Waka Classical Poetry Anthology (‘Wakakan’)

By Shōkadō Shōjō　

Early Edo Period (17C)　

Shōkadō Shōjō (1584-1639) was a priest at the Iwashimizu Hachiman Shrine in Kyoto and Chief
Priest at Takimotobo. Known for his outstanding Noh calligraphy, he was revered as ‘One of the three great Kanei Era calligraphers’, alongside contemporaries Konoe Nobuta and Hon’ami Koetsu. This waka anthology includes nine works by poets such as Fujiwara no Teika (better-known as Fujiwara Sadaie), Saigyō Hōshi, and Shikishi NaiShinno from the “Shin Kokin Wakashu,” the eighth imperial anthology of waka poetry compiled by the Japanese court, during the early Kamakura period (1192-1333).