Hyakunin Isshu: The Airship of Memory
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Origins and Overview Hyakunin Isshu is a classical anthology of waka, compiled in 1135 by the Kamakura-period poet Fujiwara no Teika. It gathers one poem from each of one hundred poets, weaving together a hundred voices into a single timeless collection. Within these verses lies the resonance of nearly seven centuries of history, from Nara and Heian through Kamakura. More than a mere compilation, it is cherished as a “bouquet of poems” — an anthology beyond time, distilling the culture of Japan and the delicate sensibilities of its people.
Viewing the Hyakunin Isshu as a Work of Science Fiction
The one hundred cards of the Hyakunin Isshu embody the thoughts of one hundred poets selected by Fujiwara no Teika and reflect the very history of Japan. Contained within them is the long flow of nearly seven centuries, from the Nara and Heian periods to the Kamakura era.
The content is strikingly diverse: poems of love, verses of encounters and farewells, poems describing journeys, and others that evoke a narrative world. Spread out across tatami mats, these cards form the very “anthology” that Teika compiled—an anthology that transcends seven hundred years and still lies before us today.
The themes are wide-ranging. Some poems were written by poets in exile, carrying the character of requiems for history. Many others focus on love, and the feelings expressed by female poets in particular recall the characters of The Tale of Genji. In this sense, the collection has the atmosphere of a world time-traveled from Murasaki Shikibu’s literary universe into our own.
Originally, waka poetry was meant to express quiet Japanese sensibilities and deep inner emotions. By contrast, modern competitive karuta has transformed into a high-speed contest of snatching cards, which some feel is far removed from the original spirit of the poems. Yet even there, the essence of the Hyakunin Isshu—its role as a vessel of memory—remains alive.
Although the Hyakunin Isshu was compiled in the Kamakura period, it has not been forgotten in the flow of history and has endured into the present day. When observed as a kind of science fiction work, it opens up a fresh and enjoyable way of appreciating this timeless anthology.
At first glance, the Hyakunin Isshu may not seem like science fiction. There are no spaceships or futuristic technologies in its pages. Yet this anthology, compiled in the Kamakura period, has traveled eight centuries to arrive in our present as a “memory object.”
Its hundred poems, drawn from seven hundred years of history, form a vast map of time. Love, exile, battle, and longing crystallize in brief verses, each capturing the spirit of its age.
Remarkably, the collection is also organized around the number 100, creating an Excel-like grid of memory. Each poem may appear fragmentary, but together they unify along a timeline, reflecting a hidden structural logic that anticipates even modern ideas of information and memory science.
In this sense, the Hyakunin Isshu is not only a cultural treasure but also a time-traveling memory device—a quiet experiment in human imagination that still speaks to us today.
The Allure of Classical CultureFrom ancient times, waka was regarded as an essential refinement within the aristocratic world. In thirty-one syllables, it distilled the heart’s passions—love and longing, the fleeting seasons of nature, and the impermanence of life itself. In the hundred poems chosen by Teika, the luminous and delicate sensibilities of the Heian court still breathe. The verses that portray spring, summer, autumn, and winter serve as mirrors reflecting both the Japanese view of nature and of life, awakening resonances that speak to us even in the present age.
Hyakunin Isshu as a Vessel of MemoryThe hundred waka of Hyakunin Isshu were born one after another across a journey of seven centuries. Each poem is thus a fragment of memory—an emblem of Nara, Heian, Kamakura, or even the world of The Tale of Genji. The very framework that gathers these hundred verses becomes a “memory device,” a vessel that time-warps across long ages.
For more than eight hundred years since its inception, these hundred poems have endured—never forgotten, passing from children to the elderly, carried within the minds of countless generations. Viewed through the lens of science fiction, Hyakunin Isshu may be called an “airship of memory,” soaring through the skies of every era, and even now, it continues its flight toward the future.A Rare Structure in World LiteratureAcross the vast landscape of world literature. .#百人一首の三言絶句 #秋春足田 #Hajime Oguri #記憶飛行船
#Izumi Gotoh piano #Airship of memory
#Hyakunin Isshu Explained in English
＃百人一首の紹介
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