The Kokinshū: Selected Poems by Torquil DuthieMariko Naito
MN 79:2 (2024) pp. 257–63
No one with even a cursory knowledge of Japanese classics would deny that Kokinshū (Collection of Ancient and Modern Japanese Songs; early tenth century), along with Man’yōshū (Collection of Myriad Ages; eighth century) and Shinkokinshū (New Ancient and Modern Collection; 1205), is among the most representative anthologies of waka poetry. As noted by Torquil Duthie, author of the book under review, Kokinshū was “revered as the classical text that served as the cornerstone not only for the composition of waka but also for later forms of vernacular poetry”.
