This study examines the role of the voice in waka poetry, both when it is composed and when it is interpreted. In the pre-modern period, waka poems have a ritualistic aspect in that they are composed by a group of people as well as being an expression of individual sentiments. For example, Go-Toba-in, who compiled the “Shinkokin Waka Shu” (imperial anthologies of waka poetry from the Kamakura period), led Fujiwara no Teika and others on a pilgrimage to Kumano. They paid homage to various shrines and, of course, composed waka poems to offer to the gods each time, but it was pointed out that no waka poem recital for dedication was held at the shrine, which has been regarded as a problem. Since then, for example, even in the court in the early modern period, there are cases where people compose waka poems to the gods and Buddha, but do not pay a visit to the temple or shrine. Where and how, then, do they offer poems to the gods and Buddha? We would like to elucidate this phenomenon by focusing on the “hiko,” a style of offering waka poems with the voice.
　This research aims to find the above activities in the history of Japanese literature and to place them in the history of world literature with the advice of overseas collaborators.
　The relationship between the group and the voice has been recognized since the Corona Disaster. I would like to apply the activities clarified here to contemporary Japanese language education (i.e., the current classroom space) and show its new educational significance.

 

(Image: “Chidori no Ato” (After the Chidori), Bunsei 2, which describes how to write waka poems at a poetry party. Book in my possession