The Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets should be valued in Utsunomiya by Natsumi S

      The Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets is very famous in Japan and it is called “Hyakunin Issyu”. Some people played the Hyakunin Issyu card game in elementary school and some people may remember all of the hundred poems for the card game. In fact Utsunomiya has relation to Hyakunin Issyu, but people don’t know this well and the connection to the poems is only playing card games. I think the hundred poems by hundred poets should be valued much in Utsunomiya for two reasons. First, it is a pity that many people don’t know that the start of these famous poems is in Utsunomiya. Second, by knowing this story the education of Japanese can be improved.

      It is a pity that many people don’t know that the start of these famous poems is in Utsunomiya. The hundred poems by one hundred poets was consisted by poems of many famous people who are from the Nara era to the Kamakura era and these poems were chosen by Fujiwara Teika who was the very famous poet. Teika was asked to choose a hundred great poems by one hundred poets to decorate the fusuma of the mountain cottage in Ogura by Utsunomiya Yoritsuna. Therefore Utsunomiya has to do with the Hyakunin Issyu. Moreover to tell the truth, the cultural things of the ancient era are not many in Utsunomiya because in the ancient era the center of culture was Kyoto. So the connection to culture in Kyoto is very important and it should be valued much more.

      By knowing the history of the hundred poems by hundred poets, the education of Japanese can be improved. In the research of National Institute for Educational Policy Research in 2002, the 70 % of students don’t like ancient writings. From this research, it can be said that many students turn away from ancient writings. Then the Hyakunin Issyu is very good teaching materials because these are the greatest poems by the greatest poets. So if students have a sense of closeness to Japanese literature from knowing the history of the Hyakunin Issyu, education of Japanese especially ancient writings can be improved much more.

      To conclude, I think that the hundred poems by hundred poets should be valued more in Utsunomiya. These poems are the cultural heritage of Japanese literature and Utsunomiya and this can be used for education of Japanese. The poems are one of the greatest works of Japanese literature and this should be known by more people.