Renga and Haikai Renga — From the Splitting of Waka to the Independence of the Hokku, 500 Years of Development

What “Renga” Is

Renga (linked verse) is a poetic form in which the 5-7-5-7-7 = 31 sounds of waka are split into 5-7-5 (upper verse) + 7-7 (lower verse), and multiple people alternately compose each part in turn. As opposed to waka, completed by one person, it is a communal composition in which the poets gathered at a za (the “seat” of the linked-verse gathering) continue by adding “tsukeku” (attached verses) to the previous person’s verse.

General Forms

• Hyakuin (100 verses) — chaining 100 verses (medieval to early modern standard)
• Kasen (36 verses) — 36 verses (favored by Bashō and later)
• Senku (1,000 verses) — 1,000 verses (for special occasions)

Each verse receives the preceding verse and connects to the next verse — the essence is the technique of “tsukeru” (to attach). Not simply singing one’s own thoughts, but a communal activity of making the flow of the seat.

“Hokku” and “Ageku”

• Hokku — the first 5-7-5, composed by the guest of honor of the seat
• Ageku — the final 7-7, closing the seat

The modern Japanese word “hokku” is a synonym for haiku; “ageku no hate” means “the end” — both terms come from renga.

The Origin of Renga — Heian’s “Short Renga”

The prototype of renga already existed in the Heian period. The Man’yōshū already has records of “tan-renga (short renga)” = two people playing at attaching 5-7-5 and 7-7.

Man’yōshū vol. 8, No. 1635:

• A nun composed: “Saho-gawa no / mizu wo sekiagete / ueshi ta wo” (5-7-5)
• Ōtomo no Yakamochi attached: “Kareru hatsuii wa / hitori naru beshi” (7-7)

The nun presented the upper verse and Yakamochi attached the lower verse. Such short renga became a pastime of aristocrats by the middle Heian. But it developed as full-scale “renga” only in the Kamakura and Muromachi periods.

The Three Great Poets of Medieval Renga

1. Nijō Yoshimoto (1320-1388) — Theorization of Renga

Nijō Yoshimoto was regent and grand minister of the Nanboku-chō era. He was a politician and at the same time the greatest contributor to the theorization and codification of renga.

Principal works:

• Tsukubashū (1356) — an imperially recognized anthology of renga
• Ōan Shinshiki (1372) — a book of renga rules
• Tsukuba Mondō — a treatise on renga

Tsukubashū received quasi-imperial anthology treatment for the first time as renga, marking the turning point at which renga obtained parity of prestige with waka. From then on, renga stood alongside waka as an accomplishment of aristocrats.

Ōan Shinshiki codified more than 500 detailed rules of renga. Rules such as “space out the same theme by three or more verses” and “keep the flow of the seasons” — designed not to break the flow of the seat. These became the standard rules of later renga.

2. Sōgi (1421-1502) — Artistic Peak of Renga

Sōgi was a renga master of the late Muromachi period who built the artistic peak of renga. His origin is unknown (perhaps a low-ranking warrior or townsman); he studied under the famous renga master of Kyoto Shinkei.

Sōgi’s importance:

• Founder of the traveling renga master — going around Echigo, Hokuriku, Kyūshū, and Kamakura
• Shinsen Tsukubashū (1495) — compilation of the second quasi-imperial renga anthology
• Three great pupils: Shōhaku, Sōchō, and Sōseki

Sōgi’s representative hokku: “Yo ni furu mo / sara ni shigure no / yadori kana”

Being alive in the world too is just like being at a lodging of shigure (=late-autumn passing rain). A masterpiece condensing the sense of impermanence into a rain shower.

3. Shinkei (1406-1475) — the “Cool” Aesthetic

Shinkei was Sōgi’s teacher. Though a Tendai monk, he was active as a renga master. He introduced the Shinkokin’s “yūgen” and “yojō” aesthetic into renga and established the beauty of “hie” (chill) and “sabi.”

Principal works:

• Sasamegoto — a treatise on renga
• Sho-sho Hentō — dialogues on renga

Shinkei’s renga aesthetic is the direct source that connects to the later Bashō’s “wabi-sabi” and to the aesthetic of modern haiku.

The Technique of Renga — The Art of “Attachment”

The core of renga is the way of attaching to the previous verse. Not simply continuing the theme, but creating a flow while skillfully changing meaning, sound, scene, and season.

Types of Attachment

1. Kokoro-zuke (heart attachment) — attaching by receiving the feeling of the preceding verse
2. Kotoba-zuke (word attachment) — attaching by receiving the words of the preceding verse
3. Mono-zuke (thing attachment) — attaching by receiving the things of the preceding verse
4. Nioi-zuke (scent attachment) — attaching by receiving the atmosphere or scent of the preceding verse (the most advanced, valued by Bashō)

Nioi-zuke is a technique of creating not a direct association but a subtle continuity of atmosphere. It reaches its peak in Bashō’s haikai.

Changing Themes

• The same theme is not continued for more than three verses (to avoid monotony)
• The same theme is spaced by five or more verses (transition to another topic)
• Follow the flow of the seasons (spring → summer → autumn → winter)
• Love verses, Buddhist verses, and jingi (Shinto) verses are placed at specific positions

Through these rules, renga becomes not an individual work but a poetry of the flow of the seat.

The Divergence of Haikai Renga (16th Century)

In Sōgi’s time, in the 15th century, renga had become codified and elevated as an accomplishment of aristocrats. But in the late 16th century, a countermovement to the codification of renga arose as haikai renga.

The origin of “haikai”:

• “Hai (俳)” = playful, comic
• “Kai (諧)” = harmonious, mild
• “Haikai” = comic harmony, playful harmony

So haikai renga is “a casual, comic renga against the elevated renga.” This is the direct origin of later haiku.

Yamazaki Sōkan (1465?-1553?)

Yamazaki Sōkan was a renga master of Yamazaki in Settsu Province (present-day Osaka). In reaction against aristocratic renga, he attempted a haikai renga with colloquial, vulgar subjects and light wit.

Representative work:

• Inu Tsukubashū (dates unknown, first half of 16th century) — a representative selection of haikai renga

The name Inu Tsukubashū means “the inferior, vulgar tsukubashū” in opposition to Nijō Yoshimoto’s Tsukubashū — self-deprecating naming. In fact a reaction against aristocratic renga, and a compilation of folk wit.

Sōkan’s hokku: “Uzuki kana / taue wo haramu / onna domo”

The fourth month — women pregnant at the rice-planting. A poem plainly composing the life of farmers, calling to mind the Man’yō’s azumauta and sakimori-uta. The opposite of the Shinkokin’s technique.

Arakida Moritake (1473-1549)

Arakida Moritake was a priest of the Ise Shrine. A founder of haikai renga alongside Sōkan. He composed Moritake Senku (1540) as a dokugin (=chained a thousand verses alone).

Representative hokku: “Rakka eda ni / kaeru to mireba / kochō kana”

A fallen blossom that seemed to return to the branch was in fact a butterfly. The wit of the mitate (likening) is haikai in character. Such comic wit is a feature of haikai renga.

Developments of Haikai in Early Edo (First Half of 17th Century)

Teimon Haikai — Matsunaga Teitoku (1571-1653)

Matsunaga Teitoku was a haikai master of Kyoto in early Edo. He theorized and codified the haikai renga of Yamazaki Sōkan and Arakida Moritake, and established the Teimon school.

Teitoku’s features:

• Emphasis on intellectual wordplay (kakekotoba, engo)
• Maintenance of aristocratic education
• Training of many disciples (Nishiyama Sōin was once his disciple too)

Representative Teimon hokku: “Uta ni kiku / Fujii no mizu mo / hana ka yuki” (Teitoku) The water of the Fujii well, sung of in waka too, is it flower or snow? The stance of drawing the tradition of waka into haikai.

Danrin Haikai — Nishiyama Sōin (1605-1682)

Nishiyama Sōin was a haikai master of Osaka who came from renga. He broke away from Teitoku’s school and founded the Danrin school.

Sōin’s features:

• Pursuit of wild imagination and bold metaphor
• From wordplay to leaps of thought
• Early teacher of Matsuo Bashō

Sōin’s representative hokku: “Kiri ni momiji / shirotae no aki no / nishiki kana” Autumn leaves in the mist — the brocade of white autumn. A wild combination of colors in Danrin style.

Shōfū Haikai — Matsuo Bashō (1644-1694)

Matsuo Bashō passed through Teimon and Danrin haikai and established his own haikai called the shōfū. The artistic peak of haikai in the late 17th century.

Bashō’s importance:

1. Aesthetic of “wabi, sabi, karumi” — inheritance and development of the renga aesthetic of Shinkei and Sōgi
2. Making the hokku an art — the first verse of the renga (hokku) became a work that completed itself
3. Oku no Hosomichi (1689) — crystallization of travel and haikai

Bashō’s refinement of the hokku as an independent art led to the establishment of “haiku” through Masaoka Shiki at the end of the 19th century (see the Haiku 400 Years series).

From Hokku to Haiku

The hokku was originally the first 5-7-5 of a renga. In Bashō’s era, the hokku was already an independent object of appreciation, but formally still part of renga.

In 1892, Masaoka Shiki renamed “hokku” as “haiku”, completely separating it from renga and establishing it as an independent verse form. This is the official establishment of haiku = an independent 5-7-5. Details in the Haiku 400 Years series.

Renga in the Modern Age

In modern Japan, renga itself is almost an extinct art. But:

1. Legacy in Haiku and Tanka

Renga techniques (attaching, nioi-zuke, seasonal changes) are inherited as rhythmic sensibility in haiku and tanka. Modern poets do not make renga directly, but intellectually receive that sensibility.

2. Modern Renga (Experimental)

In the late 20th century, some poets and tanka poets attempted modern renga. Ōoka Makoto and Tanikawa Shuntarō experimented with modern renshi (linked-poem). But no full-scale revival.

3. Historical Significance of Nijō Yoshimoto’s Ōan Shinshiki

Renga rule-books remain important materials of Japanese literary history and bibliography. One of the core documents of medieval waka research.

The Significance of Renga

1. Poetry of the “Za” (Seat)

Renga is not the poetry of the individual but of the group. This represents an East-Asian tradition of communal creation different from Western poetics. Influence continues to later renku (Bashō’s linked verse), and to modern “renshi.”

2. Aesthetic of “Flow”

The core of renga is not the self-assertion but the making of the flow of the seat. This is one expression of the Japanese aesthetic of “ma (interval)” and “breath.” A sense common to nō, tea ceremony, and flower arrangement.

3. Technical Ground for Haiku and Tanka

The techniques of modern haiku and tanka (using kigo, the breath between verses, the association of scenes) derive directly from renga. Modern haiku is unthinkable without renga.

Toward the Next Article

In the Edo period, renga ceded its leading role to haikai, and waka itself became conservative and stagnant. Meanwhile, in the mid-Edo period, kokugaku scholars worked on rediscovering the Man’yōshū. Over three generations — Keichū (late 17th century), Kamo no Mabuchi (18th century), Motoori Norinaga (late 18th century) — the decipherment of the Man’yōshū and the renewal of poetics advance. This becomes the groundwork for the waka reform of Masaoka Shiki in the Meiji era. The next article traces Edo-era waka and the lineage of the kokugaku scholars.