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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: 43 / 100 poems.

Songs

楽曲一覧
No. 1 Aki no Ta “The Autumn Fields” — Emperor TenjiReleased→No. 2 Haru Sugite “Spring Has Passed” — Empress JitōReleased→No. 3 Ashibiki no “The Long Mountain Night” — Kakinomoto no HitomaroReleased→No. 4 Tago no Ura “Tago Bay” — Yamabe no AkahitoReleased→No. 5 Okuyama ni “Deep in the Mountains” — Sarumaru no DayūReleased→No. 7 Ama no Hara “The Wide Plain of Heaven” — Abe no NakamaroReleased→No. 9 Hana no Iro wa “The Color of the Flowers” — Ono no KomachiReleased→No. 10 Kore ya Kono “So This Is the Place” — SemimaruReleased→No. 11 Wata no Hara “Across the Wide Sea” — Sangi Takamura (Ono no Takamura)Released→No. 12 Ama tsu Kaze “Wind of Heaven” — Archbishop HenjōReleased→No. 13 Tsukubane no “From the Peaks of Tsukuba” — Retired Emperor YōzeiReleased→No. 15 Kimi ga Tame “For You” — Emperor KōkōReleased→No. 16 Tachiwakare “Though We Part” — Chunagon Yukihira (Ariwara no Yukihira)Released→No. 17 Chihayaburu “Unheard of, Even in the Age of Gods” — Ariwara no NarihiraReleased→No. 22 Fuku kara ni “The Storm on the Mountain” — Fun'ya no YasuhideReleased→No. 23 Tsuki Mireba “When I Gaze Upon the Moon” — Ōe no ChisatoReleased→No. 24 Kono Tabi wa “An Offering of Autumn Leaves” — Sugawara no MichizaneReleased→No. 33 Hisakata no “The Unhurried Light of Spring” — Ki no TomonoriReleased→No. 35 Hito wa Isa “The Plum Blossom Remembers” — Ki no TsurayukiReleased→No. 36 Natsu no Yo wa “Where the Moon Sleeps on a Summer Night” — Kiyohara no FukayabuReleased→No. 37 Shiratsuyu ni “Scattered Pearls of Dew” — Fun'ya no AsayasuReleased→No. 38 Wasuraruru “Forgotten, I Still Fear for You” — UkonReleased→No. 40 Shinoburedo “Though I Tried to Hide It” — Taira no KanemoriReleased→No. 41 Koi su Chō “They Say I Am in Love” — Mibu no TadamiReleased→No. 43 Aimite no “Since the Night We Met” — Fujiwara no AtsutadaReleased→No. 56 Arazaran “Once More, Before I Go” — Izumi ShikibuReleased→No. 57 Meguriaite “The Midnight Moon” — Murasaki ShikibuReleased→No. 59 Yasurawade “Watching the Moon Till It Leaned West” — Akazome EmonReleased→No. 60 Ōeyama “The Road I Have Never Walked” — Koshikibu no NaishiReleased→No. 62 Yo o Komete “The Gate Will Not Open” — Sei ShōnagonReleased→No. 63 Ima wa Tada “If Only I Could Tell You Myself” — Fujiwara no MichimasaReleased→No. 70 Sabishisa ni “In Loneliness” — Ryōzen HōshiReleased→No. 71 Yū Sareba “When Evening Falls” — Dainagon Tsunenobu (Minamoto no Tsunenobu)Released→No. 73 Takasago no “Cherry Blossoms on the High Hills” — Ōe no MasafusaReleased→No. 77 Se o Hayami “The Stream Will Meet Again” — Retired Emperor SutokuReleased→No. 80 Nagakaran “Tangled as My Morning Hair” — Taikenmon'in no HorikawaReleased→No. 84 Nagaraeba “Someday, Even This Night” — Fujiwara no KiyosukeReleased→No. 86 Nageke tote “The Moon Is Not to Blame” — Priest SaigyōReleased→No. 89 Tama no O yo “O Thread of My Life” — Princess ShikishiReleased→No. 92 Waga Sode wa “The Stone Below the Tide” — Nijōin no SanukiReleased→No. 93 Yo no Naka wa “Let the World Stay as It Is” — Minamoto no SanetomoReleased→No. 97 Konu Hito o “Waiting by the Salt-Fires” — Fujiwara no TeikaReleased→No. 98 Kaze Soyogu “Evening at the Sacred Stream” — Fujiwara no IetakaReleased→