Editing Man'yōshū

{{Short description|Oldest extant collection of Japanese poetry}}
{{more citations needed|date=May 2018}}
{{italic title}}
[[Image:Manyousyu NukataOhkimi.jpg|thumb|right|80px|alt=Two vertical lines of Japanese text written in calligraphy, read right to left. The first character has smaller, simpler red characters written around it.|A replica of a {{transliteration|ja|Man'yōshū}} poem {{abbr|No.|number}}&nbsp;8, by [[Princess Nukata|Nukata no Ōkimi]]]]
The {{nihongo3|{{IPA|ja|maɰ̃joꜜːɕɯː|pron}}; literally "Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves"|万葉集|'''Man'yōshū'''}}{{efn|See {{format link|#Name}} below}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Videen |first=Susan Downing |url=https://brill.com/display/book/9781684172757/BP000004.xml |title=Heichū Monogatari in Literary History |date=1989-10-26 |publisher=Harvard University Asia Center |isbn=978-1-68417-275-7 |language=en |access-date=2023-02-26 |archive-date=2023-07-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230720173424/https://brill.com/display/book/9781684172757/BP000004.xml |url-status=live }}</ref> is the oldest extant collection of [[Japan]]ese {{transliteration|ja|[[waka (poetry)|waka]]}} (poetry in [[Classical Japanese]]),{{efn|It is not the oldest anthology of poetry written in Japan, since the {{transliteration|ja|[[Kaifūsō]]}}, an anthology of Japanese {{transliteration|ja|[[kanshi (poetry)|kanshi]]}}—poetry in [[Classical Chinese]]—predates it by at least several years.}} compiled sometime after AD&nbsp;759 during the [[Nara period]]. The anthology is one of the most revered of Japan's poetic compilations. The compiler, or the last in a series of compilers, is today widely believed to be [[Ōtomo no Yakamochi]], although numerous other theories have been proposed. The chronologically last datable poem in the collection is from AD&nbsp;759 ({{abbr|No.|number}}&nbsp;4516).<ref>Satake (2004: 555)</ref> It contains many poems from a much earlier period, with the bulk of the collection representing the period between AD&nbsp;600 and 759.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shirane |first=Haruo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ABnoXkzipvAC&dq=%22Man%27y%C5%8Dsh%C5%AB%22+zoka&pg=PR5 |title=Traditional Japanese Literature: An Anthology, Beginnings to 1600, Abridged Edition |date=2012-09-25 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-50453-9 |language=en |access-date=2023-02-26 |archive-date=2023-12-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231222164058/https://books.google.com/books?id=ABnoXkzipvAC&dq=%22Man%27y%C5%8Dsh%C5%AB%22+zoka&pg=PR5 |url-status=live }}</ref> The precise significance of the title is not known with certainty.

The {{transliteration|ja|Man'yōshū}} comprises more than 4,500 {{transliteration|ja|waka}} poems in 20 volumes, and is broadly divided into three genres: {{transliteration|ja|Zoka}}, songs at banquets and trips; {{transliteration|ja|Somonka}}, songs about love between men and women; and {{transliteration|ja|Banka}}, songs to mourn the death of people.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Richard |first=Kenneth L. |date=1983 |title=Review of The Ten Thousand Leaves. A Translation of the Man'yoshu, Japan's Premier Anthology of Classical Poetry. Volume One.; From the Country of Eight Islands. An Anthology of Japanese Poetry.; The Zen Poems of Ryokan. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2758798 |journal=Pacific Affairs |volume=56 |issue=1 |pages=157–159 |doi=10.2307/2758798 |jstor=2758798 |issn=0030-851X |access-date=2023-02-26 |archive-date=2023-02-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230226041200/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2758798 |url-status=live }}</ref> These songs were written by people of various statuses, such as the Emperor, aristocrats, junior officials, {{transliteration|ja|Sakimori}} soldiers ({{transliteration|ja|Sakimori}} songs), street performers, peasants, and {{transliteration|ja|Togoku}} folk songs (Eastern songs). There are more than 2,100 {{transliteration|ja|waka}} poems by unknown authors.<ref name="manyo-k">{{Harvnb|Manyo|2001}}</ref><ref name="Sugano">{{Harvnb|Sugano|2006}}</ref>

The collection is divided into 20 parts or books; this number was followed in most later collections. The collection contains 265 {{transliteration|ja|[[waka (poetry)#Chōka|chōka]]}} (long poems), 4,207 {{transliteration|ja|[[waka (poetry)#Tanka|tanka]]}} (short poems), one {{transliteration|ja|an-renga}} (short connecting poem), one {{Transliteration|ja|[[bussokusekika]]}} (a poem in the form 5-7-5-7-7-7; named for the poems inscribed on the Buddha's footprints at [[Yakushi-ji]] in [[Nara, Nara|Nara]]), four {{transliteration|ja|[[kanshi (poetry)|kanshi]]}} (Chinese poems), and 22 Chinese prose passages. Unlike later collections, such as the {{transliteration|ja|[[Kokin Wakashū]]}}, there is no preface.

The {{transliteration|ja|Man'yōshū}} is widely regarded as being a particularly unique Japanese work, though its poems and passages did not differ starkly from its contemporaneous (for Yakamochi's time) scholarly standard of Chinese literature and poetics; many entries of the {{transliteration|ja|Man'yōshū}} have a continental tone, earlier poems having [[Confucian]] or [[Taoist]] themes and later poems reflecting on [[Buddhist]] teachings. However, the {{transliteration|ja|Man'yōshū}} is considered singular, even in comparison with later works, in choosing primarily Ancient Japanese themes, extolling [[Shinto|Shintō]] virtues of {{nihongo|forthrightness|真|makoto}} and {{nihongo|virility|益荒男振り|masuraoburi}}. In addition, the language of many entries of the {{transliteration|ja|Man'yōshū}} exerts a powerful sentimental appeal to readers:

{{Blockquote|[T]his early collection has something of the freshness of dawn [...] There are irregularities not tolerated later, such as hypometric lines; there are evocative place names and {{transliteration|ja|[[makurakotoba]]}}; and there are evocative exclamations such as {{transliteration|ja|kamo}}, whose appeal is genuine even if incommunicable. In other words, the collection contains the appeal of an art at its pristine source with a romantic sense of venerable age and therefore of an ideal order since lost.<ref>{{cite book |author=Earl Miner |author2=Hiroko Odagiri |author3=Robert E. Morrell |title=The Princeton Companion to Classical Japanese Literature |year=1985 |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |pages=[https://archive.org/details/princetoncompani00mine/page/170 170–171] |isbn=978-0-691-06599-1 |author-link=Earl Miner |url=https://archive.org/details/princetoncompani00mine/page/170}}</ref>}}

The compilation of the {{transliteration|ja|Man'yōshū}} also preserves the names of earlier Japanese poetic compilations, these being the {{nihongo3|Forest of Classified Verses|類聚歌林|[[Ruijū Karin]]}}, several texts called the {{nihongo3|Collections of Antique Poems|古歌集|[[Kokashū]]}}, as well as at least four family or individual anthologies known as {{nihongo3||家集|[[Kashū (poetry)|kashū]]}} belonging to Kakimoto no Hitomaro, Kasa no Kanamura, Takahashi no Mushimaro and Tanabe no Sakimaro.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Man'yōshū • . A History . . of Japan . 日本歴史 |url=https://historyofjapan.co.uk/wiki/manyoshu/ |access-date=2022-05-08 |website=. A History . . of Japan . 日本歴史 |language=en-GB |archive-date=2022-12-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221224142051/https://historyofjapan.co.uk/wiki/manyoshu/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Name ==
[[File:Genryaku Manyosyu.JPG|right|thumb|A page from the {{Transliteration|ja|Man'yōshū}}]]
{{Further|Interpretation of the title of the Man'yōshū}}
The literal translation of the [[kanji]] that make up the title {{Transliteration|ja|Man'yōshū}} ({{lang|ja|万 — 葉 — 集}}) is "ten thousand — leaves — collection".

The principal interpretations of this name, according to the 20th century scholar {{ill|Sen'ichi Hisamatsu|ja|久松潜一}}, are:

# A book that collects a great many poems;{{sfnm|1a1=Hisamatsu|1y=1973|1p=16}}
# A book for all generations;{{sfnm|1a1=Hisamatsu|1y=1973|1p=16}} and:
# A poetry collection that uses a large volume of paper.{{sfnm|1a1=Hisamatsu|1y=1973|1p=16}}

Of these, supporters of the first interpretation can be further divided into:

# Those who interpret the middle character as "words" "[[wikt:言の葉|言の葉]]" ({{Transliteration|ja|koto no ha}}, lit. "leaves of speech"), thus giving "ten thousand words", i.e. "many {{Transliteration|ja|waka}}",{{sfnm|1a1=Hisamatsu|1y=1973|1p=16}} including [[Sengaku]],{{sfnm|1a1=Hisamatsu|1y=1973|1pp=16–17}} {{ill|Shimokōbe Chōryū|ja|下河辺長流}},{{sfnm|1a1=Hisamatsu|1y=1973|1p=17}} [[Kada no Azumamaro]]{{sfnm|1a1=Hisamatsu|1y=1973|1p=17}} and [[Kamo no Mabuchi]],{{sfnm|1a1=Hisamatsu|1y=1973|1p=17}} and;
# Those who interpret the middle character as literally referring to leaves of a tree, but as a metaphor for poems,{{sfnm|1a1=Hisamatsu|1y=1973|1p=17}} including [[Ueda Akinari]],{{sfnm|1a1=Hisamatsu|1y=1973|1p=17}} {{ill|Kimura Masakoto|ja|木村正辞}},{{sfnm|1a1=Hisamatsu|1y=1973|1p=17}} {{ill|Masayuki Okada|ja|岡田正之}},{{sfnm|1a1=Hisamatsu|1y=1973|1p=17}} {{ill|Torao Suzuki|ja|鈴木虎雄}},{{sfnm|1a1=Hisamatsu|1y=1973|1p=17}} {{ill|Kiyotaka Hoshikawa|ja|星川清孝}} and [[Susumu Nakanishi]].{{sfnm|1a1=Hisamatsu|1y=1973|1p=17}}

Furthermore, supporters of the second interpretation of the name can be divided into:

# It was meant to express the intention that the work should last for all time{{sfnm|1a1=Hisamatsu|1y=1973|1p=17}} (proposed by [[Keichū]],{{sfnm|1a1=Hisamatsu|1y=1973|1p=17}}{{efn|Keichū also recognized the first interpretation as a possibility.{{sfnm|1a1=Hisamatsu|1y=1973|1p=17}}}} and supported by {{ill|Kamochi Masazumi|ja|鹿持雅澄}},{{sfnm|1a1=Hisamatsu|1y=1973|1p=17}} {{ill|Inoue Michiyasu|ja|井上通泰}},{{sfnm|1a1=Hisamatsu|1y=1973|1p=17}} [[Yoshio Yamada]],{{sfnm|1a1=Hisamatsu|1y=1973|1p=17}} {{ill|Noriyuki Kojima|ja|小島憲之}}{{sfnm|1a1=Hisamatsu|1y=1973|1p=17}} and {{ill|Tadashi Ōkubo|ja|大久保正}}{{sfnm|1a1=Hisamatsu|1y=1973|1p=17}});
# It was meant to wish for long life for the [[Emperor of Japan|emperor]] and [[Empress of Japan|empress]]{{sfnm|1a1=Hisamatsu|1y=1973|1p=17}} ({{ill|Shinobu Origuchi|ja|折口信夫}}{{sfnm|1a1=Hisamatsu|1y=1973|1p=17}});
# It was meant to indicate that the collection included poems from all ages{{sfnm|1a1=Hisamatsu|1y=1973|1p=17}} (proposed by Yamada{{sfnm|1a1=Hisamatsu|1y=1973|1p=17}}).

The third interpretation of the name - that it refers to a poetry collection that uses a large quantity of paper - was proposed by [[Yūkichi Takeda]] in his {{nihongo||萬葉集新解上|Man'yōshū Shinkai jō}},{{sfnm|1a1=Hisamatsu|1y=1973|1p=17}} but Takeda also accepted the second interpretation; his theory that the title refers to the large volume of paper used in the collection has not gained much traction among other scholars.{{sfnm|1a1=Hisamatsu|1y=1973|1p=17}}

==Periodization==
{{unreferenced section|date=May 2018}}
The collection is customarily divided into four periods. The earliest dates to prehistoric or legendary pasts, from the time of [[Emperor Yūryaku]] ({{abbr|r.|reigned}}&nbsp;{{circa|456}}&nbsp;– {{circa|479}}) to those of the little-documented [[Emperor Yōmei]] (r.&nbsp;585–587), [[Kogyoku Tenno|Saimei]] (r.&nbsp;642-645, 655-661), and finally [[Tenji Emperor|Tenji]] (r.&nbsp;668–671) during the [[Taika Reforms]] and the time of [[Fujiwara no Kamatari]] (614–669). The second period covers the end of the 7th century, coinciding with the popularity of [[Kakinomoto no Hitomaro]], one of Japan's greatest poets. The third period spans 700&nbsp;– {{circa|730}} and covers the works of such poets as [[Yamabe no Akahito]], [[Ōtomo no Tabito]] and [[Yamanoue no Okura]]. The fourth period spans 730–760 and includes the work of the last great poet of this collection, the compiler Ōtomo no Yakamochi himself, who not only wrote many original poems but also edited, updated and refashioned an unknown number of ancient poems.

== Poets ==
{{main|List of Man'yōshū poets}}
The vast majority of the poems of the {{Transliteration|ja|Man'yōshū}} were composed over a period of roughly a century,{{efn|A small number of poems are attributed to figures from the ancient past, such as [[Emperor Yūryaku]].}} with scholars assigning the major poets of the collection to one or another of the four "periods" discussed above. [[Princess Nukata]]'s poetry is included in that of the first period (645–672),{{sfn|Keene|1999|pp=92–102}} while the second period (673–701) is represented by the poetry of [[Kakinomoto no Hitomaro]], generally regarded as the greatest of {{Transliteration|ja|Man'yōshū}} poets and one of the most important poets in Japanese history.{{sfn|Keene|1999|pp=102–118}}<!-- Not entirely sure if Keene verifies this description of Hitomaro, but lots of other sources do so it's practically WP:BLUE. Hijiri88, December 30, 2018. --> The third period (702–729){{sfn|Keene|1999|pp=118–146}} includes the poems of [[Takechi no Kurohito]], whom [[Donald Keene]] called "[t]he only new poet of importance" of the early part of this period,{{sfn|Keene|1999|p=119}} when [[Fujiwara no Fuhito]] promoted the composition of {{Transliteration|ja|kanshi}} (poetry in [[classical Chinese]]).{{sfn|Keene|1999|pp=118–119}} Other "third period" poets include: [[Yamabe no Akahito]], a poet who was once paired with Hitomaro but whose reputation has suffered in modern times;{{sfn|Keene|1999|pp=123–127}} [[Takahashi no Mushimaro]], one of the last great {{Transliteration|ja|chōka}} poets, who recorded a number of Japanese legends such as that of [[Urashima Tarō|Ura no Shimako]];{{sfn|Keene|1999|pp=127–128}} and [[Kasa no Kanamura]], a high-ranking courtier who also composed {{Transliteration|ja|chōka}} but not as well as Hitomaro or Mushimaro.{{sfn|Keene|1999|pp=128–130}} But the most prominent and important poets of the third period were [[Ōtomo no Tabito]], Yakamochi's father and the head of a poetic circle in the [[Dazaifu (government)|Dazaifu]],{{sfn|Keene|1999|pp=130–138}} and Tabito's friend [[Yamanoue no Okura]], possibly an immigrant from the Korean kingdom of [[Paekche]], whose poetry is highly idiosyncratic in both its language and subject matter and has been highly praised in modern times.{{sfn|Keene|1999|pp=138–146}} Yakamochi himself was a poet of the fourth period (730–759),{{sfn|Keene|1999|pp=146–157}} and according to Keene he "dominated" this period.{{sfn|Keene|1999|p=146}} He composed the last dated poem of the anthology in 759.{{sfn|Keene|1999|p=89}}

==Linguistic significance==
In addition to its artistic merits, the {{Transliteration|ja|Man'yōshū}} is significant for using the earliest Japanese writing system, the cumbersome {{Transliteration|ja|[[man'yōgana]]}}.<ref name="KatoSanderson2013Two">{{cite book|author1=Shuichi Kato|author2=Don Sanderson|title=A History of Japanese Literature: From the Manyoshu to Modern Times|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JwGOYBfNdrUC&pg=PA24|date=15 April 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-61368-5|page=24}}</ref> Though it was by no means the first use of this writing system—which was used to compose the {{Transliteration|ja|[[Kojiki]]}} (712),<ref name="Miller1967">{{cite book|author=Roy Andrew Miller|title=The Japanese Language|year=1967|publisher=Tuttle|page=32}}, cited in {{cite book|author=Peter Nosco|title=Remembering Paradise: Nativism and Nostalgia in Eighteenth-century Japan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mu4v2rZ14fwC&pg=PA182|year=1990|publisher=Harvard Univ Asia Center|isbn=978-0-674-76007-3|page=182}}</ref>—it was influential enough to give the writing system its modern name, as {{Transliteration|ja|man'yōgana}} means "the {{Transliteration|ja|[[kana]]}} of the {{Transliteration|ja|Man'yō[shū]}}".<ref name="Frellesvig2010">{{cite book|author=Bjarke Frellesvig|title=A History of the Japanese Language|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v1FcAgiAC9IC&pg=PA14|date=29 July 2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-48880-8|page=14|access-date=9 December 2018|archive-date=19 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119211340/https://books.google.com/books?id=v1FcAgiAC9IC&pg=PA14|url-status=live}}</ref> This system uses Chinese characters in a variety of functions: [[logogram|logographically]] to represent Japanese words, phonetically to represent Japanese sounds, and frequently in a combination of these. Such usage of Chinese characters to phonetically represent Japanese syllables eventually led to the birth of {{Transliteration|ja|kana}}, as they were created from simplified cursive forms ({{Transliteration|ja|[[hiragana]]}}) and fragments ({{Transliteration|ja|[[katakana]]}}) of {{Transliteration|ja|man'yōgana}}.<ref name="Daniels1996">{{cite book|author=Peter T. Daniels|title=The World's Writing Systems|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ospMAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA212|year=1996|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-507993-7|page=212|access-date=2018-12-09|archive-date=2023-01-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119211340/https://books.google.com/books?id=ospMAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA212|url-status=live}}</ref>

Like the majority of surviving [[Old Japanese]] literature, the vast majority of the {{Transliteration|ja|Man'yōshū}} is written in Western Old Japanese, the dialect of the [[Kansai region|capital region]] around [[Kyoto]] and [[Nara (city)|Nara]]. However, specific parts of the collection, particularly volumes&nbsp;14 and 20, are also highly valued by historical linguists for the information they provide on other [[Old Japanese#Dialects|Old Japanese dialects]],<ref>Uemura 1981:25–26.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}</ref> as these volumes collectively contain over 300 poems from the [[Azuma (region)|Azuma]] provinces of eastern Japan—what is now the regions of [[Chūbu region|Chūbu]], [[Kantō region|Kanto]], and southern [[Tōhoku region|Tōhoku]].

==Translations==
[[Julius Klaproth]] produced some early, severely flawed translations of {{Transliteration|ja|Man'yōshū}} poetry. [[Donald Keene]] explained in a preface to the [[Japan Society for the Promotion of Science|Nihon Gakujutsu Shinkō Kai]] edition of the {{Transliteration|ja|Man'yōshū}}:

{{blockquote|One "envoy" ({{Transliteration|ja|hanka}}) to a long poem was translated as early as 1834 by the celebrated German orientalist Heinrich Julius Klaproth (1783–1835). Klaproth, having journeyed to Siberia in pursuit of strange languages, encountered some Japanese castaways, fishermen, hardly ideal mentors for the study of 8th&nbsp;century poetry. Not surprisingly, his translation was anything but accurate.<ref>Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkōkai. (1965). ''The Man'yōshū,'' p. iii.</ref>}}

In 1940, [[Columbia University Press]] published a translation created by a committee of Japanese scholars and revised by the English poet, [[Ralph Hodgson]]. This translation was accepted in the Japanese Translation Series of the [[United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization]] (UNESCO).<ref>Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkōkai, p. ii.</ref>

Dutch scholar Jan L. Pierson completed an English translation of the Man'yōshū between 1929 and 1963, although this is described by Alexander Vovin as "seriously outdated" due to Pierson having "ignored or misunderstood many facts of Old Japanese grammar and phonology" which had been established in the 20th century.<ref name="Vovin 2009">{{cite book | last=Vovin | first=Alexander | title=Man'yōshū (Book 15) | publisher=BRILL | date=2009-08-01 | isbn=978-90-04-21299-2 | doi=10.1163/9789004212992 }}</ref> Japanese scholars Honda Heihachiro (1967) and Suga Teruo (1991) both produced complete literary translations into English, with the former using rhymed iambic feet and preserving the 31-syllable count of tanka and the latter preserving the 5-7 pattern of syllables in each line.<ref name="Vovin 2009"/><ref name="Rutledge 1983">{{cite journal | last=Rutledge | first=Eric | title=The Man'yoshu in English | journal=Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies | publisher=JSTOR | volume=43 | issue=1 | year=1983 | pages=263–290 | issn=0073-0548 | doi=10.2307/2719024 | jstor=2719024 }}</ref><ref name="Hare 1982">{{cite journal | last=Hare | first=Thomas Blenman | title=Review: The Ten Thousand Leaves: A Translation of the Man'yōshū, Japan's Premier Anthology of Classical Poetry. Vol. 1 | journal=The Journal of Asian Studies | publisher=Duke University Press | volume=41 | issue=3 | year=1982 | issn=0021-9118 | doi=10.2307/2055272 | pages=597–599| jstor=2055272 }}</ref><ref name="Honda 1967">{{cite book | last=Honda | first=H. H. | title=The Manyoshu. A New and Complete Translation | publisher=Tokyo | year=1967 }}</ref> [[Ian Hideo Levy]] published the first of what was intended to be a four volume English translation in 1981<ref name="Rutledge 1983"/><ref name="Hare 1982"/><ref name="Levy 1981">{{cite book | last=Levy | first=I. H. | title=The Man'yoshu. English Ten Thousand Leaves: A Translation of the Man'yoshu, Japan's Premier Anthology of Classical Poetry | publisher=Princeton University Press | year=1981 }}</ref> for which he received the [[Japan–U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature]].<ref name="Winners1">{{Cite web|title=Archive of past prize winners for the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature|url=http://www.keenecenter.org/translation_JPUS%20prize.html|access-date=26 February 2024|website=Donald Keene Center|archive-date=9 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509070238/http://www.keenecenter.org/translation_prize.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2009, [[Alexander Vovin]] published the first volume of his English translation of the ''Man'yōshū'', including commentaries, the original text, and translations of the prose elements in-between poems.<ref name="Vovin 2009"/> He completed, in order, volumes 15, 5, 14, 20, 17, 18, 1, 19, 2, and 16 before his death in 2022, with volume 10 set to be released posthumously.

== {{Transliteration|ja|Mokkan}} ==
<!--This section sloppily uses "text from the Man'yōshū" and "the known Man'yōshū fragments" to refer to earlier texts of the works that were later collected into the MYS. If the dates we give are accurate, then at least the latter two, and possibly the first, predate the compilation of the surviving work by this title. The whole section is cited to a daily newspaper, which is not the best source for this kind of information, but honestly it's more of a copyediting issue than a refimprove issue.-->
In premodern Japan, officials used wooden slips or tablets of various sizes, known as {{Transliteration|ja|[[mokkan]]}}, for recording memoranda, simple correspondence, and official dispatches.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Piggott |first1=Joan R. |title=Mokkan: Wooden Documents from the Nara Period |journal=Monumenta Nipponica |date=Winter 1990 |volume=45 |issue=4 |pages=449–450 |publisher=Sophia University|jstor=2385379 |doi=10.2307/2385379 }}</ref> Three {{Transliteration|ja|mokkan}} that have been excavated contain text from the {{Transliteration|ja|Man'yōshū}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.asahi.com/culture/update/1017/OSK200810170080.html |title=７世紀の木簡に万葉の歌 奈良・石神遺跡、６０年更新 |publisher=Asahi |date=2008-10-17 |access-date=2008-10-31 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081020095859/http://www.asahi.com/culture/update/1017/OSK200810170080.html |archive-date=October 20, 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://mainichi.jp/enta/art/news/20081023dde041040012000c.html |title=万葉集：３例目、万葉歌木簡 編さん期と一致－－京都の遺跡・８世紀後半 |newspaper=Mainichi |date=2008-10-23 |access-date=2008-10-31}}{{dead link|date=May 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://mainichi.jp/enta/art/news/20081018ddm041040146000c.html |title=万葉集：万葉歌、最古の木簡 ７世紀後半－－奈良・石神遺跡 |newspaper=Mainichi |date=2008-10-18 |access-date=2008-10-31 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081020051325/http://mainichi.jp/enta/art/news/20081018ddm041040146000c.html |archive-date=October 20, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mainichi.jp/enta/art/news/20081018k0000m040051000c.html |title=万葉集：和歌刻んだ最古の木簡出土 奈良・明日香 |publisher=Asahi |date=2008-10-17 |access-date=2008-10-31}}{{dead link|date=May 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> A {{Transliteration|ja|mokkan}} excavated in [[Kizugawa, Kyoto]], contains the first 11&nbsp;characters of poem&nbsp;2205 from volume&nbsp;10, written in {{Transliteration|ja|[[Man'yōgana]]}}. It is dated between 750 and 780, and its size is {{convert|23.4|by|2.4|by|1.2|cm|in|abbr=on}}. Inspection with an infrared camera revealed other characters, suggesting that the {{Transliteration|ja|mokkan}} was used for writing practice. Another {{Transliteration|ja|mokkan}}, excavated in 1997 from the Miyamachi archaeological site in [[Kōka, Shiga]], contains poem&nbsp;3807 in volume&nbsp;16. It is dated to the middle of the 8th&nbsp;century, and is {{convert|2|cm}} wide by {{convert|1|mm}} thick. Lastly, a {{Transliteration|ja|mokkan}} excavated at the Ishigami archaeological site in [[Asuka, Nara]], contains the first 14&nbsp;characters of poem&nbsp;1391, in volume&nbsp;7, written in {{Transliteration|ja|Man'yōgana}}. Its size is {{convert|9.1|by|5.5|by|0.6|cm|in|abbr=on}}, and it is dated to the late 7th&nbsp;century, making it the oldest of the three.

==Plant species cited==
{{Main|Man'yō botanical garden}}
More than 150 [[species]] of grasses and trees are mentioned in approximately 1,500 entries of the {{Transliteration|ja|Man'yōshū}}. A {{nihongo||[[:ja:万葉植物園|万葉植物園]]|Man'yō shokubutsu-en}} is a [[botanical garden]] that attempts to contain every species and variety of plant mentioned in the anthology. There are dozens of these gardens around Japan. The first {{Transliteration|ja|Man'yō shokubutsu-en}} opened in [[Kasuga Shrine]] in 1932.<ref>{{cite web|title=Manyo Shokubutsu-en(萬葉集に詠まれた植物を植栽する植物園)|url=http://www.kasugataisha.or.jp/h_s_tearoom/manyou-s/index.html|publisher=[[Kasuga Shrine]]|location=[[Nara, Nara|Nara]]|language=ja|access-date=2009-08-05|archive-date=2014-04-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140411005451/http://www.kasugataisha.or.jp/h_s_tearoom/manyou-s/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kasugataisha.or.jp/db_pdf/H21-09-27.pdf|title=Man'y Botanical garden(萬葉植物園)|access-date=2009-08-05|publisher=[[Kasuga Shrine]]|location=[[Nara, Nara|Nara]]|language=ja|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005114411/http://www.kasugataisha.or.jp/db_pdf/H21-09-27.pdf|archive-date=2011-10-05|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Kotodama]]
*[[Reiwa]]
*[[Umi Yukaba]]

== Notes ==
{{reflist|group=note}}
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{reflist}}

=== Works cited ===
{{Refbegin|colwidth=40em}}
* {{cite book
 | last        = Hisamatsu
 | first       = Sen'ichi
 | author-link  = Sen'ichi Hisamatsu
 | editor      = Sen'ichi Hisamatsu
 | chapter     = Man'yōshū no Meigi
 | pages       = 16–27
 | year        = 1973
 | title       = Man'yō Kōza (I)
 | publisher   = Yūseidō
 | location    = Tokyo
}}
* {{cite book
 | last        = Keene
 | first       = Donald
 | author-link  = Donald Keene
 | year        = 1999
 | title       = [[Seeds in the Heart|A History of Japanese Literature, Vol. 1: Seeds in the Heart – Japanese Literature from Earliest Times to the Late Sixteenth Century]]
 | publisher   = [[Columbia University Press]]
 | location    = New York, NY
 | edition     = paperback
 | orig-year   = 1993
 | isbn        = 978-0-231-11441-7
}}
* {{cite book
 | last        = Satake
 | first       = Akihiro
 | author2     = Hideo Yamada |author3=Rikio Kudō |author4=Masao Ōtani |author5=Yoshiyuki Yamazaki
 | title       = Shin Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei, Bekkan: Man'yōshū Sakuin
 | publisher   = [[Iwanami Shoten Publishing|Iwanami Shoten]]
 | year        = 2004
 | location    = [[Tōkyō]]
 | language    = ja
 | isbn        = 978-4-00-240105-8
}}
{{Refend}}

== Further reading ==
;Texts and translations
* J.L.Pierson (1929): ''The Manyōśū. Translated and Annotated, Book 1''. Late E.J.Brill LTD, Leyden 1929
* The Japanese Classics Translation Committee (1940): ''The Manyōshū. One Thousand Poems Selected and Translated from the Japanese''. Iwanami, Tokyo 1940
* Kenneth Yasuda (1960): ''The Reed Plains. Ancient Japanese Lyrics from the Manyōśū with Interpretive Paintings by Sanko Inoue''. Charles E. Tuttle Company, Tokyo 1960
*{{cite book
   | author = Honda, H. H. (tr.)
   | title = The Manyoshu: A New and Complete Translation
   | publisher = [[The Hokuseido Press]], Tokyo
   | year = 1967
  }} 
* Theodore De Bary: ''Manyōshū''. Columbia University Press, New York 1969
*{{cite book
   | author = Cranston, Edwin A.
   | title = A Waka Anthology: Volume One: The Gem-Glistening Cup
   | publisher = [[Stanford University Press]]
   | year = 1993
   | isbn = 978-0-8047-3157-7
   |author-link=Edwin A. Cranston}}
*{{cite book
   | author = Kodansha
   | title = Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan
   | year = 1983
   | chapter = Man'yoshu
   | publisher = [[Kodansha]]
  | author-link = Kodansha
 }}
* {{cite book
 |last         = Nakanishi
 |first        = Susumu
 |author-link   = Susumu Nakanishi
 |year         = 1985
 |title        = Man'yōshū Jiten (Man'yōshū zen'yakuchū genbun-tsuki bekkan)
 |publisher    = [[Kōdansha]]
 |location     = Tokyo
 |edition      = paperback
 |isbn         = 978-4-06-183651-8
}}
*{{cite book
   | author = Levy, Ian Hideo
   | title = The Ten Thousand Leaves: A Translation of the Man'yoshu
   | series = Japan's Premier Anthology of Classical Poetry, Volume One
   | publisher = [[Princeton University Press]]
   | year = 1987
   | isbn = 978-0-691-00029-9| author-link = Hideo Levy
 }}
*{{cite book
   | author = Suga, Teruo
   | title = The Man'yo-shu : a complete English translation in 5–7 rhythm
   | series = Japan's Premier Anthology of Classical Poetry, Volume One
   | place=Tokyo
   | publisher = Kanda Educational Foundation, [[Kanda Institute of Foreign Languages]]
   | year = 1991
   | isbn = 978-4-483-00140-2}}, Kanda University of International Studies, Chiba City
*{{cite book
   | author = Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkokai
   | title = 1000 Poems From The Manyoshu: The Complete Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkokai Translation
   | publisher = [[Dover Publications]]
   | year = 2005
   | isbn = 978-0-486-43959-4
  }}
*{{cite web
 |title        = Online edition of the ''Man'yōshū''
 |url          = http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/japanese/manyoshu/index.html
 |publisher    = University of Virginia Library Japanese Text Initiative
 |access-date   = 2006-07-10
 |language     = ja
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20060519145518/http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/japanese/manyoshu/index.html
 |archive-date = 2006-05-19
 |url-status     = dead
}}
;General
*{{cite book
   | author = Cranston, Edwin A.
   | title = A Waka Anthology: Volume One: The Gem-Glistening Cup
   | publisher = [[Stanford University Press]]
   | year = 1993
   | isbn = 978-0-8047-3157-7
   |author-link=Edwin A. Cranston}}
* {{cite book
 |last1          = Nakanishi
 |first1         = Susumu
 |last2          = Itō
 |first2         = Haku
 |author-link2   = Haku Itō<!-- 伊藤博 -->
 |last3          = Gomi
 |first3         = Tomohide
 |author-link3   = Tomohide Gomi<!-- 五味智英 -->
 |last4          = Ono
 |first4         = Hiroshi
 |author-link4   = Hiroshi Ono (scholar)
 |last5          = Inaoka
 |first5         = Kōji
 |author-link5   = Kōji Inaoka<!-- 稲岡耕二 -->
 |last6          = Kinoshita
 |first6         = Masatoshi
 |author-link6   = Masatoshi Kinoshita<!-- 木下正俊 -->
 |last7          = Ōkubo
 |first7         = Tadashi
 |author-link7   = Tadashi Ōkubo<!-- 大久保正 -->
 |last8          = Hayashi
 |first8         = Tsutomu
 |author-link8   = Tsutomu Hayashi<!-- 林勉 -->
 |chapter        = Man'yōshū
 |script-chapter = ja:万葉集
 |pages          = 554–571
 |title          = Nihon Koten Bungaku Daijiten
 |script-title   = ja:日本古典文学大辞典
 |language       = ja
 |year           = 1983
 |volume         = 5
 |location       = Tokyo
 |publisher      = [[Iwanami Shoten]]
 |oclc           = 11917421
|title-link = Nihon Koten Bungaku Daijiten
 }}
*{{Cite book|date=2001 |title=万葉集 |trans-title=Manyoshu |publisher=Kadokawa Shoten |edition=paperback |isbn=978-4043574063 |language=ja |ref={{Harvid|Manyo|2001}}}}
*{{cite journal |last=Sugano |first=Ayako |date=2006 |title=「万葉集」に詠まれた7・8世紀の服飾：服飾が暗示する意味と役割 |trans-title=A Study on Costumes in the 7th and 8th Centuries Represented in 'Manyoshu' : Meaning and Role Implied by Costume |url=https://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/120005423685/ |language=ja |journal=Bunka Gakuen University Bulletin |volume=37 |pages=67–76 |access-date=2020-10-24 |archive-date=2020-11-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102014250/https://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/120005423685/ |url-status=live }}

==External links==
{{Wikisourcelang|ja|万葉集}}

*''[https://jti.lib.virginia.edu/japanese/manyoshu/index.html Manyōshū] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223052631/http://jti.lib.virginia.edu/japanese/manyoshu/index.html |date=2023-12-23 }}'' – from the [[University of Virginia]] Japanese Text Initiative website
* Manuscript scans at [[Waseda University Library]]: [http://archive.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kosho/he04/he04_00090/ 1709] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720013350/http://archive.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kosho/he04/he04_00090/ |date=2011-07-20 }}, [http://archive.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kosho/he04/he04_05497/ 1858] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720013401/http://archive.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kosho/he04/he04_05497/ |date=2011-07-20 }}, [http://archive.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kosho/he04/he04_07465/ unknown] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720013457/http://archive.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kosho/he04/he04_07465/ |date=2011-07-20 }}
* ''[[iarchive:Manyoshu|Manyōshū]]'' – Columbia University Press, Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkokai translation 1940, 1965

{{Japanese poetry}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manyoshu}}
[[Category:Man'yōshū| ]]
[[Category:Japanese poetry anthologies]]
[[Category:Old Japanese texts]]
[[Category:Nara-period works]]
[[Category:Asuka period]]
[[Category:Nara period]]
[[Category:8th-century Japanese books]]