Only six poems in the Hyakunin Isshu are classified under "spring." Few as they are, they include some of the best-loved lines in the Japanese language: Ono no Komachi's "Hana no iro wa," Ki no Tomonori's "Hisakata no," and Ise no Taifu's "Inishie no" — poems almost everyone in Japan has spoken aloud at least once. Cherry trees in full bloom, falling petals that carry the sense of nothing lasting, an early-spring field still patched with snow — here the six are grouped by what they see, each with its meaning and background, and the song we made from it.
Poems that have become songs link from their row to the song page — meaning, the story behind the poem, bilingual lyrics, and the music video.
| No. | Poem | Poet | Meaning | Kimariji |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Hana no iro wa utsurinikeri na itazura ni waga mi yo ni furu nagame seshi ma ni♪ Listen: “Hana no Iro wa” | Ono no Komachi | The color of the cherry blossoms has faded away in vain while the long rains fell — just as my own beauty… | hana no |
| 15 | Kimi ga tame haru no no ni idete wakana tsumu waga koromode ni yuki wa furitsutsu♪ Listen: “Kimi ga Tame Haru no No ni Idete” | Emperor Kōkō | For your sake I went out into the spring fields to gather young herbs, and all the while snow kept falling on… | kimi ga tame wa |
| 33 | Hisakata no hikari nodokeki haru no hi ni shizugokoro naku hana no chiruran♪ Listen: “Hisakata no” | Ki no Tomonori | On this spring day, when the sunlight falls so gently, why must the cherry blossoms scatter with such… | hisa |
| 35 | Hito wa isa kokoro mo shirazu furusato wa hana zo mukashi no ka ni nioikeru♪ Listen: “Hito wa Isa” | Ki no Tsurayuki | As for people, who knows how their hearts may have changed? But in this village I once knew so well, the plum… | hito wa |
| 61 | Inishie no Nara no miyako no yaezakura kyō kokonoe ni nioinuru kana♪ Listen: “Inishie no” | Ise no Taifu | The double-petaled cherry blossoms of the ancient capital of Nara bloom today, more beautiful than ever, here… | ini |
| 73 | Takasago no onoe no sakura sakinikeri toyama no kasumi tatazu mo aranan♪ Listen: “Takasago no” | Ōe no Masafusa | The cherry trees on the high mountain peak have bloomed. Mist of the nearer hills, please do not rise and… | taka |
Six poems are classified under "spring." If you also count poems in the miscellaneous category that are set in spring — No. 66 "Morotomo ni," No. 67 "Haru no yo no," and No. 96 "Hana sasou" — the number of poems with a spring setting rises to nine.
Four: No. 9 "Hana no iro wa" (Ono no Komachi), No. 33 "Hisakata no" (Ki no Tomonori), No. 61 "Inishie no" (Ise no Taifu), and No. 73 "Takasago no" (Ōe no Masafusa). Be careful with No. 35 "Hito wa isa" (Ki no Tsurayuki): the "blossoms" there are plum, not cherry.
The tender spring greens — water dropwort, shepherd's purse and the like — that people went out to pick on the first Day of the Rat in the New Year. Eating them was believed to drive away ill fortune and bring long life. In the poem, Emperor Kōkō goes out into a spring field where snow is still falling to gather them for someone dear to him.