1
of
1
One Hundred Poems from Old Japan
A New Translation of the Hyakunin Isshu [With Free Online Audio Recordings]
Brief Description
One Hundred Poems from Old Japan is one of the most respected and oft-quoted compilations of the Japanese poetic canon. "A must-read for anyone interested in Japanese culture or poetry in general," says William Scott Wilson, a renowned translator of Japanese literature. In the pale dawn...
Read More
Format: Hardback
$3999
Unit price
/
Unavailable
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER
Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 1 week
Found a better price? Request a price match
One Hundred Poems from Old Japan
$3999
Unit price
/
Unavailable
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
One Hundred Poems from Old Japan is one of the most respected and oft-quoted compilations of the Japanese poetic canon. "A must-read for anyone interested in Japanese culture or poetry in general," says William Scott Wilson, a renowned translator of Japanese literature.
In the pale dawn
your coldness as we parted
froze my heartβ
nothing now so chills me
as morning's early light
- Mibu no Tadamine
This completely new translation of the most famous collection of Japanese poetry ever produced, the Hyakunin Isshu ("A hundred poems by a hundred poets"), contains works written between the 7th and 8th centuries that were collected and published by the poet Fujiwara no Teika at the end of that era. The collection is still widely read in Japan today by school children and everyday people.
These poems provide insights on daily life in ancient Japan while addressing universal themes of love, loneliness, aging, and the beauty of natureβall highly relevant today.
The poets whose works are featured here include:
- Sei Shonagon, author of The Pillow Book
- Lady Murasaki Shikibu, author of The Tale of Genji
- Emperor Gotoba, who ruled from 1193-1198
- Sugiwara no Michizane, a renowned Confucian scholar
Each poem is presented in the Japanese script with a Romanized version and English translation. An introduction by translator Michael Freiling provides essential information about the collection, an overview of the poems and poets, and reflections on why the work remains so popular in Japan today.
This new hardcover gift edition is illustrated in full colour with stunning woodblock prints created for the poems by the famous 19th-century artists Hiroshige, Kuniyoshi, and Kunisada. Free online audio recordings of all the poems are available in Japanese and English.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9784805319239
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 26 August 2025
Country: United States
Imprint: Tuttle Publishing
Illustration: 100 poems; 100 full-color woodblock prints
Contributors:
- Translated by Michael Freiling
- Compiled by Fujiwara no Teika
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Width: 140.0mm
Height: 203.0mm
Weight: 524g
Pages: 224
About the Author
Michael Freiling studied computer science at the University of San Francisco, where he also found the time to take poetry classes and became interested in Japanese literature. In 1977, he received a Henry Luce scholarship and was assigned to study at Kyoto University for a year. He spent most of that time studying Japanese and translating Heian-era poetry. He returned to Kyoto years later, in 2014, where he began writing poetry in both English and Japanese. His work has been published in anthologies and in the haiku journals Seashores and Frogpond. In 2018, he was asked to help translate a collection of senryu poems written by Japanese-Americans who were unlawfully imprisoned during World War II; it was published in 2023 under the title They Never Asked (Oregon State University Press).
More from History & Military
View all-
Saving Elli
One child. Two years in hiding. Three lives in mortal danger. In Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, near Anne Frank's house, another Jewish girl is hidden. Her name is Elli. Her father has been executed at Mauthausen concentration camp. Her mother is fleeing for her life. Elli is next. To save her, resistance couple Frits and Jo Hakkens must risk everything, concealing her...Paperback$3299Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
The Spy and the Traitor
The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre is a spellbinding Cold War thriller that unravels the true story of Oleg Gordievsky, a KGB double agent who risked everything to aid the British in the battle against Soviet oppression. In meticulously researched detail, Macintyre paints a vivid portrait of espionage, double-crossing, and unparalleled bravery, giving readers a riveting glimpse into...Paperback$2100Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
New ReleaseSuicidal Empathy
The bestselling author of The Parasitic Mind shows why empathy in politics leads to civilizational collapse. What happens when a society elevates victimhood to a virtue and decides that punishment is cruel? You get the disease Dr. Gad Saad calls suicidal empathy. And the West may be terminally infected. In his new book, Suicidal Empathy, Saad unleashes a blistering critique...Paperback$3099Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Man's Search For Meaning
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl is a profound, thought-provoking memoir and psychological exploration that delves into the harrowing experiences of life in Nazi concentration camps, intertwined with the authorβs groundbreaking theories on existential psychology. The book is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, offering a beacon of hope and a roadmap for finding purpose...Paperback$1800Elsewhere:$2100Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Betrayal
βTom Bower is the Inspector Morse of investigative biographers, a fluent, phlegmatic storyteller and a master of intricacies.β Sunday Times The British Crown is in crisis, with constitutional threats at home and abroad. At a landmark moment in royal history, can King Charles overcome the scandals that blight the Royal family? Can the broken bonds between the Houses of Sussex...Paperback$3499Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
The Chief and the Empire
The Chief and the Empire uncovers the extraordinary true tale of Te Tai Tokerau rangatira Te Pahi - the first influential MΔori leader to cross the Tasman - whose curiosity about the PΔkehΔ world forged alliances, saved lives, and ultimately cost him his own. On a visit to Sydney in 1805, Te Pahi was feted as a celebrity, building close...Paperback$3200Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Discipline
Silence is complicity, but how do we confront the cost of speaking up? Sydney, May 2021. Ashraf is an academic whose career and personal life are in freefall. Hannah is a young journalist struggling to honour the voices of her community. When a Year 12 Al-Bayinnah College student is arrested for protesting a university's ties to an Israeli weapons manufacturer,...Paperback$4000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Shattered Lands
'A sparkling debut by an outstanding young historian' β PETER FRANKOPAN 'This book is a revelation β¦ both original and important' β MISHAL HUSAIN A history of modern South Asia told through five partitions that reshaped it. As recently as 1928, a vast swathe of Asia β India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, Bhutan, Yemen, Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, and...Paperback$3699Elsewhere:$4500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Goliathβs Curse
Goliathβs Curse by Luke Kemp offers a radical retelling of human history through the lens of collapse, delving into what this means for our uncertain future. This narrative spans from the dawn of our species to the urgent existential threats of the twenty-first century and beyond. It's grounded in the latest research and a comprehensive database of more than 440...Paperback$2999Elsewhere:$4000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
New ReleaseThe Good Settler
βWhere once I saw a view as I drove around the Taranaki coast along State Highway 45, I now see confiscated land from an invasion road. The creation story I used to subscribe to, the one in which hard-working people came here and settled the land, now jars. Weirdly, even the lawn looks different. The form of things just wonβt...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Banjara
A powerful literary debut from an astonishing new Kiwi voice, focusing on the Indo-Fijian indenture system and how it affected generations across the Pacific.Rajasthan 1888: Avani Rathod, a nomad of the Banjara community, is summoned to teach a blue-eyed colonial officer the trees of her region, but instead is misled into indenture to the sugarcane plantations of Fiji. While on...Paperback$3099Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
This Way Up
The debut book from the YouTube sensation and all-round cartographical nerds, The Map Men! In their long-awaited debut, YouTubeβs Map Men bring their highly infectious enthusiasm for everything map-related to the printed page for the very first time, in a brilliantly entertaining and eye-catching tome. Packed with humour and fascinating facts, This Way Up takes a deep dive into the...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow
Why buy from us?
Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!
Service & Delivery
Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.
Auckland Bookstore
We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.
Our Gifting Service
Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.
