Waka Poetry

Welcome to the Waka Poetry Channel!

This is a channel devoted to waka - the dominant form of poetry in Japan from the eighth to the fourteenth centuries, and which provided many of the images, words and conventions used in later poetry like renga (linked verse) and hokku - now known as haiku.

Watch the videos here to find out about the meanings of individual poems from different collections, and also about the society and culture which produced them, as well as the latest research on waka.