Cathy HartPerry Middle SchoolWorthington, OH

Tanka has been the most popular form of poetry in Japan for at least thirteen centuries.

Shiojiri, in the Nagano prefecture, is the homeland of modern tanka poetry. Many poets lived their lives in Shiojiri, made their influence on others there and left much of their poetry behind. The city’s Tanka Museum displays the works of many of the greatest Japanese poets.

The Shiojiri Tanka Museum is contained in an old traditional-style house.

The house has a roof style unique to the Nagano prefecture.

The tall people in this group had to duck under the ceiling beams!

Tanka means “short song”. A man would send a poem to a woman in the pattern of 5-7-5 onji. Then the woman would respond with a poem of 7-7 onji. Together they created a short love song.

In Japanese, tanka is often written in one straight line.

However, in English and other languages, the lines are usually divided into the five syllabic units: 5-7-5-7-7.

Calligraphy scroll of a tanka poem

Tanka have changed and evolved over the centuries, but the basic form has remained the same. The topics did expand from the traditional expressions of passion and heartache. In fact, tanka were often composed as a kind of finale to every sort of occasion. No experience was quite complete until a tanka had been written about it.

Usually, each line consists of one image or idea. Although in the best tanka, the five lines often flow seamlessly into one thought.

This tanka was written on a Japanese flag. It was dedicated to a man who went to war.

In the pine forest behind the museum, there are monuments with inscriptions of tanka.

The one on the platform was created to console soldiers’ souls.

This tanka was carefully inscribed on a wooden board and hung on the tree.

Many old tanka are displayed in the museum.

The works of well-known poets like Shimaki Akahiko and Wakayama Bokusui are also exhibited there.

This long scroll is a letter from a shogun!

How do tanka and haiku compare?

The Japanese poetry forms of haiku and tanka are alike in these ways: • simplicity

• brief and clear

• contemplates nature

• traditionally no violence

How do tanka and haiku compare?

Tanka and haiku are dissimilar in the following ways:tanka is 13 centuries old, haiku is only 3 centuries old

tanka’s length is 31 onji/syllables and haiku’s is 17 onji/syllables

tanka has five parts/five images while haiku has at the most three images

tanka’s aim is beauty, whereas haiku’s aim is “is-ness”tanka uses imagination and is written about given themes; however, haiku uses real images and is based on an experience

• tanka is written to be a chanted song, but haiku is to be spoken crisply

• tanka traditionally uses elegant images, yet haiku speaks of common things with common language to reveal uncommon ideas

• tanka is courtly and literary while haiku is of the merchants and lower class

How do tanka and haiku compare?

• tanka is meant to delight in beauty, encourage reflection, and stir up emotions; on the other hand, haiku is meant to open the heart, be quick and direct, and be emotionless.

yakumo tatsuIzumo yaegakitsumagomi niyaegaki tsukurusono yaegaki wo

Eightfold rising cloudsBuild an eightfold fenceAn eightfold Izumo fenceWherein to keep my bride--Oh! splendid eightfold fence.

An Early Japanese Tanka

English translation by Edwin A. Cranston

銀も Shirogane mo What are they to me,金も玉も Kogane mo tama mo Silver, or gold, or jewels?何せんに Nanisen ni How could they everまされる宝 Masareru takara Equal the greater treasure子にしかめやも Koni shikame yamo That is a child?

Another Japanese Tanka

“American Tanka is currently the only journal in the U.S. dedicated exclusively to presenting contemporary English-language tanka. Published yearly, the journal has a world-wide circulation and its list of contributors regularly includes many of the most well-known tanka poets of today.”

the cold walk,silencebetween usthe creek runningunder ice

-Tom Clausen

not speakingall the way homemeasuring the silenceone telephone poleat a time

-Michael Cecilione

Headed backfrom good-byes at the airportI keep checkingin rear-view the skywhere your contrail lingers

-Marianne Bluger

With the promotiona corner office--two window reflectionsnow vie formy attention

-George Swede

riding a busthrough the Oklahoma heatan old womantells everything that mattersto someone else's son

-Marc Thompson

“During Japan's Heian period (794-1185 A.D.) it was considered essential for a woman or man of culture to be able to both compose beautiful poetry and to choose the most aesthetically pleasing and appropriate paper, ink, and symbolic attachment---such as a branch, a flower---to go with it.”

Let’s see if we can compose some tanka and present it beautifully as well!