Masaoka Shiki and the Waka Reform — 'Utayomi ni Atauru Sho' and the Advocacy of Shasei

The Meiji Restoration and the Crisis of Waka

1868, the Meiji Restoration. As Japanese society modernized, waka too faced a crisis. The situation in the early Meiji era:

• The Keien school (lineage of Kagawa Kageki) was active in the court and the Ōutadokoro, but was formalized and technique-obsessed
• Old-school poets (aristocratic and warrior classes) preserved the Kokin and Shinkokin forms
• With the appearance of new-verse poetry (Shintaishi Shō of 1882), waka came to be seen as an old-fashioned form — a crisis
• Doubts about the short fixed-form spread with the translation and introduction of Western poetry

In this situation, waka was even thought to be “a form no longer needed in the modern age.” What saved this crisis was Masaoka Shiki’s waka reform.

Masaoka Shiki’s Position — Reformer of Both Haiku and Waka

Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902) was a haiku poet and tanka poet born in Matsuyama in the early Meiji era. As the reformer of both haiku and waka, he laid the foundation of modern Japanese verse forms.

Shiki’s life and haiku activity were treated in detail in Article 6 of the Haiku 400 Years series, so this article focuses on the waka reform.

Outline of Life

• 1867, born in Iyo Matsuyama (present-day Ehime)
• 1890, entered the Faculty of Letters of Tokyo Imperial University; later withdrew
• 1892, Utayomi ni Atauru Sho (serial installments start 1898)
• 1895, as a war correspondent during the First Sino-Japanese War, coughed blood on the return (tuberculosis)
• 1897, promoted haiku and waka reform in the newspaper Nippon
• 1898, serialized Utayomi ni Atauru Sho in the newspaper
• September 19, 1902, died at 34

Shiki contracted tuberculosis in his late 20s and died in his mid-30s. Through only about 10 years of intense activity, he brought revolution to both haiku and waka.

“Utayomi ni Atauru Sho” (1898) — Harsh Criticism of the Kokin Wakashū

In Meiji 31 (1898), Shiki serialized Utayomi ni Atauru Sho (Letters to a Waka Poet) in the newspaper Nippon. These ten letters are epochal writing that overturns the 1000 years of waka common sense since the Heian.

Famous Opening

“Tsurayuki wa heta-na uta-yomi nite Kokinshū wa kudaranu shū ni koreari-sōrō”

“Ki no Tsurayuki was a poor poet, and the Kokinshū is a worthless anthology” — a shocking assertion cutting down in a single word the Kokin Wakashū and Ki no Tsurayuki that had been the ideal and standard of waka for 1000 years since the Heian.

Following: “Kono Tsurayuki ya Kokinshū wo sūhai suru wa Nihonjin no ichidai fukaku ni koreari-sōrō”

“Worshipping this Tsurayuki and Kokinshū is a great failure of the Japanese people” — an even sharper critique. A provocation against the poetry scene of the time (centered on the Keien school).

The Four Pillars of Shiki’s Argument

1. Shasei — compose what you saw as you saw it. Exclude the medieval “kakekotoba, engo” techniques
2. Man’yō style — the powerful, direct style of the Man’yōshū is the true road of waka (inheritance and development of Kamo no Mabuchi’s argument)
3. Unified spoken and written language — compose in language close to modern colloquial, not classical
4. Separation of subject and object — sketch the object objectively, do not mix in emotion

These correspond to the shasei of haiku. Shiki promoted the same principle of shasei in both haiku and waka.

Concrete Examples of the Kokin Criticism

Shiki concretely picks up famous Kokin poems for criticism:

Ki no Tsurayuki: “Sakurabana / chirinuru kaze no / nagori ni wa / mizu naki sora ni / nami zo tachikeru”

Shiki’s judgment: “Just because cherry blossoms fell, waves rise in the sky? What kind of mitate (likening) is this? This is technique for technique’s sake, wordplay without reality.” He rejects the Kokin-style mitate technique likening cherry-storm to “waves in the sky” as “without reality.”

Ariwara no Narihira: “Tsuki ya aranu / haru ya mukashi no / haru naranu / waga mi hitotsu wa / moto no mi ni shite”

Shiki’s judgment (paraphrased): “It only repeats the same words; the content is thin.” Criticizes Narihira’s paradox and repetition techniques as “shallow.”

These criticisms may appear somewhat unfair from a modern viewpoint, but they were a provocative strategy to break the era’s absolute reverence for the Kokinshū.

Re-evaluation of the Man’yōshū

Praise of the Man’yōshū in Utayomi ni Atauru Sho:

“Man’yōshū wa Nihon no yuiitsu no shishū nite, Kokinshū yori mae no uta wa koko ni subete atsumatte sōrō”

Shiki positioned the Man’yōshū as “the source of Japanese poetry” and argued that its plain, powerful style should be recovered. This is the extension of the Edo-era Kamo no Mabuchi’s Man’yō-style revival, but Shiki is new in tying it to modern shasei theory.

What is good about the Man’yōshū (Shiki’s view):

• The direct descriptions of Kakinomoto no Hitomaro and Yamabe no Akahito
• The voices of the people in the azumauta and sakimori-uta
• Reality-centered composition, not turning to technique
• Go-shichi-chō rhythm (more powerful than the shichi-go-chō from the Kokin onward)

Shiki’s Own Waka — Developments in Practice

Shiki was not only a theorist; he also left many waka. In his life about 1,700 poems.

Representative Poem 1: The Wisteria (1900)

“Kame ni sasu / fuji no hanabusa / mijikakereba / tatami no ue ni / todokazarikeri”

• kame ni sasu — placed in a vase
• fuji no hanabusa — wisteria clusters
• mijikakereba — since they are short
• tatami no ue ni todokazarikeri — did not reach the tatami

Shiki on his sickbed composed the wisteria displayed in his room. Sketching as seen, no technique, language close to modern colloquial. The very practice of Shiki’s theory.

This poem reaches modern Japanese directly, invariably included in textbooks as a representative shasei tanka.

Representative Poem 2: A Sickbed Poem (c. 1902)

“Kurenai no / nishaku nobitaru / bara no me no / hari yawaraka ni / harusame no furu”

• kurenai no — of red
• nishaku nobitaru bara no me — a rose sprout that has grown two feet
• hari yawaraka ni — the thorns are soft
• harusame no furu — spring rain is falling

Composes the rose sprout in the garden seen from his sickbed. Concrete description of color (red) and length (two feet), the tactile fineness of “the thorns are soft.” The peak of Shiki’s shasei.

Representative Poem 3: Foreboding of Death (August-September 1902)

Shiki composed many poems just before his death. The “Three Farewell Verses” are haiku, but tanka too has poems that compose a foreboding of death:

“Aki-kusa no / muretatsu niwa wo / mi-oroseba / mono mina karete / aki fukamu”

Looking down at the garden where autumn grasses stand in clusters, all is withering and autumn deepens. The realm of dry seclusion composed by Shiki just before death from the sickbed, looking down at the garden.

The Negishi Tanka Society (1899-)

Around Meiji 32 (1899), Shiki held a gathering of poets at his Negishi residence in Tokyo. This is the “Negishi Tanka Society.” A practical venue for the waka reform where Shiki’s disciples gathered.

Main Members

• Itō Sachio (1864-1913) — from Chiba, later head of Araragi
• Nagatsuka Takashi (1879-1915) — from Ibaraki, farmer-poet and novelist
• Masaoka Ritsu — Shiki’s younger sister, who composed poems while nursing her brother
• Katori Hozuma — metalworker-poet
• Oka Fumoto — doctor-poet

The Negishi Tanka Society continued after Shiki’s death and eventually developed into Araragi (founded 1908).

Rivalry with Yosano Tekkan — the Myōjō School

At the same time as Shiki’s waka reform, a reform from another direction was under way. Yosano Tekkan (1873-1935)’s Myōjō school.

• 1899, Tekkan founded Myōjō
• 1901, his wife Yosano Akiko (1878-1942) published Midaregami
• The composition of Shiki’s shasei vs. Myōjō’s romanticism structures the late-Meiji poetry scene

Shiki side:

• Man’yō style, shasei
• Uses the name tanka (“uta”)
• Emphasizes description and narrative

Myōjō side:

• Symbolism, romanticism
• Positions tanka as an extension of new-verse poetry
• Emphasizes lyricism, love, passion

“Shasei vs. Romanticism” — this contrast becomes the central axis of Meiji-Taishō tanka. Yosano Akiko is treated in detail in the next article.

The Establishment of the Term “Tanka”

Before Shiki, the 5-7-5-7-7 verse form was called “waka” (=yamato-uta, Japanese poetry). Shiki proposed calling it “tanka” (short poem).

The significance of the shift “waka → tanka”:

1. “Waka” carries the heavy implication of “Japanese tradition”
2. “Tanka” is the neutral word “simply a short poem”
3. A change in self-awareness toward form — thematizing the shortness itself, not the weight of tradition

Modern usage:

• Waka — mainly works of the Heian-Kamakura eras (historical usage)
• Tanka — mainly modern-contemporary works (Shiki’s naming and later)

The distinction is not strict, but calling works after Meiji “tanka” is general.

Limits of Shiki’s Waka Reform

Shiki’s reform was epochal, but had some limits:

1. Short Activity Period

Because Shiki died at 34, the completeness of his theory does not match his haiku theory. The theory of “shasei” is clear, but its actual details (how far to exclude emotion, etc.) were organized by his disciples Itō Sachio, Nagatsuka Takashi, and others.

2. One-Sidedness of the Kokin Critique

Shiki’s Kokin critique was strategically extreme. From a modern viewpoint, the Kokin’s technique-rich beauty should also be evaluated as another lineage of beauty, and Shiki’s dismissal seems too far.

3. Theoretical Vagueness of “Shasei”

What is “composing as one saw it”? Complete objectivity is impossible; in fact it includes selection and framing. Shiki’s theory of shasei is shared with haiku, but the meaning of “shasei” in tanka is deepened by Itō Sachio, Saitō Mokichi, and others.

Shiki’s Legacy

1. Establishment of “Tanka” as a Modern Verse Form

Through Shiki’s naming, theory, and practice, 5-7-5-7-7 was redefined as a modern verse form. In contact with Western poetics, this was also Japanese poetry’s self-affirmation.

2. The Germ of the Araragi School

The lineage of the Negishi Tanka Society → Araragi (1908) formed the mainstream of 20th-century Japanese tanka. Saitō Mokichi, Shimaki Akahiko, Tsuchiya Bunmei and other Araragi school poets became the center of Shōwa tanka (detailed in Article 17).

3. Turning the Man’yōshū into School Material

Shiki’s praise of the Man’yō style led to the emphasis on the Man’yōshū in the Meiji-Shōwa school national-language textbooks. The result is that modern Japanese can recite representative Man’yō poems.

4. The Thought of “Shasei”

Shiki’s “shasei” continues to have influence to today as a shared theory of haiku and tanka. Modern tanka poets Okai Takashi and Baba Akiko also stand, directly or indirectly, on the legacy of Shiki’s shasei theory.

Toward the Next Article

At the same time as Shiki, driving waka reform from an entirely different direction were the Myōjō school of Yosano Tekkan and Akiko. Especially Akiko’s collection Midaregami (1901) shocked with sensual, passionate tanka such as “Yawa hada no / atsuki chishio ni / fure mo mide / sabishikarazuya / michi wo toku kimi.” The next article traces Yosano Akiko and the Myōjō school.