[1]あきの (Akino)

Poem Meaning and Background

あきのたの・かりほのいほの・とまをあらみ

 aki no ta no・kario no io no・toma o arami

わがころもでは ・つゆにぬれつつ                     

waga koromode wa・tsuyu ni nure tsutsu

~天智天皇（Tenji Tennō)

Translation 

Coarse the rush-mat roof 

Sheltering the harvest-hut

Of the autumn rice 

And my sleeves are growing wet 

With the dew that drips through 

Meaning 

    Rice harvesting season, which happens in fall, was an important time for farmers and rice itself was a precious commodity. Poor farm hands would work to harvest the rice, and temporary "harvest-huts" would be erected by the rice fields. Farm hands would sleep in these rough, hastily erected huts to watch over the harvest and protect it from being damaged by birds or other wild animals. This poem was written by the Emperor, imagining the discomfort of a poor farm hand sleeping in such a hut on a chilly autumn night. 

Author

    This poem is written by Tenji Tennō (626-671), who in his lifetime overthrew the powerful Soga clan and became Emperor. As Emperor, he carried out the Taika reforms, moved Japan's capital from Asuka to Omi (now Otsu in Shiga prefecture) and instituted the Omi decrees. 

    The Omi-Jingu Shrine in Otsu was constructed in 1940 and dedicated to Emperor Tenji. Due to its relationship to the author of the first poem in the Hyakunin-Isshu anthology, Omi-Jingu has since become host to important Competitive Karuta events, such as the annual Queen and Meijin matches.