Man'yoshu

   'Collection of a Myriad Leaves'. The earliest anthology of Japanese verse, edited around 770 and containing four and a half thousand examples of poetry dating from approximately 645-759. The verses range from court poetry written for state occasions by the Otomo clan (see Kotodama) to folk verse. The period covered by the poems in the Man'yoshu saw substantial changes at court, as Chinese, including Buddhist, influence penetrated all areas of life. Four types or 'periods' of poems have been discerned in the anthology. The first is reflected in poems by female court poets (o'una), the second in verses by male court reciters (kataribe), the third in verses related to themes beyond the court and the fourth in poems by new sacred specialists including Buddhists and shrine priests. The Man'yoshu is especially valued for its 'Japaneseness' by Shinto commentators, including the pioneer kokugaku scholar Kamo no Mabuchi (1697-1769) who believed that the true Japanese spirit of spontaneity was corrupted in all Japanese literature subsequent to the Man'yoshu.