Karuta competitions by the 100 Poems

I saw on TV news that many young foreigners competed karuta competitions by the 100 Poems. I was surprised at that, as well as I was interested why they played karuta competitions and why they knew how to play. Because karuta competitions are so difficult that the number of those who play the game isn’t large even in Japan. Eventually, I never have played karuta competitions.


Incidentally, the 100 Poems, “hyakunin-issyu” in Japanese, are familiar with Japanese People. Japanese people in most cases learn the 100 Poems in their junior high-schools or high-schools, and they sometimes play a game of competing accuracy and quickness with several people that players grab a card written with the only second phrases of a poem from cards on tatami listening to full phrases of a poem. Of course I learned the 100 Poems in my junior high school and sometimes played the game, but I was a weak player of karuta games. Karuta competitions are a severer sport than the game above, so the sport demands players memory and concentration.




The influence of a manga of karuta competitions

“Chihayafulu”, a manga of youth drama on karuta competitions, got a popularity among Japanese young generations. It was transformed into TV animations and movie series. Moreover, they were transferred to many foreign countries. Some rules of karuta competitions, which I knew for the first time, were explained in the Chihayafuru manga as follows;


“Each of the 100 Poems has a first and second half. The torifuda(grabbing cards) printed with only the second halves are put on the floor”. A player has 25 cards from the 100 torifuda. “He lays out 25 cards in three rows by his own intention. When the first half of yomifuda(reading card) is recited, the players search for the torifuda with the corresponding second half.”


This manga depicts that karuta competitions have charming points of sports with concentration, accuracy and speed and the good Japanese custom of etiquettes.




A French male who was attracted by karuta competitions from another direction

A French young adult male is having the enthusiasm for karuta competitions, I knew that on YouTube. He was born in France and he practiced karate in his childhood. He noticed the beauty of the sound of Japanese words through Karate playing. He was interested in Japanese words and entered Kobe University in Japan. He encountered karuta competitions by chance, gradually he has been attracted by karuta competitions. He said that it was very pleasant for him to get a torifuda and the sense of the achievement was superior. Karuta competitions are the sport with culture. Such a deep sport isn’t anywhere out of Japan.

The meaning of the poem of chihayafuru

In the manga of Chihayafuru, the name of the heroin is Chihaya. Of course the name is a suggestion of the story. When some Japanese people, especially females, can remember all the phrases of the poem upon hearing “chihayafuru”.


“Chi-ha-ya-fu-ru
Ka-mi-yo-mo-ki-ka-zu
Ta-tsu-ta-ga-wa
Ka-ra-ku-re-na-i-ni
Mi-zu-ku-ku-ru-to-wa”
Say the each syllables slowly, please.
And listen to the sound of your voices.
If possible, recite those as a phrase.
It’s ok even not to catch the meaning of the poem, but it’s important to perceive the sound. What the French male said is in the mark. Japanese poems were made for beautiful sound. Ancient Japanese poets thought that the sound of each word in a poem was very significant, because they believed the sound of a word had the spirit of a word and it influenced nature and the humanity of another people. Ancient Japanese people thought that beautiful sound of words brought happiness to Japan and this country.
The meaning of this poem, which was transferred by Peter M.Mile, is as follows.
“Even the almighty
Gods of old
never knew
such beauty:
on the river Tatsuta
in autumn sunlight
a brocade-
reds flowing above,
blue water below”
It seems that the poet deeply perceived something wonderful at the view that red leaves on the river Tatsuta were floating with blue water below, and the view might not have been seen even ancient gods. Of course it is in the world of literature according to the theory of the spirit of beautiful words. And yet Japanese people love the poem, and they had made the game by the 100 Poets, moreover, they transformed it into karuta competitions. Foreigners may think that the transforming is wonder.