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Hyakunin Isshu

One hundred poems, one hundred poets — reborn as J-POP.

The Project

百人一首

The Ogura Hyakunin Isshu is Japan's most beloved poetry anthology: one hundred poems by one hundred poets, spanning some six centuries, compiled around 1235 by the poet Fujiwara no Teika. Emperors and priests, court ladies and wandering monks — each left exactly one poem. Our project is to set all one hundred of them to music, one by one, as J-POP songs.

Each song page includes the original poem, its romaji reading, an English translation, the story behind it, and full bilingual lyrics. Progress so far: 18 / 100 poems.

Songs

楽曲一覧
No. 1 Aki no Ta “The Autumn Fields” — Emperor TenjiComing soon
No. 2 Haru Sugite “Spring Has Passed” — Empress JitōComing soon
No. 4 Tago no Ura “Tago Bay” — Yamabe no AkahitoComing soon
No. 7 Ama no Hara “The Wide Plain of Heaven” — Abe no NakamaroComing soon
No. 9 Hana no Iro wa “The Color of the Flowers” — Ono no KomachiReleased
No. 10 Kore ya Kono “So This Is the Place” — SemimaruComing soon
No. 15 Kimi ga Tame “For You” — Emperor KōkōComing soon
No. 17 Chihayaburu “Unheard of, Even in the Age of Gods” — Ariwara no NarihiraReleased
No. 33 Hisakata no “The Unhurried Light of Spring” — Ki no TomonoriReleased
No. 40 Shinoburedo “Though I Tried to Hide It” — Taira no KanemoriComing soon
No. 41 Koi su Chō “They Say I Am in Love” — Mibu no TadamiComing soon
No. 43 Aimite no “Since the Night We Met” — Fujiwara no AtsutadaComing soon
No. 56 Arazaran “Once More, Before I Go” — Izumi ShikibuComing soon
No. 57 Meguriaite “The Midnight Moon” — Murasaki ShikibuComing soon
No. 62 Yo o Komete “The Gate Will Not Open” — Sei ShōnagonComing soon
No. 77 Se o Hayami “The Stream Will Meet Again” — Retired Emperor SutokuComing soon
No. 89 Tama no O yo “O Thread of My Life” — Princess ShikishiComing soon
No. 97 Konu Hito o “Waiting by the Salt-Fires” — Fujiwara no TeikaComing soon