Waka (Japanese poetry) originally encompassed a veriety of forms, such as choka, tanka and sedoka, but tanka gradually become the predominant form until, from Heian Era (late 8th centuy), the term waka came to be considered synonymous with tanka.
Tanka is one form of waka, consisting of five lines of 5, 7, 5, 7 and 7 syllables. It is said that for a Japanese, this is the most natural length for a lyric poem poem expressing emotion. The first three lines of 5, 7 and 5 syllables are known as kami no ku (upper poem" and the remaining two lines of 7 and 7 syllables are known as shimo no ku (lower poem).
As a short form of lyric poetry, tanka stress the beauty of life and nature, and a feeling of yearning is an important element of tanka. What is sought within this simple form is to express the essence of the yearning with a depth in which all the emotions are intermingled. The vivid expression of that which has touched the heart has the power to evoke a wealth of associations. This allusive feeling contained in these 31 syllables is referred to as yojo. In content, tanka poem should include this yojo.
An example of tanka
難波津 (和歌)
難波津に na ni wa tsu ni
咲くやこの花 sa ku ya ko no ha na
冬ごもり fu yu go mo ri
今は春べと i ma ha ha ru be to
咲くやこの花 sa ku ya ko no ha na
Aside from Tanka, there's also Haiku which is a fixed shorter verse form of seventeen syllables arranged in a 5-7-5 pattern.
Basho Matsuo, in the middle of the Edo period (late 17th century), give independent life to the hokku (opening verse) of the haikairenga (linked verse), and establised it as an art form dealing with life and nature, using aesthetic values such as austere elegance called, sabi, shiori, in which there is natural expression of delivate beauty, and karumi, which seeks a refined interest in plain everyday material.
General use of the name "haiku" for this form began with Shiki Masaoka, in the 3rd decade of Meiji Era (end 19th century).
A feature of haiku is inclusion of a "season word" referring to an animal, plant, event or custom of the season. For example, the season word sumireso (violets) will bring to mind the warmth of spring and violets in bloom along a mountain path. Thus, breadth and depth is given to haiku, the shortest of poems. Haiku give an obhetive, fleeting picture of its subject. As it is impossible to depict an actual scene in detail, it is necessary to abbreviate to the essentials, and the season word is one such abbreciation.
An example of haiku
古池 (俳句)
古池や fu ru i ke ya
蛙飛込む ka wa tsu to bi ko mu
水の音 mi zu no o to
One famous and traditional anthology style of compiling Japanese waka poetry is actually Hyakunin isshu. Hyakunin isshu (百人一首) is a where each contributor writes one poem for the anthology. Literally, it translates to "one hundred people, one poem [each]". It also refers to the card game of uta-garuta, which uses a deck composed of poems from one such anthology.
The most famous hyakunin isshu, often referred to as "the" Hyakunin Isshu because no other one compares to its notability, is the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, compiled by Fujiwara no Teika (or Sadaie, 1162 – 1241) while he lived in the Ogura district of Kyoto. Teika's anthology is the basis for the card game of karuta, which has been popular since the Edo period.
