Keep the 'Tanka' Coming as Young People Rediscover Love for Poetry

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In Japan, the boom in contemporary tanka poetry continues unabated. One reason is that short poetry forms, including haiku and senryu comical verse, are gaining popularity, especially among the younger generation.

Contemporary tanka is a form of modern poetry that carries on and develops Japan's unique traditional waka style of poetry Although it previously had a somewhat stuffy image, tanka recently has been featured on television programs and in advertisements. And more people are enjoying composing their own tanka as a hobby.

It has been said for some time that the Japanese public has been moving away from reading books and other printed matter. We hope that the recent popularity of tanka will lead to the growth of culture of deep appreciation and enjoyment of the Japanese language.

The People's Voice

Tanka poems, conforming to a five-line, 31-syllable format, became popular from the Meiji period. The tanka reform movement led by Shiki Masaoka and likeminded modern poets is justly famous.

Until recently, the mainstream approach was for a would-be tanka poet to join a poetry society. There, they could learn from a teacher and eventually start releasing their own poems. However, nowadays, more and more people freely make their poems public without belonging to any organization.

*Book cover of English translation of the tanka volume, "Salada Kinenbi.*"

A milestone for modern tanka popularity was the 1987 publication of Machi Tawara's collection of poems titled Sarada Kinenbi ("Salad Anniversary"). Its appearance spread the appeal of writing about everyday life in the language of actual young people to the general public .

Now we are in the midst of a boom in tanka poetry composed during the current Reiwa era that began in 2019. The internet and short message posting on SNS such as X (formerly Twitter) have provided platforms for this poetry.

Free newspapers and "tanka apps" that allow users to easily create, post, and view tanka poems on their smartphones have also gained popularity. A distinctive characteristic of these forms of communication is that participants can enjoy interacting with each other while presenting their poems, much like in the poetry gatherings of the past.

From Cyberspace to Bestsellers

Today, it is not uncommon for poets to gain popularity through social media and for their collections to become bestsellers. New poets, such as Maho Okamoto, Daiji Okano, and Tatsuya Kinoshita have appeared on the scene one after another.

*Book cover to the tanka collection, "Waterbus to Asakusa," by Maho Okamoto.*

Okamoto's poem "Are you sure you want me? I'm lazy and have all these umbrellas" became an Internet sensation. Its popularity led to the publication of her first poetry collection, Water Bus to Asakusa.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, many tanka works that address social themes have appeared online, primarily from young people collectively known as Generation Z. They include various facets of everyday life, anxiety about the future and the travails of irregular employment.

One likely reason is that it's easy for beginners to get started. However, the content of the poetry also meets the needs of modern people who seek empathy and healing.

Additionally, this tide has impacted existing poetry organizations and led to an increase in entries to tanka competitions. Catching the trend, a growing number of bookstores have been expanding their sections devoted to collections of tanka.

We look forward to the further enrichment and evolution of the culture surrounding the Japanese language.