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Waka (和歌, literally, "Japanese poem") is a type of poetry in classical Japanese literature. Waka are composed in Japanese, and are contrasted with poetry in Classical Chinese (kanshi). Although waka in modern Japanese is written as 和歌, in the past the word was also written as 倭歌, and a variant name is yamato-uta (大和歌).

The word waka as two different but related meanings: the original meaning was "poetry in Japanese" and encompassed several genres such as chōka and sedōka (discussed below); the later, more common definition refers to poetry in a 5-7-5-7-7 metre. Up to and during the compilation of the Man'yōshū in the eighth century, the word waka was a general term for poetry composed in Japanese, and included several genres such as tanka (短歌, "short poem"), chōka (長歌, "long poem"), bussokusekika (仏足石歌, "Buddha footprint poem") and sedōka (旋頭歌, "repeating-the-first-part poem"). However, by the time of the Kokinshū's compilation at the beginning of the tenth century, all of these forms except for the tanka and chōka had effectively gone extinct, and chōka had significantly diminished in prominence. As a result, the word waka became effectively synonymous with tanka, and the word tanka fell out of use until it was revived at the end of the nineteenth century (see Tanka).

Tanka (hereafter referred to as waka) consist of five lines (句, ku, literally "phrases") of 5-7-5-7-7 on or syllabic units.

Other forms of waka

The term waka originally encompassed a number of differing forms, principally tanka (短歌, "short poem") and chōka (長歌, "long poem"), but also including bussokusekika, sedōka (旋頭歌, "memorized poem") and katauta (片歌, "poem fragment"). These last three forms, however, fell into disuse at the beginning of the Heian period, and chōka vanished soon afterwards. Thus, the term waka came in time to refer only to tanka.

Chōka

Chōka consist of 5-7 on phrases repeated at least twice, and conclude with a 5-7-7 ending.

The briefest chōka documented is Man'yōshū:0337, which is of a pattern 5-7 5-7 5-7 5-7-7. It was composed by Yamanoue no Okura in the Nara period and goes:

The chōka above is followed by an envoi (反歌, hanka), also written by Okura:

In the early Heian period (at the beginning of the 10th century), chōka was seldom written and tanka became the main form of waka. Since then, the generic term waka came to be almost synonymous with tanka. Famous examples of such works are the diaries of Ki no Tsurayuki and Izumi Shikibu, as well as such collections of poem tales as The Tales of Ise and The Tales of Yamato.

Minor forms of waka

Lesser forms of waka featured in the Man'yōshū and other ancient sources exist. Besides that, there were many other forms like:

• Bussokusekika: This form carved on a slab of slate – the "Buddha footprint" or bussokuseki – at the Yakushi-ji temple in Nara. Also recorded in the Man'yōshū. The pattern is 5-7-5-7-7-7.
• Sedōka: The Man'yōshū and Kokinshū recorded this form. The pattern is 5-7-7-5-7-7.
• Katauta: Man'yōshū recorded this form. Katauta means "half-poem". The pattern is 5-7-7.

History

Early

Classical

Medieval

Early modern

Modern

Glossary of terms related to waka composition

Notes

1. Kakinomoto Hitomaro on Brittanica.com
2. Wright, Harold. Songs of Mountains and Coves: Japanese Ancient Pre-haiku Poetry in Simply Haiku, Spring 2006
3. Sato, Hiroaki and Watson, Burton. From the Country of Eight Islands: An Anthology of Japanese Poetry. Columbia University Press, ISBN 0-231-16395-4 p.619
4. English translation by Edwin A. Cranston, from A Waka Anthology: Volume One: The Gem-Glistening Cup, Stanford University Press © 1993

• Japanese literary terms
• Japanese literature
• Japanese poetry
• Stanzaic form
• Waka