Waka Poetry and Paper Cranes

Posted by Shop Oryx Info on

Could these words be part of a waka collection?

Waka (和歌) is a kind of Japanese poetry mostly written in Hiragana.

The most famous waka collection is Ogura Hyakunin Isshu (小倉百人一首). This collection contains 100 Japanese waka by one hundred poets.

Each waka conveys the poet's love, longing and other intimate feelings, expressed through the four seasons, day and night, flowers and animals.

A waka can be comical, such as No. 62 by Sei Shonagon (966-1017)*:

Pretending to crow like a cock won't fool the Ausaka guard; And I hope that if you try it, they keep the gate well barred!

It can be philosophical, like No. 77 by Retired Emperor Sutoku (1119-64):

A mighty boulder in a stream divides the foaming flow; But, reunited, on it goes, and so will we, I know.

For our waka origami paper, we think it might be written No. 57 by Murasaki Shikibu (ca. 973-1025):

Was that really, really you, dear lover from the past - Like the moon within the clouds slipping away so fast? 

          

And for our purple origami paper, perhaps No. 61 by Ise no Taifu (989-1060)?: 

Eight petals bear the double cherries in ancient Nara born; And nine gates has the Kyoto Palace those fragrant flowers adorn. 

   

Happy folding!

*Waka poems in this post taken from Japan Times.


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