Techniques of Tanka — Kakekotoba, Engo, Honka-dori, Mitate, Jokotoba

What Are the Techniques of Tanka?

Within the limited frame of tanka (5-7-5-7-7 = 31 syllables), in order to express deep and rich content, Japanese poets from the Heian era onward developed diverse techniques. These techniques are not mere ornament, but structural devices to raise the density of information in a short form.

The five great techniques:

1. Kakekotoba — layering two meanings on a single word
2. Engo — deliberately scattering related word-groups
3. Honka-dori — deliberately taking a famous poem of the past as a base
4. Mitate — composing by seeing one thing as another
5. Jokotoba — an introductory phrase leading to a specific word

These developed after the Man’yōshū (8th c.), flowered in the Kokinshū (10th c.), and were completed in the Shinkokinshū (13th c.); after Meiji they became the subject of criticism, but they are also inherited in transformed form in modern tanka.

1. Kakekotoba — The Technique of Double Meaning

Definition

Kakekotoba is the technique of layering two meanings on one word. For example, with the word “matsu” one simultaneously expresses both meanings, “to wait” and “pine tree.”

This technique makes use of the abundance of homophones in Japanese. It is the most basic technique for raising the density of meaning within the limited syllable count of 5-7-5-7-7.

Representative Example 1: Ono no Komachi (Kokinshū 113, Hyakunin Isshu 9)

“Hana no iro wa / utsuri ni keri na / itazura ni / waga mi yo ni furu / nagame seshi ma ni”

• furu = “to pass (of time)” + “to fall (of rain)”
• nagame = “gazing (in reverie)” + “long rain”

Double meaning: “While my body has passed / been rained on in the world, while I was gazing / during the long rain.” A complete example with kakekotoba used in two places in one poem.

Representative Example 2: Fujiwara no Teika (Hyakunin Isshu 97)

“Konu hito wo / matsuho no ura no / yūnagi ni / yaku ya moshio no / mi mo kogare tsutsu”

• matsu = “to wait” + “Matsuho (Matsuho no Ura)”
• kogare = “to burn (with love)” + “to be scorched (of seaweed salt)”

“Like the seaweed salt burning in the evening calm of Matsuho Bay while I wait for the person who does not come, my body also keeps burning.” Two kakekotoba in one poem; the summit of technique in which the passion of love and the making of seaweed salt rise simultaneously.

Representative Example 3: Priest Kisen (Hyakunin Isshu 8)

“Waga io wa / miyako no tatsumi / shika zo sumu / yo wo uji-yama to / hito wa iu nari”

• uji = “sad, painful” + “Uji (place name)”

The double meaning of “lonely” as a hermit living on Uji Mountain, and the place name “Uji.”

History of Kakekotoba

• Man’yōshū: almost no kakekotoba (Man’yō directness)
• Kokin Wakashū (905): kakekotoba develops in earnest
• Shinkokin (1205): the peak, with Fujiwara no Teika using it heavily
• Masaoka Shiki (Meiji): criticized as “wordplay without real feeling”
• Modern tanka: direct kakekotoba has decreased, but Homura, Okano, and others inherit it in transformed form as wordplay

Kakekotoba in Modern Tanka

Homura Hiroshi: “Kabin ni mizu to / kage no akari / sashi / shin’ya no / ‘boku wa hana no yō na hito’”

The “flower” in “a person like a flower” is a double image of the actual flowers in the vase and the metaphorical “person like a flower.” This is a modern transformation of kakekotoba.

2. Engo — The Technique of Related Word Groups

Definition

Engo is the technique of deliberately scattering related words through a single poem. For example, if “river” is the subject, one uses engo such as “water,” “wave,” “flow,” “shore,” “cross.”

This is a more indirect technique than kakekotoba; it asks the reader to deepen meaning through the associations of words.

Representative Example 1: Izumi Shikibu (Goshūishū)

“Arazaramu / kono yo no hoka no / omoide ni / ima hitotabi no / au koto mo gana”

At first glance there is no engo, but on analysis:

• “arazaramu” (not to exist) + “omoide” (memory of the past) + “ima hitotabi” (this present time) + “au” (hope of the future)
• A group of engo of “time and existence” is stretched throughout

Representative Example 2: Fujiwara no Kintō (Shūishū 42, Hyakunin Isshu 55)

“Taki no oto wa / taete hisashiku / narinuredo / na koso nagarete / nao kikoe kere”

• taki (waterfall) + oto (sound) + tayu (to cease) + nagaru (to flow) + kikoyu (to be heard)

All are engo related to water and sound. Even though “the waterfall has ceased,” “the name flows on” is joined by the association of water. A textbook example of engo.

Representative Example 3: Emperor Sutoku (Shikashū, Hyakunin Isshu 77)

“Se wo hayami / iwa ni sekaruru / takigawa no / warete mo sue ni / awamu to zo omou”

• se (rapids) + iwa (rock) + sekaru (to be dammed) + takigawa (waterfall river) + wareru (to split) + sue (end)

All are engo related to the flow of water. The concrete scene “the water of the waterfall dammed by a rock” rises up through the chain of engo. That state of water is laid over parting and reunion with a lover.

Significance of Engo

Engo is a technique that creates a sense of unity in a single poem. The reader can immediately grasp the subject — “this is a poem of water,” “this is a poem of the moon.” It is a device for clarifying the subject within the shortness of 31 syllables.

3. Honka-dori — Taking a Famous Poem as Base

Definition

Honka-dori is the technique of composing a new poem by consciously taking a famous past poem (honka) as its base. Not mere imitation but an advanced quotation technique that offers, to readers who know the honka, a layering of “the original feeling + a new situation.”

Representative Example — Fujiwara no Teika (Shinkokin)

Honka: Naga no Imiki Okimaro (Man’yōshū 265) “Kurushiku mo / furi kuru ame ka / kami no saki / Sano no watari ni / ie mo aranaku ni”

• Okimaro’s Man’yō poem: the harshness of the ferry crossing at Sano, in the rain, with no house

Teika’s honka-dori (Shinkokin 671) “Koma tomete / sode uchiharau / kage mo nashi / Sano no watari no / yuki no yūgure”

• Teika’s poem: at the ferry crossing at Sano, no shelter (kage), in the snow, in the evening

The same place name (the Sano crossing), the same structure of “no house/shelter,” but a variation of rain → snow and day → evening. The reader enters Teika’s new snow scene while calling to mind Okimaro’s Man’yō poem. A double feeling rises simultaneously.

Principles of Honka-dori (Teika’s Maigetsushō)

1. Choose an old and famous honka (a representative poem of Man’yō or Kokin, etc.)
2. Change the subject of the honka (spring → autumn, love → parting, etc.)
3. Borrow only 2-3 words of the honka; the rest in new expression
4. Change the season or place of the honka to a different scene

The Modern Form of Honka-dori

In modern tanka, there are many poems based on the poets of the previous generation (Yosano Akiko, Ishikawa Takuboku, Terayama Shūji, etc.). Example:

If a modern poet composes based on “matchi suru” (striking a match) or “den’en ni shisu” (dying in the countryside), that is honka-dori toward Terayama Shūji. This is a new form of honka-dori in the 21st century.

“Quotation” in Modern SNS Tanka

On Twitter (X) tanka, “parody tanka” that rearrange a line from a famous poet sometimes go viral. This is the democratized form of traditional honka-dori.

4. Mitate — Seeing One Thing as Another

Definition

Mitate is the technique of composing by seeing one thing as another. Close to metaphor, but especially in Japanese tanka it often uses visual mis-recognition (=mis-seeing) as its subject.

Representative Example 1: Ki no Tomonori (Kokinshū 84, Hyakunin Isshu 33)

“Hisakata no / hikari nodokeki / haru no hi ni / shizu-gokoro naku / hana no chiruramu”

• hisakata no hikari — the light (of the sun) (a pillow-word-like phrase)
• nodokeki haru no hi — a quiet spring day
• shizu-gokoro naku hana no chiruramu — the flowers scatter with a restless heart

“Though it is a quiet spring day, the flowers scatter with a restless heart” — the flowers are seen as a being with will. The state of falling flowers is likened to the motion of a restless heart.

Representative Example 2: Fujiwara no Toshiyuki (Kokinshū 169, Hyakunin Isshu 18)

“Aki kinu to / me ni wa sayaka ni / mienedomo / kaze no oto ni zo / odorokare nuru”

• aki kinu to — that autumn has come
• me ni wa sayaka ni mienedomo — it is not clearly seen to the eye
• kaze no oto ni zo odorokare nuru — but I am startled by the sound of the wind

The coming of autumn is likened not to a visible thing but to the auditory sound of the wind. A conversion of abstract and concrete.

Representative Example 3: Fujiwara no Teika (Shinkokin 363, “Sanseki no Uta”)

“Miwataseba / hana mo momiji mo / nakari keri / ura no tomaya no / aki no yūgure”

“Looking round, there was neither flower nor autumn leaf. The autumn evening of the poor fisherman’s hut on the shore.” In the negative form of “what is not (flower, autumn leaf),” it conversely suggests a bright scene. A paradoxical form of mitate.

The Modern Development of Mitate

Mitate is alive in modern tanka too:

Homura Hiroshi: “Sabanna no / zō no unko yo / kiite kure / darui setsunai / kowai samishii”

The “elephant droppings of the savannah” is likened to an object of address (a listener). This is a modern transformation of traditional mitate.

5. Jokotoba — Introductory Phrase Leading to a Specific Word

Definition

Jokotoba is a modifying phrase placed before a specific word (subject word) to lead into it. It has the structure: the first half of 5-7-5 is the jokotoba, and the second half is the subject. An old technique that developed in the Man’yōshū and was inherited in the Heian era.

Representative Example 1: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro (Hyakunin Isshu 3)

“Ashibiki no / yamadori no o no / shidari-o no / naga-nagashi yo wo / hitori kamo nemu”

• ashibiki no / yamadori no o no / shidari-o no = jokotoba (first 5-7-5)
• naga-nagashi yo wo = subject

The jokotoba “the drooping tail of the mountain bird’s tail” is an introduction to draw the “long” of the subject “naga-nagashi yo” (long, long night). The mountain bird’s tail is long → the night too is long — a likeness is created.

Representative Example 2: Man’yōshū (Eastern Songs, vol. 14, 3542)

“Tsukuba-ne no / miro ni kasumi i / sugigate ni / ikizuku kimi wo / itane te yarasa ne”

The first half “on the peak of Tsukuba, the mist” leads through “sugigate (=hard to pass)” into the sense of “hard to.”

Representative Example 3: Priest Sosei (Kokinshū 51, Hyakunin Isshu 21)

“Ima komu to / iishi bakari ni / nagatsuki no / ariake no tsuki wo / machi-idetsuru kana”

The length of time waiting after being told “I will come now” is overlaid with “Nagatsuki” (=September, the long month). In that “Nagatsuki” leads the meaning “long,” it is a kind of jokotoba-like technique.

Jokotoba and the Present

In modern tanka, the clear form of jokotoba has decreased. But the basic structure of “the first half describes a scene, the second half carves the feeling” remains. For example:

“Nichiyō no / hirusagari no / sūpu no yuge ni / koe wo nakushite iku / watashi”

The first half “the steam of the soup on Sunday afternoon” is the scene, the second half “I, losing my voice” is the feeling. This is a modern transformation of jokotoba.

Other Techniques

6. Makurakotoba (Pillow Words)

A fixed 5-syllable phrase leading to a specific word. Older than jokotoba, a core technique of the Man’yōshū. Examples:

• “akanesasu” → murasaki (purple)
• “tamakiwaru” → inochi (life)
• “ashibiki no” → yama (mountain)
• “chihayaburu” → kami (god)

The meaning is not always clear, but they function as the rhythm of the sound. A source of the power of the Man’yō style. Rarely used today, but the underlying music of tanka.

7. Repetition (Hanpuku)

The technique of repeating the same word or phrase. Example:

Ariwara no Narihira (Kokin 747): “Tsuki ya aranu / haru ya mukashi no / haru naranu / waga mi hitotsu wa / moto no mi ni shite”

The repetition of “moon (=the moon of old), spring (=the spring of old).” A contrast of what has changed and what has not.

Ishikawa Takuboku: “Hatarakedo / hatarakedo nao waga kurashi / raku ni narazari / jitto te wo miru”

The two-fold repetition of “hatarakedo” emphasizes the despair of labor.

8. Antithetical Couplet (Tsuiku)

The technique of placing two structurally symmetrical phrases side by side. Influence of Chinese classics. Used often in Hitomaro’s chōka.

Example: “Ura nashi to / hito koso mirame / kata nashi to / hito koso mirame” (Hitomaro, “Iwami Sōmon-ka”)

The couplet “no bay / no inlet,” with the repetition of “hito koso mirame.” An amplification of rhythm and feeling.

9. Particles of Exclamation

• “keri” — exclamation looking back at the past
• “kana” — the lingering of feeling
• “ya” — exclamation, question
• “namu” — exclamation

With these particles, the color of feeling of a poem is decided. Still used today.

Criticism of Techniques Since the Meiji Era

Masaoka Shiki, in “Utayomi ni Atauru Sho” (Letter Given to Poets, 1898), harshly criticized these techniques:

• Kakekotoba is only wordplay
• Engo is technique for technique’s sake
• Honka-dori is imitation

Shiki’s claim was the shasei theory of “Sing what you see, remove technique.” This is how Araragi-school shasei tanka developed.

But from today’s viewpoint, Shiki’s criticism is too extreme; these techniques too are being reevaluated as devices for raising the density of information in tanka.

The Modern View of Techniques

In modern tanka, these traditional techniques are partially inherited and transformed:

Inherited

• Repetition (Takuboku, Homura, etc.)
• Mitate and metaphor (used heavily in colloquial tanka too)
• The structure of first half and second half (transformation of jokotoba)
• Honka-dori (modern poets quoting the previous generation)

Decreased

• Clear kakekotoba (few in colloquial tanka)
• Makurakotoba (Man’yō words that do not fit modern colloquial)
• Clear engo

Added

• Use of katakana and loanwords
• Use of punctuation and symbols
• Consideration of SNS hashtags (a unit of shortness)
• Consideration of AI and machine translation

How to Learn the Techniques — For the Modern Beginner

The meaning of a modern tanka beginner learning classical techniques:

1. The Craft of “Density in Shortness”

The devices for packing information into 31 syllables of 5-7-5-7-7 are all contained in the classical techniques. Even when composing in modern colloquial, this sense of density is inherited.

2. Understanding Famous Poems

To understand the Hyakunin Isshu, Kokinshū, and Shinkokinshū, knowledge of these techniques is essential. This is part of the general education of Japanese culture.

3. Possibility of Modern Transformation

Even without using classical techniques directly, if one applies their principles to modern colloquial, new expression can be born. This is the room for experiment for young poets.

From This Article to the Next

We have treated techniques, but the form itself of tanka (31 syllables of 5-7-5-7-7, syllables and mora, rhythm, irregularity) has not yet been treated systematically. The next article traces the form, prosody, and irregularity of tanka along with its changes from Man’yō to today.