和歌（わか）は、上代から日本で行われた定型の歌。和歌を詠む人のことを歌人という。呼び名和歌とは漢詩に対する呼称で、やまとうた（大和歌・倭歌）、あるいは単にうたという。奈良時代には倭歌（わか）・倭詩（わし）とも言った。和歌は広義には長歌・短歌・旋頭歌・片歌及び仏足石歌の総称だが、狭義には31音を定型とする短歌のことを指す。そのため、三十一文字（みそひともじ）とも言われる。また、日本神話ではスサノオが詠った「八雲立つ出雲八重垣妻ごめに八重垣作るその八重垣を」が最初の和歌とされることから、その初めの語句を取って八雲（やくも）ともいう。「八雲の道」といえば「歌道」のことである。「八雲の道」と同じく「歌道」を表す言葉に「敷島の道」がある。敷島（しきしま）は大和あるいは日本を意味し、直訳すれば「日本の道」という意味になる。歌を詠むことが日本古来の文化であったことを示している。なお、沖縄県には琉歌というやや独特の形式がある。和歌は、五音と七音を標準とする大和ことばによる定型詩（し）、または詩（うた、音楽）である。文学としての解釈と音楽としての解釈の二通りがあるが、一般的には国文学の中の1つとして解釈されるため、学校教育において「うた」の要素は排除されている。片歌五七七の三句。二つに分かれて唱和する片方で、最短の歌。旋頭歌五七七、五七七の形式。片歌を二回繰り返したもので、問答歌が多い。長歌五七、五七、…、五七、七の形式。五七を三回以上繰り返し、最後を七音を加える。万葉集に多く見えるが、古今集の時点ではすでに作られなくなっている。主に公の場でうたわれるもので、反歌を伴う。短歌五七、五七、七の形式。のちに五七五と七七に分ける形式が発生し、連歌、俳諧が発生する。仏足石歌体五七、五七、七七の形式。今様七五、七五、七五、七五の形式。平安中期に発生。甚句（都々逸）七七、七五の形式。江戸時代に発生。全国各地の民謡に多い。囃子言葉が挿入される場合も多い。なお、都々逸という呼称は幕末以降にできたとも言われる。枕詞序詞掛詞縁語本歌取り体言止め対句句切れ披講とは、和歌に節を付けて詠み上げることで、綾小路流や冷泉流などの流派が存在する。現在では宮中の歌会始や神社での行事などで見ることができる。定型が完成する以前の和歌を上代歌謡という。感情の高まりから発せられた叫び・掛け声が次第に成長して、祭りや労働の際に集団で歌われる歌となったものとも言われる。多くは文字に記されることなく失われてしまったとされるが、『古事記』『日本書紀』『風土記』『万葉集』『古語拾遺』『琴歌譜』『仏足石歌碑』などに約300首残っている。当時の習慣として、歌垣という集団行事があった。上代歌謡は神楽歌や催馬楽などの楽器を伴う儀式歌の源流となるが、その歌体・技巧は後の和歌の母胎となっている。『古事記』『日本書紀』に採られた上代歌謡を、特に記紀歌謡という。独立した歌謡ではなく、物語の効果を高めるために用いられていることが多いが、宮廷人が歌った儀式の歌謡や、創作もあるとされている。片歌・旋頭歌・短歌・長歌などの五音と七音を標準とする歌体に、対句・くりかえし・枕詞・序詞などの技法が用いられた。他にも記紀の時代の歌謡には、奈良の薬師寺の仏足石歌碑に刻まれた歌、平安時代中期に書写された和琴の譜本『琴歌譜』がある。統一国家が確立してゆく中で、大陸から漢詩が入ってきた影響もあり、個人の気持ちを個々に表現する歌が盛んに作られるようになった。それらを大成したのが『万葉集』である。万葉集の注記によると、万葉集以前にも『古歌集』『柿本人麻呂歌集』『笠金村歌集』『高橋虫麻呂歌集』『田辺福麻呂歌集』『類聚歌林』などがあったとされるが、現存していない。万葉集は長い期間を経て何人もの人々によってまとめられたが、最終的に現在の20巻のかたちに編集したのは大伴家持だと言われている。約4500首が収められており、その最も古いものは仁徳天皇期のものであるが、大部分は飛鳥時代から奈良時代中期にかけての約百年弱のもので占められている。現実的・写実的な歌風が多く、貴族の歌のほかに東歌・防人歌など民衆の歌もある。平安時代初期には漢詩文が公的な文学として和歌を圧倒した。和歌は私的に交わされる贈答歌が主となり、宮廷で詠まれることは奈良時代と比較すると少なくなった。しかし、平安時代中期になって、唐の衰退やそれに伴う遣唐使の廃止により中国の文化的影響力は減少し、国風文化の時代となった。その過程で、仮名文字の発達とあいまって和歌は次第に公的な文化として復権し、歌合も行われるようになった。『新撰万葉集』には漢詩（からうた）と和歌（やまとうた）が並べて書かれ、和歌が公的な文学としての地位を回復してゆく姿が見られる。こうした中で最初の勅撰和歌集『古今和歌集』が撰進された。この頃から、和歌というと短歌形式のものをさすようになった。延喜5年（905年）醍醐天皇の勅命によって、紀貫之・紀友則・凡河内躬恒・壬生忠岑の4人によって編纂されたのが『古今和歌集』である。『万葉集』以後の歌約1000首を20巻に収めている。理知的・観念的な歌風が特色である。それから半世紀のちの村上天皇の頃に和歌所が置かれ、当時すでに読みにくくなっていた『万葉集』の訓読と『後撰和歌集』の撰進が梨壺の五人によって行われた。貴族の贈答歌が中心で、物語化の傾向がある。さらに半世紀後の一条天皇の頃に、『拾遺和歌集』が撰進された。典雅で格調正しい『古今和歌集』の伝統を受け継ぐものになっている。平安時代後期には摂関政治が衰退し始め、貴族文化に変化が訪れた。そのころ撰進されたのが『後拾遺和歌集』である。保守的な『後拾遺和歌集』に対し、次の『金葉和歌集』は清新な叙景歌が中心で革新的なものであったが、続く『詞花和歌集』は再び保守的なものになっている。源平の争乱の後、後白河院の命で藤原俊成が『千載和歌集』を撰進した。貴族社会の崩壊、武士の台頭という混乱の中で芸術至上的な傾向を示し、平安時代末期の和歌を一つの高みに導いた。俊成の弟子が撰進したのが次に述べる『新古今和歌集』である。鎌倉時代に入ると、政権を奪われた貴族たちは伝統文化を心のより所にしたため、和歌は盛んに詠まれた。鎌倉への対抗意識もあって和歌に非常な熱意を示した後鳥羽院の命で撰進されたのが『新古今和歌集』である。現実の体験ではなく、頭の中で作り上げた世界を詠んだものがほとんどを占める。千載和歌集でみられた芸術至上主義がさらに進み、技巧は極致に達した。その一方で自然への愛や人生観を詠んだ西行、万葉調の源実朝も尊ばれた。『新古今和歌集』編纂の中心人物だった藤原定家の死後は、その子の為家が歌壇の指導者だったが、為家が亡くなると、家系も歌壇も二条派・京極派・冷泉派の三派に分かれた。三派は主導権をめぐって争い、うち二条派と京極派は次々と勅撰集を編纂した。南北朝時代(日本)ごろから、和歌は僧侶や武士を中心に詠まれるようになるが、地方武士にも普及する一方で、形式主義に流れた和歌は衰退していった。近世初期には伝統的な歌学が集大成され、多くの歌人が生まれたが、既に「歌道」として完成された芸術になっていたため新しい歌風は生まれなかった。誕生まもない俳諧に比べて、上代からの伝統的日本文化である和歌の革新は抑制された。近世後期になると京都から新しい和歌の動きが起こり、堂上の二条派から派生した地下人の桂園派が登場した。桂園派は明治時代初期まで歌壇に重きをなした。明治時代初期の歌壇は、御歌所派や桂園派などの江戸期からの伝統的な文化人たちが担ってきたが、和歌改革を志す人々（正岡子規や与謝野鉄幹ら）によって題詠による作歌・風雅な趣向が批判され、新時代に相応しい新しい和歌が生まれた。しかし、伝統的な和歌と区別するために、やがてこれらの新しい歌は「短歌」と呼称するのが普通となった（短歌の項も参照のこと）。和歌をよむ人を歌人という。うたびと、うたびと、とも。歌人一覧を併せて参照の事。歌聖（かせい）は和歌の名手に対する尊称。単なる敬意を示すのみではなく、歌道において神としてあがめられる歌人を指しており、具体的には柿本人麻呂と山部赤人をいう。和歌を集めて本にしたものを歌集という。勅撰和歌集（勅撰集）勅命・院宣を奉じて編纂した歌集。私撰和歌集（私撰集）個人、民間が撰定した歌集。中でも藤原定家による小倉百人一首は大変よく親しまれており、日本人の和歌に対する見方に大きな影響を与えている。私家集個人の歌を集めた歌集。和歌は、節（ふし）を付けて詠うものとして始まったため、節にのっていれば文字数（音節数・モーラ数）の規定はややゆるい。すなわち、節にのっていれば、五音・七音以外の音節数であっても実質的には「字余り・字足らず」ではない。「字余り・字足らず」という考え方は、詠うことよりも、書き留めた際の定型詩としての美意識から生まれた言葉である。西洋音楽による解釈では、和歌はテンポの遅い四分の四拍子で、2小節で1セットのリズムを作っている。五音は1リズム（2小節）に5つの四分音符と3つの四分休符、七音は1リズムに7つの四分音符と1つの四分休符を基本形としているが、四分音符・休符の総数が1リズム（2小節）内に8つであればよい（九音の場合、音節数が9なら三連符が一部入る）。歌体は、これらのリズムの組み合わせや数に依存する。例えば、短歌は2小節1セットのリズムが5つで出来ており、全小節数は10となる。「あきのたのかりほのいおのとまをあらみわがころもではつゆにぬれつつ」という短歌は、「五七六、七七」で字余りといわれるが、リズムごとに2小節ずつ区切ると、「あきのたが多用されたりする。短歌を和歌の詠み方（リズム）から脱して西洋音楽化させた例として「君が代」があるが、この場合は上記のような短歌のリズムから脱し、西洋音楽として美しく聴こえるよう音節を長短させている。一方、「荒城の月」は「七五、七五、…、七五」と繰り返される和歌であるが、和歌のリズムをあまり崩さずに西洋音楽に適合させた名曲である。

waka is a fixed form of poem that has been created since jodai ( mainly the nara period ) .the people who compose waka are called kajin poets .appellationwaka is a name in contrast to the chinese poetry , and it is also called yamatouta ( 大和歌 ・ 倭歌 ) or just uta .in the nara period it was called waka ( 倭歌 ) or washi ( 倭詩 ) .in a broad sense , waka means choka ( long poem ) , tanka ( short poem ) , sedoka ( head-repeated poem ) , katauta ( half poem ) , and bussokusekika ( buddha 's footprint stone poem ) , but in a narrow sense it designates only tanka of 31 syllables .therefore , it is also called misohitomoji ( 31 syllables . )also , it is called yakumo , the name of which is based on the first word of the poem susanoo ( a deity in japanese mythology ) composed , and the poem is considered the first waka in japanese mythology : ' clouds ( yakumo ) , actively upwelling covered the eightfold fence.it makes the eightfold fence to have my new wife stay in the house.great eightfold fence . 'yakumo-no-michi ' means ' kado ( the art of waka poetry ) . 'just like ' yakumo-no-michi , ' ' shikishima-no-michi ( roads in japan ) ' means kado .shikishima means yamato or japan , so it literally means ' roads in japan . 'it suggests that to compose poems was the japanese traditional culture .also , there is a unique form of poem called ryuka ( ryukyu poetry ) in okinawa prefecture .waka means uta ( song ) and fixed-form poetry consisting of five and seven syllables and written in yamato-kotoba ( a word of purely japanese origin ) .waka is considered to be both literature and music , but generally it is taken as one genre of japanese literature , so the element of ' uta ' has been excluded in japanese education .katautatercets of five , seven and seven syllablesit is a half-poem that is sung by one of the two people , and it is the shortest poem .sedokatwo tercets of five , seven and seven syllables eachit is a repeated form of katauta , and most of the sedoka is mondoka ( dialogue poem ) .chokait consists of alternating lines of five and seven syllables , and ends with an extra seven-syllable line .the five and seven syllables are repeated more than three times , and then seven-syllable line is added at the end .choka had been seen a lot in manyoshu ( collection of ten thousand leaves ) , but it was not composed any more when kokinshu ( collection of poems ancient and modern ) was compiled .choka was mainly composed in public , and was followed by hanka ( envoi ) .tankait consists of five lines of five , seven , five , seven and seven syllables .later the form was divided into two parts ( the first part of five , seven and seven syllables , and the latter part of seven and seven syllables ) , and then renga ( linked verse ) and haikai ( 17-syllable verse ) were generated .bussokusekika formit consists of six lines of five , seven , five , seven , seven and seven syllables .imayo ( an ancient verse form )it consists of eight lines of seven , five , seven , five , seven , five , seven and five syllables .it was created in the middle of the heian period .jinku poetry ( dodoitsu )it consists of four lines of seven , seven , seven and five syllables .it was created in the edo period .it is often seen in minyo ( folk songs ) of all areas in japan .hayashikotoba ( a meaningless refrain used to maintain the rhythm of a song ) is often inserted into it .it is also said that the name of dodoitsu appeared after the last days of the tokugawa government .makura kotoba ( pillow word )jo kotoba ( introductive word )kake kotoba ( pivot word )engo ( related word )honkatori ( adaptation of a famous poem )taigendome ( noun appearing at the end of waka )tsuiku ( couplet )kugire ( caesura )hiko is to recite waka to a tune , and there are some schools of reciting such as the ayanokoji school and the reizei school .today it is seen at the new year imperial poetry reading party , certain events in shrines , etc .before the fixed form of waka was established , it had been called jodai kayo .it is also said that the screams and cheers let out with excitement increasingly grew to be songs sung in groups at festivals and during laborious work .most of them are considered to have been lost without being written down , but about 300 poems have survived in the books of " kojiki ( records of ancient matters ) , " " nihon shoki ( chronicles of japan ) , " " fudoki ( notes on local legends and geography ) , " " manyoshu , " " kogoshui ( commentaries on ancient words and practices ) , " " kinkafu ( poetry collection ) " and " bussokusekika hi ( stele ) . "there was a group event called utagaki ( dancing and singing feast of young men and women ) as one of the customs in those days .jodai kayo came to be an origin of ceremonial songs such as kagurauta ( songs ) and saibara ( folk songs ) , which were accompanied with instruments , and its form and poetic devices became progenitors of the later waka .jodai kayo in " kojiki " and " nihon shoki " were especially called kiki kayo .they are not independent ballads but used to enhance an effect of narrative , and some of them are said to have been creative songs or ceremonial songs made by court people .poetic devices such as tsuiku , kurikaeshi ( repetition ) , makura kotoba , jo kotoba , etc . , were used for a verse form of basic lines of five and seven syllables , like katauta , sedoka , tanka and choka .the other ballads in the same period were of the kind inscribed on the monument of bussokusekika in yakushi-ji temple in nara and " kinkafu , " which was a book on the wagon ( a japanese string instrument , also called the yamatogoto , that consisted of a flat , shallow sound box with six strings , much like a zither ) , was copied in the middle of the heian period .in the process of giving unification to japan , chinese poetry was introduced to japan from the chinese continent , and under its influence poems to express individual feelings were energetically composed .those poems were compiled into " manyoshu . "according to the notes in manyoshu , there had been some other anthologies before manyoshu , such as " kokashu ( collection of old poetry ) , " " kakinomoto no hitomaro 's collection , " " kasanokanamura collection , " " takahashi no mushimaro 's collection of poetry , " " book of poetry of tanabe no sakimaro , " " ruiju-karin ( collection of poetry ) , " etc . , but none of them has survived .it is said that manyoshu was compiled by many people over a long period of time , but it was otomo no yakamochi who in the end edited and made a 20-volume anthology as it is .manyoshu contains about 4500 poems , the earliest of which was composed in the reign of emperor nintoku , but most of them were being made during the period of less than 100 years from the asuka period to the middle of the nara period .most of the poems have realistic and objective styles , and there are some poems made by people in general , such as azumauta poetry and sakimori-no-uta ( frontier guards ' poems ) besides the poems of court nobles .during the early heian period , chinese poetry overwhelmed waka as a public literature .zotoka ( poems exchanged between a man and a woman ) became the leading style of waka , and the number of waka composed in the imperial court decreased compared with that of the nara period .however , in the middle of the heian period the decline of tang and abolishment of kentoshi ( the embassy to the tang dynasty ) lessened the influence of chinese culture , and kokufu bunka was developed .in its process , waka gradually regained its position as an official culture along with the development of kana characters ( the japanese syllabaries ) , and uta awase ( poetry match ) came to be held .in the book of " shinsen manyoshu ( newly selected manyoshu ) , " japanese poems were put beside the chinese poems , which suggested that the japanese poetry was regaining its status as an official literature .under such circumstances , " kokin wakashu ( collection from ancient and modern times ) , " the first anthology of japanese poetry compiled by imperial command , was made and offered to the emperor .subsequently , waka became a synonym for tanka ." kokin wakashu " was compiled by imperial command of emperor daigo in 905 ; the compilers were ki no tsurayuki , ki no tomonori , oshikochi no mitsune and mibu no tadamine .it contains about 1000 poems in 20 volumes , which were composed after " manyoshu . "intellectual and ideal styles of poetry are characteristic of this collection .fifty years later , in the reign of emperor murakami , wakadokoro ( bureau of poetry ) was established , where nashitsubo no gonin ( five men of the pear chamber ) read the chinese characters in " manyoshu , " which was already difficult to read at that time , in the japanese pronunciation , and compiled and dedicated " gosen wakashu ( later collection of japanese poetry ) " to the emperor .most of the poems are zotoka written by court nobles , and there is a tendency toward narrative poems .more 50 years later , around the reign of emperor ichijo , " shui wakashu ( collection of gleanings ) " was compiled and dedicated to the emperor .it followed a tradition of " kokin wakashu , " which had elegant , refined styles .during the late heian period , the sekkan ( regent and chief councilor ) government began to decline , and a change occurred in the aristocratic culture ." go shui wakashu ( later collection of gleanings ) " was compiled around this time and was dedicated to the emperor .compared with the conservative " go shui wakashu , " the following " kinyo wakashu ( a collection of golden leaves ) " was innovative and focused on fresh descriptive poems ; however , the subsequent " shika wakashu ( a collection of verbal flowers of japanese poetry ) " marked a return to the conservative style .after the genpei war ( the final struggle between the taira and genji ( minamoto ) clans ) , the retired emperor go-shirakawain ordered fujiwara no toshinari to compile " senzai wakashu ( collection of a thousand years ) . "it shows a tendency toward the principle of art for art 's sake in the destruction of the aristocracy and the rise of samurai warriors , elevating the status of waka in the late heian period .the following " shin kokin wakashu ( new collection of ancient and modern japanese poetry ) " was compiled and dedicated to the emperor by toshinari 's disciple .in the kamakura period , court nobles who had been deprived of their power came to depend on the traditional culture , so they composed waka energetically .bearing feelings of rivalry toward kamakura , the retired emperor go-tobain who showed much enthusiasm for waka ordered the compilation of " shin kokin wakashu . "most of the poems were not based on real experiences but on a fictional world .the principle of art for art 's sake , as seen in senzai wakashu , was further refined , and poetic devices reached their culmination .on the other hand , the following two people were respected : saigyo , who made poems on love toward nature and his view of life , and minamoto no sanetomo , who composed poems in the manyo style .after the death of fujiwara no sadaie , who had been a central figure in the compilation of " shin kokin wakashu , " his son tameie became a mentor of the tanka composers ' society , but after tameie passed away , both the fujiwara family and the tanka composers ' society were divided into three schools : the nijo , kyogoku and reizei .the three schools struggled to attain leadership , and both the nijo and kyogoku schools compiled collections of poems one after another by imperial command .since around the period of the northern and southern courts ( japan ) , waka came to be composed mainly by monks and samurai , while the composition of waka spread to local samurai , and some of the waka that lapsed into formalism declined .in the early modern times , traditional studies of waka were compiled into a book , and many kajin poets appeared , but waka had already been perfected as ' kado , ' so a new style did not emerge .compared with haikai , which had been just generated , waka was traditional japanese culture that had continued since jodai ( ancient times ) ; therefore , its degree of innovation was suppressed .at the end of the early modern times , a new movement of waka arose in kyoto , and there appeared the keien school of jigenin ( a court official who has not obtained the imperial ordinance of promotion ) derived from the nijo school of dojo ( a family who is allowed to be promoted to court noble ) .the keien school had been a leading school in the tanka composers ' society until the early meiji period .highly educated people of the early meiji period played important roles in the tanka composers ' society , as represented by the outadokoro school and keien school , but people who intended waka reform ( shiki masaoka , tekkan yosano , and so on ) criticized both the style and elegant poetic devices of daiei ( poetry composed on a given theme ) , and thus there emerged a new style of waka suitable for the new era .however , in order to discern the new waka from the traditional one , these new poems came to be commonly called ' tanka ' ( see also tanka ) .people who compose waka are called kajin poets .they are also called utabito .see also the list of kajin poets .kasei ( great poet ) is an honorific title given to a master of waka .it not only shows respect to the kajin poet but also indicates those who are treated as gods in kado , such as kakinomoto no hitomaro and yamabe no akahito .kashu is a book in which waka are collected .chokusen wakashu ( chokusen shu )the collection was compiled by imperial order .shisen wakashu ( personal collection of poetry ) , or shisen shua collection of poems compiled by individuals or nongovernmental circlesabove all , ogura hyakunin isshu ( one hundred poems by one hundred poets ) , compiled by fujiwara no sadaie , is familiar to everyone , and it has had great influence on the japanese people 's appreciation of waka .shikashu ( personal collection )a collection of poems written by a single author .because waka began as accompaniment to a tune , the number of letters ( the number of syllables , or mora ) is not strictly confined if it is read in a singsong manner .therefore , as long as it is read in a singsong manner the poem doesn 't essentially seem to have ' extra syllables or insufficient syllables , ' even if it doesn 't consist of lines with five and seven syllables .the idea of ' extra or insufficient syllables ' arose from a sense of beauty for a fixed form of verse to write down instead of reciting it .in the context of western music , waka has a slow quadruple time that establishes its rhythm in sets of two bars .five syllables consists of five crotchets and three crotchet rests in one rhythm ( two bars ) , while seven syllables consists of seven crotchets and one crotchet rest in one rhythm , but if the total number of crotchets and crotchet rests is eight in one rhythm ( two bars ) , then it is acceptable ( nine syllables includes a triplet part ) .a verse form depends on the combination and number of the rhythm .for example , a tanka is made up of five sets of two bars , giving a total number of ten bars .the tanka , that ' temporary hermitage , with straw mat on the roof , in autumn rice field.my cloth would be getting wet with rain " is said to be divided into two parts of ' five , seven , six and seven , seven , ' having an extra syllable , but if the poem is divided by a set of two bars , ' akinota ( autumn rice field ) ' is used more .an example of applying western-style harmony to tanka and deserting the manner of reciting waka ( rhythm ) is ' kimigayo ( the japanese national anthem ) , ' and in this case the rhythm of tanka , as stated above , was abandoned in the adjustment to the western system of harmony .on the other hand , ' kojo no tsuki ( the moon over the deserted castle ) ' is an excellent piece of music that has been applied to western-style harmony without destroying the waka rhythm of seven and five syllables .