Anthology of Waka Literature Monogatarinihyakubannutaawase Fuyowakasyu (Two Hundred Waka Contests from Literary Tales/Fuyo Waka Collection)

“Wakabungakutaikei” published by Meijisyoin, consists of one hundred collected volumes of classical Japanese poems (Waka). Each book of collected poems contains texts (Waka and Kotobagaki), their modern translation, authors’ profiles, as well as additional explanations on important and difficult words and phrases. At the end of each book, indexes of authors, places, first phrases of Waka, and commentaries on each collection are provided.
 
“Monogatarinihyakubanutaawase Fuyowakashu” is the fiftieth book of “Wakabungakutaikei.” Monogatarinihyakubanutaawase and Fuyowakashu are two collections of many Japanese poems (Waka) selected around the thirteenth century from classical novels (Monogatari). They are very valuable sources of lost classical Monogatari. Reading Kotobagaki and Waka, we can learn about the contents and structure of lost Monogatari, and further, our imagination is stimulated since the information available is not complete.
 
The first collection Monogatarinihyakubanutaawase was gathered and edited by Fujiwara Teika and contains four hundred Waka selected from twelve Monogatari. This collection uses a style of competition called Utaawase -a competition between two teams in which each team makes a Waka on the same theme. The first two hundred Waka were taken from Genjimonogatari and Sagoromomonogatari ; the second half from Genjimonogatari and ten other Monogatari. Readers can enjoy the similarities Teika found in different Monogatari. Please note that the left team is considered “upper class” and the right “lower class,” and that Genjimonogatari always belongs to the left team.
 
The second collection Fuyowakashu is taken from around two hundred Monogatari by the order of Emperor Gosagain’s wife. It was completed during the second half of the thirteenth century, and Fujiwara Tameie is believed   to be the editor. This collection is very valuable because it contains Kotobagaki and Waka from about one hundred eighty lost classical Monogatari. There are supposed to be twenty themes in total (called Budate), but two of them seemed to have been lost. It is similar to Hachidaisyu in its format and in the use of themes such as four seasons, love, journey, death, religions, and “the others.”
 
Monogatarinihyakubanutaawase and Fuyowakashu have been well-known but never been introduced in detail. Therefore, this book is significant and valuable for all researchers of classical Waka and Monogatari. It should be noted that Professor Misumi Yoichi passed away in 2016 before completing this book, and Takagi Kazuko took over the task and completed it.
 

(Written by TAKAGI Kazuko, Professor, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology / 2019)