my sleeves, before’ had returned to the capital on the journey. The diction and conception of the Right’s poem, beginning with ‘distant has grown’ and leading to ‘tears invited’, is extremely pleasant. It seems the Right wins.

Sumiyoshi-sha uta'awase kaō ni-nen

Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 35

19th September 2025 Thomas Leave a comment

Round Ten

Left (Tie)

くさまくらしぐれもそでをぬらしけりみやこをこふるなみだならねど

kusamakura
shigure mo sode o
nurashikeri
miyako o kouru
namida naranedo

On a pillow of grass
The showers, too, my sleeves
Have soaked;
Longing for the capital
These tears are not, yet…

Hiromori
69

Right

かりいほさすならのからはのむらしぐれあはれはまきのおとばかりかは

kari’io sasu
nara no karawa no
murashigure
aware wa maki no
oto bakari ka wa

Erecting a crude hut,
The withered leaves of oak are
Struck by cloudbursts;
Does sadness in the evergreens’
Sound solely lie?

Dharma Master Chikyō
70

Both Left and Right appear to have elegant configuration and diction, but the Left seems to presents the soaking of sleeves by showers as something novel, while the Right gives a feeling that it is only the sound of evergreens that makes one sad. Thus, these tie.

Sumiyoshi-sha uta'awase kaō ni-nen

Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 34

19th September 2025 Thomas Leave a comment

Round Nine

Left (Win)

うらさむくしぐるるよはのたびごろもきしのはにふにいたくにほひぬ

ura samuku
shigururu yowa no
tabigoromo
kishi no hanyū ni
itaku nioinu

The bay is cold with
Midnight showers, as
My traveller’s robe
With the shore’s ochre clay
Is deeply stained.

Taifu
67

Right

おもへただみやこのうちのねざめだにしぐるるそらはあはれならずや

omoe tada
miyako no uchi no
nezame dani
shigururu sora wa
aware narazu ya

Simply think of me, when
Within the capital
You start from sleep—
A showery sky is
Sad, isn’t it?

Sadanaga
68

While configuration of the Left’s poem, saying ‘With the shore’s ochre clay / Is deeply stained’ feels crude, it does appear to be in the style of the Myriad Leaves. As for the Right’s poem, its conception is good, but starting, ‘Simply think of me’ begs the question of who this is said to. Such diction is used in poetry exchanges or love poems, in particular. The Left’s poem is most likely superior.

Sumiyoshi-sha uta'awase kaō ni-nen

Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 28

16th August 2025 Thomas Leave a comment

Round Three

Left

まきのやのしぐれのおとにゆめさめてみやここひしきねにぞぬれぬる

maki no ya no
shigure no oto ni
yume samete
miyako koishiki
ne ni zo nurenuru

Beneath a roof of cypress boards
The sound of showers
Wakes me from my dreams, and
Longing for the capital
I drench myself with weeping.

Chūnagon
55

Right (Win)

たびねするのぢのしばやにおとづれてすぐるはよはのしぐれなりけり

tabinesuru
noji no shibaya ni
otozurete
suguru wa yowa no
shigure narikeri

Sleeping on my travels
Cross the plains in a brushwood hut
A sound comes calling,
Passing by at midnight—
A shower.

Sokaku
56

The style of the Left’s poem is elegant but, in addition to feeling that there may well be cypress roofs in places other than the capital, the final line is insufficient, I think. The Right’s poem has nothing remarkable about it, but it sounds pleasant. I make it the winner.

Sumiyoshi-sha uta'awase kaō ni-nen

Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 26

14th August 2025 Thomas Leave a comment

Showers at one’s lodgings on a journey

Round One

Left

しぐれするもみぢのにしきゆかしきにあけてをたたむふたむらのやま

shiguresuru
momiji no nishiki
yukashiki ni
akete o tatamu
futamura no yama

Under the showers
The scarlet leaves’ brocade
I long to see, so
With the dawn let’s set forth
To Mount Futamura!

Jakunen
51

Right (Win)

みやこにもおもひやすらむくさまくらうちしぐれたるよはのねざめを

miyako ni mo
omoiyasuramu
kusamakura
uchishiguretaru
yowa no nezame o

Even in the capital
Might you think of me?
On a grassy pillow
With a shower
Awoken at midnight…

Suke
52

The Left poem’s ‘With the dawn let’s set forth / To Mount Futamura’ sounds charming, but as we can see from Lord Kanesuke’s poem ‘Futami Bay / Let’s see with the dawn’, it is quite pedestrian. Then there is the expression ‘long to see’—this really isn’t appropriate diction for poetry. I will admit that it appears from time to time in imperial anthologies, and so it is certainly permissible depending upon the style of the poem, though. There’s also the term ‘long to know’—one really shouldn’t use diction in a poetry match which doesn’t express the poet’s true feelings. As for the Right’s poem, it’s also quite pedestrian to say that showers fall on one’s way on a journey, but don’t necessarily fall in the capital, but saying that folk there might think of you waking on your journey, well, why wouldn’t they do that? The conception of the poem is pleasant, and I make it the winner.

Kinkai wakashū

Kinkai wakashū 226

11th May 2025 Thomas Leave a comment

Geese before the moon

九重の雲ゐをわけて久かたの月の宮こに雁ぞ鳴くなる

kokonoe no
kumoi o wakete
hisakata no
tsuki no miyako ni
kari zo nakunaru

Ninefold,
The clouds are parted, and
Around the eternal
Lunar capital
Goose cries sound.

Kyōgoku no miyasudokoro uta’awase

Kyōgoku no miyasudokoro uta’awase 08

25th April 2025 Thomas Leave a comment

Original

きみしなほかくしかよはばいそのかみふるきみやこもふりじとぞおもふ

kimi shi nao
kaku shi kayowaba
isonokami
furuki miyako mo
furiji to zo omou

O, my Lady,
Should you thus ever visit
Isonokami, where at
Furu, the ancient capital, too,
Never stales, I feel![1]

Mitsune
22

Left (Win)

かよふともしられじものをふるさとはかすがのやまのふもとならねば

kayou tomo
shirareji mono o
furusato wa
kasuga no yama no
fumoto naraneba

To ever visit there is something
Folk might not know, for
The ancient capital
Among Kasuga Mountain’s
Foothills does not lie…

Right

はるごとにきてはみるともいそのかみふりにしさとのなにはかはらじ

haru goto ni
kite wa miru tomo
isonokami
furinishi sato no
nani wa kawaraji

Every single spring
I come to gaze, yet
At Isonokami,
Furu’s ancient capital
Does nothing ever change?

[1] A variant of this poem occurs in Mitsune’s personal collection: When the Priestly Emperor’s Rokujō Lady of the Bedchamber visited Kasuga, I met and conversed with Lord Tadafusa, the Governor of Yamato, and he mentioned that he had been asked to compose eight quality poems in the name of his province, so I sent him two of my own. The date was the 7^th day of the Third Month, Engi 21 [17.4.921]. きくになほかくしかよはばいそのかみふるきみやこもふりしとぞおもふ kiku ni nao / kaku shi kayowaba / isonokami / furuki Miyako mo / furishi to zo omou ‘O, I hear that / Should you ever thus visit / Isonokami, where at / Furu, the ancient capital, too, / Has grown old, I feel.’(Mitsune-shū 323)